GREENSBORO, NC – UNC Greensboro came back from a 10-point first half deficit to post a 72-62 victory over Georgia Southern in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Monday night at Fleming Gym.
Sophomore guard Kemena Brooks came off the bench to lead UNCG (12-10, 8-5 SoCon) in scoring with 15 points, while junior guard Jasmine Byrd had 14 points. Sophomore forward Jasmine Dixon added 10 points and sophomore center Meghan Chamberlain pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds in leading the Spartans to a 46-38 rebounding advantage.
Lee Dubose and Ashley Melson each tossed in 14 points to pace Georgia Southern (9-13, 6-7 SoCon), while Shawnda Atwood had 11 points.
Georgia Southern would take its only lead of the second half, 50-48, at the 15:22 mark, when UNCG clamped down its defense and held the Lady Eagles to only one field goal over the next 10:38. During that time, the Spartans regained the lead and increased their advantage to 63-53 after a free throw by Brooks at the 6:51 mark.
A jumper by Concella Henry got the visitors back to within seven points, 63-56, but seven straight points by UNCG put the game out of reach as the Spartans won their sixth in the last seven games and find themselves in a tie for second place in the league standings with Davidson after the Wildcats fell 76-59 Monday night against Chattanooga.
UNCG led 11-7 early in the first half after Dixon drilled just her second 3-pointer of the season at the 15:32 mark. GSU came back and tied the game for the first time, 13-13, before going on a 14-6 run in a 6:46 span to take a 27-19 lead with 7:37 left until halftime.
Christa Waterman would put the Lady Eagles up 36-26 on a short jumper in the paint at the 4:01 mark. From that point, the Spartans closed the half on a 15-2 run to go into the break leading 41-38. Junior forward KaLeah Latham began the rally with a layup, while Brooks put UNCG up 39-38 on a mid-range jumper in the final minute of action.
Byrd led all scorers with 12 first half points, while junior forward Irene Otamiri added eight points. Sophomore guard Kristen Boone picked up two quick fouls, but managed to dish out six assists in 13 minutes of court time. Dubose had 11 points to lead the Lady Eagles.
Boone finished the evening with all seven of her points coming from the free throw line in leading UNCG to a 78.3 percent (18-of-23) shooting clip from the charity stripe, compared to only 8-of-14 for the Lady Eagles. Boone also handed out eight assists, but did not come up with a steal for the first time in her career that spans 46 games. She entered the night just percentage points behind the national leader with 4.8 thefts per game.
UNCG visits Appalachian State on Saturday for a 1 pm league tilt in Boone, NC. Meanwhile, Georgia Southern hosts Davidson on Saturday at 5 pm in Statesboro.
GAME NOTES: Jasmine Dixon made her first start of the season and third of her career... Dixon replaced KaLeah Latham in the starting lineup... UNCG had gone with the same starting five for 11 straight games. UNCG improves to 7-1 when scoring 70 or more points... Kristen Boone would have needed seven steals to take over the national lead... Boone had a career-high 25 points and eight steals in the earlier meeting with GSU this season... The win marked the first for the Spartans on Monday this season.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO 72, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 62
GEORGIA SOUTHERN (9-13, 6-7 SoCon)
MELSON, Ashley 5-11 2-5 14; DUBOSE, Lee 5-9 1-1 14; ATWOOD, Shawnda
5-8 1-1 11; NEWTON, Nicole 1-8 4-6 6; HENRY, Concella 3-5 0-0 6;
WATERMAN, Christa 3-6 0-0 6; DALEY, Nya 1-4 0-0 3; JESSIE,
Chequilla 1-7 0-0 2; RIVENS, Ashley 0-2 0-0 0; SPOON, Leslie 0-2
0-1 0. Totals 24-62 8-14 62.
UNC GREENSBORO (12-10, 8-5 SoCon)
BROOKS, Kemena 4-13 6-7 15; BYRD, Jasmine 5-16 1-2 14; DIXON,
Jasmine 3-5 3-4 10; CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 4-8 1-2 9; OTAMIRI, Irene
4-7 0-0 8; LATHAM, KaLeah 3-6 0-0 7; BOONE, Kristen 0-3 7-8 7;
LING, Ashley 1-1 0-0 2; CURRENT, Ashley 0-1 0-0 0; GRIMSLEY, Gini
0-1 0-0 0; JACKSON, Shanika 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-62 18-23 72.
Halftime: UNC Greensboro 41-38. 3-point goals-Georgia Southern 6-15 (DUBOSE, Lee 3-7; MELSON, Ashley 2-2; DALEY, Nya 1-3; RIVENS, Ashley 0-2; SPOON, Leslie 0-1), UNC Greensboro 6-23 (BYRD, Jasmine 3-10; BROOKS, Kemena 1-6; LATHAM, KaLeah 1-2; DIXON, Jasmine 1-1; GRIMSLEY, Gini 0-1; JACKSON, Shanika 0-1; BOONE, Kristen 0-1; OTAMIRI, Irene 0-1). Fouled out--Georgia Southern-DUBOSE, Lee, UNC Greensboro-None. Rebounds-Georgia Southern 38 (NEWTON, Nicole 9), UNC Greensboro 46 (CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 10). Assists-Georgia Southern 11 (WATERMAN, Christa 2; RIVENS, Ashley 2; ATWOOD, Shawnda 2), UNC Greensboro 16 (BOONE, Kristen 8). Total fouls-Georgia Southern 19, UNC Greensboro 17. A-196.
- UNCG -