GREENSBORO, NC – Jessica Mitchell and Danielle Hemerka combined for 33 points in leading Davidson to a 69-57 victory over UNC Greensboro in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Monday afternoon at Fleming Gym.
UNCG (4-4, 0-1 SoCon) junior guard Jasmine Byrd scored a season-high 16 points, while junior forward Kaleah Latham added 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Sophomore guard Kristen Boone scored all 10 of her points after intermission.
Mitchell scored a game-high 17 points, while Hemerka tossed in 16 points. Honna Housley scored 12 points.
UNCG suffered through its second straight poor shooting performance, but this time the Spartans were unable to over come it. After beating Wake Forest 70-64 last Wednesday by shooting 33.3 percent from the field, UNCG drained only 32.7 percent of its shots against the Wildcats. By comparison, Davidson hit on 43.8 percent of its shots.
Davidson (3-6, 1-1 SoCon) used a key 12-3 second half run that increased its slim one point, 42-41, lead to a comfortable 54-44 advantage with 5:31 left in the game. Hemerka fueled the run with seven points. UNCG never got any closer than five points the rest of the way as the Spartans dropped their fourth straight SoCon opener.
Byrd quickly erased UNCG’s five-point halftime deficit by draining three treys in the opening five minutes of the second half to knot the score at 35-35, but Kelly Gassie’s conventional 3-point play put Davidson back up for good, 38-35.
Early in the first half, Latham scored six straight points to give UNCG its only lead of the game, 8-6, but Davidson answered with a 9-0 run to extend its lead back to five points, 13-8, at the 12:17 mark. The Wildcats maintained their lead for the remainder of the stanza and would extend their lead to 27-18 on a 3-pointer by Housley with 4:11 left until halftime. Davidson went into the break with a 31-26 lead.
Latham scored 10 points and the Spartans canned all 11 of their free throws to off set their 29.2 percent (7-for-24) shooting clip from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play. Hemerka paced the Wildcats with eight points.
UNCG heads to the coast to take on UNC Wilmington on Wednesday at 2 pm at Trask Coliseum. Meanwhile, Davidson takes on East Carolina at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Invitational hosted by Georgia State on December 29.
GAME NOTES: UNCG had its five game December winning streak snapped... UNCG is 0-4 when they trail at the half... Head Coach Lynne Agee remains one win shy of 525 career victories... The Spartans are 0-2 when they score less than 60 points.
AGATE
DAVIDSON 69, UNC GREENSBORO 57
DAVIDSON (3-6, 1-1 SoCon)
MITCHELL, Jessica 5-6 6-8 17; HEMERKA, Danielle 4-10 8-10 16;
HOUSLEY, Honna 3-6 4-6 12; WASHINGTON, Tia 4-6 0-0 8; KELLY, Brynn
2-7 2-2 6; GASSIE, Kelly 2-6 1-1 5; HALBERSLEBEN, Mandy 0-1 3-4 3;
ROBINSON, Mercedes 1-1 0-0 2; CRAYTON, Janell 0-5 0-0 0. Totals
21-48 24-31 69.
UNC GREENSBORO (4-4, 0-1 SoCon)
BYRD, Jasmine 5-12 2-2 16; LATHAM, KaLeah 4-6 4-7 13; BOONE,
Kristen 2-9 6-8 10; CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 1-3 2-2 4; OTAMIRI, Irene
2-8 0-0 4; BROOKS, Kemena 1-3 2-2 4; DIXON, Jasmine 0-0 2-2 2;
BLAIR, Caroline 1-4 0-0 2; LING, Ashley 0-0 2-2 2; GRIMSLEY, Gini
0-1 0-0 0; CURRENT, Ashley 0-2 0-0 0; JACKSON, Shanika 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 16-49 20-25 57.
Halftime: Davidson 31-26. 3-point goals-Davidson 3-7 (HOUSLEY, Honna 2-3; MITCHELL, Jessica 1-1; HEMERKA, Danielle 0-3), UNC Greensboro 5-14 (BYRD, Jasmine 4-8; LATHAM, KaLeah 1-2; OTAMIRI, Irene 0-2; GRIMSLEY, Gini 0-1; BOONE, Kristen 0-1). Fouled out--Davidson-CRAYTON, Janell, UNC Greensboro-BOONE, Kristen; LATHAM, KaLeah. Rebounds-Davidson 34 (CRAYTON, Janell 7), UNC Greensboro 32 (OTAMIRI, Irene 6). Assists-Davidson 10 (WASHINGTON, Tia 4), UNC Greensboro 7 (LATHAM, KaLeah 2; BOONE, Kristen 2; OTAMIRI, Irene 2). Total fouls-Davidson 24, UNC Greensboro 26. A-135.
- UNCG -