GREENSBORO, NC – The UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team downed Longwood, 81-50, in the opening game of the UNCG Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday afternoon at Fleming Gym.
Senior Jasmine Byrd once again led the Spartans (3-1), finishing with 22 points. The Dumfries, VA native went 8-11 from the field, including 4-6 from beyond the arc. Sophomore Gini Grimsley tallied 13 points, while freshman Agne Girstautaite had eight points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
UNCG had 11 players hit the scoring column, while all 13 Spartans saw playing time. Of the Spartans 81 points, 37 came from the bench.
“We went to the bench and really played our depth and it showed. All around, it was a great team effort for us,” said head coach Lynne Agee.
Longwood (3-2) was led by Abigail Freese and Keiva Small, who finished with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Small also finished with a game-high eight rebounds for the Lancers.
The Spartans set the tone early by opening up the first half on a 16-2 run, led by Byrd, who had nine points in the run. UNCG continued to dominate the first half, only allowing the Lancers to shoot 26 percent from the field and score 18 total points. The Spartans closed out the half shooting 54.5 percent from the field and led 46-18 going into the break.
UNCG scored the first six points of the second half to make it 52-18 after a pair of Byrd free throws. The Spartans largest lead of the game was 38 points, which happened in the final six minutes after a Girstautaite free throw.
After only shooting 24 percent in their 86-40 loss to Charlotte on Monday, the Spartans came out in full force and finished the afternoon by shooting 52 percent.
“We came out ready to play and opened the game in a hurry early,” said Agee. “We maintained the intensity right away and played great defense.”
The 22 Lancer turnovers resulted in 15 steals and 24 points for the Spartans.
The Spartans will play the winner of North Carolina A&T/Providence on Saturday at 3 pm in the tournament’s championship matchup.
AGATE
UNCG 81, LONGWOOD 50
LONGWOOD (3-2)
Freese,Abigail 5-13 1-2 14; Small,Keiva 4-9 0-1 10; Steg,Anna 2-6
3-4 7; Fernandes,Becky 1-5 4-4 6; Sims,Amber 2-3 0-0 4;
Blevins,Claire 2-2 0-0 4; Hollman,Ashleigh 1-9 1-2 3; Dyer,Courtney
1-5 0-0 2; Mascherin,Leigh 0-0 0-0 0; Smith,Cassandra 0-0 0-0 0;
Williams,Odessa 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-53 9-13 50.
UNCG (3-1)
Byrd,Jasmine 8-11 2-2 22; Grimsley,Gini 5-9 0-0 13;
Girstautaite,Agne 3-8 2-3 8; Chamberlain,Meghan 3-4 0-0 6;
Frazier,Brittany 2-4 2-4 6; Boone,Kristen 3-3 0-0 6; Otamiri,Irene
1-3 2-2 5; Latham,Kaleah 2-7 0-0 5; Mullins,Ashley 2-3 0-0 4;
Jackson,Shanika 2-3 0-0 4; Brooks,Kemena 1-4 0-0 2;
Ling,Ashley 0-0 0-0 0; Dixon,Jasmine 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 32-61 8-11
81.
Halftime: UNCG 46-18. 3-point goals--Longwood 5-17 (Freese,Abigail 3-9; Small,Keiva 2-2; Hollman,Ashleigh 0-3; Dyer,Courtney 0-3), UNCG 9-16 (Byrd,Jasmine 4-6; Grimsley,Gini 3-5; Otamiri,Irene 1-1; Latham,Kaleah 1-1; Mullins,Ashley 0-1; Jackson,Shanika 0-1; Brooks,Kemena 0-1). Fouled out--Longwood-None, UNCG-None. Rebounds--Longwood 28 (Small,Keiva 8), UNCG 41 (Girstautaite,Agne 7). Assists--Longwood 12 (Fernandes,Becky 5), UNCG 22 (Boone,Kristen 5). Total fouls--Longwood 16, UNCG 13. Technical fouls--Longwood-None, UNCG-None.
******
Providence tops North Carolina A&T at UNCG Thanksgiving Tournament
GREENSBORO, NC – Providence College used 56 percent shooting from the floor to overcome 30 points by Amber Bland and defeat North Carolina A&T, 79-64, in women’s basketball action at the UNCG Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday afternoon.
Providence will face tournament host UNCG, an 81-50 winner over Longwood in Friday’s first game, on Saturday at 3 pm. North Carolina A&T will face with Longwood in the consolation game at 1 pm.
Providence finished with four players in double figures, led by freshman Emily Cournoyer’s 24 points. Cournoyer, a 6-4 forward from North Attleboro, MA, was 11-14 from the field on the afternoon. The Friars (6-0) also got 19 points from Chelsea Marandola, 11 points from Catherine Bove and 10 points by Shauna Snyder.
Bland was a big chunk of the offense for the Aggies (1-4). She recorded 14 of North Carolina A&T’s 25 field goals, shooting 14-of-25 from the floor.
However, Providence dominated the inside, scoring 48 of its 79 points in the paint with the majority of that coming from Cournoyer.
The two teams played a close opening 10 minutes of the game, with neither team opening up a sizeable lead. Providence finally broke through, however, midway through the first half and went on a 12-0 run to take a 35-18 lead. Providence shot 54.8 percent from the field (17-31) in the opening half and went into the break with a 42-28 lead.
Providence opened up the second half strong, going on a 15-5 run in the first six minutes to open up a 24-point lead, 57-33, with 14:42 to play. The Aggies closed to within 13 with 6:29 left, 65-52, after two free throws Lonise Coulter. But the Friars scored 12 of the next 14, capped off by Kristina Baugh’s three-pointer with 2:46 to play, to open the lead back up to 23 and coast the rest of the way.
AGATE
PROVIDENCE 79, NORTH CAROLINA A&T 64
PROVIDENCE (6-0)
Cournoyer, Emily 11-14 2-5 24; Marandola, Chelsea 7-13 4-4 19;
Bove, Catherine 5-10 0-0 11; Snyder, Shauna 4-8 2-4 10; Holmes,
Kendria 3-7 0-0 7; Baugh, Kristina 2-2 0-0 5; Howard, Danielle 1-2
0-0 2; Dorsey, Brittany 0-1 1-2 1; Clark, Jessica 0-1 0-0 0;
Lorenc, Aga 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-59 9-15 79.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T (1-4)
Bland,Amber 14-25 0-1 30; Coulter,Lonise 5-15 5-11 15;
Cook,Ta'Wuana 3-14 2-4 11; Smalley,Lamona 1-6 2-2 4; Williams,Ahmad
2-5 0-0 4; Lowry,Laporsha 0-1 0-0 0; Gordon,Jasmine 0-0 0-0 0;
Jelkes, Sheliah 0-0 0-0 0; Waddell,Shantar 0-2 0-2 0. Totals 25-68
9-20 64.
Halftime: Providence 42-28. 3-point goals--Providence 4-16 (Baugh, Kristina 1-1; Holmes, Kendria 1-3; Marandola, Chelsea 1-5; Bove, Catherine 1-5; Dorsey, Brittany 0-1; Snyder, Shauna 0-1), North Carolina A&T 5-17 (Cook,Ta'Wuana 3-9; Bland,Amber 2-8). Fouled out--Providence-None, North Carolina A&T-None. Rebounds—Providence 39 (Marandola, Chelsea 11), North Carolina A&T 41 (Smalley,Lamona 11; Coulter,Lonise 11). Assists--Providence 22 (Holmes, Kendria 8), North Carolina A&T 9 (Smalley,Lamona 5). Total fouls--Providence 20, North Carolina A&T 13. Technical fouls--Providence-None, North Carolina A&T-None.
- UNCG -