UNCG drops game to Davidson

GREENSBORO, NC – Davidson’s Alex Thompson had a game-high 20 points to lead the Wildcats to a 70-59 win over the UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team in Southern Conference action on Friday night.

UNCG (3-15, 1-6 SoCon) had three players in double figures and was led by junior guard Gini Grimsley who tallied 15 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field. The Fairmont, NC, native was 5-of-6 from behind the arc, setting a new career high in three-pointers made. Forwards Jasmine Dixon and Brittany Frazier were also in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectfully. Dixon also led the team with six rebounds while Lakiah Hyson also set a new career-high with seven assists.

“We played a good game tonight,” said head coach Lynne Agee. “The one thing that hurt us was our turnovers. We were able to establish an inside presence and did a great job of rebounding the ball. We still need to work on playing a complete game but this was a positive step for our team.”

Davidson (10-7, 4-2 SoCon) was led by Alex Thompson who had a game-high 20 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor including, going 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Julia Paquette gathered a team-high six rebounds in the win.

The Spartans shot a blistering 57.1 percent in the second half on 12-of-21 shooting from the floor and shot 45.1 percent from the game, their best shooting percentage since shooting 46.1 percent in a win over Furman. UNCG held a 35-28 rebounding edge and their bench outscored Davidson’s bench 23-15.

The Spartans went on a 11-0 run late in the half, sparked by the outside shooting of Gini Grimsley to cut the Davidson’s lead to 49-40 at the 9:38 mark of the half and got the lead down to seven points with just under seven minutes left in the game but several unforced errors and a three-pointer from Thompson put the game out of reach.

Davidson opened the second half with an 11-4 run and extended their lead to 46-28 at the 13:29 mark. The Spartans got a lift off the bench from Agne Girstautaite who subbed into the game at the 13:29 mark and promptly hit a layup and gathered a crucial defensive rebound. UNCG was able to cut the lead to 46-32 with a steal from Gini Grimsley and a bucket from Dixon, coupled with three-pointers from Grimsley to cut the lead to 49-37, the first time the score was in single digits since the 6:48 mark of the first half.

The teams played evenly through the first several minutes of the game but the Spartans were able to get some rhythm on the boards early and held a 5-1 rebounding edge over the Wildcats early and also forced several Davidson turnovers early.

UNCG clamped on the defensive pressure and forced Davidson into three quick turnovers which resulted in five points for the Spartans and tied the game at 9-9 at the 11:52 mark of the first stanza. Davidson would find their offense midway through the half and used an 11-0 run to jump ahead 20-9 before a bucket from Kemena Brooks ended a UNCG scoring drought of 3:24 minutes.

Davidson went on a 10-2 run to take an 33-15 lead but the Spartans used a 6-2 run to close the half cutting the Davidson lead to 37-24 heading into the break. Davidson’s Alex Thompson led all scorers with 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field, including 2-of-3 from behind the arc and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. UNCG held a 12-10 advantage in the paint and tallied 12 second chance points to Davidson’s eight.

UNCG continues its three-game homestand when they welcome instate-rival, Appalachian State to Fleming Gym on Monday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 3 pm.

AGATE
DAVIDSON 70, UNCG 59

DAVIDSON (10-7, 4-2 SoCon)
THOMPSON, Alex 5-8 7-8 20; ROBINSON, Mercedes 6-10 3-4 16; HEMERKA, Danielle 5-9 2-3 14; GASSIE, Kelly 2-5 1-1 5; LAX, Ashley 2-5 0-2 5; CARY, Kelsey 2-5 0-1 4; HOUSLEY, Honna 1-4 0-0 3; PAQUETTE, Julia 1-1 0-0 2; HALBERSLEBEN, Mandy 0-0 1-2 1; LAUNE, Monica 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-47 14-21 70.

UNCG (3-15, 1-6 SoCon)
GRIMSLEY,Gini 5-6 0-0 15; DIXON,Jasmine 4-7 5-10 13; FRAZIER,Brittany 5-121-1 11; BROOKS,Kemena 4-7 1-2 9; GIRSTAUTAITE,Agne 2-2 0-1 4; HYSON,Lakiah1-7 0-1 2; CHAMBERLAIN,Meghan 1-3 0-0 2; WADELINGTON,S 1-3 0-0 2;FLOYD,Monique 0-2 1-2 1; SMITH,Kendra 0-0 0-0 0; LING,Ashley 0-1 0-0 0;BANNER,TaShama 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-51 8-17 59.

Halftime: Davidson 37-24; 3-point goals--Davidson 8-17 (THOMPSON, Alex 3-5; HEMERKA, Danielle 2-4; LAX, Ashley 1-2; ROBINSON, Mercedes 1-1; HOUSLEY, Honna 1-4; CARY, Kelsey0-1), UNCG 5-9 (GRIMSLEY,Gini 5-6; BROOKS,Kemena 0-2; LING,Ashley 0-1). Fouled out--Davidson-PAQUETTE, Julia, UNCG-None. Rebounds--Davidson 28(PAQUETTE, Julia 6), UNCG 35 (DIXON,Jasmine 6). Assists--Davidson 13(THOMPSON, Alex 5), UNCG 14 (HYSON,Lakiah 7). Total fouls--Davidson 17, UNCG 21. Technical fouls--Davidson-None, UNCG-None. A-256

- UNCG -