GREENSBORO, NC – UNC Greensboro junior guard Gini Grimsley hit a layup with 00:21seconds remaining to seal a 56-54 win over Appalachian State for the UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team on Monday afternoon in Fleming Gym.
UNCG (4-15, 2-6 SoCon) had two players in double figures with Jasmine Dixon and Kemena Brooks each recording 12 points. Dixon finished the game 5-of-8 from the floor and contributed eight rebounds. Brittany Frazier led the way on the glass with a team-high nine rebounds while Ashley Ling tied a career-high with six assists.
“This was a hard fought, gritty win,” said head coach Lynne Agee. “We didn’t do well on the boards in the first half but we came back in the second half and really made a statement by outrebounding them, 26-16. We did struggle offensively in the second half at times it was almost as if we couldn’t find our focus offensively but we did enough in the final seconds to come out with the win.”
The Spartans shot 40.4 percent on the afternoon on 21-of-42 shooting from the floor. UNCG held a 44-35 rebounding edge and held a 28-12 advantage in the paint.
Appalachian State (4-14, 1-6 SoCon) was led by GiGi Thomas who had 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor. Whitney Tossie, who was held to four points in the first half, finished the game with 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting. The senior guard was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line and had a team-high seven rebounds in the loss.
With Appalachian State leading 54-52 Monique Floyd got fouled and converted two free throws to tie the game at 54-54 at the 1:28 mark and with under a minute left to play UNCG’s Grimsley got free under the basket for a layup to give the Spartans a 56-54 lead with 21 seconds remaining. Appalachian State had a chance late with Whitney Randolph on the line but Randolph missed both and the Spartans defense held giving UNCG their first SoCon home win of the season.
The Mountaineers came out of the break and promptly went on a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the game with only four minutes off the game clock to being the second half. Monique Floyd provided a bit of a spark in the second half, the Fairmont, NC native picked up a key bucket early in the half and was stellar on the glass recording some critical offensive rebounds.
UNCG had a 37-33 lead at the 13:20 mark of the half but Appalachian made things interesting by forcing a turnover and converting at the line to cut the lead 41-40. Midway through the half, with the Spartans leading 45-42, two free throws from GiGi Thomas cut the lead to one point but a foul on the other end kept the lead with UNCG.
Appalachian State’s Whitney Tossie came to life in the second half, after being held to only four points in the first half, tallied 11 second half points and put the Mountaineers ahead, 49-47 with just over five minutes remaining.
UNCG jumped out to a 5-0 lead to open the game before Whitney Tossie converted twice at the free throw line to make the lead 5-2 early. Kemena Brooks had the hot hand for the Spartans and had seven of their first nine points. Appalachian State cut the lead to 7-6 but a Brooks three-pointer and a bucket from Brittany Frazier gave UNCG a 12-6 lead at the 15:23 mark.
The Mountaineers managed to cut the lead to 12-10 by forcing UNCG into several hurried shots but the Spartans responded with a 6-2 run keeping their lead at 20-14 midway through the half. Sloppy play characterized the final minutes of the half for both squads but despite that UNCG went into the break ahead, 29-25.
UNCG’s Brooks and Appalachian State’s GiGi Thomas led all scorers with 12 points each while the Spartans as a team shot 42.6 percent on 12-of-28 shooting from the floor. UNCG also held a 10-2 advantage in the paint.
The Spartans conclude their three-game homestand when they welcome backyard rival, Elon to Fleming Gym for an afternoon matchup on Saturday. During halftime of Saturday’s game UNCG will honor the jersey of former Spartan women’s basketball player, Rita Wiggs as part of UNCG’s 2008 Women’s Weekend festivities.
AGATE
UNCG 56, APPALACHIAN STATE 54
APPALACHIAN STATE (4-14, 1-6 SoCon)
THOMAS, GiGi 7-14 2-2 16; TOSSIE, Whitney 4-12 6-6 15; MIXON,
Brittany 2-5 2-5 6; CUNNINGHAM, Courtney 2-4 2-2 6; COLBERT, Robin
2-6 0-1 4; RAMIREZ,Sam 1-3 1-3 4; RANDOLPH, Whitney 1-7 1-4 3;
LAKE, Taylor 0-1 0-0 0; MILL, Karina 0-0 0-0 0; HERNANDEZ, Frances
0-3 0-0 0; SPENCER, Brittney 0-2 0-0 0.Totals 19-57 14-23 54.
UNCG (4-15, 2-6 SoCon)
BROOKS,Kemena 4-12 2-2 12; DIXON,Jasmine 5-8 2-5 12; FLOYD,Monique
2-5 5-8 9; FRAZIER,Brittany 2-6 3-4 7; SMITH,Kendra 2-4 0-0 4;
CHAMBERLAIN,Meghan 2-3 0-0 4; HYSON,Lakiah 1-5 0-0 2;
GIRSTAUTAITE,Agne 1-1 0-2 2; LING,Ashley 1-3 0-0 2; GRIMSLEY,Gini
1-5 0-0 2; MULLINS,Ashley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-52 12-21 56.
Halftime: UNGC 29-25; 3-point goals--Appalachian State 2-10 (RAMIREZ, Sam 1-2; TOSSIE, Whitney 1-2; RANDOLPH, Whitney 0-2; HERNANDEZ, Frances 0-2; SPENCER, Brittney 0-1;THOMAS, GiGi 0-1), UNCG 2-14 (BROOKS,Kemena 2-9; DIXON,Jasmine 0-1;GRIMSLEY,Gini 0-4). Fouled out--Appalachian State-CUNNINGHAM, Courtney;MIXON, Brittany, UNCG-None. Rebounds--Appalachian State 35 (TOSSIE, Whitney7), UNCG 44 (FRAZIER,Brittany 9). Assists--Appalachian State 11 (TOSSIE,Whitney 4), UNCG 14 (LING,Ashley 6). Total fouls--Appalachian State 22, UNCG18. Technical fouls--Appalachian State-None, UNCG-None. A-224
- UNCG -