UNCG women’s basketball drops close contest to fall to 0-3

WILMINGTON, NC – UNC Wilmington's Sheronda McLean's free throw with 42.7 seconds left broke a 50-all tie and Brittany Blackwell added a pair with 7.7 seconds left as the Seahawks earned a come-from-behind win over UNC Greensboro on Thursday, 53-50.

Agne Girstautaite led the Spartans with a career-high 11 points, eight of which came in the first half. Gini Grimsley scored nine to go with eight rebounds while Lakiah Hyson had nine points and six boards.

Blackwell scored a game-high 24 points to go with 12 boards, while Greta Luksyte was the only other Seahawk player in double figures with 11 points.

UNCG (0-3) made 23 field goals to UNCW's 14, but UNCW (3-0) won this one at the free throw line, where the Seahawks attempted 31 to the Spartans' six. UNCW made 22 of its attempts while UNCG made just two, more than accounting for the final margin of victory.

The Spartans held the lead or the score was tied for most of the first and much of the second half, until Blackwell's layup with 3:06 to go put the Seahawks up 46-45 and gave them their first lead since holding a 1-0 advantage in the opening minutes. UNCG's Ashley Mullins countered with a nifty layup on an inbounds play, but Blackwell had an answer of her own to restore UNCW's one-point advantage.

Kendra Smith sank a jumper to put UNCG back on top with 1:45 to go, but that would prove to be the Spartans' final lead of the day.

The Seahawks again found Blackwell underneath for another jumper to make it 50-49, but Hyson hit the back end of a two-shot foul to tie the contest for the seventh time on the day.

After McLean hit the back end of her two-shot foul to put UNCW ahead for good, UNCG coach Lynne Agee called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Amanda Leigh got a look at a 3-pointer that would have given UNCG the lead, but the shot was off and the Spartans were forced to foul.

Blackwell's free throws made it a three-point game when the Spartans got the ball back with just a shade under eight seconds left, but UNCG turned it over and the Seahawks played keep-away until the clock ran out.

UNCG led at the half for the first time this season, and Girstautaite matched her career high of eight points in the first half alone.

Sophomore TaShama Banner, who entered this season with just four career steals, set a new career high for the second game in a row. After grabbing four against Wake Forest on Monday, Banner collected a game-high six against the Seahawks. UNCG had 14 steals for the game.

The game was played in front of a raucous crowd of hundreds of elementary school children for UNCW's "Seahawks Tomorrow" day, part of the NCAA's "Pack the House" initiative.
UNCG will try again for its first win of the season when it hosts High Point at 7 p.m. Monday.

AGATE
UNC WILMINGTON 53, UNC GREENSBORO 50

UNC GREENSBORO (0-3)
Agne Girstautaite 5-8 1-4 11; Gini Grimsley 4-14 0-0 9; Lakiah Hyson 4-8 1-2 9; Ashley Mullins 3-5 0-0 7; Monique Floyd 3-7 0-0 6; TaShama Banner 2-2 0-0 4; Dee Corbett 1-4 0-0 2; Kendra Smith 1-4 0-0 2; Amanda Leigh 0-7 0-0 0; Jazz Weaver 0-0 0-0 0; Agneta Morkunaite 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 2-6 50.

UNC WILMINGTON (3-0)
Blackwell, Brittany 7-14 10-13 24; Luksyte, Greta 2-8 5-6 11; Walker, Candace 2-2 3-6 7; Taylor, Sahsha 2-8 0-0 4; McLean, Sheronda 1-4 1-2 3; Simmons, Whitney 0-3 2-2 2; Johnson, Treasure 0-4 2-2 2; White, Martha 0-2 0-0 0; Hanzer, Kristen 0-0 0-0 0; Finlay, Julia 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-46 23-31 53.

UNC Greensboro................   23   27  -   50
UNC Wilmington................   19   34  -   53

3-point goals--UNC Greensboro 2-13 (Ashley Mullins 1-3; Gini Grimsley 1-4; Amanda Leigh 0-5; Lakiah Hyson 0-1), UNC Wilmington 2-10 (Luksyte, Greta 2-5; Simmons, Whitney 0-1; Johnson, Treasure 0-3; Finlay, Julia 0-1). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-None, UNC Wilmington-None. Rebounds--UNC Greensboro 34 (Gini Grimsley 8), UNC Wilmington 40 (Blackwell, Brittany 12). Assists—UNC Greensboro 13 (Lakiah Hyson 4; Monique Floyd 4), UNC Wilmington 9 (Walker, Candace 3). Total fouls--UNC Greensboro 24, UNC Wilmington 13. Technical fouls--UNC Greensboro-None, UNC Wilmington-None. A-2264

- UNCG -