November 29, 2008

GREENSBORO, NC – Junior guard Lakiah Hyson paced three UNC Greensboro players in double figures, but Bowling Green blew open a close game in the second half to take a 71-53 win in the final game of the UNCG Marriott Classic on Saturday afternoon.

Hyson scored 16 points to lead the Spartans (1-5), while Agne Girstautaite and Amanda Leigh scored 10 each. Bowling Green's Lauren Prochaska scored a game-high 20 points to go with eight rebounds, while tournament MVP Niki McCoy scored 16.

The Spartans (1-5) trailed by just four at halftime, and Ashley Mullins opened the second period with a jumper from the wing to make it a one-possession game. After a defensive stop on the other end, Girstautaite dropped in a layup to tie the score at 30, making it a brand new ballgame just under a minute into the second frame.

Bowling Green (4-2) snatched the lead back immediately, as a Tara Breske layup on the Falcons' next possession put them back ahead to stay. Lindsey Goldsberry's 3-pointer pushed the advantage to five points at 35-30 before consecutive baskets from Hyson pulled the Spartans back within one.

Niki McCoy drained a pair of free throws to ignite a 24-10 run, and the Falcons never looked back. Prochaska had eight points in the spurt.

The Spartans had fewer turnovers and more rebounds than the Falcons at the halftime break, but BGSU held a four-point edge, 30-26.

UNCG won the battle of the boards for the first time this season, holding a 44-37 rebounding advantage. The Spartans also had just 17 turnovers to the Falcons' 18 for the game.

The Spartans couldn't get much going from the field, however, shooting just 30.4 percent for the game (21-for-69), including a woeful 2-for-20 mark (10.0 percent) from 3-point range.

UNCG was also playing without yet another point guard. Sophomore Monique Floyd suffered a head injury in Friday's contest against Florida Gulf Coast and did not play against the Falcons. The Spartans are already without seniors Kristen Boone, who is out for the season with a torn ACL, and Ashley Ling, who injured her knee in the preseason and has yet to play.

Hyson went 7-for-15 from the field and hit both of her free throw attempts. She had a game-high four steals.

"Lakiah Hyson had an outstanding week for us in back-to-back games, particularly not having a lot of relief at the point position," UNCG coach Lynne Agee said. "She was quite an offensive boost for us.

"I thought we played a little better today than yesterday," she said. "The challenge for us now is to keep our heads up and go with what we've got, based on all the injuries. I don't think there's 'give-up' in this team, we're just all frustrated. Having played through this weekend, we're in a completely different realm. We're entering Southern Conference play now, and it's a different motivation. We can study and be more familiar with who we're playing and their tendencies. We have two days to prepare for Elon, and that's going to be our challenge."

Hyson earned a spot on the UNCG Marriott Classic All-Tournament Team, as did Prochaska, Winston-Salem State's Keoshia Worthy and Florida Gulf Coast's Adrianne McNally and Kelsey Jacobson.

The Spartans have a couple of days off before opening SoCon play at Elon on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

UNCG Marriott Classic All-Tournament Team
Keoshia Worthy, Winston-Salem State
Lakiah Hyson, UNC Greensboro
Adrianne McNally, Florida Gulf Coast
Kelsey Jacobson, Florida Gulf Coast
Lauren Prochaska, Bowling Green
MVP: Niki McCoy, Bowling Green

AGATE
BOWLING GREEN 71, UNC GREENSBORO 53

BOWLING GREEN (4-2)
PROCHASKA, Lauren 7-16 3-3 20; McCOY, Niki 5-9 5-6 16; SLAGLE, Jessica 2-7 4-5 9; BRESKE, Tara 3-6 0-1 6; UHL, Jen 3-5 0-0 6; GOLDSBERRY, Lindsey 2-6 0-0 5; PONTIUS, Tracy 2-4 0-0 5; ALBERT, Chelsea 2-2 0-0 4; CLAPPER, Sarah 0-0 0-0 0; McGOWAN, Victoria 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-55 12-15 71.

UNC GREENSBORO (1-5)
HYSON, Lakiah 7-15 2-2 16; GIRSTAUTAITE, Agne 4-7 2-2 10; LEIGH, Amanda 4-13 0-0 10; GRIMSLEY, Gini 3-13 3-3 9; SMITH, Kendra 2-6 0-1 4; MULLINS, Ashley 1-9 1-2 3; MORKUNAITE, Agneta 0-1 1-2 1; CORBETT, Dee 0-0 0-0 0; BANNER, TaShama 0-4 0-0 0; FOLWELL, Sarah 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-69 9-12 53.

Bowling Green.................   30   41  -   71
UNC Greensboro................   26   27  -   53

3-point goals--Bowling Green 7-18 (PROCHASKA, Lauren 3-6; GOLDSBERRY, Lindsey 1-5; McCOY, Niki 1-1; SLAGLE, Jessica 1-3; PONTIUS, Tracy 1-2; UHL, Jen 0-1), UNC Greensboro 2-20 (LEIGH, Amanda 2-8; GRIMSLEY, Gini 0-3; MULLINS, Ashley 0-6; BANNER, TaShama 0-1; FOLWELL, Sarah 0-1; HYSON, Lakiah 0-1). Fouled out--Bowling Green-None, UNC Greensboro-None. Rebounds—Bowling Green 37 (PROCHASKA, Lauren 8), UNC Greensboro 44 (HYSON, Lakiah 9). Assists--Bowling Green 14 (McCOY, Niki 4; PONTIUS, Tracy 4), UNC Greensboro 9 (GIRSTAUTAITE, Agne 2; HYSON, Lakiah 2; LEIGH, Amanda 2). Total fouls--Bowling Green 17, UNC Greensboro 18. Technical fouls—Bowling Green-None, UNC Greensboro-None. A-222

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GREENSBORO, NC – Brittany Brown led three Eagles in double figures with 16 points as Florida Gulf Coast defeated Winston-Salem State, 57-43, in Saturday afternoon women's basketball action at the 2008 UNCG Marriott Classic.

The big story of the game was turnovers as the Eagles scored more than half of their points off Winston-Salem State miscues. Florida Gulf Coast outscored Winston-Salem State, 31-6, in points off turnovers, taking advantage of 23 miscues by the Lady Rams. Winston-Salem State attempted just 35 field goals for the contest, making 15 of them.

Adrianne McNally added 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Kelsey Jacobson chipped in with 11 points for Florida Gulf Coast (4-1). Vontisha Woods and Keoshia Worthy shared game-high honors with 17 points each for Winston-Salem State.

Florida Gulf Coast pressured the Lady Rams (0-6) into seven turnovers in the first 12 minutes to forge a 24-12 lead. The Eagles converted those seven miscues into 13 points to help build the early double-digit lead. After Winston-Salem State scored the opening basket of the game, the Eagles ran off 10 straight to open up an eight-point advantage. Winston-Salem State got back to within six at 12-6, before the margin opened up to double-digits.

The Eagles were plenty efficient on the offensive end of the floor in the opening half, as well, turning the ball over just four times while shooting 48.1 percent from the floor. The result was a 35-23 lead at the intermission.

The Eagles, much like they did Saturday against UNC Greensboro, slowly stretched the lead out from there in the second half. As Winston-Salem State had just two field goals in the first eight minutes of the second half, Kelsey Jacobson's three-pointer with 12:13 remaining gave Florida Gulf Coast a 46-27 advantage.

Winston-Salem State made a late charge, getting to within 12 with 1:23 to play. The Lady Rams held FGCU without a field goal for the final 6:58, but it was too little, too late.

AGATE
FLORIDA GULF COAST 57, WINSTON-SALEM STATE 43

WINSTON-SALEM STATE (0-6)
Vontisha Woods 7-7 3-3 17; Keoshia Worthy 6-11 5-5 17; Jalesa Byrd 1-2 2-4 4; Rene Rector 1-4 0-0 3; Talnesha Kee 0-7 2-2 2; Porsche Harrell 0-1 0-0 0; Chloe Morse 0-1 0-0 0; Quintoya Mobley 0-1 0-0 0; Corbin Bradford 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-35 12-14 43.

FLORIDA GULF COAST (4-1)
Brittany Brown 6-9 2-4 16; Adrianne Mcnally 4-10 4-4 12; Kelsey Jacobson 4-6 0-0 11; Courtney Chihil 3-11 0-0 7; Shannon Murphy 1-3 0-0 3; Chelsea Lyles 1-5 0-0 3; Emma Beddome 0-3 2-2 2; Amanda Fesseden 0-1 2-2 2; Diana Jacklin 0-2 1-2 1; Kristina Mingos 0-0 0-0 0; Kristine Herman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-51 11-14 57.

Halftime: Florida Gulf Coast 35-23. 3-point goals--Winston-Salem State 1-5 (Rene Rector 1-1; Talnesha Kee 0-4), Florida Gulf Coast 8-25 (Kelsey Jacobson 3-4; Brittany Brown 2-4; Courtney Chihil 1-6; Chelsea Lyles 1-4; Shannon Murphy 1-3; Amanda Fesseden 0-1; Emma Beddome 0-1; Adrianne Mcnally 0-2). Fouled out--Winston-Salem State-None, Florida Gulf Coast-None. Rebounds--Winston-Salem State 28 (Vontisha Woods 9), Florida Gulf Coast 25 (Adrianne Mcnally 10). Assists--Winston-Salem State 3 (Keoshia Worthy 1; Corbin Bradford 1; Porsche Harrell 1), Florida Gulf Coast 9 (Courtney Chihil 3). Total fouls--Winston-Salem State 11, Florida Gulf Coast 15. Technical fouls--Winston-Salem State-None, Florida Gulf Coast-None.

- UNCG -