Wildcats Match School Record With Seventh Straight Victory, 67-58
12/18/2006 12:16:08 PM | Women's Basketball
Box Score
CHENEY, Wash. -- Senior Brynn Kelly (Spokane, Wash.) had a strong showing in the first game of her return trip home with 10 points and seven boards, and fellow senior Tia Washington (Charlotte, N.C.) made sure the Wildcats would tie the school record with its seventh straight victory as she sealed the win by scoring the final five points from the charity stripe in leading Davidson to a 67-58 decision over Eastern Washington on Monday evening at Reese Court.
The Wildcats continued their best start in school history, improving to 10-2 overall with the non-conference win. Davidson also matched the 1998-99 squad with the most wins in a row at seven. The Eagles dropped their seventh game in the past eight, falling to 4-7 overall.
After taking a quick one-point lead in the first part of the second half, Davidson found its self trailing 43-39 with 12:53 remaining in the game. Kelly got the hometown crowd on their feet and helped the Wildcats start an 11-3 run with a bucket inside off a pass from sophomore Kelly Gassie (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) and senior Jessica Mitchell (Wilkesboro, N.C.) topped it off with a jumper just inside the paint as Davidson stormed back to take its biggest lead at the time, 51-46, with 9:18 left in the game.
Davidson would maintain at least a three-point lead over the next five and half minutes, till Washington pushed the Wildcat advantage out to seven points on a clutch three-point play for a 60-53 lead. Washington scored eight of her 12 points in the second half, with six of them coming from the free throw line.
Washington later proceeded to sink five of six free throws in the final minute to help secure the win for Davidson after it trailed heading into halftime 31-30. It marked the second time the Wildcats had come back this year to win after trailing at halftime.
Davidson's defense was up to the task once again, especially in the second half, in helping the Wildcats preserve the win. They forced 30 turnovers, 16 in the second half, and turned those Eagle miscues into 27 points.
Both teams went back and forth to open play with each holding leads of at least three points through the first seven minutes of play.
After both teams went scoreless for almost three minutes, Eastern Washington used a Joanna Chadd jumper and an Amanda Murdoch three-pointer to open up its biggest lead of the half at 18-12 with 8:03 on the clock.
Davidson chipped away and closed the gap to one, 31-30, in the last 50 seconds. The 'Cats scored the final five points of the half on junior Honna Housley's (Riceville, Tenn.) jumper and free throw, and Gassie's fade away 10-footer with three seconds on the clock. Gassie was the main force in keeping the Wildcats afloat in the first half, scoring seven of her team-high 13 points in the first stanza. She helped the Wildcat bench outscore the Eagles 24-18.
Eastern Washington placed three players in double-digits led by Sydney Benson's game-high 15 points. EWU won the rebounding margin, 42-32, as both Benson and Tara Holgate pulled down seven apiece. The Wildcats though, held the Eagles' leading scorer Chadd to four points, 11 off her season average.
Davidson finishes its stay in Washington with a game against the West Coast Conference Gonzaga Bulldogs on Wednesday, Dec. 20 in Spokane. Tip-off is set for 10 p.m. (EST).
