Bench Shines Again, Wildcats Win Fourth Straight In SoCon Opener, 73-59
12/4/2006 11:57:07 AM | Women's Basketball
Box Score
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Led by four players scoring in double figures and a bench that scored over half of their points, the Davidson women's basketball team picked up its fourth straight win and opened Southern Conference play with a 73-59 victory over preseason favorite UNC Greensboro on Tuesday, Dec. 4, at Belk Arena. The Wildcats are off to their best start in 10 years, improving to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in SoCon play, and also moved to 4-2 in SoCon openers under the direction of head coach Annette Watts. UNCG dropped its second straight, falling to 4-3 overall and 0-1 in league play.
 Sophomore Mercedes Robinson led the charge off the bench, hitting 5-of-9 shots from the field for her second double-figure game of the season. (photo by Tim Cowie) |
|---|
Davidson finished the contest shooting 52.1 percent from the floor, its third straight game over 50.0 percent, and have now hit better than 50 percent in seven straight halves dating back to the second half against Cornell on Nov. 26. Of their 25 made field goals, the Wildcats assisted on 22 of them, marking the second straight, and third time overall, they have dished out 20 or more dimes.
The Wildcat bench was once again the force behind another double-digit win as five players, all sophomores and freshmen, came off the bench to score a combined 38 points. The bench hit for 66 points in Davidson's win over Emory on Saturday.
Sophomore Mercedes Robinson (Mansfield, Texas) and freshman Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) each hit for double figures, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively. Thompson was clutch in the second half as she scored all 10 of her points in the second stanza, hitting a season-best seven free throws to go along with a three-pointer, while hauling in four boards and dishing out three assists. Robinson was equally as good, finishing with a team-best nine rebounds, a career-high two blocks and pocketing three steals.
Also chipping in off the bench was the freshmen duo of Monica Laune (Ashland, Neb.) and Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.). The two first-year players went a combined 6-of-10 from the field with seven boards, all by Paquette, and 15 points.
"I was just so proud of our freshman and sophomores," said coach Watts. "They are so young, but really showed heart tonight and weren't at all intimidated. All they did was just go and do what we do everyday in practice, and it was a great win for us."
Trailing by three, 35-32, after halftime, Davidson could not get in any rhythm as the Wildcats hit one lone layup in the first four minutes of the second half and found themselves down by eight at 42-34 with 15:52 on the clock.
Watts had seen enough, so she made a line change at the media timeout bringing in Robinson, Gassie, Laune, Thompson and Paquette to change things up. They responded to the challenge, bring the 'Cats back from the eight-point deficit by using a quick 9-0 run over the next two and half minutes to give Davidson its first lead, 43-42, since the 3:21 mark in the first half. Laune dropped in five during the run, including a big three-pointer to give the Wildcats the lead.
 Freshman Julia Paquette matched her season-high with seven boards. (photo by Tim Cowie) |
|---|
Both teams then went back-and-forth with the lead over the next few minutes before Davidson again found its offensive stroke. Leading 47-46, Thompson sparked a 15-5 run with a three-ball and she then finished off the run with two free throws, and Davidson had its largest lead of the game at 62-50 with 4:09 remaining in the game.
Davidson proceeded to close out the game by going 9-for-10 from the charity stripe in that last 4:09 and cruised to its seven double-digit win at 73-59.
Senior Brynn Kelly (Spokane, Wash.) and redshirt junior Katie Hamilton (Lilburn, Ga.) led the offense early in the first half. Kelly was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor for 10 points and finished the game with 12. Hamilton stroked in three shots from downtown, closing out the half with nine points.
UNCG was led by Irene Otamiri and Jasmine Byrd with 11 points each. Byrd came in averaging nearly 20 points a game and shooting almost 50 percent from the field, but was held to 5-of-15 shooting, including only 1-of-8 from behind the arc.
Davidson will now ready itself for a matchup against cross-county rival Charlotte on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 5 p.m. The Wildcats will be looking to stop its three game skid against the 49ers.
2026 Women's Lacrosse - Jane's Fund Game (Piper Harrell)
Saturday, April 11
2025-26 Swimming & Diving - Dylan Felt (NCAA Qualifier)
Wednesday, March 25
2026 Davidson Football Spring Zoom Call
Thursday, March 19
2025-26 Wrestling - Anderson Heap (NCAA Qualifier)
Monday, March 16
