Swarming Defense Guides Wildcats to 19-point Victory at Elon, 68-49
1/16/2007 12:25:02 PM | Women's Basketball
Gavin McFarlin
ELON, N.C. -- The Davidson women's basketball team turned up the intensity on the defensive end of the court by forcing Elon to cough the ball up 34 times, and for the fourth game in a row the Wildcats had three players score in double figures in cruising to a 68-49 road victory at Alumni Gym in women's Southern Conference action on Tuesday, Jan. 16. The Wildcats continued their school-best road winning streak, moving it to eight straight, while improving their league road record to 4-0. Overall, Davidson now sits at 15-3 and 6-1 in league contests. Elon, who sported a 6-1 home record coming into the game, dropped to 7-10 overall and 2-5 in SoCon play.
The Wildcats turned the 34 turnovers into 34 points, getting the majority of them in the paint with a 48-26 advantage over Elon. For the 12th time this season, Davidson finished with at least 10 steals, pocketing a game-high 16.
Junior Danielle Hemerka (
Senior Tia Washington (
Later, a fastbreak layin and a layup, both by sophomore Mercedes Robinson (
Elon had almost as many turnovers as points in the first stanza thanks to a swarming Wildcat defense that forced 17 miscues and turned them into 20 points. Davidson did most of its scoring inside during the first half, dropping in 26 of its 32 points in the paint. The 18 points allowed by the Wildcats tied the least amount allowed in a half this season.
Much was the same in the second half. Senior Jessica Mitchell (
Hemerka then made sure the Davidson lead would remain in double figures when she rattled off 10 of the next 19 Wildcat points for a 60-37 lead and the Wildcats easily finished with the 19-point win, 68-49. Hemerka has now hit for double digits in points in four of the past six games and led the team in scoring for the fifth time.
Davidson closed out the contest shooting 46.2 percent from the field (30-of-65) and pulled down one more board than Elon, 33-32. The Wildcats dished out 16 assists for the game, led by redshirt junior Katie Hamilton's (
Sophomore Mandy Halbersleben (Maineville, Ohio) gave the Wildcats their third scorer in double figures, registering 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor, while hitting one of her three free throws. Halbersleben has now hit the double-digit mark in points two of the past three games off the bench.
Elon was led in scoring by Rachel Hester's nine points off the bench, including six from behind the arc. Katie Whidden was next with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor.
The Wildcats will now gear up for a two-game homestand with matchups against Wofford on Saturday, Jan. 20 and then Appalachian State on Monday, Jan. 22. Both contests are set to tip-off at 7 p.m.
