Six Score in Double-Figures, W. Basketball Opens Season With 89-50 Win

Tuesday, November 6

Davidson, N.C.

7 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

St. Andrews College (Exh.)

Robinson was one of six players to hit for double-figures and chipped in with 10 boards for a double-double.

Six Score in Double-Figures, W. Basketball Opens Season With 89-50 Win

11/6/2007 9:00:36 PM | Women's Basketball

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

Box Score

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Six players scored in double figures, led by freshman Kelsey Cary's (Anselmo, Calif.) 18 points off the bench, and the Davidson women's basketball team opened the 2007-08 season with an impressive 89-50 exhibition win over visiting St. Andrews Presbyterian College on Tuesday evening in Belk Arena.

Cary, one of four freshmen suiting up for the Wildcats this year, scored half of her points at the charity stripe, nailing nine of her 12 attempts. She also chipped in with five boards, three of them coming on the offensive end as 27 of Davidson's game-high 58 rebounds were on the offensive glass.

Davidson, coming off a school-record 23 wins and its first postseason appearance last year, placed four of its five starters in double digits as well with senior co-captain Danielle Hemerka (Blackwood, N.J.) netting 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including a 3-for-5 performance from behind the arc. Davidson as a team dropped in 12 three-balls in 30 attempts to shoot 40 percent from behind the arc.

Junior Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.) registered a double-double in the win, pulling down a game-high tying 10 rebounds to go along with her 11 points. She showed her range from outside, hitting two of her four three-ball attempts.

Matching Robinson with 11 points was sophomore Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.), who hit for nine points in the first half, and freshman Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.).

St. Andrews was led by Erika Thompson's 15 points, followed by Danielle Norman's 12 points. Norman also hauled in 10 boards for a double-double for the Knights.

Davidson opened play by grabbing a nine-point advantage, 19-10, on a Hemerka layup with 12:15 remaining in the first half.

After both teams went nearly three minutes without scoring, the Wildcats would later push its lead out to 19 points, 33-14, on one of four field goals in the paint on the night for Cary at the 4:35 mark. Half of the Wildcats' 42 first-half points came inside the paint as they finished the game with 34 overall in the lane.

St. Andrews started chipping away at the lead in the second half as it drew within 12 points at 51-39 on a three-ball from Thompson with 12:45 left in the game. Thompson hit three of the Knights' six three-pointers on the night.

From there, it was all Davidson's bench as it went onto to score 27 of the 47 second-half points. A three-pointer by Cary pushed the lead out to 67-41 and later a three-pointer by Lax at the 4:07 mark gave Davidson an 80-48 lead. Lax would finish off the night's scoring by nailing a shot from behind the arc on the right wing with 12 seconds remaining for the final score of 89-50.

Davidson shot 41 percent from the field for the game, while holding St. Andrews to a 31.7 percent clip.

The Wildcats will now gear up for the start of the regular-season with a trip to Georgia Tech, who is one of 11 postseason participants on the schedule this season, on Friday, Nov. 9. Gametime is set for 8 p.m. The two teams have not faced each other since the 2003 season when Davidson dropped a 60-54 decision on Dec. 2.