'Cats Give No. 15 Tigers All They Can Handle, Drop 66-59 Decision in the End

Friday, December 28

Philadelphia, Pa.

4 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

vs. No. 15 Auburn

Halbersleben was just two points off her career-high, finishing with 10 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists against No. 15 Auburn.

'Cats Give No. 15 Tigers All They Can Handle, Drop 66-59 Decision in the End

12/28/2007 6:36:13 PM | Women's Basketball

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Wildcat women's hoops team placed eight players in the scorer's book, including three in double figures, and gave No. 15 Auburn all it could handle, before the Tigers pulled away with a 8-4 run in the last two minutes for a 66-59 win in the opening round of the St. Joe's Hawk Classic on Friday, Dec. 28 at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

Davidson fell to 6-5 on the year, while No. 15 Auburn earned its 12th win in the past 13 contests to improve to 12-1.

Senior Danielle Hemerka, from nearby Blackwood, N.J., pleased some of her hometown fans in the crowd with a team-best 13 points for Davidson. She finished 6-of-13 from the field and hauled in six rebounds.

Matching Hemerka in double digits was senior Honna Housley (Riceville, Tenn.) and Mandy Halbersleben (Cincinnati, Ohio) with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Housley hit two of the 'Cats five three-pointers and Halbersleben, who had a stellar game off the bench, reached double figures for the first time this year, while adding four boards off the glass.

Auburn's Alli Smalley led all scorer's with 15 points, eight of them in the second half when the Tigers started to pull away.

Davidson came out of the gates fast against No. 15 Auburn, shooting 46.9 percent in the first half (15-32). Of the Wildcats' first 32 points, they scored 18 of those in the paint despite the height advantage of the Tigers, who have six players taller than 6-2.

Seven different Wildcats in all scored in the opening half, with three of them hitting for five or more points to help the 'Cats take a 32-30 halftime lead.

Freshman Kelsey Cary (Anselmo, Calif.) got things rolling in the opening stages of the first period with two straight buckets in the paint to gave Davidson an early 13-9 lead with 13:30 left in the half.

Later, Halbersleben came off the bench to keep the Wildcat surge going on offense. The junior post player scored six consecutive points during a two-minute stretch to push the 'Cats lead out to 28-20 with 5:28 remaining on the clock.

Shortly there after, two three-balls by Auburn and a layup from Alli Smalley, who hit one of the three-pointers, brought the Tigers even with Davidson at 30-30. But, the Wildcats would take a two-point lead into halftime, 32-30, on a bucket by Hemerka, who had six first-half points.

The start of the second half saw the Tigers use a 12-9 run to take a 42-41 lead, its first since the opening tip.

Hemerka then knotted things up at 46-all with a shot from behind the arc and a putback with 9:01 left in the contest.

After a 30 second time out, Auburn gained the lead for good with an 10-1 run over the next three minutes to grab a 56-47 lead.

Davidson would get to within three points on three different occasions — 58-55, 60-57 and 62-59 — in the final three minutes thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from junior Kelly Gassie (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) and Housley, a layup by Housley and two free throws by junior Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.) on each occasion.

Auburn's Tamela McCorvey did not allow the Wildcats to get any closer though, sealing the win by making all four of her free throws in the closing 24 seconds for the 66-59 win. McCorvey was second on the team with 13 points and had a game-high six assists to go along with four steals.

Davidson cooled off a bit in the second half, shooting only 32.3 percent and closed out the game at a 39.7 percent clip. Auburn on the other hand turned its 30.8 first-half percentage shooting into 57.7 percent (15-26) in the second half to close out hitting over 40 percent of its shots.

The Tigers held only a 42-39 advantage in the rebounding department with DeWanna Bonner leading all players with 12 boards. The Tigers would score 38 points in the paint, 22 of them in the second half.

Davidson will wrap up the St. Joe's Hawk Classic with a 2 p.m. contest against New Jersey Institute of Technology tomorrow. NJIT (2-8) dropped a 68-59 decision to host St. Joseph's in the first game of the day.