Hemerka and the Wildcats Battle Through in 55-48 Win

Saturday, December 29

Philadelphia, Pa.

2 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

vs. NJIT

Danielle Hemerka earned a spot on the St. Joe's Hawk Classic All-Tournament team after scoring a combined 24 points in two games.

Hemerka and the Wildcats Battle Through in 55-48 Win

12/29/2007 4:27:05 PM | Women's Basketball

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- In her return trip back home, senior Danielle Hemerka (Blackwood, N.J.) tied three players with a game-best 11 points and the Wildcats, on a day when their shots were not falling, used a strong defensive effort in the second half to prevail over New Jersey Institute of Technology, 55-48, in the consolation game of the St. Joe's Hawk Classic on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

St. Joseph's took home their own tournament title with an upset win over No. 15 Auburn by the score of 71-69 in the championship game.

Davidson improved to 7-5 overall and finished 1-1 at the classic, while NJIT fell to 2-9 on the season. The Wildcats' closed out their non-conference schedule, which included games against No. 8 Georgia and No. 15 Auburn as well as Virginia, at 6-5.

Hemerka, just across the state boarder in Blackwood, N.J, finished the two-day classic with 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds to go along with four assists. For her efforts, Hemerka was named to the St. Joe's Hawk Classic All-Tournament team.

The senior along with sophomore Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) both hit for 11 points in the win, with Thompson scoring nine of her points from behind the arc when she hit three clutch three-pointers late in the second half.

After leading by as many as 11 points in the first half, Davidson found itself down 39-32 when the Highlanders used a 10-0 run to grab the seven-point advantage with 13:22 left in the second period. NJIT would lead the majority of the half before the Wildcats gained the lead for good with around four minutes to go.

Two big three-pointers by Thompson helped the Wildcats regain the lead briefly, 40-39, just four minutes later.

Then trailing 46-45, Thompson hit the last of her three treys to give the Wildcats the advantage for good at 48-46 with 3:51 remaining in the contest.

Sophomore Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) helped keep the Highlanders at a distance by going 3-for-4 from the charity stripe, while junior Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.) scored her lone second-half bucket on a putback with 42 seconds left. Hemerka then sealed the win with two free throws for the final score of 55-48.

Davidson held NJIT to 27.6 percent shooting in the second half and 32.7 percent for the game.

Neither team was very sharp in the first half, showcased by the Wildcats' 33.3 percent shooting (9-27) and the Highlanders' 19 turnovers.

Davidson finally got on track midway through the half and jumped out to an early 18-7 lead after a Robinson layup at the 7:50 mark. Then all the sudden the Wildcats went cold, missing their next nine shots until the scoring drought came to an end on a turn-around jumper from the right elbow by Paquette with 1:13 left in the period.

Paquette closed out the game with nine points and six rebounds to assist Davidson to a 39-37 advantage on the boards.

NJIT took advantage of the Wildcat shooting woes by going on a 13-0 run capped off by a three-pointer from Jill Dickinson in the corner to grab a 20-18 lead at the 3:08 mark. The Highlanders would ride that run and momentum into halftime up 23-22.

The Wildcats had another balanced attack, placing five players in the books with six or more points.

Sophomore Monica Laune (Ashland, Neb.) had a nice all-around game with six points and four rebounds as the Wildcat bench outscored the Highlanders 23-14. Laune also pocketed three of the Wildcats' 10 steals.

The Highlanders were led by Jessica Gerald and Adriana Johnson with 11 and 10 points each. Maya Al-Shingieti hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds.

Davidson will now dive back into conference play for the remainder of the season. Wrapping up its four-game road swing will be a trip to Charleston, S.C. to take on College of Charleston on Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. The Wildcats have won their last 11 meetings against the Cougars and lead the all-time series 18-4.