Women's Basketball Sets School Mark For Wins With 75-52 Triumph vs. GSU
2/10/2007 1:26:48 PM | Women's Basketball
Sports Information - Gavin McFarlin
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Davidson used a 23-10 run to start the second half on its way to a 75-52 victory over Georgia Southern as the Wildcat women's basketball team set a new single-season school record for wins with 19 on Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference action. The previous best mark was 18 set by the 1998-99 squad and matched twice during head coach Annette Watts' six-year tenure. Davidson, who had dropped three of its past four contests, got back on the winning track by improving to 19-6 overall and 10-4 in league play. GSU fell to 9-16 overall and 4-10 in SoCon action.
Before the game, seniors Brynn Kelly (Spokane, Wash.), Jessica Mitchell (Wilkesboro, N.C.) and Tia Washington (Charlotte, N.C.) were honored for Senior Day. The three combined for 27 of the Wildcats' 75 points, led by Washington's 16. The Wildcats' starting point guard, Washington tied her career-high with an 8-for-8 performance from the charity stripe, while chipping in with three assists, three boards and two steals.
Mitchell nailed two of the 'Cats' six three-pointers on her way to eight points and dished out a game-high six assists. She also pocketed half of Davidson's 10 steals on the afternoon. The Wildcats welcomed back Kelly, who had missed the last nine games due to a stress fracture in her foot. The senior post player played 14 minutes and contributed three points, four rebounds and a steal.
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| Katie Hamilton hitting one of her two three-balls in the game. |
Pacing the Wildcats to their third win of 21 or more points was redshirt junior Katie Hamilton with a game-high 18 points, 11 of them coming in the first half. She finished 5-of-9 from the field, including two three-balls, and hauled in eight rebounds off the glass.
Davidson played catch up most of the first half as Georgia Southern led by five, 15-10, through the first nine minutes of the half. Four times the Wildcats came back to tie the score, only to see the Eagles regain the lead on their next possession.
Then on the fifth tie of the half, 21-21, Davidson got a Hamilton jumper on its next turn down the floor and outscored the Eagles 11-4 in the final five minutes of the stanza for a 32-25 lead at intermission.
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| Mercedes Robinson registered six of her team-best nine boards on the defensive end. |
Though it was Senior Day, it was the underclassman sophomore Mercedes Robinson (Mansfield, Texas) who put on a show of her own to start the second half. She started the Wildcats' second period with a layup in the lane and went on to net 10 of Davidson's next 17 points to push a seven-point Wildcat halftime lead out to 15 (49-34) with 11:41 remaining in the game. Robinson also chipped in with a team-best nine boards for the game and has hauled in 17 in her past two contests.
Davidson went on to push its lead into the 20's on a three-ball from Mitchell at the 8:50 mark and would lead by as many as 26 points the rest of the way in picking up its ninth home game of the season, 75-52.
The Wildcats also ran their win streak against the Eagles to eight straight, by sweeping the two-game regular-season series.
Carolyn Whitney, who had 14 in her first meeting against the Wildcats, matched that number, while the Eagles' leading scorer Tiffany Brown was the other player to hit for double figures, closing with 10 points. The Eagles were held to 32.8 percent shooting, marking the seventh time Davidson has held its opponent to under 35 percent shooting in a game.
Chequilla Jessie paced the Eagles on the boards, pulling down nine in helping GSU to a 41-39 rebounding margin.
Davidson finishes out the home portion of its schedule with a matchup against Elon on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. Davidson will be looking to match the school record for most home wins at Belk Arena in a season, which is 10.
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| The Davidson Wildcat Class of 2007 has compiled a 69-44 record during their careers. |
