Wildcats Back on Winning Track, Open SoCon Play with 67-57 Win

Tuesday, December 2

Davidson, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Davidson College

Furman

Ashley Lax has now hit for double figures in points in three straight games and five times overall this year.

Photo by: WG Sports, Willis Glassgow

Wildcats Back on Winning Track, Open SoCon Play with 67-57 Win

12/2/2008 10:50:06 PM | Women's Basketball

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- For the second time in the past three games, the Davidson women's basketball team had three scorers reach double digits, and they also placed two players in double figures in rebounds as the Wildcats started the month of December in winning fashion with a 67-57 victory in their conference and home opener against visiting Furman on Tuesday evening at John M. Belk Arena.

Davidson snapped its five-game losing streak with a balanced attack to improve to 2-5 on the year, while winning its Southern Conference opener for the third straight season. The 'Cats also pushed their home winning streak to seven straight dating back to last year.

Furman fell to an even 3-3 overall and 0-1 in SoCon action.

Senior Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.) and Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) had their second straight solid game on the offensive end with 18 and 17 points, respectively, to pace the Wildcats. The duo were coming off career highs of 24 and 19 points, respectively, against St. Joe's last Saturday at the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament.

Robinson was one board shy of her third double-double as she finished with nine rebounds, but supplying the muscle on the glass for the 'Cats were forwards Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) and Mandy Halbersleben (Cincinnati, Ohio). The duo hauled in 22 of the Wildcats' game-high 49 total rebounds. Paquette, who hauled in a previous personal-best of nine boards at Vanderbilt, equaled that in the first half, and tacked on three more in the second half for a game- and career-high 12. Halbersleben matched her career-best with 10.

Leading 59-54 with 4:18 remaining in the contest, Davidson put the game out of reach by going on an 8-0 run over the next two and half minutes to take a 67-54 lead. Paquette tallied four of her eight points for the game during the stretch.

The Wildcats, who led by as many as 13 in the second half, saw Furman cut the lead down to five twice, but each time, the 'Cats answered back with the sweet shooting of Lax and junior point guard Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.).

After a jumper by Furman's Melissa Liebschwager at the 10:06 mark brought the Paladins within five at 43-38, Thompson responded for Davidson with back-to-back clutch treys to push the lead back out to nine. Thompson rounded out the trio of double-figure scores with 10 points to go along with a season-high seven assists and five rebounds.

Then at the 8:14 mark, a Paladin layup brought the score to 49-44, but Lax countered with a bucket in the lane off a pass from Thompson and drew a foul. She swished home the free throw to complete the three-point play and Davidson went on to push the lead back out to 10 with 5:41 remaining in the contest.

The first half saw Furman, which entered the night leading the league in three-point shooting, used the three-ball to its advantage as it opened up a 13-11 lead by hitting three of its first five shots from behind the arc. Lee Stephens hit two of them in the half, and finished at her season average of 17 points for the game to pace the Paladins, who also had three players in double figures.

Lax answered for the Wildcats by showcasing her own deadly-eye from three-land, draining three shots from downtown. Her biggest three of the half came at the end of a 7-0 run to close out the period when she fired in a buzzer-beater from the right wing to give the Wildcats a 31-24 lead heading into halftime.

Lax closed out the contest a personal-best 4-of-9 from three-land and Davidson tied its season-high with seven three-pointers.

The Wildcats return to action when they head to play Appalachian State on Saturday, Dec. 6, with gametime set for 5 p.m.

Game Notes: Davidson improved to 6-2 in both home and conference openers under head coach Annette Watts ... The Wildcats again hit double digits in offensive rebounds with 18, marking the sixth time this year, while also outrebounding the opposition overall for the fifth time ... Seven of Paquette's 12 rebounds came on the offensive end ... The last time Davidson had a pair of players reach double digits in rebounds in a game was on Feb. 17, 2007 at Wofford with Katie Hamilton (12) and Robinson (11) accomplishing the feat.