Robinson's Lone 2nd Half Bucket Carries Davidson to Thrilling 67-66 Win

Saturday, February 9

Boone, N.C.

1 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

at App. State

Junior Mercedes Robinson (Photo courtesy of Willis Glasglow - WG Sports)

Robinson's Lone 2nd Half Bucket Carries Davidson to Thrilling 67-66 Win

2/9/2008 3:31:42 PM | Women's Basketball

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

Box Score

BOONE, N.C. -- With 4.2 ticks left in the game, junior Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.) gathered an inbounds pass in the paint and swished home a three-footer for the game-winning shot, her only bucket of the second half, and Davidson overcame a 21-point deficit in the first half to score a 67-66 come-from-behind win on the road at Appalachian State in women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Holmes Center.

The Wildcats earned their first victory of the season when trailing with under five minutes remaining to move to 14-9 overall and 8-4 in Southern Conference play. The win marked the Wildcats fourth straight against ASU, who fell to 5-18 overall and 2-10 in league games.

Robinson finished the contest with just six points, but her last two points of the game were the only two the Wildcats needed in earning a hard fought win on the road. The junior forward also added eight boards, three assists and four steals.

Trailing the whole game until Robinson's bucket, Davidson finally knotted things up at 59-all on two Honna Housley (Riceville, Tenn.) free throws with 4:04 on the clock, capping off a 12-2 run by the 'Cats.

After both teams traded buckets on each of their next possessions, ASU got a layup and a jumper to grab a 65-61 advantage with 1:40 left in the game.

Then on Davidson's next two touches, sophomore Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) rattled home a jumper in the right corner and then drew a foul off a Gassie steal with 31 seconds remaining. She proceeded to calmly hit the front end of the one-and-one, and then tied the score for the third time at 65 with her second free throw.

On Appalachian State's second-to-last possession, Whitney Tossie, who scored a game-high 22 points, drew a foul on a drive to the bucket with seven ticks. But she hit just one of her two free throws setting up Robinson's late-game heroics. It was just Tossie's second missed free of the game (7-of-9) and proved to be costly.

ASU did get one last look at the basket when Sam Ramirez fired off a deep three-pointer that hit the front-end of the rim for the final score of 67-66.

Senior Danielle Hemerka (Blackwood, N.J.) led four Wildcats in double digits with a double-double, her second of the season, by scoring 12 points and hauling in a game-high tying 11 boards. She had nine of the 12 points and four of the boards in the first half in keeping the Wildcats within striking distance.

Junior Kelly Gassie (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) and sophomore Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) led a 36-point attack by the bench with a team-high 13 points apiece. Gassie also pocketed a career-high five steals as Davidson had 15 as a team.

The first half saw the Wildcats fall behind 22-9 in the first five mutes of action. ASU hit three shots from downtown and Tossie scored seven points in the run.

Later, Appalachian State got a layup from Tossie that finished off a 13-2 run and Davidson found itself down 40-19 at the 5:21 mark.

Davidson finally turned up the intensity on both ends of the court as it closed out the half scoring the final 10 points, while holding Appalachian State without a field goal in the last five minutes. The 'Cats went into halftime down eleven at 40-29.

Besides Tossie, the Mountaineers' Brittany Mixon scored in double figures by recording her second straight double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Davidson returns home for a two-game slate starting on Friday, Jan. 15 with a game against UNC Greensboro at 7 p.m. In their first meeting, the Wildcats took a 70-59 decision at Greensboro, N.C.