Aleksandravicius’ Double-Double Guides ‘Cats to 64-55 Win to Finish 2009

Tuesday, December 29

Davidson, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Davidson College

Newberry College

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Aleksandravicius’ Double-Double Guides ‘Cats to 64-55 Win to Finish 2009

12/29/2009 10:36:11 PM | Women's Basketball

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

Box Score

DAVIDSON, N.C. — Freshman Sophia Aleksandravicius (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) tallied her third double-double of the year and Davidson shook off a rusty first half to score a 64-55 non-conference win over Newberry College on Tuesday evening in women's basketball action at John M. Belk Arena.

The Wildcats closed out the 2009 year in winning fashion with their fourth win in the last five contests to improve to 4-7 overall. Newberry, which came in winners of six of its last seven games, fell to 8-3 on the season.

Aleksandravicius helped the Wildcats shake off a poor shooting first half (9-of-34 for 26.5 percent) to finish with a game-high 22 points, the third time this year she's clipped the 20-point mark, 10 rebounds and a season-best five blocks, one away from tying the single-game school record.

The double-double is her second in the last three games, and it's the fourth time in the last five games the freshman has led the Wildcats in points and rebounds.

She hit 9-of-20 shots from the field and added three more points at the charity stripe. The forward scored 12 of her 22 points in the second half, including 11 of them in the first eight minutes to start the new half as Davidson started to find its shooting touch.

Her lone three-ball in the game at the 11:51 mark gave the Wildcats a 41-37 lead after they had trailed at halftime 25-23, and then later 35-32.

Newberry would not fold though, twice tying the game up in the late stages at 46-all and 50-all after a pair of free throws each by Courtney Browne and Anita Bulcher. Bulcher was one of two Scarlet & Gray players to hit the double-digit mark in points with 10, while adding eight rebounds.

Helen McKinney led the Scarlet & Gray with 12 points, getting all 12 from behind the arc. She hit four of the team's six treys.

Davidson finally took the lead for good on a Aleksandravicius free throw with 6:05 left to give the 'Cats a 51-50 lead, and then later pushed it out to seven (59-52) on a trey by senior Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) at the 1:24 mark.

Thompson helped seal the win for the 'Cats by draining four straight free throws in the closing seconds to cap off a seven-point run of her own. Fellow backcourt teammate Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) closed the scoring with a free throw for the 64-55 win.

Thompson ended the game with 12 points and was joined in the double-digit column by sophomore Kristen Johnsen (Wayne, Pa.) with a career-best 13 points off the bench. She also hauled in a new personal-best nine rebounds as the Wildcats had 45 as a team.

Davidson, coming off a 16-day break after seeing its Dec. 18 game at Radford canceled, could not shake out of its long layoff in the first half. The Wildcats missed 14 of their first 15 shots and fell behind by nine, 16-7, after a Keisha Henderson layup with 6:34 left in the first period.

Freshman Katrin Chiemeka (Marienthal, France) brought the 'Cats within four when in her fist collegiate game, she drained a three-pointer for a 19-15 score and 3:57 left.

But, after Aleksandravicius tied things up at 23-apiece on a baseline jumper with 11 seconds, Newberry's LeAnne Watson pulled down a missed jumper, one of 16 rebounds on the night for the forward, and beat the buzzer with a five-foot jumper in the paint to give the Scarlet & Gray a 25-23 halftime lead.

In the midst of playing five of its next six games at home, Davidson returns to league play to open 2010 and hosts UNC Greensboro on Saturday, Jan. 2, at 2 p.m.

Game Notes: Davidson's defense stepped up in the second half, holding Newberry to 26.7 percent shooting ... the game featured eight ties and four lead changes ... Davidson finished the second half shooting 48.3 percent ... freshman Barbara Sitton dished out a team season-best eight assists ... the win was the Wildcats' first against a non-conference foe this season ... Davidson had its eighth straight winning month of December, ending the month at 3-1.