Trio’s Strong Day Gives Wildcats Big Win at Clemson in Season Opener

Friday, November 8

Clemson, S.C.

4:00 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

1-0

Clemson

0-1

Team	1	2	F
Davidson	31	46	77
Clemson	28	29	57

Shneeka Center hit 5-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-5 from downtown and pulled in seven rebounds in the win.

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Trio’s Strong Day Gives Wildcats Big Win at Clemson in Season Opener

11/8/2013 7:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

Box Score (html)
DavidsonPhotos.com

CLEMSON, S.C. – Laura Murray, Hannah Early and Shneeka Center combined to score 60 points, and Davidson used a lengthy run in the second half to roll to a 77-57 season-opening win at Clemson Friday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum in women's basketball.

It was the Wildcats' first win over the Tigers in the series and their first season-opening victory since 2008-09 vs. Winthrop, all thanks to the trio of Murray, Early and Center.

Murray paced all scorers with a game-high 22 points, getting 12 of them at the charity stripe, which was a career-high.

Early had a career-best 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including a career-high 5-for-5 from behind the three-line. She helped the Wildcats drill home 10-of-15 triples for the game. Early did her damage in the first half, scoring 13 points including the first seven of the game for Davidson.

Center caught fire in the second half, scoring 14 of her 18 total points in the half. She canned a career-high four triples, three of them coming during the Wildcats' big run.

Dakota Dukes rounded out Davidson's double-digit scorers with 11 points and just missed a double-double, hauling in nine rebounds.

Clemson's Quinyotta Pettaway had a double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds to pace the Tigers, while Chelsea Lindsay added 12 points.

After the Tigers erased Davidson's 37-31 lead early in the second half, both teams went back-and-forth trading the lead.

Then tied at 45-all in the second half with 12:27 to go, Center sparked the game-changing run when she canned a three-pointer on the right wing. The scoring continued for the senior as she scored 11 of the next 12 Wildcat points and 14 overall in a 20-3 run, capped off by another trey from Center, as Davidson opened up a 64-48 lead with 5:38 remaining.

Murray put the game away by scoring 12 of Davidson's final 15 points when it pushed the lead out to as many as 20 points.

Davidson shot 52.2 percent in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 46-29, while turning the ball over just six times. The 'Cats' defense held the Tigers without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes in the second half as Clemson mustered just three free throws during Davidson's game-winning run.

Behind a pair of runs, the Wildcats grabbed a three-point lead (31-28) after the first half. Down 15-7 at the 11:10 mark, Davidson rattled off a 10-1 spurt in five minutes to take a 17-16 lead at the 6:03 mark to force Clemson into burning a timeout.

The Tigers responded, retaking the lead later at 24-17 on a Lindsay layup, but the Wildcats used their second big run of the half to grab the advantage at the break. Sparked by Early's second triple of the half, the 'Cats went on a 14-4 run in the final 3:30. The junior sharp-shooter canned her third three-pointer during the run and Alex Long capped it off with the Wildcats' fifth three-ball of the half to make it 31-28 heading into the locker room.

Davidson remains on the road and will play at Mount Saint Mary's for the first time Tuesday, Nov. 12. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Davidson improved to 9-26 in season openers all-time … the Wildcats have opened the season on the road or at a neutral site 19 times, going 6-13 in those games … Murray is 15 points away from moving into fifth place all-time in scoring with 1,285 points … the win was Davidson's first against an ACC opponent since it defeat Wake Forest on the road, 82-75, Nov. 17, 1998.