Davidson Falls on the Road to Cross-County Rival Charlotte

Wednesday, December 21

Charlotte, NC

6:00 p.m.

Davidson College

2-9

Charlotte

8-3

Davidson

Charlotte

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Davidson Falls on the Road to Cross-County Rival Charlotte

12/21/2016 8:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Gavin McFarlin - Associate SID

Box Score (pdf)
DavidsonPhotos.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Despite career nights from sophomore Justine Lyon and junior Mackenzie Latt, Davidson dropped a 93-79 decision to cross-county rival Charlotte on the road Wednesday evening in women's basketball on the hardwood in Halton Arena.

Charlotte used a 24-1 run that stretched over the last minute of the first quarter and ran all the way to the 4:09 mark of the second quarter to erase a three-point Wildcat lead and take a 36-16 lead. It would lead by as many as 29 points the rest of the way. The 49ers canned six of their 13 three-balls for the game during the spurt, getting two each by Ciara Gregory and Amaya Ransom.

Gregory led all scorers with a career-high 35 points, shooting 7-for-10 from behind the arc. Laia Raventos was 3-of-5 from three-land and had 19 points, while Lefty Webster finished with 15 for the 49ers.

Charlotte as a team shot 50 percent overall, including 13-of-22 from three-point range. Davidson finished at 43.7 percent, but just 4-for-21 from long range, but did dominate the boards with a 44-32 advantage. It matched its season-high with 21 offensive rebounds.

Lyon's big night saw her score a career-high 30 points on personal bests of 11-for-18 shooting and 4-of-5 from three-point range. The guard scored 12 of her points in the third quarter, including the 'Cats' final seven points.

Latt had her best game this season so far, tallying her second double-double by dropping in a career-best 28 points and hauling in a season-high 14 boards to go with three steals and a block. The junior went a personal-best 12-for-19 from the floor.

Davidson's leading scorer Kianna Speight, who was coming off back-to-back 20-point games, had a tough shooting night, going 0-for-11 from behind the arc and was held to just two points.

Behind Lyon's seven first-quarter points, Davidson started the game out well. A triple by Lyon and a jumper in the paint by Rachel Piles gave the Wildcats a 15-12 lead with a minute left in the first quarter.

Charlotte then turned up its offense, using its 24-1 run to go up 20 points with 4:09 left in the second quarter. Latt, who scored the lone point for Davidson during the run, halted the 49ers' streak by converting an and-one play. The junior then rattled off seven more points for a total of 11 in the quarter and got the 'Cats back within 13 (40-27) before Charlotte headed into the break up 47-30.

Despite trailing by as many as 29 through the third quarter, the 'Cats never backed down in the final 10 minutes. They got to within 13 points by scoring 18 of the first 29 points of the final quarter to make it 86-73 with 3:08 left. Latt scored eight of the points.

A Lyon layup with 1:24 remaining made it 89-77 before Charlotte sealed the win by scoring four of the last six points.

The 'Cats registered season highs in field goals (31), points in the paint (42), points off turnovers (30) and second-chance points (23).

Davidson takes an eight-day break for Christmas before hosting Mercer, Dec. 29, at 7 p.m. in its final non-conference game.

GAME NOTES: This was the 27th meeting all-time between the two schools women's basketball programs, dating back to the first meeting, Feb. 4, 1974 … Charlotte leads 17-10 now and has won the last eight straight meetings … with her 28-point outing, Latt is now 61 points away from reaching the 1,000-mark for her career … the double-double was the 15th of her career, while she pushed her double-figure points streak to eight straight … Latt reached the 20-point mark for the second time this year and seventh overall for her career … Davidson reached the 40-rebound mark for the fifth game in a row and sixth time overall … the Wildcats dished 12 assists and have collected 51 in the past three games combined … the 25-point third quarter by the 'Cats was a season high.