Tech, who is ranked No. 1 in the latest USA Today/ESPN WBCA Division II Coaches’ Poll, held the Wolves to 19 first half points and 28 percent shooting from the field in improving to 5-1 on the season and completing its road swing through the Southeast with a 1-1 record.
“I thought we did good job playing defense tonight. It was a a big improvement from Saturday’s game at West Alabama,” Golden Suns Head Coach Dave Wilbers said. “I liked our effort on both ends of the floor and it was a solid team performance.”
Monday’s defensive performance came just two days after West Alabama shot 49 percent from the field and 50 percent from the three-point line in the Lady Tigers 85-73 win over the Golden Suns in Livingston, Ala.
In addition to a strong defensive outing, Tech’s offense finished shooting 44 percent from the field, including shooting 46 percent from the floor in sprinting out to a 33-19 lead at the half and shooting 36 percent from the 3-point line. Tech’s bench scored 14 of its 33 first half points.
“Our offense was efficient most of the game, especially in the first half and early in the second half,” said Wilbers, who coached his 100th game as Tech’s coach against UWG. “Plus, I thought our bench rebounded well after its outing last time out.”
Tech’s bench, who scored just three points in the loss to UWA, collected 18 points off the bench in Monday’s win. Junior forward Lindsey Root (Marion, Ark.) scored nine points off the bench, while junior forward Katie Horsman (Fairfield Bay, Ark.) added seven bench points.
Junior forward Natalia Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) led the way offensively for Tech as she scored a game-high 20 points, including 16 in the second half. In addition to Santos, senior All-America guard Jenny Vining (Marshall, Ark.) tallied nine, while sophomore forward Jessica Weatherford (Bonnerdale, Ark.) added eight points and seven rebounds in the win.
In Monday’s game, Tech scored the game’s first five points and led 11-5 just a little over seven into minutes into the game when UWG used a 4-0 run to pull within 11-9 following a free throw by Anelia Murray with 11:24 remaining.
The Golden Suns, though, used a 15-4 run capped by a three-pointer from the left baseline by Root to push out to a 26-13 lead with 5:10 left.
After CBU stopped Tech’s run with a three-pointer from Monica Williams nearly two minutes later to push within 26-16, the Golden Suns closed out the half on a 7-3 run to go into halftime with a 33-19 lead, including Vining scoring the final three points.
Tech opened the second half scoring 15 of the first 24 points to extend its halftime lead to 44-22 following 10 consecutive points from Santos and capped by a fast break lay-up from senior guard Laura Beth Anderson (Springdale, Ark.).
From that point, UWG used a 21-8 run to pull within 56-45 with 8:31 remaining in the game. The Golden Suns answered with an 8-2 capped by two Weatherford free throws to push in front 62-45 with a little less than five minutes remaining in the contest.
The Wolves, who fell to 1-5 on the season, scored 11 of the game’s final 15 points to set the final margin.
“A lot of credit goes to UWG, they hit some shots in the second half,” said Wilbers, who improved to 81-19 as Tech’s coach.
UWG was paced offensively by Williams, who tallied 19 points and added 12 rebounds, while Valerie Jones added 11 points in the loss. Krystal Delph added a game-high 12 rebounds as UWG held a 47-34 edge on the glass.
The Golden Suns will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 4 as they play host to St. Edward’s in a 4 p.m. non-conference contest at Tucker Coliseum.
“We now have a chance to return home, get some rest, practice and continue to improve as a basketball team,” the Tech coach added.
No comments:
Post a Comment