Saturday,
December 6, 2003
#22 LADY PIRATES DEFEAT BLUE HOSE 74-51
SAVANNAH,
GA –
For the second straight game, the No. 22-ranked Armstrong
Atlantic State women’s basketball squad used a suffocating
defense, defeating Presbyterian, 74-51, in college action at
Alumni Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The
Blue Hose (3-5) scored the first eight points of the game, but
the Lady Pirates (4-2) scored nine straight to take a 9-8 lead
early. PC regained the lead on a jumper by sophomore forward Cameron
Cook (Greensboro, Ga.) at 20-19, with six minutes
remaining in the first half, but AASU outscored the Blue Hose,
18-7, to take a 10-point lead at halftime, 37-27.
After
a Tasha Washington
basket opened the second half for AASU, Presbyterian got two
baskets from redshirt sophomore forward Dana
Birnie (Suwanne, Ga.) to cut the lead to eight, 39-31,
but that would be as close as the Blue Hose would get. AASU
held Presbyterian to just six points in the first 10 minutes
after intermission and forced 24 Blue Hose turnovers in
picking up its second straight victory. Presbyterian shot just
31.6 percent from the floor (18-of-57) while the Lady Pirates
benefited from 26 more shot attempts (29-of-73), shooting 39.7
percent from the floor.
Washington
led all scorers for the Lady Pirates with 24 points, while
also recording nine rebounds, eight assists and six steals.
Junior Ramona Wright went 10-of-15 off the bench for AASU for a season-high
22 points, while senior Vandy
Noldon chipped in 11 points. Presbyterian had a trio of
players score 10 points –Cook, senior guard Billie
Haskins
(Greensboro, Ga.) and sophomore center Anna
Sheppard (Norcross, Ga.). The Lady Pirate defense did
an exceptional job in handling Haskins, who entered the game
averaging over 20 points a game and seven three-point
attempts. The guard tandem of senior Marloes
Renskers and junior Briana
Milam held Haskins to just 3-of-14 shooting from the floor
and only one attempted three-pointer. Haskins remains 19
points shy of becoming Presbyterian’s 14th 1,000-point
scorer with 981 career points for the Blue Hose.
AASU
will break for final exams and be next in action on Tuesday,
December 16, at Tusculum at 5:00 p.m. Presbyterian is next in
action on December 9 against North Greenville at 7:00 p.m.