Pisgah, Owen defeat SM women in classic

The Warlassies rode the outside shooting of Whitney Swann and the inside play of 6-4 Florida State signee Hannah Linquist to a 44-35 victory on Dec. 22.

Christy Pruett led the Lady Mustangs with 17 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. Stasha Nicholson was SM's top rebounder with nine, and Ashley Harn had seven. Tori Kelly handed out three assists.

"We put forth a real good effort, especially defensively and on the boards," Coach Cindi Simmons said. "Christy had an excellent game inside going up against bigger people. Stasha had a strong game on the boards."

The game started out at a slow pace with both teams playing a zone. Swann hit two of her five three-pointers in the final 33 seconds of the first period for a 10-3 Owen lead.

The Lady Mustangs opened the second period with 10 unanswered points, including seven by Pruett, for a 13-10 lead with 4:39 remaining in the half after a basket by Courtney Bryson.

SM's last lead was 14-13 on a Bryson free throw with 4:05 on the clock. Nicholson's 16-footer tied it 16-16 at the 1:42 mark.

The Warlassies went up 28-20 on another Swann three-pointer at the 2:45 mark.

Nicholson cut the gap to 28-25 with 1:51 on the clock, and Owen led 32-25 entering the fourth period.

The game's biggest lead was 37-25 when Linquist scored with 4:29 to play.

SM made just five of 13 free throws and shot 33 percent from the floor.

Pruett hit seven field goals and three foul shots.

Nicholson and Bryson both finished with six points, Harn netted four and Kelly had two.

Leslie Young's 18 points paced Pisgah to a 55-33 win on Dec. 21. Jessica Hall added 12 points for the Sugar Bears, and Leah McElrath had 11.

Ashley Harn and Jennifer Hyatt both scored nine points for the Lady Mustangs.

"We got off to a good start and played well in the first quarter," Coach Cindi Simmons said. "Pisgah dominated the boards, and that was a determining factor."

Hyatt's five rebounds led SM.

Harn and Bryson scored the game's first two baskets in the first minute and a half, but Pisgah quickly gained control with a 13-2 run spanning two periods.

McElrath's three-pointer with 1:26 on the clock put the Sugar Bears ahead to stay at 10-8. The margin was 12-8 at the quarter break and reached 17-8 when Young scored with 6:04 to go in the half.

Nine consecutive points, including four by Young, extended the margin to 26-11 with 1:31 on the clock. Pisgah led 26-13 at intermission.

Hall had eight points , including a pair of treys, and Young added five in a 15-2 spurt for a 45-19 lead with 1:44 to play in the third stanza, which ended with the Sugar Bears leading 45-21.

The game's biggest lead was 53-24 with 4:32 to play on a basket by Amy Allen.

The Lady Mustangs shot 40.6 percent from the floor. They had only 32 attempts in large part due to a lack of rebounding.

Completing the SM scoring were Stasha Nicholson with six, Ashley Holmes with four, Courtney Bryson and Danielle Bowers with two each and Jessie Woodard with one.

Back to Sports: 01/03/02.