Dominant Defensive Effort Keys 56-39 Women’s Basketball Win Over Charleston

Saturday, December 17

Davidson, N.C.

2:00 p.m.

Davidson College

5-4, 2-0SoCon

College of Charleston

2-6, 1-2SoCon

Coll. of Charleston

Davidson

Laura Murray had her 25th career double-figure scoring game with 16 points.

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Dominant Defensive Effort Keys 56-39 Women’s Basketball Win Over Charleston

12/17/2011 4:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Marc Gignac- Sports Information Director

Game Highlights
Find Your Favorite Wildcat Action Shot at DavidsonPhotos.com

DAVIDSON, N.C. — Laura Murray scored 16 points, while Davidson forced 25 turnovers and held College of Charleston to 32 percent shooting as the Wildcats topped the Cougars 56-39 in Southern Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Belk Arena.

Barbara Sitton tallied 10 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals for Davidson (5-4, 2-0 SoCon), and Sophia Aleksandravicius posted 10 points, five steals, four blocked shots and four rebounds.

Mikaela Hopkins collected 10 points and five rebounds to lead College of Charleston (2-6, 1-2 SoCon), and Jazz Green scored six points.

Davidson held the Cougars to 15-for-47 from the field and 1-for-9 from three-point range. The Wildcats had 13 steals and scored 27 points off of turnovers.

The Davidson defense was dominant in the first period as the Wildcats built a 27-13 halftime lead. Davidson held College of Charleston to 3-of-14 shooting from the field and forced 11 turnovers through the first 13:14 of the game. The Cougars wound up shooting 27 percent in the stanza.

After a sluggish start, the Wildcats got going offensively, stretching an early 9-3 lead into a 21-7 cushion with 7:43 left on consecutive baskets by Aleksandravicius. Murray also canned consecutive three-pointers to ignite the run.

The Cougars turned up the defensive pressure in the second frame and allowed Davidson to score just six points in the first nine minutes of the stanza.

That allowed Charleston to whittle the lead down to eight points on a pair of Alyssa Frye free throws with 6:34 to play. But Davidson responded with 11 straight points from five different players in a decisive run that made the score 50-31 with 3:20 remaining.

The Wildcats remain home for another conference contest against Georgia Southern Monday in Belk Arena.

Game notes: Aleksandravicius is now nine points away from 1,000 for her career … She scored in double figures for the 52nd time … Davidson improved to 4-0 at home this season and has won eight of its last nine games at Belk Arena dating back to last season … The 'Cats last started conference play 2-0 in the 2008-09 campaign … Davidson held its opponent under 35 percent shooting from the field for the sixth time this year … It was the Wildcats' first game since Dec. 3.