SAVANNAH, Ga. - With three players reaching double figures, the Anderson women's basketball team earned its first win of the season by outpacing Flagler, 67-50, in the Wingate by Wyndham Lady Pirate Classic Friday evening at the Armstrong Sports center.
Anderson (1-2) fell behind early but stayed close and the Trojans gained their first lead of the contest, at 12-11, on junior forward Breonda Shannon's old-fashioned three-point play with 13:37 remaining in the opening half.
But the lead was brief, as Flagler (0-2) countered with a 7-2 run over the next 5:23 to push out to its largest lead of the game, 21-14, at the 8:14 mark. AU rallied again, trimming the deficit to just a single point on three occasions before finally taking its second lead of the game, 26-25, on a layup by junior guard Alissa Diaz with 4:18 left in the half.
Flagler senior Charlsea Owen answered with a basket on the other end, but Trojan junior guard Amanda Parris drained one of her two 3-pointers 13 seconds later to give Anderson a lead it would not surrender, at 29-27. The Trojans closed out the final three minutes on a 5-1 run, taking a 34-28 advantage to the locker room.
Anderson pushed out to a double-digit lead on a short jumper by
freshman Jaclyn Moore with 15:59 remaining in the game and edged
out to its largest lead of the contest, at 57-36, with less than
eight minutes on the clock.
The Trojans shot a season-best 88.9 percent from the free-throw
line and held a commanding 41-33 rebounding edge. Diaz notched a
game-high 13 points, while fellow junior Tilde Ahlin add 11 points
and a season-high seven rebounds. Parris tossed in 10 points, while
handing out three assists. Moore scored a season-high seven points
and recorded four blocked shots on the night. Shannon posted nine
points and grabbed a career-high four steals.
Shelbi Lindsey scored a team-high 12 points for the Saints.
Anderson closes out its four-game season opening road swing by squaring off against host Armstrong Atlantic Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the Armstrong Sports Center.