SAVANNAH, Ga. - Using red-hot 58.6 percent shooting in the first half, Armstrong Atlantic State held off Anderson, 79-68, in nonconference women's basketball action at the Pirate's Fairfield Inn and Suites Lady Pirate Classic Saturday afternoon at the Armstrong Sports Center.
Armstrong Atlantic (3-1) scored the first seven points of the
game, and while Anderson (2-2) rallied to tie the score at 14-14
with 12:25 left in the first half, The Trojans were unable to
overtake the Pirates.
The host Pirates connected on 7-of-13 treys in the opening half en
route to taking a 42-30 lead at the break. The Trojans battled back
after intermission, opening up the second half on a 12-5 run to cut
the lead to five points, 47-42, with 14:26 left in the game on two
free throws from senior forward Breonda Shannon. Senior Tilde Ahlin
scored five points during the surge with Shannon contributing
four.
But Pirates' junior Tori Klewicki-McNutt answered with 3-pointer on the other end to push the Pirates' lead back to eight and spark a 9-0 run that pushed the Armstrong lead to 59-42, with just over 10 minutes remaining. Anderson would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.
Shannon led the Trojans with her second double-double of the season, with 16 points and 15 rebounds, while senior guard Alissa Diaz added 14 points despite being hobbled with early foul trouble. Ahlin netted 13 points and guard Amanda Parris chipped in 10 points. One day after connecting on nine treys, AU was just 3-of-17 from beyond the arc.
Bryonna Davis led all scorers with 20 points, while Demisha Mills added 16 points and seven rebounds. Klewicki-McNutt hit 7-of-11 shots from the floor, including 3-of-6 three-pointers, en route to 17 points and Dee Hayward came off the bench to chip in 10 points.
Up next for the Trojans is their longest road trip in recent
memory as AU will log nearly 3,400 air miles and celebrate
Thanksgiving at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Mt. McKinley
Bank North Invitational. The Trojans will square off against Winona
State on Thursday, the host Nanooks Friday and will wrap up the
event on Saturday versus Upper Iowa.
