SALISBURY, N.C. – Anderson University women's basketball (10-8, 4-4 SAC) allowed a huge opportunity to upset South Atlantic Conference's top-ranked team Catawba (15-3, 9-1) slip by after relinquishing a second half, 14-point lead on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Gymnasium.
"Great effort by our team today," said head coach Jonathon Barbaree. "They fought hard all game. Unfortunately, I let them down and did not do my job as a coach to close it out. I should have stolen some rest minutes for a few players and used my last few timeouts better."
"So, this one is definitely on me," added Barbaree.
After a back-and-forth affair over much of the first quarter, the game was tied at 13 apiece with 2:19 remaining in the quarter. Catawba closed out the first stanza with a 9-to-4 run to claim the early advantage, 22-17.
Anderson was able to erase the five- point deficit, outscoring the Indians 22-9 to claim an eight-
point lead after two quarters of play. Senior Brittney Stafford and sophomore Diamond McDowell each scored 11 points in the first half of action.
The Trojans continued its solid play in the second half, building a 14-point lead. However, the Indians began to apply full court pressure and multiple Black and Gold turnovers led to a 10-0 run, cutting AU's lead to just four points with 3:51 remaining in the quarter. Anderson was able to hold off the Indians to carry a seven-point lead heading to the final period of play.
Catawba scored nine quick points to begin the fourth quarter to take its first lead, since early in the second quarter, 58-56. The Indians would eventually take AU on a 17-0 run to push their lead to 10, 66-56. Anderson could not recover, only scoring four total points in the final period.
The Black and Gold turned the ball over a total of 19 times, with 14 of those miscues coming in the second half of play.
AU's McDowell scored a team-high 19 points and ripped down 10 rebounds to record her sixth double-double of the season. Stafford netted 16 points, while dishing out five assists. Senior Jalyn Spurlin chipped in 10 points with senior Britney Bailey hauling in 11 rebounds and contributing six points.
Catawba's Janiya Downs scored 13 of her game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter of action, while teammate Lyrik Thorne dropped in 20 points on the afternoon.
Anderson remains on the road to play South Atlantic Conference opponent Wingate on Wednesday. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 pm.
