• box score
  

ROCK HILL, SC—After building a seven point advantage in the second half, Winthrop went cold from the field and opened the 2010-11 season with a 59-50 loss to Belmont, Friday evening at the Winthrop Classic.

After holding a four-point advantage at the half, Belmont drained a three to pull within a point. However, the Lady Eagles used a 9-3 run to open up a seven point lead with 13:50 to go in the game after a Mary Hathaway runner in the lane.

From that point, Winthrop couldn't get shots to fall and finished the game 4-for-20 from the field the rest of the way. The Bruins scored 11 straight points behind back-to-back-to-back threes for a 39-35 lead with 10:35 remaining. Molly Ernst drained a three in transition followed by another Ernst three for the lead. Three possessions later, Alyssa Visbeen hit a straight away three to push the lead to four points and control of the game.

Winthrop (0-1) did fight back to take a 42-41 lead with 6:39 left, but Belmont answered right back to take the lead for good on a Tristan Daniel jumper in the lane. The game stayed within reach for the Lady Eagles and the lead was cut to one with 5:02 left after Tiffany Charles made two free throws. Daniel came right back with a three-pointer for the Bruins and Charles answered right away with a jumper in the lane to cut the lead back down to two. But Belmont continued to shoot the ball well and Shaunda Strayhorn, who missed her first seven shots in the game, backed off a screen and drained a long three-pointer that sealed the win.

“Belmont did their things better in the second half than we did,” said Winthrop head coach Bud Childers. “You have to get them credit. We were fighting it hard in the second half to get quality shots. Our kids played hard, but just couldn't get the shots to go in. We saw some encouraging things out there tonight.”

The Lady Eagles did go cold from the field, which helped the Bruins take the lead and pull off the win. After Belmont took the four point lead with over 10 minutes remaining, Winthrop missed its next seven shots until Lacey Lyons drilled a three-pointer. The team shot 20 percent down the stretch.

The first half saw Winthrop jump out to an early 8-0 lead behind two Lyons treys and the home team even led by eight with 12:54 remaining, but Belmont responded with a 14-5 run for a 16-15 lead with 8:15 to go.

Lyons nailed a jumper in the paint to put the Lady Eagles back on top for the remainder of the first half. Rachel Swisher hit a three-pointer with over a minute to play to make it a one-point game, but Winthrop ran a play to Hathaway for a last second shot and she drilled a three for a 26-22 lead at the break.

Winthrop shot 38 percent from the field and forced nine turnovers to build the lead at half, but only shot 25 percent from the floor in the second half while Belmont was 11-for-22 from the field and 6-for-12 from behind the arc in the second half.

Lyons finished with a game-high 19 points and connected on five treys. Charles scored a collegiate-best 12 points while Hathaway added 10 points and two steals. Dequesha McClanahan, playing in her first collegiate contest, had four points, six rebounds, and five assists in 23 minutes.

Daniel led the Bruins with 17 points while Ernst added 14. Tereva Moore had six points and nine rebounds.

In the first game of the Winthrop Classic, Central Michigan placed five players in double-figures that included 32 points off the bench from Jalisa Olive in a 119-71 rout of North Carolina A&T.

Winthrop will face North Carolina A&T on Sunday at 3 p.m. which will follow the Central Michigan vs. Belmont game at 1 p.m.