Box Score
ROCK HILL, SC—Poor shooting in the second half and 28 total turnovers were too much to overcome as the Winthrop women's basketball team fell 81-56 to North Carolina A&T, Sunday afternoon in the final game of the Winthrop Classic.
Winthrop led at halftime for the second straight game, but committed too many turnovers and couldn't stop a determined Aggie team that poured in 54 points in the second half. The Lady Eagles turned the ball over 13 times in the second half that led to 16 points and couldn't keep the Aggies off the glass as they turned 11 offensive rebounds into 16 second chance points.
The Lady Eagles (0-2) had a 48-47 lead with 10:04 remaining after Kaitlyn Rubino hit one of two free throws and had committed only one turnover to that point. After Tracey King's fast break lay-up put North Carolina A&T up 49-48 after a missed three-pointer on the end by Winthrop, the momentum of the game shifted in favor of the Aggies and they cruised to a double-figures win.
Right up until the Aggies ran away with the game over the final 10 minutes, there had been 10 lead changes and the game was tied seven times.
Over the final 10 minutes the Lady Eagles were 2-for-8 from the field with 10 turnovers and 4-for-8 from the foul line. North Carolina A&T took full advantage and turned a three point game with 7:45 left into a double-figure lead in a minute and 20 seconds. Sabre Proctor started the run with a basket that was followed by another jumper in the lane and was fouled in the process for a three-point play. TaQuoia Hammick hit a turn-around jumper in the lane to cut the lead to 59-53 with 7:07, which turned out to be the last basket for Winthrop in the game.
Crystal Murdaugh hit a jumper just inside the free throw line to extend the lead back to eight points and that was followed by a three-pointer from Alishia Mosley that sparked a 10-0 run.
“I guess we will just have to learn from this,” said Winthrop head coach Bud Childers. “We made too many mistakes. You have to give North Carolina A&T credit. They used their athleticism today. We just have to go to work and try to get better.”
North Carolina A&T (1-1) shot 48 percent from the field in the second half and 39 percent for the game. Winthrop managed to shoot only 33 percent in the second half after shooting 39 percent in the first half.
Winthrop trailed by five points early in the game after a Jaquayla Berry bucket in the lane, but Winthrop fought back to take the lead 11-10. The run started with a Lacey Lyons trey and the game was tied at 8-8 after Lyons hit a short jumper in the lane. North Carolina A&T went back up 10-8 before Rubino drained a three. The lead changed back in favor of the Aggies, but Hammick scored for a 13-12 lead. Hammick's lay-up started an 11-0 run as the Lady Eagles led 23-12 with 5:28 left in the half.
The lead was 10 points with 2:36 remaining after a Rubino put back, but the Aggies finished the half on a 7-0 run to make it a 30-27 game at the break.
Mosley led four players in double-figures for the Aggies as she poured in 22 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals. Berry added 17 points and 12 rebounds as well as four assists and six steals. Proctor had 16 points and 11 boards while King had 14 points and five steals.
Lyons led Winthrop in scoring for the second straight game as she had 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Rubino added 14 points and five rebounds while Mary Hathaway finished in double-figures with 10. Hammick finished with six points, nine rebounds and three blocks.Freshman Dequesha McClanahan had a career-high nine assists to go along with five points and six rebounds.
Lyons and Mosley were named to the Winthrop Classic All-Tournament Team. They were joined on the team by Shaunda Strayhorn and Molly Ernst of Belmont and Kailhla Szunko, Shonda Long and Brandie Baker of Central Michigan. The Most Valuable Player of the Winthrop Classic was Baker, as she led the team to a 2-0 record and back-to-back nights of more than 100 points scored. Central Michigan defeated Belmont 102-71 in the first game of the day.
Winthrop will hit the road for its next game as it heads to Richmond, VA to take on Virginia Commonwealth on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.
