Box Score
DELAND, FL— Dequesha McClanahan scored 17 points and Ashley Cox poured in a career-high 14 points as Winthrop held on for a 54-51 win over Maine, Monday afternoon at the Hatter Classic.
Winthrop led by five points after Tiffany Charles knocked down two free throws with 24 seconds left. Maine cut the lead back to three points after Amber Smith knocked down two free throws with 15 seconds remaining. Maine fouled the Lady Eagles to force a one-and-one by McClanahan with eight seconds left. McClanahan missed the free throw and Maine took the rebound as Tanna Ross dribbled the ball down court and launched a long running three that hit the front and rolled across the top of the rim and out as the buzzer sounded.
“Truly proud of our girls today and all the hard work they put in this week to get ready for today's game,” said Winthrop head coach Bud Childers. “We had a game plan and stuck to it. Executed down the stretch and earned a nice victory. Cox was player of the game today and McClanahan continued her strong play on the road.”
Winthrop struggled out of the half as it was 0-for-8 from the field and committed six turnovers. Maine took full advantage and tied the game at 28-28 with 14:26 remaining on a Ross lay-in off a turnover. The run ended as Lacey Lyons hit back-to-back threes for a 34-28 lead with 12:44 left.
Maine battled back and tied the game at 36-36 with 9:33 after Katelyn Vanderhoff hit a three from the wing. After each team failed to score on each of their next possessions, McClanahan got all the way to the rim for an easy lay-in that put the Lady Eagles in the lead for good.
Winthrop scored first on an Ashley Cox lay-in off a nice feed from McClanahan, but Maine scored five straight points for the early lead. TaQuoia Hammick scored on a lay-up off a McClanahan feed and Cox knocked down a jumper and was fouled in the process as she completed the three-point play for a 7-5 lead. Winthrop came back on its next possession and McClanahan drilled a three from straight on for a 10-5 lead with less than three minutes into the game.
The Black Bears answered with a 7-0 run for a 12-10 lead as Roberts scored all seven points.
Leading 18-16 after a Roberts jumper, Winthrop put together a 10-0 run for a 28-16 lead with 2:02 remaining. The run started with a jumper by Cox and the lead extended 23-16 as Mary Hathaway buried a three from the corner. The lead stretched to nine points after Chantel Johnson knocked down a six-foot baseline jumper.
Winthrop picked up the defensive pressure over the final nine minutes of the first half as it held Maine to 1-for-11 and forced seven turnovers in that stretch. The lone field goal came with 22 seconds left as Ross hit a three from straight away.
“First half I thought our match-up zone was pretty good,” added Childers. “We had a lot of silly turnovers today, but we're just going to have to work on that.”
In addition to her 14 points, Cox also finished with eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and three steals. McClanahan finished with a game-high seven assists and also had six rebounds and two steals.
Winthrop finished the game shooting 39 percent and won the battle of the boards, 39-28. Both teams combined for 50 turnovers.
Roberts led Maine with 16 points while Vanderhoff added 11 points, five assists and seven rebounds.
Winthrop will be back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 21 at 3:30 p.m. against Youngstown State in its final game of the Hatter Classic.
