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ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop women's basketball team will look to build off its victory over South Carolina State on Saturday as it hits the road for two games this week starting Wednesday night at Monmouth.
The Lady Eagles (3-5) will take on a Monmouth team coming off a 73-64 victory over Saint Peter's on Saturday and now posting a 3-6 record.
Winthrop ended a four-game skid on Saturday thanks to a career-high 18 points from Samiya Wright along with 15 points and nine assists from Dequesha McClanahan and 14 points from Diana Choibekova.
After an explosive first half that saw the Lady Eagles post 46 points, Winthrop started slow into the second half as the Bulldogs slowly dug their way out of a 14-point deficit. South Carolina State tied the game at 59-59 when Samiya Wright drained a three to put Winthrop back in the lead for good as the defense held by not allowing a single point over the final four minutes.
Over the final four minutes, South Carolina State was 0-for-5 from the field, 0-for-2 from the foul line and committed two turnovers.
The Lady Eagles offense got going on Saturday after struggling in the two previous games as it shot 53 percent in the first half and 43 percent for the game. Winthrop finished the game 8-for-25 from behind the arc for 32 percent, but was 15-for-28 from inside the arc (54 percent).
Wright continued her hot hand going 7-for-9 from the field and 4-for-5 from three as she's 13-for-19 from the field in her last two games. She is one of three players averaging double-figures at 11.6. McClanahan leads the team in scoring and assists as she's averaging 18.9 points and dishing out seven assists per game. Choibekova has been finding shots tougher to come by and is getting a lot of attention, but she hit some timely threes late in the first half to help Winthrop open up a 14-point halftime lead. She's averaging 4.1 triples per game with a 32 percent mark.
So far through eight games, Winthrop is averaging 68.5 points per game and at this pace could finish with the school's best scoring average since becoming a member of the NCAA Division I level. The record is 67.4 held by the 1995-96 squad.
Monmouth ended a three-game losing streak with the win over Saint Peter's on Saturday and will host Winthrop in its third home game of the season. On Nov. 13, the Hawks opened their season at home in a 68-64 loss to UMBC and then hit the road for the next seven games before returning home against Saint Peter's.
Like the Lady Eagles, Monmouth is led by a trio of double-figure scorers with Carly Thibault leading the way at 12.2 points per game. Abby Martin is averaging 11.3 points and Alexis Canady is averaging 10.8 points. Between the three, one has led in scoring in all nine games. Betsy Gadziala, who is averaging 7.9 points per game, has stepped up and tied for the most points in a game twice at 14.
Thibault and Martin are off to good starts this season shooting the ball as Thibault is shooting 50 percent while Martin is an impressive 54 percent from the field. Thibault is also knocking down 45 percent of her three-point shots and is 12-for-13 at the line.
As a team, Monmouth is averaging 60.3 points per game and allowing 69.4. The team is shooting 37 percent from the field and 67 percent from the foul line.
This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools and the Lady Eagles first game against a team from the Northeast Conference since early in the 2004-05 season when Winthrop lost to Farleigh-Dickinson, 66-42, at a tournament at Longwood. Winthrop is 5-3 all-time against current members of the NEC.