Box Score Box Score

ROCK HILL, SC— Double-Doubles by Diana Choibekova and Dequesha McClanahan helped Winthrop to an 84-68 victory over UNC Asheville, Saturday afternoon in Big South Conference women's basketball action.

Choibekova scored 24 points and tied a career-best with 11 rebounds as McClanahan scored 16 points and dished out a career-high 12 assists. It was the first 20-point game for Choibekova since Nov. 23, 2011 at Wichita State and it is the second straight game with a double-double for McClanahan.

The win is the second in a row for the Lady Eagles, who even their overall record at 8-8 and their league record at 2-2. The loss snaps a two-game win streak for UNC Asheville, which falls to 6-10 overall and 2-3 in the Big South.

Winthrop led all but 25 seconds of the entire game and despite being up 19-points in the first half, the Bulldogs never gave up and continued to battle their way back time-after-time until the deficit was too much in the final minutes.

After cutting the 19-point first half deficit down to eight points at the half, the Bulldogs fell behind by 11 points as Samiya Wright drilled a three-pointer at the 18:52 mark but then went on a 10-2 run to cut the lead down to three. The run was trigged by a couple of Grace Blaylock free throws as she subbed in at the charity stripe for the injured Brittany Gwyn. Following a Winthrop turnover on the other end, the Bulldogs came right back with a Shonesee triple and Blaylock hit a deep three at the 16:46 mark to make it a 45-42 game.

Winthrop held strong defensively and worked the lead back to 11 points over the next few minutes with an 8-0 run highlighted by a three-point play from Choibekova. UNC Asheville bounced right back behind another Blaylock three-pointer followed by two Leah Wormack free throws. Choibekova scored on the other end off a nice feed from Tiffany Charles for an easy two, but Blaylock came right back with another three-pointer, cutting the lead to 55-50 with 11:10 remaining. Seconds later, Jones made it a one-possession game as she knocked down two free throws with 10:38 to go.

Neither team scored over the next minute and a half until McClanahan scored on a jumper and after holding on the other end, Wright found McClanahan wide for a three-pointer and the lead was back to eight with just under nine minutes to play.

UNC Asheville did get the lead down to six points with 7:42 remaining, but Winthrop outscored the Bulldogs 24-14 the rest of the way.

Winthrop led 40-32 at the half after shooting 43 percent and building a 19-point advantage, 30-11, at the 6:32 mark. The Lady Eagles led by 15 with 3:22 to go before the Bulldogs ended the half on a 13-6 run behind threes from Blaylock and Jones.

The Lady Eagles jumped out to an early 11-4 lead, but UNC Asheville scored four straight points to make it a three-point game. Winthrop led 17-11 with 11:15 remaining in the first half when it used a 13-0 run sparked by a couple of Choibekova threes.

In addition to Choibekova and McClanahan's offense, Wright finished the game with a 18 points, tying her career-high. She also dished out a career-best five assists and had four steals. Katie Fitzgerald and TaQuoia Hammick each came off the bench to chip in with eight points as Fitzgerald also had five rebounds.

Blaylock paced UNC Asheville with a career-high 23 points as she also set a career-best in three-pointers made with seven. Blaylock was an impressive 7-for-14 behind the arc. Jones finished with 15 points while Wormack finished with 11 points and a career-high four blocks. Kelli Riles recorded a double-double as she had 12 points and 14 rebounds to go along with a career-high four steals.

Winthrop is back in action Monday evening as it hosts Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m. The game is an approved, free cultural event for all Winthrop students. UNC Asheville heads to Clinton, SC to take on Presbyterian College Monday night at 7 p.m.