Box Score
ASHEVILLE, NC--Dequesha McClanahan and Taylor Calvert combined to score 44 points  and lead Winthrop to a 65-59 Big South Conference road win over UNC Asheville on Thursday night at Kimmel Arena.

The win evens Winthrop's season record at 8-8 and its conference slate at 2-2 while UNC Asheville played better than its record indicates as the Bulldogs drop to 2-14 and 0-5.

Calvert, a sophomore forward, came up with the best game of her young career with a career-best 21 points and 17 rebounds while McClanahan finished with 23 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds.  She was also a perfect 10 of 10 from the free throw line. A alley oop pass that led to a wide open layup by Calvert and two free throws by McClanahan in the final 34 seconds sealed the win for Winthrop.

After leading 28-25 at intermission, the Eagles fell behind by as many as six points in the second half.  UNC Asheville led 48-42 on a three-point play by Paige Love with 7:35 left in the game, but McClanahan ignited a 17-5 run over the next 4:21 to put Winthrop up 59-53 and the Bulldogs were not able to come back.  A key play in that run came at the 6:32 mark when freshman guard Aliyah Kilpatrick got a steal and drove the court for a go ahead layup that put Winthrop up 49-48.  The Eagles never trailed or were tied again.

Winthrop head coach Kevin Cook was high on Kilpatrick's effort following the game.  Kilpatrick can just guard.  She has the heart of a lion and that triple she hit out of the corner was huge, also.". 

"Dequesha played tonight like the  Big South Player of the Year that she is," said Cook. "And Taylor Calvert really likes this gym.  She set a freshman rebounding record here last year.  It ws absolutely the best game she has played." he said. Calvert now has three double-doubles this season.

The first half was all Calvert and McClanahan for Winthrop as the pair combined to score 21 of the Eagles' 26 points.  With McClanahan scoring six points on a pair of field goals and two free throws and dishing a pass to Calvert for an easy lay-up, Winthrop jumped out to a quick 8-3 lead in the opening 3:25 of the game, but Jones made it  8-7 when she connected on a free throw and then rebounded her miss on the second shot got  nailed her second 3-pointer of the game.

The Eagles went up by five again at 15-10 with 11:06 left in the period following three free throws and a layup by Calvert, but Asheville went on a 9-2 run to claim a 19-17 lead with 5:47 on the clock after Kelli Riles scored underneath the bucket on the indbounds pass.  Calvert then tied the game at 19 all on a follow shot of her own miss and McClanahan followed a few seconds later to take the ball coast-to-coast for a go ahead lay-up.  She dropped two free throws with 24 ticks left on the clock to give Winthrop's its third five-point lead, but Buckner's put back just before the buzzer ended the half at 28-25. 

"We took some steps tonight and we did it without Schaquilla Nunn.  We won on a night when our wings didn't shoot the ball well, but a win is a win," said Cook.  Nunn, a 6-3 freshman center, missed her second straight game due to a nagging groin injury..

"Our players banded together tonight.  They played hard, they played with passion and energy and they played like a team that wanted to win," said Cook.

Winthrop finished the night shooting 37.7 percent from the floor (28-61) and went 15 of 16 from the free throw line just two days after going 8 of 19 in a losing effort at South Carolina State.  Asheville shot right at 37 percent (20-54) and went 14 of 16 from the line and connected on 5 of 18 from 3-point land.

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Riles, who almost single-handedly kept them in the game in the second half as she had 14 of her points in the final period.  She joined Winthrop's Calvert with a double-double as she claimed 11 rebounds.

Winthrop's next game will be on Saturday when the Eagles end a four-game, eight-day road swing when they face Gardner-Webb at 3 p.m..