PHILADELPHIA - In a tale of two halves, the Charlotte women's
basketball team pulled away in the second half riding a career day from
Jennifer Hailey to post a 73-56 victory at La Salle Sunday afternoon, equaling
the school record for consecutive wins with 11. The 49ers' senior notched her
12th-straight, which is one in every Atlantic 10 contest this
season, the 21st of the season and 41st of her career
double-double with a career-high tying 27 points and a career-best 18 rebounds.
Hailey's career day effort came while she connected on 11-of-15 field goals and
5-of-9 at the foul line, while she also extended her streak to 38-straight games
with at least one blocked shot.
As a program, Charlotte now has won 11 in a row for the third time in school
history and the first since between Dec. 8, 1980, and Jan. 21, 1981.
Also aiding the Niners cause Sunday was a 10-point effort from senior Jai
Forney, while classmate Amanda Dowe added a near double-double of nine points
and nine rebounds. Junior Ny Hammonds handed out eight assists, one-half of the
team's total, and just one shy of the Explorers team total.
Ebonee Jones paced La Salle with 20 points, although she made just eight of 22
field goals. Shanel Harrison, a co-Atlantic 10 Player of the Week this past
week, chipped in 16 points and a team-high six boards. One-half of Harrison's
points came at the charity stripe.
The 49ers overcame a sluggish start and took advantage of a series of scoring
lulls by the Explorers to take a first-half lead. La Salle (8-19, 4-8 A-10) had
jumped out to an early 7-4 lead, utilizing a pair of old-fashioned three-point
plays from Ebonee Jones and Indigo Dickens to force a Niners timeout at 18:15.
Charlotte responded after the timeout by continuing to find Hailey on the low
block, as she netted 10 of the team's first 12 points. The basket that pushed
her scoring total into double figures at 15:02 knotted the game at 12-12 by the
first media break a dozen seconds later.
As the Explorers offense went cold for a few minutes, the 49ers located their
other post option, Amanda Dowe, for the next four. Following a Jones field goal
to tie it up again at 16-16, Hillary Sigmon dropped in a 3-pointer at 12:13
to pad the Charlotte (22-4, 11-1 A-10) cushion. It would be the start of a 9-0
run as the 49ers opened a 25-16 advantage.
Two Jones runners kept La Salle close before it saw its offense again struggle
for a near-four minute span. Meanwhile, Charlotte tacked on just six more
points, the last on a pair of Hailey free throws, to expand its margin to 11,
31-20, as the teams entered the final five minutes of the half.
It would be during those five minutes when the Explorers took advantage of a
cold shooting stretch for the Niners, outscoring Charlotte 12-4 in the waning
minutes, to close within three, 35-32, at the intermission.
The 49ers came out of the break with renewed intensity, focus and energy. Seven-straight
points provided a 10-point cushion by the 16:42 mark but two Jones field goals
and a Siobhan Beslow jumper helped trim the deficit to six just under a minute
and a half later.
With Charlotte maintaining the 44-38 edge, the 49ers would use a 13-2 spurt
over the next seven minutes to pull away and take a 57-40 lead. The lone La
Salle points during the stretch came at the foul line. Hailey netted six,
Hammonds and Forney poured in four apiece to expand the margin to its largest
lead to that point of the game.
The closest the Explorers would close the gap down the stretch would be 13
after a Jones jumper for a 59-46 score with 6:21 to play. Hailey added
back-to-back layups on Hammonds assists before being removed with 3:09
remaining as Charlotte emptied its bench.
With the four freshmen and a sophomore on the floor in the last few minutes, a
Shequana Harris layup with 38 seconds to go gave the Niners their largest lead
at 19, 73-54, before a Dickens layup on the ensuing possession decided the
final outcome.
Charlotte returns to action at 7 p.m. Thursday when it closes the home
regular-season slate against Atlantic 10 newcomer VCU. It will be Senior Night
inside Halton Arena, as a pregame ceremony will recognize the on and off the court accomplishments of this year's class of Dowe, Forney and Hailey. Manager Corey
Grady will also be honored.
Thursday's contest can be watched live on Charlotte49ers.com with Josh Feldman
handling the play-by-play duties.
Welcome to the Charlotte 49ers Athletic Foundation! Football parking permits for FSL Account Holders are on sale now for the 2018 season. FSL Account Holders can find a football parking map and annual giving requirements at www.charlotte49ers.com/gamedayinfo. To purchase a permit, please contact the Athletic Foundation at (704) 687-4950. Green CRI 1, Green CRI 1A and Green CRI 2A are sold out. Two spaces remain in Orange CRI Rooftop If you wish to make a contribution to the Annual Giving Campaign or Let Me Play (fundraiser for women's athletics), you can do so online or by calling the Athletic Foundation at (704) 687-1047/4950. This system will give you full access to your own personal account and display donations and pledges to the Charlotte 49ers Athletic Foundation. Please Note: If you have ever contributed to the Athletic Foundation, you have an existing account and should login using that information. Please do not create a second account. If you are unsure of your account status or need your login information, please contact the Athletic Foundation at (704) 687-4950/1047. If your gift will be accompanied by a matching gift from your employer please do not make your gift online. Contact the Athletic Foundation at (704) 687-1047 for information on contributions with a matching gift. Please note that changes to the tax law regarding charitable donations to Athletic Foundations went into effect January 1, 2018. For information on how this new law impacts FSL Account Holders, please visit: http://www.charlotte49ers.com/GiveNow. If you are a new member and have not participated in any of the ways mentioned above, please create a new account below and make a pledge to our current campaign. |
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