University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Davidson
Women's Basketball Falls to Davidson, 69-56
11.16.2007 | Women's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Kelsey Casey came off the bench to score 23 points to lead Davidson to a 69-56 win over UNC Asheville in the opening round of the Carolina Classic at Justice Center Friday night.
The Wildcats (1-1) will meet Georgia State for the tournament title on Saturday at 4 p.m. Georgia State held off Gardner-Webb in the first game, 63-59. Asheville will face Gardner-Webb at 2 p.m. in the consolation game.
Davidson led for most of the game but had to hold off several Bulldog (1-1) runs to earn the victory. Asheville closed to 51-50 with six minutes left on a lay-up from Jessica Monroe. However, the Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs 18-6 in the final six minutes to get to the title game.
Casey had a sensational night shooting as she went 9-of-10 from the field and 4-of-4 from the three-point line. She also grabbed eight rebounds. Honna Housley added 10 points for Davidson.
Sophomore guard Alex Thompson had eight assists and 10 rebounds for Davidson
UNC Asheville was led by senior guard Ashton Barton's 21 points, while junior guard Ana Baker contributed a career-best 14 points.
Davidson controlled the backboards with a 50-43 advantage as it outscored Asheville 32-24 in the paint.
However, the Bulldogs really hurt themselves at the free throw line. Asheville was 8-of-26 from the charity stripe for 31 percent. The Bulldogs were 4-of-15 in the first half and 4-of-11 in the second half.
In the first game, Brittany Hollins had 18 points and Shay Rawls scored 14 points and collected 10 rebounds to lead Georgia State to its first win of the season, 63-59. Hollins also had seven assists and five steals.
The Panthers (1-1) led by 14 at 48-34 with eight minutes left but poor free throw shooting almost let the game slip away. Gardner-Webb (1-2) roared back and closed to 62-59 with 30 seconds left. However, the Runnin' Bulldogs missed two free throws that would have carved into the lead and GSU was finally able to get a free throw from Rawls to seal the win.
Gardner-Webb was led by Dominque Hudson and Laura Pivilonte with 14 points each.
