Monroe Leads Women's Basketball Past Gardner-Webb, 76-60

ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? Jessica Monroe scored a career best 18 points to lead UNC Asheville to a 76-60 win over Gardner-Webb in the consolation game of the Carolina Classic Saturday afternoon at Justice Center.

In the championship game, Davidson (2-1) led from start to finish and downed Georgia State, 59-42. Mercedes Robinson led the Wildcat attack with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore guard and Asheville native Alex Thompson had nine points and three assists. She made the all-tournament team. Tournament MVP Kelsey Carey had eight points and 12 rebounds. Carey went 6-from the free throw line.

Georgia State (1-2) was led by Brittany Hollins with 13 points and six rebounds. Hollins made the all-tournament teams. The Panthers shot 24 percent (16-of-68) from the field. Davidson dominated the backboards, 52-33.

The Bulldogs (2-1) had four other players in doubles figures besides Monroe. Ashton Barton tallied 15 points, while Ana Baker and Chioma Okoli contributed 12 points each. Kendall Shepard added 11 points. Baker dished out eight assists, had five steals and earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Stacy Shepard pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds and blocked four shots.

Gardner-Webb (1-3) was led by Dominique Hudson with 13 points. Laura Povilonyte added 10 points and earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Margaret Roundtree pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds.

“We did a good job in the first half and bounced back from last night (a 69-56 loss to Davidson),” commented UNC Asheville coach Betsy Blose. “We had a nice team effort and its always good when you have five players score in double figures.”

UNC Asheville won the game in the first half as the Bulldogs went on 28-7 to race to a 30-11 lead. Monroe and Barton combined for 16 points during the run. Asheville shot 55 percent (16-of-29) in the opening half to lead 42-23 at halftime. The Runnin' Bulldogs struggled from the field in the opening half at 25 percent (9-of-36).

In the second half, GWU made several runs at the Bulldogs but just couldn't get too close. Two free throws from Hudson closed the margin to 14 at 61-47 with 7:30 left.

However, Asheville got four points from Monroe to quickly get the lead back to 65-47. The Runnin' Bulldogs could get no closer than 16 the rest of the game.

UNC Asheville shot 44 percent (27-of-61) from the field, while Gardner-Webb had a tough afternoon from the field as it shot 29 percent (19-of-66).

The Bulldogs shot a little better from the free throw line on Saturday as they knocked 58 percent (18-of-31) of their charity tosses. It was a much better performance than on Friday night against Davidson when Asheville shot just 31 percent (8-of-26) from the line.

The Bulldogs are home Tuesday night against Furman at Justice Center starting at 7 p.m.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Anna Baker: UNC Asheville

Laura Povilonyte: Gardner-Webb

Brittany Hollins: Georgia State

Alex Thompson: Davidson

MVP ? Kelsey Carey (Davidson)

Monroe Leads Women's Basketball Past Gardner-Webb, 76-60

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Players Mentioned

Ana Baker

Ashton Barton

Jessica Monroe

Chioma Okoli

Kendall Shepard

Stacy Shepard

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

Monroe Leads Women's Basketball Past Gardner-Webb, 76-60

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Players Mentioned

Ana Baker

Ashton Barton

Jessica Monroe

Chioma Okoli

Kendall Shepard

Stacy Shepard

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