GAINESVILLE, Fla.?UNC Asheville battled back from a 13-point second half deficit but fell three points short as Alabama A&M took a 66-63 victory in the first game of the State Farm Classic hosted by the University of Florida on Friday afternoon.
Ashton Barton led UNC Asheville (7-6) with 15 points, 10 in the second half, while Jessica Monroe added 10 points and seven rebounds. The Bulldogs will face Holy Cross in the consolation game at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Alabama A&M (2-6) was led by Felicia Drummond who led all players with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Katrich Williams added 15 points including a three-point shot with 3:20 left in the game that turned the game for A&M.
Asheville trailed 47-36 with 12:33 remaining in the game and 52-41 with 9:11 left before going on a 12-4 run highlighted by two Barton three-pointers to close the A&M lead to 56-53 with 5:43 left in the game.
Monroe scored on a lay-up to make it a one point game, 58-57, at the 3:30 mark. On A&M's next possession, Williams hit A&M's only three-pointer of the second half to build the lead back to four points. Ashleonte Samuel scored two of her nine second half points to make it a six point game with 2:23 to play. A&M went just 3-for-7 at the foul line down the stretch. Asheville pulled to within three points twice in the final minute as Stacy Shepard scored the final points of the game as time expired.
“We have to be more consistent,” said Asheville head Coach Betsy Blose. “We can not be satisfied with playing better in the second half or battling back to make it close. We have to play well the entire game to win. Yes, we played better and yes we played hard but we still lost the game and that is disappointing.”
Asheville scored the first two points of the game on an offensive put back by Lindsey Montgomery but A&M took control of the game with a 11-4 run to take a 15-6 lead. The Bulldogs pulled to within seven points at 29-22 with 4:29 left in the half, but A&M answered with a 7-0 run to build its largest lead at 37-22 with 2:13 remaining. AM& took a 38-26 lead into halftime.
Asheville shot just 29 percent from the floor in the first half but shot 38 percent in the second half to finish the game at 33.8 percent. Free throw shooting continues to be the Dogs Achilles Heal as Asheville went just 17-for-33 (51.5%) from the charity stripe while A&M was 12-for-20 (60%) in the game.
Saturday's broadcast will be an internet only broadcast on www.uncabulldogs.com beginning 15 minutes prior to the 4:30 p.m. tip-off.
