University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Gardner-Webb
Montgomery Scores 28 in loss at Gardner-Webb
02.17.2009 | Women's Basketball
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.?Shelby High School graduate Lindsey Montgomery enjoys playing in front of the home folks. The UNC Asheville sophomore posted a career-high 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds on Monday night but she received little support as the Bulldogs fell 74-61 at Gardner-Webb in Big South women's basketball action.
Last season, when UNC Asheville played in Boiling Springs, Montgomery scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Monday night she did even better. Montgomery went 10-for-15 from the floor including her first career three-pointer and was 7-for-10 from the free throw line. She became the first Asheville player to make 10 field goals in a game since Ashton Barton went 10-for-16 for 25 points at East Tennessee State on Nov. 27, 2006, a span of 81 games. Montgomery scored the most points by a Bulldog player since Kristal Hood scored 33 points at High Point on March 7, 2006. Her double-double was her third of the season and the fifth of her career.
Ana Baker had 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists before fouling out in the final minute of the game. Asheville drops to 9-16 on the season and 6-6 in the Big South.
Gardner-Webb (14-11, 6-6 Big South) was led by Margaret Roundtree who was 9-for-10 from the floor for 19 points. Laura Povilonyte scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Dominique Hudson scored 17 points and added eight assists. The home-standing Bulldogs improved to 11-1 at home this season by dominating the glass. GWU held a 51-36 rebounding advantage and had a 14-7 advantage in second chance points.
“We did not do the job defensively tonight,” said Asheville head coach Betsy Blose. “We could not seem to get stops at key points in the game and when we did get a stop, we allowed them to get the rebounds. Give Gardner-Webb credit, they played well and out hustled us to rebounds. I thought Lindsey Montgomery had a terrific game and Ana Baker did a nice job of leading us back into the game.”
Asheville began the game scoring the first five points while forcing Gardner-Webb to turn the ball over on its first three possessions. The visitors would grab their largest lead at 9-3with 13:29 left in the opening half. GWU used a 8-2 run to tie the game at 11. Asheville regained the lead on a Baker lay-up and led 23-19 on a Montgomery basket with 4:10 left in the half. With Asheville up 26-25 with 2:56 remaining, Gardner-Webb closed the half on a 8-2 run to take a 33-28 lead into halftime.
GWU would extend the run into the second half outscoring Asheville 17-9 to build a 50-37 lead with 13:30 left to play. Asheville would score 13 of the next 18 points to pull to within 55-50 with 5:17 left to play. The Bulldogs got the ball back with a chance to cut deeper into the lead but Arescia Moore's jumper rolled around the rim and came out and the home team was able to score on the other end to push the lead back to seven points.
The play of the game, came with 3:36 remaining and the score 57-50. GWU's Courtney Epps missed two free throws after the media timeout. The rebound came off to Kendall Shepard who with no one around lost the ball out of bounds. Epps redeemed herself by knocking down a three-pointer to put the home team back up 10 points with 2:50 to play and effectively end any chance of an Asheville comeback. GWU went 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final minute of play to secure the win.
Both teams will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 21. Asheville will host High Point at 2 p.m. for its Homecoming game while Gardner-Webb will travel to Presbyterian for a 5 p.m. game.
