LaQwesha Gamble led the team with 11 points and seven rebounds against #22 Gannon
Box Score
Photo Gallery
Edinboro, PA – The Johnson C. Smith University women's basketball team lost to No. 22 nationally ranked Gannon University 61-50 in the opening round of the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Tournament hosted by Edinboro University on Friday afternoon. JCSU entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and finished the season 22-7 in the overall standings.
Early in the first half, All-CIAA senior guard
Shavonda Price (Fort Wayne, IN) hit back to back jumper in the lane for a 4-0 advantage. The Lady Golden Knights eventually battled back and tied the score 6-6 with 14:03 on the clock. JCSU fell behind 15-9 after a 9-3 scoring run by Gannon. The Golden Bulls answered with a run of their own and drew within one (20-19) after a layup from All-CIAA senior guard
LaQwesha Gamble (Winter Haven, FL).
Unfortunately, Gamble's basket scored at the 4:16 mark would be the last points of the half for JCSU. Gannon ended the first half with an 8-0 run for a 28-19 lead at halftime.
Neither team had a spectacular shooting half. The Golden Bulls shot 32% (8-25) from the floor and Gannon was only slightly better, shooting 36.7% (11-30). But, the Lady Golden Knights connected on 5-of-13 (38.5%) attempts from the three point line.
JCSU made another strong run in the second half to evaporate Gannon's lead. Down 34-26 with 14:14 on the clock, the Golden Bulls produced eight straight points. Sophomores
LaKendra Wilkerson (Greensboro, NC) and
Racquel Davis (Bamberg, Germany) both made two free throw attempts, followed by back to back baskets from Gamble.
Gannon broke the 34-34 tie with three-pointers on consecutive possessions from Caitlyn Lowe and Doriyon Glass. At the 5:05 mark of regulation, JCSU trailed 51-40. Senior guard
Ashley McGee (Milwaukee, WI) hit a huge three with 2:19 left to play, which brought the Golden Bulls within seven (55-48).
The Lady Golden Knights fought off the comeback and virtually closed out the game at the foul line.
Gamble finished with a team-high 11 points and seven rebounds. Senior guard
Terran Quattlebaum (Mitchellville, MD) dropped in nine points off 3-of-11 shooting from the beyond the arc. Davis had eight points and four boards. Price concluded the contest with seven rebounds and six points.
Jennifer Papich and Nettie Blake led the Lady Golden Knights with 16 and 10 points, respectively. Gannon shot 54.5% (12-22) in the second half and won the overall rebounding battle 39-31.
This is the third season for Johnson C. Smith with at least 20 wins in the last four years. Head coach Vanessa Taylor is two wins away from her 300th overall in her career. The Golden Bulls have seven seniors graduating including All-CIAA selections
LaQwesha Gamble and
Shavonda Price, along with high scorer
Terran Quattlebaum.
April Smith (Auburn, AL),
Terrica Jones (Raleigh, NC) and Quattlebaum have played all four years of their collegiate career at JCSU. Along with winning the program's only conference tournament championship, they leave as the class with the most wins all-time (86).
