Women's Basketball Suffers First Loss of the Season, 52-49 at USC Aiken

Women's Basketball Suffers First Loss of the Season, 52-49 at USC Aiken

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JCSU Sports Information

Charlotte, N.C. (Nov. 23, 2015) – The Johnson C. Smith women's basketball team led for virtually the entire game, but a determined USC Aiken comeback and clutch free throw shooting by the Pacers dealt the Golden Bulls their first loss of the season, 52-49 on Monday evening.

The Golden Bulls started the game hot, jumping to an 11 point lead after the end of the first quarter, going on a 9-0 run to make it 18-7 after the end of the quarter.  JCSU would continue the trend in the second quarter, jumping ahead by as much as 15 points after a three-pointer from Asha Jordan (Monroe, N.C.) that made it 29-14 with 35 seconds before halftime.  USC Aiken would then get a jumper from Stephanie Ball to trim the JCSU lead to 29-16 going into the break.

After halftime, JCSU again nursed the double-digit lead, going up by 13 points at 31-18 following a layup from senior
Amena Brent (Chicago, Ill.) with 7:55 remaining.  The Pacers could get no closer than eight points following a Carly Gilreath bucket that made it 32-24 with 4:42 remaining.  The Golden Bulls would establish another 14-point cushion after a Krista White (Dayton, Ohio) three-pointer that supplied the 39-25 lead with 57 seconds remaining in the third quarter.  Four straight USCA points trimmed the Golden Bull lead to 39-29 at the end of the quarter.

The Pacers would then go on a 10-1 run to begin the final stanza, cutting the JCSU lead to three points (42-39) at the 6:07 mark.    The Pacers cut into the lead further, making it 46-44 after a three-point play from Emily Tsitouris with 4:20 to play.  With 2:08 to play, USCA finally caught up, tying the game at 46-46 on a pair of free throws from Rachelle Aupont. 

JCSU finally regained the lead at 49-47 with 42 seconds to play after Jordan canned a jumper.  After two free throws from Katelyn Grisello tied it at 49-49 with 41 seconds left, the Pacers broke through, going up 51-49 on another pair of free throws from Stephanie Ball with 28 seconds to play.  After a missed JCSU shot, Aupont drilled one free throw with 18 seconds remaining to make it 52-49.  Krista White's three-pointer missed the mark and senior Larryqua Hall (Atlanta, Ga.) secured the rebound and was fouled.  Hall was unable to cash in from the line, missing both shots with two seconds left giving USCA the narrow win.

JCSU shot a dismal 30.5% (18-59) from the field and 25% (4-16) from long range.  JCSU also struggled from the line, going 50% (9-18).  JCSU got a 12 point effort from Asha Jordan, the only Golden Bull to reach double-figures.  Teammate Krista White scored nine while senior 
Ashley Porter (Winston-Salem, N.C) secured 12 rebounds while scoring five points for JCSU.

The Golden Bulls fall to 3-1 on the season while USCA improved to 4-1.  The Golden Bulls will next travel to the IUP Lodestar Classic on Nov. 28-29, taking on regionally-ranked Edinboro and IUP.

Game Highlights
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