Charles sparks comeback

Published in Sports on February 18, 2004 1:55 PM

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MOC Sports Information

CHARLOTTE -- Ladora Charles scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the second half as Mount Olive rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat Queens 62-59 on Tuesday.

Mount Olive opened the second half hitting 11 of its first 15 field goal attempts to overcome 20.6 percent shooting in the first half.

The Trojans (10-13, 6-10 CVAC) fell behind early and trailed 20-10 with 8:05 left in the first half.

Queens (8-15, 5-11) built the lead to 15 points before a pair of free throws by Latoria Harvey and Tilah Worthy's basket cut the lead to 11. But Queens hit a three-pointer and a pair of free throws in the final 59 seconds to take a 36-20 lead at halftime.

The Royals hit 5-of-14 three-point field goals in the first half, including 2-for-3 by Tiffany Adkins, who scored 11 of her team-high 14 points in the first half. Mount Olive went 7-for-34 from the floor in the first half.

After Harvey hit a basket in the opening minute of the second half, Carmen Waterman connected on a three-pointer to give Queens its biggest lead at 39-22 with 18:50 remaining. The Trojans then went on a 17-4 run, started by a pair of field goals by Harvey and capped by back-to-back baskets by Charles to pull the Trojans within 43-39 with 14:06 left in the game.

Queens built the lead back to seven, but then the Trojans held Queens without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes. Charles' three-pointer with 7:24 remaining cut the lead to 48-47 and after a Queens free throw, Brandy Smith hit a pair of field goals in a span of 13 seconds to give the Trojans their first lead at 51-49 with 4:58 remaining.

The game was tied 52-52 when Teneal Boone's bucket put Mount Olive ahead to stay with 3:54 left in the game.

Mount Olive built the lead to four before Queens cut the lead to one, but Harvey hit a field goal to make the score 60-57 with 1:41 remaining. Sarah Newman hit a pair of free throws for Queens to cut the lead to 60-59, but Shenetta Moye hit 1-of-2 free throws with 11 seconds left. After a Queens turnover, Charles hit 1-of-2 free throws with three seconds left to seal the win. Mount Olive outscored Queens 40-20 over the final 19 minutes of the game.

"We played more under control in the second half and stayed out of foul trouble," said Charles. "We played defense with our feet instead of our hands."

The win moves Mount Olive a game ahead of Queens into the No. 8 spot in the conference standings. The Nos. 6-8 teams in the regular-season standings host first-round games in next month's CVAC Tournament. The win also evens the season series with Queens, which defeated the Trojans 60-58 in January, one of four conference losses for Mount Olive by three points or less.

"This was the kind of win we needed, to come from behind and to win a close one," said Mount Olive head coach Wendy Lawrence. "We had a good halftime conversation and the girls believed we could get back in the game. I told them it would be a close game and down the stretch, they responded."

Harvey, who had missed the Trojans' previous two games with an ankle injury, finished with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Teneal Boone pulled down 10 rebounds, the fourth time in five games she's reached double-digits in rebounding.

Mount Olive shot 56.7 percent (17-for-30) in the second half. Waterman added 10 points for Queens, while Adkins and Kellie Joplin pulled down 13 rebounds apiece.

The win is Mount Olive's third in its last four games and gives the Trojans their first 10-win season since going 14-13 in 1995-96.

Mount Olive returns to action Saturday against Lees-McRae. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.

QUEENS (59)

Tiffany Adkins 2 2 4-8 14, Kellie Joplin 3 0 2-5 8, Carmen Waterman 3 1 1-2 10, Shanaya Harris 0 0 0-0 0, Sarah Newman 1 0 4-4 6, Elise Prince 0 0 0-0 0, Lasha Fortson 0 0 0-0 0, Rhonda Anderson 0 0 0-0 0, Carmelita Jimenez 1 0 1-1 3, Maggie Austin 1 1 3-4 8, Ali Umbarger 0 2 0-0 6, Phylicia Turner 1 0 2-4 4, Jessica Sturgill 0 0 0-0 0.

MOUNT OLIVE (62)

Ladora Charles 6 1 5-6 20, Latoria Harvey 6 0 3-4 15, Shenetta Moye 1 0 1-2 3, Teneal Boone 4 0 1-2 9, Melanie Cobb 1 0 1-2 3, Tilah Worthy 1 0 0-0 2, Anita Rogers 0 0 0-0 0, Brandy Smith 3 0 0-1 6, Amber Hill 1 0 2-2 4.

Halftime -- Queens 36, Mount Olive 20. Three-point baskets -- Mount Olive 1-7 (Charles 1-2, Moye 0-2, Worthy 0-1, Smith 0-2); Queens 6-19 (Adkins 2-4, Waterman 1-2, Harris 0-1, Newman 0-4, Anderson 0-1, Jimenez 0-2, Austin 1-1, Umbarger 2-2, Turner 0-2). Assists -- Mount Olive 8 (Charles 3), Queens 11. Turnovers -- Mount Olive 18, Queens 27. Blocked shots -- Mount Olive 7, Queens 4. Steals -- Mount Olive 11 (Charles, Worthy 3), Queens 6.