Prichard's late offensive surge seals CVAC victory

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on February 18, 2007 2:11 AM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Tomeka Prichard scored eight consecutive points with less than six minutes left to put Mount Olive ahead to stay, and the Trojans held off Queens University of Charlotte, 70-66, in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference play Saturday afternoon.

A season-high crowd of 1,107 fans at Kornegay Arena watched three Trojans score in double figures. Helen Moore tallied 19 points, followed by Brittney Robich with 15 and Prichard with 11.

The victory reduced Mount Olive's "magic number" to one to clinch sole possession of the fifth place in the CVAC and earn a first-round bye in the postseason tournament.

The Trojans (14-11 overall, 10-8 CVAC) broke away from an early one-point lead as steals on consecutive Queens possessions led to fast-break layups by Keona Corley and Jill Oaks. Mount Olive led 25-14 with 10:53 to go in the opening half.

Queens (4-21, 1-17) answered with a 7-0 run, capped by Turner's three-pointer with 7:58 remaining. But Sierra Medeiros' 15-foot jumper off of Keshaun Mozee's behind-the-back pass from the baseline put the Trojans' lead back to double digits at 31-21 with 6:26 left in the half.

The Royals reeled off a 10-0 run. Turner hit a pair of free throws to tie the game with 2:57 remaining. Jacquia Winstead's basket with 1:03 left gave the Royals a 35-33 advantage, their first lead since leading 2-0 in the first minute of the game. After Robich put Mount Olive back on top 16 seconds later with a three-pointer, Winstead hit another basket to put Queens back on top.

Robich hit a short jumper just before the horn and the Trojans went into the locker room with a 38-37 halftime lead.

Queens regained the lead on Turner's 3-pointer in the first minute of the second half. The Royals stretched their advantage to 51-46 after Winstead's three-point play with 11:35 remaining. The lead was still three when Mozee hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game 57-57 with 7:46 left to play.

Winstead's basket broke a 59-59 tie, but Prichard answered with a go-ahead 3-pointer with 5:47 remaining to put Mount Olive ahead to stay 62-61. Prichard nailed another trey 48 seconds later, then put back her own miss after a Queens turnover to give the Trojans their biggest lead of the second half at 67-61 with 4:37 left in the game.

Queens pulled within three on Turner's 3-pointer, but Moore answered with a basket in the paint and Corley hit 1 of 2 free throws with 2:52 remaining to give the Trojans a 70-64 lead. Turner added a pair of free throws 17 seconds later.

Neither team scored the final 2:35 of the game.

The Trojans scored 31 points off of 27 Queens turnovers.