Trojan women survive scrappy Erskine

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on March 1, 2014 11:23 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Jasmine McDonald appreciated the recognition for her second career triple-double Saturday afternoon.

She relished the victory over Erskine even more.

McDonald knocked down 17 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 11 assists as the University of Mount Olive grounded the Flying Fleet, 87-76, in opening-round play of the Conference Carolinas women's basketball tournament.

"I honestly have no words for that," said McDonald, who became the first-ever UMO athlete -- male or female -- to accomplish the feat. "It's like I always tell them 'thanks for making shots.' I'm going to go out there, give it my best so we can win. Of course, I want to advance (in the tournament).

"I love to play ... love that feeling that I got last year when we just finally came together, were all on one page and reached that goal of making it to the (Southeast) regional."

The Trojan women (17-10 overall) continue defense of their tournament championship against Wednesday in Concord. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m. at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center.

Sixth-seeded Erskine (14-13) made the most of its spoiler role.

Aggressive from the opening tip, the Flying Fleet started strong offensively and built a five-point advantage barely seven minutes into the opening half. The teams battled through three lead changes and six ties, the last at 21-21 on Andrienne Bannerman's offensive putback.

Mount Olive exploded for a 13-0 run that began with Kirksten Mitchell's offensive putback after a blocked shot underneath the basket. Jonequia Gary buried a 3-pointer, Ana Zjacic converted a reverse layup and Ty Wallace tallied three consecutive baskets to make it 34-21.

"Both of us wanted to win and like we talked about halftime, they were the aggressor first and we just didn't find our groove," McDonald said. "We turned the ball over in the first half and it seemed like we were in our defense the whole time. We had to play to get back ahead."

Erskine pulled to within 39-29 at intermission and opened the second half with a 6-0 run. The Flying Fleet pecked away at the deficit and took their final lead, 47-46, on Naomi Stuger's traditional three-point play.

Kiera Jones' layup off of Mitchell's offensive rebound and assist started a 7-0 spurt. Katie Paschal drained two free throws and Mitchell drilled a 3-pointer, which pushed UMO in front, 53-47.

Stuger and frontcourt mate Tara Potter caused matchup problems as the half continued, and foul trouble plagued the Trojan women. The duo combined for 27 points, 20 rebounds and 11 of 18 shooting at the free throw line.

"Erskine is so scrappy, they just fight so hard," UMO head coach Wendy Lee said. "There was fight especially in 21 (Stuger) and 42 (Potter) that made it real hard for us to guard in those two key spots. With Ty in foul trouble, we were really struggling to guard players ... a personnel issue that made it difficult for us."

Kristin Giles' old-fashioned three-point play whittled the Trojans' lead to 62-56 with 8:37 left in regulation. But UMO responded with a back-breaking 13-3 run and that gave it a 75-59 cushion around the 4 1/2-minute mark.

Mitchell finished with 22 points for Mount Olive, which picked up its 10th home win of the season. Wallace supplied a double-double, 12 points and 12 rebounds. Paschal provided 13 points, while Gary contributed 11 points and five assists.