Lady Pilots upset 10th ranked Lady Nuggets, 75-59 at the Dock
February 10, 2005
Shreveport, LA---The LSUS Lady Pilots (9-16, 3-9) played host to the 10th ranked Xavier University Lady Nuggets Thursday night at the Dock. The Lady Nuggets entered the contest 21-2 overall and 10-1 in Gulf Coast Athletic Conference action. The Lady Pilots who have played strong of late but have struggled to find the wind column pulled of a huge upset in a dominating 75-59 win over Xavier.
The Lady Pilots jumped out to an early 9-2 lead and extended that lead to 18-9 with 11:29 remaining in the first half. A Renalda Stafford three point basket at the 3:18 mark had the Lady Pilots up 30-23. The Lady Nuggets Carla Robinson connected on her 4th three pointer of the half as time expired to cut the Lady Pilots lead to 37-30.
The Lady Pilots finished the first half shooting 63% (12-19) from the field which included 4-6 from beyond the three point line, and 9-10 from the free throw line. Kendera Monette finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds on 3-5 shooting from the field and a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.
Carla Robinson collected 12 points on 4-6 shooting and added 3 assists. The Lady Nuggets were 11-37 from the field, 5-12 from beyond the three point line, and 3-4 from the free throw line
The Lady Pilots continued their hot shooting in the second half and found themselves up 48-37 with 14:19 remaining in the game. LSUS extended their lead to 53-41 on a Stafford field goal at the 9:48 mark.
The Lady Nuggets tried to make a run when after a Jarryn Cleaves 3 point attempt with 6:13 remaining to cut lead to 59-50, but Monette answered on the ensuing possession connecting on a field goal and drawing a foul. Monette made her free throw attempt to put LSUS up 62-50. The Lady Nuggets struggled from the field in the closing minutes and could not recover from the 12 point deficit as LSUS went on to win by a final score of 75-59.
Xavier (21-3, 10-2) finished shooting just 30% (21-69) from the floor which included 8-23 (35%) from the three point line and 9-18 from the free throw line. Robinson was held to just 3 points in the second half, finishing with 15 and 6 assists. Cleaves finished with 13 points on 5-19 shooting and added 3 steals.
Monette led the way for the Lady Pilots collecting a game high 24 points on 7-9 shooting and added 14 rebounds and 4 blocks. Lady Pilots leading scorer Renalda Stafford finished with 21 points on 8-12 shooting, while teammate Amanda Castle had 8 points, 9 rebounds, and blocked 5 shots.
“We played very well tonight. The key was our ability to break their press and create some open looks. We made the extra pass and it led to our best shooting performance of the year,” commented Lady Pilots head coach Ronnie Howell.
The Lady Pilots will be in action again Saturday night when they will take on the University of Mobile Lady Rams in Mobile, AL. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00pm. The Lady Pilots next home game is Thursday, February 17th versus Tougallo College.
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