Wilkins leads Ladies over Lady Pilots, 85-65
November 14, 2005
Shreveport, LA---The LSUS Lady Pilots (2-1) made the trip across town to take on the Centenary College Ladies Monday night. The Lady Pilots controlled the tempo early and built a 26-17 lead with 8:00 remaining in the second half, but Holli Wilkins sparked a 20-4 run to end the first half sending the Ladies to the locker room with a 37-30 lead. The Ladies outscored the Lady Pilots 48-35 in the second half and went on to win by a final score of 85-65.
“The difference in the game was the 20-4 run to end the half. All of a sudden we were giving them some uncontested shots and failed to run our offense. You just can’t afford to give a tem who can shoot open looks at the basket or they will start knocking them down which is what they did tonight,” commented Lady Pilot Head Coach Ronnie Howell.
Wilkins connected on four field goal attempts collecting 10 of her game high 18 points in the final five minutes of the half to cap off the Ladies 20-4 run. The Ladies recovered from their slow start and finished shooting 13-33 (39%) from the field which included 5-11 from beyond the three-point line and 6-7 from the free throw line.
The Lady Pilots ended the half shooting 11-29 from the field (38%) including 1-5 from the three-point line and just 7-12 from the free throw line.
The Ladies continued to connect from the three-point line which led to an 8-0 run between the 16:19 and 14:52 mark which was capped of by a Van’esha Brabson three-pointer. Brittany Barbee capped an 11-0 run with her third three-pointer of the half to put the Ladies out of reach with an 82-56 lead.
The Lady Pilots finished the half on a 9-3 run which included five points from point guard Renalda Stafford but this was too little too late as the Ladies handed the Lady Pilots their first loss of the season by a final sore of 85-65.
“I’m extremely pleased with the way we played,” Ladies head coach Elizabeth Wamsely said after the game. “It was a total team effort. If you go down each player’s line, everything’s positive.”
Wilkins led the Ladies with a game high 18 points and four blocks while Lindsay Way pitched in with 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Barbee collected a game high seven assists and added 13 points, while Barbson rounded out the Ladies scoring with 11 points and four assists. When asked about her team’s success shooting the ball, Wamsley didn’t seem surprised. “We’re a team full of guards,” she said matter-of-factly. “We’ll live and die by the long range shot, but luckily, we’ve been shooting the ball really well lately so we’re looking good.”
Despite suffering their first loss of the season, Howell saw a lot of good things on the floor he believes will help the Lady Pilots throughout their conference schedule. “We had 13 steals and 18 turnovers to their 20. We shot the ball well from the field (43%) despite being just 2-10 from the three-point line,” commented Howell. “Our guards shot the ball very well as four of them reached double figures while shooting 50% or better.”
Moche Roque finished with a season high 17 points on 7-13 shooting while teammate Jessica Kelley also collected a season high with 16 points and four rebounds. Stafford finished with 12 points and a team high seven rebounds while Britteny Walker collected 10 points and two steals.
The Lady Pilots managed to get to the free throw line but struggled to capitalize as they made just 13-24 (54%) attempts while the Ladies finished 18-21 (86%). “We did a good job of getting to the line but we need to finish. We have three days to work some things out before this weekend which will be a good challenge for our girls,” concluded Howell.
The Lady Pilots will be in action again this weekend when they will travel to Waxahachie, TX where they will take on Dallas Christian College Friday afternoon at 4:00pm and then Hillsdale Baptist College Saturday at 2:00pm.
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