Women’s basketball snags first victory in PBC over Armstrong

The Georgia College women’s basketball team snagged its first Peach Belt Conference win of the season on Jan. 9, a 57-45 road victory over Armstrong Atlantic State University.

Freshman guard Shanteona Keys scored the Bobcats’ first basket with a layup. GC quickly pulled ahead of the Pirates and kept their lead the entire first half. When halftime arrived, the Bobcats pulled into the break leading Armstrong 22-16.

Armstrong turned up the heat at the beginning of the second half, but the determined Bobcats stayed the course and fought back to regain control. Both teams totaled an even 18 turnovers showing strong defense. Keys continued to lead the team, and scored 19 points along with three assists and three rebounds. Sophomore forward Krysta Lewis added 13 points and freshman guards Mikalyn DeFoor and Enisha Donley helped out with 11 points and 10 points respectively for the Bobcats. GC’s offense had a slight advantage leading in rebounds and assists against Armstrong.

“Our greatest strength would definitely be playing hard,” Keys said. “We still need to work on executing plays and being more aggressive though.”

The motivated Bobcats had their work cut out for them when they returned home for their Jan. 14 game against the University of South Carolina Aiken, who has yet to lose a Peach Belt Conference game. GC continued to improve throughout the game, but the effort was not rewarded with a win as the Bobcats fell 66-43 to the Pacers. USC Aiken grabbed an early lead and continued to put immense pressure both sides of the ball.

“We struggled with pressure during the first half,” freshman forward Belinda Schaafsma said.  “We handled it better as the game went on, but we still need to work on rebounding and taking care of the ball.”

The Pacers excelled defensively as they forced 10 Bobcat turnovers during the first half of the game. GC fought back as they forced seven turnovers, but USC Aiken never backed down.

“We played well in spots, and the offense and defense were consistent,” Head Coach Maurice Smith said. “If we had limited our mistakes, it would’ve been a more competitive game, but there were too many mistakes on both sides of the court.”

Keys again led the team in scoring with 22 points. Schaafsma was also a major asset to the team grabbing 11 rebounds and made all eight of her free throw shots. Donley provided help off the bench with six points and seven rebounds.

“It was a struggle,” Keys said. “It started off well, but there was some confusion.The intensity definitely picked up in the second half.”

Despite the Bobcats’ struggle, the Pacers continued stepping up their game and controlled the game the rest of the way. With the win, USC Aiken kept their perfect Peach Belt Conference record.

“Overall, I was pleased with the effort,” Smith said.

The Bobcats will be on the road Jan. 20 where they will face Francis Marion University.

Posted by MorganWilson on Jan 19 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.