2008 Woodie Awards
Lady Raiders maul Catamounts in WNIT
Chris Martin
Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: Sports
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After its initial run, the Lady Raiders had established a 15-3 lead at the first media timeout. They went on another run to make the score 26-8 with 9:41 remaining.
"We just came out hungry," said Amber Holt, MT senior. "We just came out relaxed."
The 104 points is the most MT has scored in a non-exhibition bout this season, topping the 95 it posted on Austin Peay on Dec. 15. It is also the first time the Lady Raiders have scored 100 or more points since they scored 103 against Louisiana-Monroe on Dec. 17, 2006.
Six MT players scored in double figures and everyone that entered the game for the Lady Raiders scored at least six points.
Holt led all scorers with 29 points on 10 of 13 shooting. She also added nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. Sophomores Chelsia Lymon and Brandi Brown were second on the team with 13 points each. Lymon also contributed five assists and four steals while Brown chipped in four rebounds and four assists coming off the bench. Freshman Emily Queen narrowly missed collecting a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
"We've never come out this relaxed and enjoyed it as much as we did tonight," Brown said. "Hopefully we can do it again next game."
The Lady Raiders went into the half with a 51-26 advantage - the second-most points they have scored in a half this season. This falls behind the 58 they put on Tennessee Tech in the first half of that game.
Little went wrong for MT as they outrebounded WCU 34-29 and hit 59 percent of their shots compared with the Lady Catamounts 40.3 percent. The Lady Raiders also made 13 of their 25 3-point field goals, good for 52 percent.
The Lady Raiders also passed the ball well, managing to put up 23 assists on their 36 made field goals.
"We share the ball," said Rick Insell, MT head coach. "Amber [Holt] gets most of the shots, but she shares more than she should. Sometimes we're too unselfish."
The teams had played earlier in the season, with the Lady Catamounts taking a 77-71 victory in the Murphy Center.
"They're a rival," Holt said about the earlier defeat. "It hurts to lose to them but it just motivates us to play harder."
WCU was playing without its best player, Brooke Johnson, due to injury. Johnson pulled down 20 rebounds in the teams' previous meeting. She has missed most of the season, playing only 11 games. Before her injury, she was averaging 11.9 points and 6.4 rebounds.
Monique Dawson led WCU, scoring 18 points and dishing out four assists. Freshman Emily Clarke also put up 18 points to go along with her four rebounds.
MT will return to action on Friday when they take on Kentucky. The game will take place on the Kentucky's home court and tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
"I don't think we'll be intimidated," Insell said. "They've got a good team, they're big, but we won't be intimidated. They've got a good team and they're probably disappointed they didn't go to the NCAA [tournament] like we are."
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