ANDERSON, S.C. – After spending their first five games of the season on the road away from the friendly confines of the Abney Athletic Center, the Anderson University (3-3, 1-1 SAC) women's basketball team made their homecoming count, taking down the Lions of Mars Hill University by a score of 63-47 on Saturday, December 6.
"It was nice to finally have a home game after opening up the season completely on the road," said head coach Jonathon Barbaree. "I challenged our team tonight to really focus on defense, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that forcing a lot of turnovers."
The Trojans were able to cause 29 turnovers in the contest for the Lions, 13 of which were stolen by the Black and Gold. Anderson capitalized on those turnovers as well, scoring 27 points off them in the contest. The rebound game was tight, with the Trojans having a slight advantage 52-49, thanks in part to 19 offensive boards that led to 15 second chance points.
Overall, the Anderson offense was balanced, with 12 different scorers marking their names in the scorebook. Freshman Ashley Hill (Covington, Ga.) led the way with 10 points and 11 boards to record her first collegiate double-double. Sophomore Rose Gravel (Ocala, Fla.) was right behind her with nine points in the game and seven rebounds. Senior Ashlyn Sheridan (Knoxville, Tenn.) was the third-highest scorer for the Trojans, racking up eight points. The Trojans had three scorers, each with six, four and two points, respectively.
After jumping out to an early lead in the opening quarter of action, the Trojans were able to bolster a seven-point lead by the first media timeout, forced by a called-timeout by the Lions. Mars Hill worked hard over the remainder of the first quarter, cutting the Anderson advantage down to just one with 1:34 to play. However, the Trojans were able to finish out the quarter with three straight buckets to extend their lead back to seven at 17-10.
The defensive battle continued to ensue in the second quarter, as the Trojans again only allowed the Lions to post 10 points on the board, all coming over the last six minutes of the period. The Trojans were able to outscore them with a 13-10 clip in the frame, taking a 40-20 lead into the break.
The third quarter was a similar story, as the Trojans outscore the Lions 18-12 in the stanza, before wrapping up the contest with an evenly split 15-15 fourth quarter of action, giving the Black and Gold the 63-47 victory.
"We still have a lot to build on and we look forward to doing that after finals," concluded Barbaree.
The Trojans hit the road for their next three games as they head to Young Harris, Ga. on Wednesday, December 10 for an Education Day game against the Young Harris Mountain Lions. The tip-off for the game is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
