Trojan women drop Flying Feet

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 5, 2004 2:01 AM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Defense and rebounding factored into Mount Olive's 57-41 victory against Erskine (S.C.) College on Saturday afternoon.

Junior forward Teneal Boone notched a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) for the Trojans, who dominated the boards 46-25.

Mount Olive limited the Flying Fleet, which hit 19 three-pointers in a victory against in-state rival Presbyterian College, to 21.1-percent shooting behind the arc. Erskine connected on just four 3-pointers -- all in the second half.

"I was pleased with our defensive intensity, which kind of drove them out of their offense," fifth-year Mount Olive coach Wendy Lawrence said. "They're a strong three-point shooting team and we knew we'd have to put a lot of pressure out on the perimeter." Lawrence credited some of that defensive success to Boone, who moved from underneath the basket to the perimeter. The defensive changed caused some headaches for the Flying Fleet's offense, which features four guards and one post player. Boone bothered the ball-handlers and helped create some turnovers near midcourt.

Meanwhile, Erskine's 3-2 zone caused a few problems for Mount Olive.

The Trojans, who admittedly don't like seeing zone-oriented defenses, struggled in their offensive set during a 10-minute stretch in the first half. A minor substitution changed that. Sophomore forward Melanie Cobb came off the bench and helped spark a 19-4 run.

"We started attacking their zone better by hitting it in the middle and Melanie did a very good job," Lawrence said. "She stepped back in, attacked the middle and looked for her shot during that segment (of offense). We were putting a lot of pressure on the other end to give us some transition buckets to help add to the lead." Mount Olive (2-1) owned 35-16 lead at halftime. However, Erskine quickly closed the gap to 35-25 with 3-pointers from Anita Owens, Chacee Whittington and Kristy Vaughn.

Lawrence immediately burned a timeout.

"We started out flat on defense in the second half and that could have proved to be a crucial turning point in the game," she said. "Erskine hit some really big shots. I felt like we had to get re-focused, get back out with the same intensity we played in the first half.

"That settled us down and got us back into our game plan." Leading 37-27, Heidi Busch kissed a layup off the glass off Ladora Charles' assist which started a quick 14-4 run. Charles and Shenetta Moye also contributed offensively during that stretch as the Trojans' advantage ballooned to 51-31 with 7:05 remaining.

Erskine never threatened en route to its third loss in five outings.

Moye paced Mount Olive with a team-high 12 points. Latoria Harvey added nine points and 12 rebounds. All five starters scored at seven or more points, and eight players scratched in the scoring column overall.

Owens emerged the Flying Fleet's offensive leader with 14 points.

Mount Olive returns to action in two weeks with a contest at Barry (Fla.) College. They conclude their pre-Christmas schedule with a Dec. 22 date at Eckerd (Fla.) College and then visit St. Augustine's on Dec. 30.