Trojan women look to halt 2-game skid

Published in Sports on January 6, 2006 2:14 PM

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The last two times the Mount Olive women's basketball team has played host to Anderson, the game has gone down to the wire. Anderson prevailed in both contests, but this time around, Mount Olive hopes to go beyond keeping the game close.

Mount Olive resumes Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference play Saturday as the Trojans play host to two-time defending conference champion Anderson. Tipoff is 2 p.m. at Kornegay Arena.

Mount Olive (7-3 overall, 2-1 CVAC) is still off to its best start in more than a decade, despite back-to-back non-conference losses at home last weekend. The Trojans fell to North Carolina Central and Presbyterian, two teams that are a combined 20-3 this season.

Senior Teneal Boone, who won the last two CVAC Player of the Week awards, leads the Trojans with 15.6 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Boone recorded five double-doubles in her first eight games this season.

A pair of freshmen, forward Alisa Jones and swing player Tomeka Prichard, have provided an offensive spark for the Trojans. Prichard has reached double figures in three of her last four games, while Jones is averaging just under 10 points and six rebounds per contest in her last three games.

The Trojans hope to get their offense back on track Saturday. After averaging nearly 73 points per contest in its first seven games, Mount Olive has been held under 60 points in each of its last three games.

Anderson (5-2, 2-1) is coming off an 80-59 win Thursday over Belmont Abbey in a rematch of last year's CVAC Tournament championship game. Junior guard LaShonda Chiles, last year's CVAC Player of the Year, is second in the conference in scoring with 23.2 points per game.

Anderson came within one game of reaching the NCAA II Elite Eight last season.

When the two teams played last year at Kornegay Arena (then College Hall), Anderson was ranked No. 5 in the nation, but Mount Olive was within one point with 10 seconds left before Anderson escaped with a 72-67 victory. The previous year, Anderson won 95-92 in overtime.

Mount Olive and Anderson enter Saturday's game tied with Belmont Abbey for second place in the CVAC standings, one game behind conference leader Barton.