Anderson women, behind Chiles, topple Mount Olive

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on January 8, 2006 2:15 AM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Facing an aggressive Anderson (S.C.) University defense, Mount Olive's women's basketball team committed a season-high 29 turnovers as the visitors claimed an 81-71 win at Kornegay Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Anderson (6-2 overall), which improved to 3-1 in Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference play, finished with 19 steals on the game as four different players had at least three steals. Anderson often turned Mount Olive's miscues into points on the other end as the visiting team finished with a whopping, 40 points off turnovers.

"I feel like we were pretty sloppy with our passes and telegraphing passes," Mount Olive coach Wendy Lee said. "We didn't adjust on the perimeter very well and continued to make the same mistakes. They (Anderson) are going to beat a lot of teams this year, and hopefully we're going to win a lot of games too."

Anderson's LaShonda Chiles, a 5-foot-2 guard and he CVAC player of the year last year, erupted for 22 points in the second half and finished 9-of-12 from the floor. A trio of teammates, Deidra Langston, Latrice Thomas and Mikala Fogle-Wilson added 16 points each for Anderson. The four leading scorers also combined for 16 of their teams' 19 steals.

Alisa Jones emerged the offensive bright spot for Mount Olive as the 6-foot-0 freshman from Fayetteville finished with career high's in points and rebounds and turned in her first career double-double. Jones posted 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting and pulled down 10 rebounds -- scoring 10 of Mount Olive's first 20 points in a sluggish first half.

"She's putting in good minutes and stepping up for us," Lee said of Jones. "She's playing bigger and more experienced than she is, especially going up against an experienced team like Anderson."

Senior forward Teneal Boone added 17 points and six rebounds for Mount Olive, while freshman guard Meghan Vanderhorst, a Farmville Central product, came off the bench to score 13 points.

The Lady Trojans, who share the same mascot moniker as Anderson, never led the CVAC contest, but got within striking distance on several occasions -- only to see Anderson answer. With 13 minutes left, the home team pulled with six at 52-46 on a lay-up by Jones on an assist by Anita Rogers. Out of a time out called by Anderson coach Jeff Dow, in his first year with the program, Chiles drained back-to-back 3-pointers on her teams next two possessions as the visitors took their biggest lead at the time at 58-46 near the 12-minute mark.

Turnovers continued to plague the Lady Trojans as they never got closer than eight the rest of the way as Anderson, the two-time defending CVAC champion, emerged with the road win.

"I thought there were times when we were teetering. I didn't know if we were going to build the lead or let them back in," Dow said. "Generally, we responded and I thought that was key."

Mount Olive looks to snap a three-game losing streak when it returns to action on Monday at arch-rival Barton College in Wilson. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.

ANDERSON (6-2, 3-1)

LaShonda Chiles 7 2 6-7 26, Deidra Langston 6 0 4-6 16, Latrice Thomas 6 1 1-2 16, Gina Holbrook 1 0 1-1 3, Keana Boyd 1 0 0-0 2, Mikala Fogle-Wilson 3 2 4-5 16, Haley Riffle 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 25 5 16-21 81.

MOUNT OLIVE (7-4, 2-2)

Alisa Jones 9 0 3-3 21, Meaghan Vanderhorst 3 1 4-4 13, Teneal Boone 7 0 3-4 17, Tomeka Prichard 0 2 0-0 6, Sierra Medeiros 1 0 0-0 2, Anita Rogers 0 1 0-0 3, Ashley Jones 1 0 0-0 2, Bokeeter Mozee 1 0 0-0 2, Latara Wade 1 0 0-0 2, Ebony Green 1 0 1-2 3. TOTALS -- 24 4 11-13 71.

Halftime -- Anderson 41, Mount Olive 34. 3-point goals -- Anderson 5-18 (Thomas 1-2, Boyd 0-4, Chiles 2-4, Fogle-Wilson 4-5), Mount Olive 4-9 (Prichard 2-3, Rogers 1-4, Simms 0-1, Vanderhorst 1-1). Rebounds -- Anderson 33 (Holbrook 8), Mount Olive 31 (Jones 10). Assists -- Anderson 17 (Langston 4), Mount Olive 18 (Corley 5). Turnovers -- Anderson 22, Mount Olive 29. Blocked shots -- Anderson 3 (Holbrook, Chiles, Fogle-Wilson), Mount Olive 3 (Prichard, Jones, Rogers). Steals -- Anderson 19 (Langston 5), Mount Olive 9 (Green 3).