Vanderhorst has career night in Mount Olive's opener

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on November 16, 2006 1:47 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Sophomore Meaghan Vanderhorst collected a career-high 28 points and Mount Olive College dumped UNC Pembroke 71-61 on Wednesday evening at Kornegay Arena.

It was the season-opening game for both teams.

Mount Olive seized its third consecutive home-opening win and beat UNCP for the first time in school history. The Braves, a Peach Belt Conference member, endured their 14th road defeat in their last 22 outings.

Seventh-year Trojans coach Wendy Lee gushed over Vanderhorst's "quiet" offensive output while she glanced at the final statsheet.

"I didn't know she did that," said a surprised Lee.

Vanderhorst, a 5-foot-6 shooting guard from Farmville, buried seven 3-pointers and recorded the second-highest, single-game scoring total in the program's Division II history. Former Trojan standout Latoria "Tito" Harvey poured in a school-record 33 points against Pfeiffer University on Jan. 10, 2005.

"Meaghan really did catch fire and I'm glad she did," said Lee. "I hope she doesn't wait until the second half when we're down to find that type of desire, energy and will to win. It was the determination she had and I am thankful she did have it.

"(But) it wasn't the acts of just one player who got it done tonight. There were a lot of plays created by our defense that got her the ball to be able to finish some shots."

Defense, indeed.

Mount Olive gave UNCP a dose of its own defense in the second half and doubled up the Braves' post defenders. That forced the guards to take hasty shots and allowed the Trojans to get rebounding position.

The Trojans also harassed the inexperienced Braves' backcourt into 19 second-half turnovers, which led to their 20-point turnaround.

"We didn't meet passes, weren't strong with the basketball and didn't have the outlets coming to the ball," said UNCP head coach John Hoskins. "That's what we talked about halftime. (We knew) they were going to do a lot of doubling (in the paint).

"I said let's get outlets to the basketball and let's attack the basket. Credit them, they put a lot of pressure on us."

On the offensive end, Mount Olive -- especially Vanderhorst -- finished its shots. After Keshaun Mozee converted an open-court layup, Vanderhorst completed an old-fashioned three-point play.

The Braves continued to play frantically and the turnovers piled up. Mount Olive capitalized on the miscues and Vanderhorst drained a 3-pointer to put the Trojans in front 47-45.

Victoria Willis canned a 3-pointer to give UNCP its last lead at 52-51. Keona Corley's offensive rebound and layup put Mount Olive back in front 53-52. Vanderhorst posted her career high on her next 3-pointer off an assist from Corley. The Trojans led 56-52 and the Braves never threatened again.

Jill Oaks' 3-pointer and driving layup capped the game-clinching 10-0 run that started on Corley's offensive putback. Mount Olive claimed its biggest lead at 68-57 on two Helen Moore free throws with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

UNCP finished with 20 points and 19 turnovers in the second half.

"We played them two years ago and they're a lot better, especially defensively," said Hoskins. "But I thought they did a really good job of executing their offense. They got her (Vanderhorst) some open looks."

The Trojans followed an unwelcomed pattern they established during preseason scrimmages. In those games, they fell behind at halftime and rallied behind their defense in the second half.

UNCP did its part to continue the trend. The Braves dictated the tempo in the opening half and denied Mount Olive from setting up its inside-out game. The visitors dominated the boards 20-8 and converted 10 Trojan turnovers into 11 points.

Lauren Lingenfelter collected five consecutive points and ignited a 14-4 run that ended on Victoria Willis' 3-pointer. Willis hit another 3-pointer with less than a minute to go and UNCP led 41-31 at halftime.

"We've really been able to come out and start aggressive in the second half," said Lee. "The down side to that is you can't wait until then to find your intensity and to have reality set in that we've got to really get after it on defense.

"I really compliment our effort on defense the second half, but it would have been nice to see that the entire game and maybe we wouldn't have found ourselves in that situation at halftime."

UNC PEMBROKE (0-1)

Lauren Lingenfelter 4 0 2-3 10, Natasha Stotler 2 0 2-2 6, Sharkeysha Midgette 0 0 2-2 2, Victoria Willis 2 4 0-0 16, Porcha Locklear 1 0 0-0 2, Ivy Ramsey 1 0 0-0 2, Kristina Homesley 0 0 0-0 0, DeNeer Davis 3 0 5-6 11, Natalie Ray 1 0 1-2 3, L'oreal Price 4 0 1-2 9. TOTALS -- 18 4 13-17 61.

MOUNT OLIVE (1-0)

Tomeka Prichard 4 2 0-2 14, Jill Oaks 1 1 0-2 5, Sierra Medeiros 1 0 -0 2, Keona Corley 1 0 3-4 5, Meaghan Vanderhorst 3 7 1-1 28, Keshaun Mozee 1 0 0-1 2, Helen Moore 2 0 5-6 9, Brittney Robich 1 0 0-0 2, Alisa Jones 2 0 0-1 4. TOTALS -- 16 10 9-17 71.

Halftime -- UNC Pembroke 41-31. Three-point goals -- UNCP 4-19, MOC 10-22. Rebounds -- UNCP 39 (Stotler, Davis 7), MOC 27 (Oaks 4, Moore 4). Assists -- UNCP 13 (Davis 4), MOC 22 (Mozee 6). Turnovers -- UNCP 30, MOC 23. Blocked shots -- MOC 3. Steals -- UNCP 11 (Willis 3), MOC 15 (Vanderhorst, Moore 3). A -- 265.