Moore, Prichard pace Trojan women to CVAC road victory

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on January 12, 2007 2:16 PM

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HARTSVILLE, S.C. -- The first half was the Helen Moore Show. The second half was the Tomeka Prichard show. The result was a much-needed Mount Olive win.

Moore scored all of her 21 points in the first half and Prichard scored 15 of her career-high 23 points in the second half as Mount Olive halted a four-game losing skid with a 77-55 victory over Coker in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference women's basketball Thursday. The 77 points marked the Trojans' highest single-game scoring output of the season.

After spotting Coker the opening basket, Mount Olive (5-7 overall, 2-4 CVAC) outscored the Cobras 11-2 and took the lead for good. The run was sparked by fast break baskets set up by steals by Keona Corley -- who leads the nation in steals -- and Prichard.

Moore, who entered the game three minutes into the contest and scored 11 points during a 15-4 run as her three-point play gave Mount Olive a 28-13 lead with 9:26 left in the first half. Moore already had 17 points.

The Trojans led by as many as 18 points in the first half and Mount Olive held a 41-23 lead at halftime. Moore was 9-for-11 from the field in the first half.

Coker (3-9, 1-4) pulled within 12 points midway through the first half after holding Mount Olive scoreless for nearly seven minutes. Prichard, who scored the Trojans' last basket on a three-pointer with 17:17 remaining, hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to extend Mount Olive's lead to 54-36 with 9:54 left to play.

Prichard sandwiched a pair of baskets around a Brittney Robich three-pointer and the Trojans built the lead to as many as 27 points.

Prichard was 10-for-18 from the field and also finished with four steals. Moore was held scoreless in the second half, but shared game-high honors with seven rebounds. Corley recorded eight steals, nearly twice her average.

"Helen was incredible in the first half and Tomeka lit it up in the second half," said assistant coach Cindy Hilbrich.

Hilbrich also praised the Trojans' defensive effort, which scored 28 points off of 34 Coker turnovers.

"That's the game plan," said Hilbrich. "Let our defense create the offense."

Mount Olive returns to action Saturday as the Trojans play host to Erskine in a CVAC match-up. Tip-off is 2 p.m. at Kornegay Arena.