Cougars win turnover plagued contest

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on November 21, 2007 1:48 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Take care of the basketball.

It's a concept that seems simple, but one that can difficult to teach and even tougher to execute.

Goldsboro and Charles B. Aycock got a strong reminder of this on Tuesday night as the two teams combined for 58 turnovers in the Cougars' 54-39 win.

"It's difficult when we're not playing smart basketball," Golden Falcons head coach Carrie Reynell said of her club's 34 turnovers. "But, it's early in the season and we've got a young crew. We've got to work out some kinks."

The Cougars forced 12 takeaways during the second quarter alone, turning many of them into fastbreak opportunities and easy layups.

"My thing from day one, is that we're going to play pressure defense," Goldsboro head coach Brandi Smith said. "We know our defense is going to cause transition for us. It's going to cause the other team to turn the ball over, and it's going to get us easy baskets."

That allowed Goldsboro (1-0 overall) to outscore Aycock 15-5 during the second period and take a 27-15 lead into halftime.

Despite having the final verdict already decided, the Golden Falcons didn't fold. They elevated their intensity level over the final few minutes of the contest.

"If we would have had the intensity (for the whole game) that we had those last few minutes, it would have been a much different game," Rennell said. "We started out strong, and then we made some stupid errors. From there it was just kind of a tough road."

Millicent Kornegay finished with a team-high 14 points for Goldsboro, and Ki'Ara Williams added 12.

The Cougars will face Southern Wayne on November 30, while Aycock hosts Greene Central on Tuesday.

Goldsboro 12 15 14 15 -- 54

C.B. Aycock 10 5 8 16 -- 39

GOLDSBORO (1-0)

Machiya Moye 1 0 0-3 2; Zeara McDuffie 4 0 3-8 11; Ki'Ara Williams 2 1 5-6 12; Danielle Irby 4 0 1-2 9; Miillicent Kornegay 7 0 0-4 14; Victoria Williams 2 0 0-0 4. TOTALS -- 20 1 9-23 54.

C.B. AYCOCK (0-1)

Yolanada Pitt 1 0 4-5 6; Paige Garrett 1 0-1 2; Chantel Gaints 8 0 3-6 19; Patirce Pittman 1 0 0-0 2; Courtney Sheeks 1 0 0-0 2; Brianna Reid 3 0 2-8 8. TOTALS -- 15 0 7 9-21 39.