Trojan women complete regular-season sweep of archrival

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on February 26, 2014 1:46 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Kirksten Mitchell doesn't remember the run, but University of Mount Olive head women's basketball coach Wendy Lee was thankful to see it.

Haunted by slow-starting second halves in each of its last three outings, UMO didn't trip over itself after coming out of the locker room this time.

Instead, the Trojan women exploded offensively and snapped a three-game skid with a 79-66 victory over archrival Barton on senior night at Kornegay Arena. Kirksten Mitchell led three UMO players in double figures with 25 points, including 16 in the second half.

"To get a win against Barton here with the magnitude of the game, it could have really made us a little bit fragile, a little bit nervous, but I think we were just more determined and focused instead of going the opposite way," Lee said.

Mount Olive (16-10 overall) secured the No. 3 seed and a quarterfinal-round home contest for the season-ending Conference Carolinas tournament, which begins Saturday. The Trojans' opponent won't be determined until later this week.

Jasmine McDonald just missed her second career triple-double with a 22-point, 11-rebound, eight-assist performance. Katie Paschal knocked down 21 points and dished out five assists.

Barton (12-14, 9-9 CC) entered the game as the league's top offensive rebounding team. The Trojans limited the Bulldogs to seven offensive boards, won the points-in-the-paint battle 32-22 and claimed a decisive 16-4 edge in second-chance points.

"When you are getting stops and you take away Barton's strength, which I thought we did a pretty good job of, it made it our strength tonight," Lee said. "Kirk, J-Mac and Ty (Wallace) were good at wiggling around and finding a way to get to the rim. The whole team sticking to the gameplan is what I'm really proud of tonight."

The Trojan women bolted to a nine-point lead just five minutes into the contest. The Bulldogs chipped away at the deficit and took their first lead, 22-21, on Ashley Thornton's 3-pointer off of a UMO turnover.

Barton maintained a one-possession advantage until the Trojans concluded the half with an 11-4 run. Mitchell and McDonald combined for three 3-pointers, while Paschal dropped in a running one-hander as time expired.

Ana Zjacic ignited UMO in the second half with back-to-back uncontested layups. Paschal and McDonald added baskets of their own to make it 48-34 just 2 1/2 minutes in.

"Was it that good?" Mitchell quipped about the second-half start.

"I don't remember. We usually don't come out of the locker room starting like that, though. Ana was being aggressive and that just flowed into everyone else, who started doing the same."

Although the Trojans kept a double-digit lead the remainder of the second half, Lee never felt comfortable against the athletic and speedy Bulldogs. The teams traded baskets until the Bulldogs' chances of earning a regular-season split took a blow with 11:41 remaining in the game.

Senior guard Nyesha Willie collided with Mitchell in the paint and crumbled to the floor. The reigning Conference Carolinas player-of-the-year screamed in pain as the coaching staff and trainer attended to a knee she recently injured.

Willie didn't return. Kaila Lea (14 points) and Thornton (11 points) stepped up in her absence, but the Trojans eventually claimed their first regular-season sweep of the Bulldogs since 1998.