Trojan women weather late FMU rally

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 12, 2014 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Haunted by close losses and the inability to finish ballgames, the University of Mount Olive exorcised those recent demons in historic fashion Thursday evening.

Gabby Griffin and Tommarah Harris each turned in a career scoring performance, and the Trojan women upended Francis Marion (S.C.) University, 64-60, inside Kornegay Arena. Mount Olive claimed its first-ever win over FMU in four meetings since joining the Division II ranks in 1995.

A junior forward, Griffin just missed a double-double with a career-high 17 points and eight rebounds. Harris, a freshman, contributed 12 points and collected two steals in a reserve role.

"(A) very important (win)," said UMO senior Ty Wallace, who almost logged a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.

"I think this one can be a confidence booster for us coming off consecutive 'L's'. It's good to know that we are capable of winning and that we can pull out close games because all of our losses have been one- or two-possession games."

This one got tight at the end.

The Trojan women led 62-51 with 62 seconds remaining in the game.

The Patriots, members of the perennially-strong Peach Belt Conference, quickly trimmed the deficit to a single possession. Khayani Chandler, Briana Burgins and Stephanie Brown sparked a 9-3 run that closed the gap to 63-60 with 4.9 seconds to go.

Burgins' offensive putback and a Chandler free throw, off of another offensive rebound, proved critical during the run.

UMO guard Shy'Lia Buie iced the game by sinking the front end of a two-shot foul with 3.7 seconds on the clock. Buie finished with 10 points, five assists and two steals.

"I was proud of that (late run)," first-year FMU head coach Jay Sparks said. "Don't you wish that you could instill that for 40 minutes instead of just for the last two or three (minutes of the game)? But (with) backs to the wall, sometimes people come out and a fight, and a few of those did."

The Trojan women (3-5 overall) halted a four-game skid that included a five-point loss at Conference Carolinas foe Erskine and an overtime setback at league newcomer Emmanuel (Ga.) College.

A fifth straight defeat seemed imminent ... early.

Francis Marion scored nine of the game's first 12 points within a three-minute span. UMO moved in front 14-13 on Griffin's 3-pointer and pushed the advantage to 17-13 on the first of three 3-pointers from Harris.

"Once we figured out a way to break their press, which I don't think any of us were expecting, our point guards did a good job of getting us in our press breaker," Wallace said. "Once we were able to do that, we got the ball up the floor pretty clean."

The Patriots answered with an 8-0 run, but couldn't keep the momentum.

Mount Olive reeled off 10 consecutive points, capped by Harris' second 3-pointer. The Trojan women maintained a two-possession advantage they never relinquished and entered halftime ahead 33-27.

"I felt like we forced them to take tough shots ... particularly early," said UMO head coach Wendy Lee, whose team scored 24 points off of 23 FMU turnovers and owned a 45-38 edge on the glass.

"We were able to pick off some passes when they skipped it (over the zone). Some key defensive possessions is what gave us some confidence tonight."

The Trojan women held a double-digit lead for 10-plus minutes in the second half before the Patriots (2-5) put together their final run.

"They were making a good run," Lee said. "We could have really kind of fell apart. We've been in close games and not been able to finish, so I was really proud of the fact it was a tight game and we were able to finish it."