Trojan women get much-needed, confident-boosting win

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 15, 2015 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Sitting forward in her chair and feeling a cool breeze from the fan blowing in the coach's office, Ni'Ya Styles showed a sense of relief Wednesday evening.

Who could blame her?

A team that struggled to work as a cohesive unit finally found that intensity, desire, heart, hustle and determination University of Mount Olive head coach Wendy Lee had been waiting to see during the last month.

The effort translated into a confidence-building win Wednesday evening.

Styles pumped in 15 points, dished out three assists and picked off three steals as the Trojan women turned back in-state Conference Carolinas foe Belmont Abbey, 57-50, inside Kornegay Arena. Sophomore Arieal Johnson added a double-double, 15 points and 10 rebounds, as UMO prevailed for just the second time in its last seven outings.

"We needed that win a lot," Styles said. "We played great defense and we communicated all through the game, and we were ready to play from the start which helped us win this game."

The Trojan women (5-10 overall, 3-6 CC) built a 12-point lead during the opening 10 minutes. Kiara Jones' layup, Styles' 3-pointer off of Johnson's assist and Tomarrah Harris' 3 from the left corner -- off Abbey's ninth turnover -- gave UMO a 20-8 lead.

But the offensive outburst faded.

The Crusaders (8-7, 4-5) answered with a 16-0 run as the Trojans misfired on 16 consecutive field goal attempts, and committed seven turnovers during an eight-minute span. McKenzie Owen's short jumper put the Crusaders in front, 24-20 -- the visitors' biggest lead of the game.

Rachel Fehl answered with 3 off of Ty Wallace's assist and the teams entered halftime deadlocked at 25-all.

"We had to calm down, run our offense, play together and believe in each other," Styles said. "We always feel we have a chance to win from the start, the middle, the end. When we have confidence and everybody scores the ball, that's what helps us down the stretch."

Wallace's basket off of Styles' assist put UMO ahead to stay, 28-27, early in the second half. The Crusaders kept it either a one- or two-possession deficit, but couldn't convert possessions against a physical Trojan defense that rarely offered good looks at the basket.

Gabrielle Bethel's offensive putback made it 47-43 with 3:59 to go, however the Crusaders would struggle the remainder of the game. Harris' old-fashioned 3-point play and a pivotal offensive putback by Johnson extended the lead to 53-43.

"When we cut down on the easy baskets and uncontested shots where we get mixed up on assignments, we make it a lot tighter game, we get more confident and then our defensive intensity increases," said Lee, whose team limited Abbey to 28-percent shooting from the floor and collected 17 points off of 20 turnovers.

"(The effort) shots us growing up, shows us coming together and we want to just build on it."