Johnson, Simmons lead late surge for UMO

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 14, 2015 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- When Aerial Johnson picked up her fourth foul with just over four minutes remaining Sunday afternoon, University of Mount Olive women's basketball coach Wendy Lee searched her bench for a substitute.

Johnson waved off Lee's decision.

"I'm fine," she said as she lined up on the block underneath the St. Augustine's basket.

The 6-foot-4 junior from Havelock factored into the final four offensive plays for the Trojan women, who squeaked out a 54-48 victory over the pesky Falcons inside Kornegay Arena.

Johnson just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds as UMO improved to 7-6 against St. Aug's since 1993. Daria Simmons pumped in a game-high 21 points on 9 of 14 shooting from the floor and collected nine steals.

"(Aerial) was the difference," smiled Lee. "Her presence on defense and finishing two or three different shots at the rim is really what kind of pushed us over the hump. We were locked up and really stagnant offensively, and she stepped up big for us.

"Daria had consistent play throughout the game and her presence down the stretch, too, I think held us in there."

The Falcons (3-7 overall) seized their second lead, 43-42, on Sycoya Dorsey's baseline jumper off of an inbounds pass. Johnson scored UMO's next two baskets in the paint, the second on assist from Simmons.

Dorsey drew Johnson's fourth foul, but missed both free throw attempts. Seconds later, Johnson set a screen near the free throw line and Simmons converted a layup to push UMO's advantage to 48-43.

Within half a minute, Johnson and Simmons executed the same play. After a Johnson basket, Akera McPhaul's 3-pointer and Dorsey's two free throws closed the gap to 52-48 with 1:09 on the clock.

Johnson, again, set a screen near the free throw line, and dished off to Tommarrah Harris to seal the outcome.

"Those two girls stepping up late defensively and us executing down the stretch helped," Lee said. "But St. Aug's battled the whole game with us. It was just a grind match."

The Trojan women (5-4) built a 21-4 advantage just 24 seconds into the second quarter. But the Falcons climbed to within 21-13 and went into halftime down 25-13.

St. Aug's switched defensive tactics and UMO became passive on the both ends of the floor. The Falcons trailed by six after three quarters and cut the Trojans' advantage to a single bucket, 39-37, in the first minute of the final period.

"Our guards let up after we got a lead and they weren't pressuring as much defensively, which was giving us that kind of intensity offensively," Lee said. "But I also would say St. Aug's went into a different defense and we kind of played to that pace that the defense dictated instead of trying to keep it at the pace we had it."

The Falcons knocked down 10 of the first 12 points of the quarter, including Dorsey's go-ahead basket off the inbounds pass after a timeout. Dorsey led three St. Aug's players in double figures with 13 points.

Johnson's layup started a game-ending 12-5 run that assured UMO of its third win at home this season.