UMO women eager to face Emmanuel (Ga.) again

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 13, 2016 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- University of Mount Olive's last previous meeting with Emmanuel (Ga.) College sticks out like a sore thumb.

The Trojan women let a winnable game slip away.

Emmanuel capitalized on a scoring drought, crashed the offensive glass and sank critical free throws which sparked a come-from-behind, 66-60 victory on the Conference Carolinas women's basketball scene.

"(The loss) was like a dart in the heart because it was really tight," UMO head coach Wendy Lee said. "We worked hard on defense, then gave up an offensive rebound, they put it right back in. They finished the game better than we did.

"Some of it was within our control."

The rematch is tonight at Kornegay Arena. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m.

UMO continues to seek an identity and develop team chemistry 12 games into the season. The Trojan women (6-7 overall, 4-3 CC) have yet to find someone to take charge on the court and the players have failed to consistently support each other offensively.

Lee is not used to seeing that from her teams.

The mainstay has been 6-foot-4 junior center Aerial Johnson, who has emerged as the team's top scorer in five games and leading rebounder in seven games this season. She averages 12.2 points and 9.5 rebounds, but has been prone to foul trouble.

Johnson fouled out against Emmanuel.

Lee contends that opposing teams haven't committed 100 percent of their attention on defending Johnson, but have found ways to get her into early foul trouble. Johnson has been whistled for a team-high 43 fouls this season.

"She really works to help everybody else out, especially on defense," Lee said. "I think it's time for us to help Aerial and acknowledge that she can't do this alone. Obviously, we're cutting into what we're getting from her."

The remedy is two-fold -- dribble penetration to make the defense commit to the guards, and knock down outside shots that will give Johnson some breathing room underneath the basket.

UMO has dropped four of its last six outings, but is coming off a solid road win at North Greenville this past Saturday. Lee liked how the team responded with a grind-it-out victory after having less than 24 hours to recover from a 26-point loss to No. 7-ranked Limestone (S.C.) College.

Lee is looking forward seeing Emmanuel again.

"I hope (the NG game) carries over and that we step up to the challenge with a clear mind, a clean slate and build on why we were able to play better Saturday," Lee said. "This team is above us in the standings in the conference, and is a good team that should give us a measuring stick to see if you're able to beat some really good teams.

"I guess it's pivotal in our growth and maturity process."