Johnson, Styles spark UMO women in 3rd quarter

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 14, 2016 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- The University of Mount Olive women's basketball team never refused to give up on its gameplan Wednesday evening.

Emmanuel (Ga.) College constantly double- and triple-teamed Aerial Johnson in the paint. Ni'Ya Styles constantly drew the attention of Mikayla Trombley, who stood 10 inches taller than the five-foot sophomore guard.

Johnson and Styles combined for eight first-half points.

"We discussed some of the things they were doing, and their gameplan was working in the first half ... focusing on two people and when you look at stats, those are the two people who have been scoring for us," UMO head coach Wendy Lee said of the Lions' ability to take Johnson and Styles out of the offense.

"I tried to fire the team up (at halftime) and let them know we are more than two players. I was trying to pump everybody up, but still be able to go to Aerial and Ni'Ya in the second half. We tried to find a ways to get them the ball ... they really kept their head in the game."

Lee got her wish.

Johnson logged a double-double (15 points, 14 rebounds) and Styles knocked down 18 points as the Trojan women turned back the Lions, 69-61, in Conference Carolinas action Wednesday evening.

"It's a big win, gives us a lot of confidence," Styles said.

Emmanuel hit the opening basket of the third quarter, but went silent over the next 3 1 /2 minutes. The Trojan women reeled off 10 consecutive points as Styles buried a 3-pointer, drained three free throws after getting fouled on another 3-pointer; and Johnson scored on a pair lobs over the Lions' defense.

Styles scored 14 points in the quarter.

"Even though they were guarding me tight, I still had to find a way to score and Aerial did, too," Styles said. "We did a good job of it. We were just playing defense and once we got a stop, the transition (offense) helped us score.

"We were hustling on the floor."

The Trojan women seized an 18-point lead early in the fourth quarter. But the Lions eventually closed the gap to 62-56 on Trombley's layup after she gathered a loose ball near midcourt.

UMO closed out the game at the free throw line and remained unbeaten at home (3-0) in conference play this season.

"It was a little segment that we had a little trouble running the offense," Styles said of the mid-quarter drought. "When we got out that little spell that we had, we finished the game and got the win."

Lee described Kiara Jones, who pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds, as the "X" factor and "motor" that ignited the Trojan women in the opening half. Jones snared eight first-quarter rebounds and had nine total at intermission.

UMO dominated the glass 53-32, including a 19-6 edge on the offensive end of the court.

Daria Simmons drained two free throws to give UMO a 29-26 lead at the halftime. Simmons collected 15 points and picked up four steals for the Trojan women, who won back-to-back conference games for the first time since early December.