UMO women oust Pfeiffer from Conference Carolinas women's basketball tourney

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

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Sometimes you just win ugly.

Or "messy" as University of Mount Olive head women's basketball coach Wendy Lee described her team's 55-25 triumph over in-state rival Pfeiffer in opening-round play of the Conference Carolinas tournament Monday evening.

Kiara Jones and Arieal Johnson each posted a double-double for the second-seeded Trojan women, who oppose King (Tenn.) in semifinal-round action Thursday at final four host Limestone.

Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.

Johnson poured in a game-high 22 points and snared 18 rebounds. Jones provided 15 points and 13 boards. Guards Ni'Ya Styles and Rachel Fehl combined for 11 of the team's 17 assists on 24 made field goals.

But defense stole the limelight.

Each team's defense disrupted the other's offensive flow which led to ragged play and poor shooting from the perimeter. UMO held the Falcons, who drained 11 three-pointers in their regular-season finale last Friday, to 18.2 percent shooting (10 of 55) from the floor.

Pfeiffer also committed 19 turnovers.

"I think our defense consistently was solid and caused them a lot of chaos ... was a little disruptive for them," Lee said. "There weren't a lot of shots going in (for us)."

Except on the inside.

The Trojan women outscored the Falcons 46-10 in the paint, including a 14-4 edge in second-chance points. UMO pulled down an eye-popping 64 rebounds, and five players cleaned the glass for seven or more rebounds.

"Thankfully Kiara and Arieal finished some shots inside, and got a lot of our misses," Lee said. "(An) outstanding rebounding effort by the two of them. Our posts really went to work for us on the inside. We weren't great on the perimeter."

Jones and Johnson combined to shoot 16 of 31. The remainder of the team converted just eight field goals in 38 attempts, including a dismal 0 for 14 effort behind the 3-point line.

Mount Olive, at times, appeared impatient and frustrated on the offensive end of the floor. Lee credited the seventh-seeded Falcons (8-19 overall) for extending their defensive pressure and preventing the Trojan women from developing an offensive rhythm.

Johnson's six-point output in the final 57.9 seconds of the opening quarter gave UMO a 16-6 advantage. Pfeiffer climbed to within 18-10 on Safia Sheikh's basket, but would get no closer.

The Trojan women (19-10) limited the Falcons to single-digit scoring in each quarter. Pfeiffer went more than 7 minutes without a field goal in the final period.

"Messy," Lee said. "We have to learn from it, be thankful we got it, calm down ... mentally let it go and push through it. We know we need more offensive production to beat King."