COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Simmons' 40-point output paces Trojan women

By admin
Published in Sports on January 12, 2017 7:49 AM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- When in doubt, look for No. 4.

You can find her in the corner.

She might be near the free throw line.

Or perhaps she's lurking underneath the basket.

Wherever Daria Simmons appeared on the court Wednesday evening, her University of Mount Olive teammates put the ball in her hands. And Simmons responded with a career night -- a 40-point performance that propelled the Trojan women past Lees-McRae, 83-68, in Conference Carolinas play.

The senior guard became just the third player in UMO women's basketball history to score 40 or more points in game and first since 1996.

"I honestly didn't know I had that much (points) until they told me," Simmons said. "I think I got hot early, they got me the ball and I just happened to make shots today. It surprised me.

"It was kind of a quiet 40."

The contest included eight lead changes and nine ties through the first three quarters of play.

Lees-McRae pulled within 62-59 to start the fourth quarter and went on a five-minute scoring drought. Simmons drained consecutive baskets and assisted on a layup to reserve Hope Tolliver that sparked a decisive 11-0 run.

Simmons said the Trojan women (10-3 overall, 7-1 CC) communicated and rotated better defensively against the Bobcats, who collected 28 points in the paint -- but just four in the final period.

"Overall defense in the second half caused them to go on that spell where they didn't get a bucket," UMO head coach Wendy Lee said. "We didn't give up our effort. Even when we got tired, we dropped back and tried to get locked in to what we were supposed to do.

"We basically just kind of grinded it out and gritted it out in the second half. Daria was amazing in different ways for us...didn't have a lot of breaks and willed us through some tough spots."

Simmons converted 12 of 19 shots from the floor, hit 14 of 15 from the free throw line, pulled down eight rebounds and picked the Bobcats for four steals in a team-high 37 minutes of action. Her effort helped counter lackluster offensive nights from teammates Felecity Havens and Ni'Ya Styles, who rank among the league's top-five scorers.

Havens snared 17 rebounds. Styles contributed nine points and four boards. Kiara Jones, who leads the league in field-goal percentage (56.5 percent), ended up with just four points and 13 caroms.

Rachel Fehl dished out nine assists.