GIRLS' BASKETBALL: Carolina leader Princeton rolls past S. Creek

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on February 1, 2017 9:57 AM

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SEVEN SPRINGS -- Foul trouble and a seven-person roster mix like water and oil.

Unfortunately for Spring Creek, the whistles came early and often against Princeton Tuesday night. All of the reach-ins and unnecessary hacks quickly caught up with the Gators in their 52-28 loss to the Bulldogs.

In the first half alone, Spring Creek committed 13 fouls. By the end of the game, the Bulldogs went 20-for-33 at the charity stripe.

"It was rough," said Bulldogs' head coach Paul Wooten, regarding the physical play. "(I) was trying to keep them under composure because nothing is worse than getting a technical or thrown out of a game and missing another game. That's just a part of playing. You just have to keep your composure and move on."

In the first quarter, Princeton scored 11 points. Four of those came from field goals by Jazmaine McCain and Takiria Cummings. The other seven were free throws by Emily Ricks.

Not much changed in the next stanza. McCain added two more field goals, but the remaining six points were all free throws. Cummings went 4-for-4 while Ricks and Madison Adkins added one apiece.

"Foul trouble definitely hurt us," said Gators' head coach Charlie Cotten. "Through the whole game, the fouls just kept piling up. Then you start having to play tentatively, and it kind of takes you out of your game. It takes you away from some of the things you want to do."

The Bulldogs used a 12-0 burst in the third quarter to grab a 39-19 lead. They eventually went on to out score Spring Creek 31-15 in the second half.

Spring Creek's Shakera Williams and Ashley Marriner both fouled out in the fourth quarter, so the Gators had to finish with four players.

McCain paced Princeton with 19 points and 15 rebounds. Sutton was the only Gator in double digits with 15 points.