Hatters Roll to Victory over Gardner-Webb, 69-52

January 20, 2007

DeLand, Fla. - The Hatters extend their winning streak to two games, with a conference win over Gardner-Webb, 69-52 at home Saturday afternoon.

The Hatters were led by the strong play of senior Janene Maclin (Chicago, Ill.) with her fourth double-double of the season, putting up 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Freshman Stacia Shepherd (Carmel, Ind.) followed with a career-high 12 points, while sophomore Sharnesha Smith (Kingsland, Ga.) and senior Kim Manning (Daytona Beach, Fla.) each put up 10 to help lead Stetson to victory.

With the first five minutes of the game remaining scoreless, the Bulldogs finally broke the scoring drought on a basket by Shameka Smith.  But the Hatters would soon even the score with a bucket by Maclin to tie the game early.  The Bulldogs were ready for a fight taking as much as a nine point lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

Turnovers by the Bulldogs and strong rebounding by Stetson, allowed the Hatters to gain control of the half, jumping out to a six point lead with two minutes remaining.  The Bulldogs stayed strong and dwindled down the Hatter lead to four going into the half.

The second half belonged to Stetson.  Coming out of the locker room strong, the Hatters pulled out to a 14 point lead in the first six minutes of action.  Missed opportunities by Gardner-Webb allowed the Hatters to maintain control of the game from there and Stetson rolled to a 17 point victory, 69-52.

The bulldogs were led by Brittany Harmon with 10 points while Shameka Smith took control of the boards for the Bulldogs, grabbing 11 rebounds.

The Hatters are now on a two game win streak and hope to carry that momentum with them to Jacksonville where they will take on Jacksonville University Thursday January 25 at 7:00 pm.