Nashville, Tenn. ? Four Hatters scored in double figures to lead the Stetson women's basketball team (6-7, 3-1 Atlantic Sun) to a 65-51 victory at Lipscomb (2-11, 0-4 A-Sun) Monday evening at Allen Arena. Sophomore guard Brittany Carannante (Clearwater, Fla.) finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double and sophomore forward Jessica Conner (Cocoa, Fla.) led all scorers with 13 points.
Ahead 33-25 at halftime, the Hatters went up by double digits for the first time four minutes into the second period. That 10- and 11-point margin held for approximately five minutes until the Lady Bisons, working the ball relentlessly into the low post against undermanned Stetson, cut the margin to seven.
The two squads continued to trade cuts with neither team able to go on a sustained run. Finally, it was Stetson that busted out with a 9-0 run over a five-minute span from 8:51 to 3:55 on the scoreboard that put the game out of reach. Conner and senior point guard Sharnesha Smith (Kingsland, Ga.) were the driving forces behind that spurt.
Smith finished with 12 points, seven rebounds (tying her season high) and five assists while junior forward Ashli Jackson (Opelika, Ala.) notched 10 points and seven rebounds. Smith scored all of her points in the second half. Carannante's 10-rebound night represented a career-high, as did her five steals. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak to Lipscomb and was Stetson's first win in Nashville since January 22, 2005. The Hatters remain in a second-place tie with ETSU at 3-1 in league play, one game behind unbeaten Belmont (9-4, 4-0 A-Sun).
Jilian Partin led Lipscomb with 11 points and 11 rebounds while Jenna Bartsokas also scored 11 points for the Lady Bisons.
“It was a physical game tonight and we're happy to take home the win,” Head Coach Lynn Bria said. “Brittany gave us great energy; we need that to win road games in this league and we got it tonight.”
Both teams struggled mightily on offense out of the gate, as the Hatters were down just 2-0 despite not scoring for the first four minutes of the ballgame until a Jessica Conner layup got Stetson on the board. Stetson was behind by as many as six before rallying to take a 14-13 advantage on a Jessica Bivins runner from the elbow with 11:12 to play in the first half. The slow trickle of points continued for the next few minutes as the teams reached the under-eight minute media timeout tied at 16.
Stetson got the better of play for much of the rest of the first half, pulling out to a seven-point lead with 3:30 to go and extending it to eight on a Bivins jumper from the left wing with 30 seconds left in the half. That basket allowed the Hatters to take a 33-25 lead into the locker room.
Sophomore guard Tierra Brown (Orlando, Fla.) and Carannante led all scorers with eight points each in the first half. Brown suffered an apparent right knee injury late in the first half and did not return to the game. Jackson scored five points and grabbed four rebounds. Bartsokas was Lipscomb's leading scorer with six points while Partin had a game-high six rebounds.
Carannante, who made all four of her three-point attempts Saturday at Belmont, stroked her first two through the net in tonight's ballgame as well.
After splitting a six-game roadstand over the last three weeks, the Hatters finally return to the friendly confines of the Edmunds Center for a 7 p.m. Thursday tip-off with A-Sun rival USC Upstate. Bill Topping and Dee Romine call the action; tune into Hatter Vision or Live Stats at www.GoHatters.com to follow all the action. The promotion for the game is Beacon Night; bring the coupon in the DeLand/West Volusia Beacon to receive $5 cash and a free six-week subscription to the Beacon.
