DELAND, Fla. – Stetson women's basketball outlasted a feisty Furman squad, 77-61, Saturday night in the Edmunds Center.
"It was a good game," head coach
Lynn Bria said "Furman has all the pieces, they've got bigs, perimeter players and are athletic. You have to guard them, or they can score points in a hurry. Their bigs are very effective and command a lot of attention, sometimes more than one defender. We were sloppy at first but overall, we're starting to play together a little bit more; it's progress. We're still fouling way too much, and we have to get that cleaned up. Rebounding has been our nemesis, but I think we've made a lot of progress in rebounding. Overall, we have improved in way more areas."
The Hats were out of tune early falling behind 6-1 with the Paladins taking advantage for free throws and one jump shot from FU's Jaelyn Acker. Furman would carry the advantage after one quarter, 16-13, six by free throw.
Furman held onto the lead keeping the Hatters at bay until
Alyssa Hargrove found the shooting touch behind the arc. Back-to-Back threes from the SU guard evened the score at 24-24 with 5:29 left; a pair of free throws [26-24] from
Khamya McNeal gave Stetson the first advantage since being up 1-0 in the first quarter. Hargrove scored a total of eight in the second frame.
"I think I have been struggling this season, but I came into this game different, with less stress," Hargrove said "I just wanted to play and I finally hit a three, I think that gave me the confidence to keep shooting."
Typically, this season the third quarter has been a weakness for Stetson, but not today as the Hatters saw the advantage balloon to 14 multiple times, first occurring at the 5:31 mark when Jaelyn Talley knocked down a jumper. The lead jumped to 14 four more times before the end of quarter.
The depth and endurance of Stetson showed in the fourth quarter. The Hatters imposed their will in the paint, scored on fast breaks and were out rebounding the Southern Conference team. Stetson put a 22-point gap between themselves and the Paladins twice, but the final tally was down to 16, 77-61.
"I thought we turned them over and got out and ran on them," Bria said about the fourth quarter "We turned them over quite a bit but in the first half, we did not convert those [into points], second half we did and that was the biggest difference."
Sophomore
Alyssa Hargrove set a new career high in scoring with 25 points, the now career game high among active Hatters. Jaelyn Talley added 17 more, a season high for the freshman who has never been held below 13 points. Hargrove paced he team in rebounds [7], assists [4] and aforementioned points. Jordan Peete was very active defensively with two blocks and three steals, both game highs.
"She is such a great player," Bria said about Hargrove "It [The stats] doesn't show defensively what she does for us. She is an incredible defender, and she can shoot and score. Defensively, I cannot say enough. She is so good and so effective, we put her on the other team's best player, and she creates havoc. She can do it all. She effects our team and even when he shot is off, she is still a great guard and creates in other ways."
"Our team, and our defense," Hargrove said about what stuck out and made this game different. "We have been struggling with our transition defense and we were getting back every time. Our offense was everything and doing everything we wanted to do.
When asked to identify anyone specific, Hargrove highlighted the total-team effort that everybody was making.
The Hatters head to Las Vegas, Nevada for the UNLV Thanksgiving Tournament first facing Louisiana Tech on Black Friday and the following opponent depending on results of contests that day. Follow GoHatters.com for more details as the game's results coming
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS (PDF).
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