GWU Grounds the Lady Eagles for 66-55 Road Win
November 22, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Durham, N.C. - Gardner-Webb women's basketball team picked up its first road win of the season on Sunday afternoon, as the Lady Bulldogs used both the inside and outside game to defeat the North Carolina Central Lady Eagles 66-55 in non-conference action.
With the win, the Lady Bulldogs improve to 3-1 on the season, while the loss drops the Lady Eagles to 0-4 in 2009-10.
The Lady Bulldogs ran out to a 9-0 lead in the first three minutes of the contest, putting the Lady Eagles on its heels from the start.
Yet it would be early foul trouble that would hamper the Lady Bulldogs, as both Dominique Hudson and Monique Hudson saw limited minutes in the first 20 minutes of play, as both went to the bench early with two fouls apiece.
With a 22-10 lead and a little over eight minutes to go in the first half, the Lady Eagles shot its way back into the game, outscoring the foul troubled Lady Bulldogs 18-9 for the remainder of the half to put the score at 31-28 at the halftime.
In the first half it was redshirt-junior Sandra Vaitkute picking up where she left off last time out, as the 6-foot-6 center poured in 13 of her career-high 23 points in the opening frame, keeping the Lady Bulldogs on top heading into the halftime break.
In the second half it would be the outside game for Gardner-Webb that kept the Lady Bulldogs in front for the entire final 20 minutes of play, as Monique Hudson tallied all 17 of her points in the second half, going 4-of-6 from behind the three-point arc.
Despite sending the Lady Eagles to the free throw line 10 times in the second half, the North Carolina Central never threatened, getting to as close as four points at 48-44 on a Blaire Houston lay up.
Gardner-Webb's defense stifled the Lady Eagles, as Gardner-Webb ran out to a double-digit lead with 8:52 to go in the contest and never looked back en route to its 66-55 road victory.
The Lady Bulldogs held North Carolina Central to 35.2 percent shooting for the game, while also forcing them to commit 18 turnovers, including 14 turnovers in the first half.
Gardner-Webb shot 45.3 percent from the floor, including a stellar 46.7 percent from downtown, to lead for most of the game.
For the second straight game, Vaitkute led the Lady Bulldogs with a career-high, as she totaled 23 points and 10 rebounds, her first double-double of the season. Behind Vaitkute was Monique Hudson with 17 points and Dominique Hudson with 10 points.
GWU senior Margaret Roundtree struggled shooting the ball in her hometown, yet the Durham native hauled in eight rebounds for the game.
North Carolina Central was led by Joanna Miller, who had 22 points, shooting 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Fellow guard Danielle DeBerry added 13 points, while Houston had seven points in 29 minutes of play.
The Lady Bulldogs will return home to host Appalachian State on Tuesday, November 24, at 7 p.m. in Paul Porter Arena. The game will be video streamed on the Big South Network and can be viewed by going to www.bigsouthsports.com.
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| Box Score: Gardner-Webb 66, NCCU 55 |
