Salisbury, N.C. – The No. 6 ranked Catawba College Women's basketball team stormed back from an early deficit to handle the Anderson Trojans at Goodman Arena on Saturday night, taking a 101-88 victory to improve to 6-1 on the season and 3-0 in South Atlantic Conference play.
TEAM STATS
- Both teams finished the night shooting 50 percent from the floor, though Catawba converted four more shots with 38-of-76 attempts to Anderson's 34-of-68 mark
- Both sides also splashed 11 makes from beyond the three-point arc, though Anderson was more efficient with an 11-21 (52 percent) effort to Catawba going 11-25 (44 percent)
- Catawba led the way in free throws, converting 14-of-19 attempts from the charity stripe while the Trojans converted nine of their 12 attempts
- Catawba won the battle on the glass, grabbing 39 rebounds to Anderson's 36
- 21 of Anderson's makes were assisted, with the number for Catawba at 17
- Catawba was elite once again defensively, racking up 15 steals to Anderson's eight while forcing the Trojans into 24 total turnovers against just 16. Catawba would score 23 points off of those turnovers, 13 more than Anderson
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Lyrik Thorne paced all scorers with a season-high 30 points on efficient marks of 11-16 from the floor and 4-6 from three.
- Janiya Downs wasn't far behind, also making 11 shots and putting up her own season-high with 24 points on 11-of-19 shooting to finish as the second leading scorer in the game.
- Nala Baker and Sara McIntosh also reached double figures for Catawba, with Baker scoring 17 and McIntosh adding 10
- It was a group effort on the glass, with Downs and McIntosh tying for the lead with six rebounds apiece while Jada Porter and Mary Spry each pulled down five. Thorne and Baker were also active, securing four each.
- Thorne led the way in assists, dishing out seven while Baker served up five of her own
- Baker led the home side with four steals, with both Thorne and McIntosh came away with three each as well
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
- Anderson raced out to an early 13-4 lead, with all five of their starters scoring early in a balanced attack, with Ashlyn Sheridan hitting a three, Brittney Stafford converting a three-point play and Diamond McDowell securing several offensive rebounds
- With McIntosh picking up a pair of fouls in the first three minutes of play, Catawba would turn to Spry for most of the half, and she delivered with a pair of free throws and several offensive rebounds of her own shortly after coming into the game
- Catawba surged on an 11-4 run to cut the Anderson lead down to two at 17-15, with Jada Porter scoring five straight in the middle of run before Spry capped it off with a second-chance layup
- But Zamiya Passmore would give Anderson breathing room once again, canning a three to stop the Catawba run and then adding an and-one for a 6-0 Trojan run to make it 23-15
- Thorne and McDowell traded threes before the end of the first ten minutes, as Anderson took a 26-18 lead
SECOND QUARTER
- Threes from both Sheridan and Passmore gave Anderson it's biggest lead of the game, up 13 at 31-18 with 8:25 until the half
- Catawba's answer was a 9-0 run, as they answered back with a trio of triples thanks to a pair from Thorne and another from Baker
- The Trojans would preserve at least a four-point lead until the 3:31 mark, when Downs brought Catawba to within two. Janiya Foskey made it a tied ballgame at 37-37 with 2:49 to go before the half, and then would give Catawba their first lead of the game 41-40 with 2:05 to go
- However, it would be Anderson entering halftime with the lead, as Stafford buried a last-second three to give the visitors a 46-43 advantage
THIRD QUARTER
- Another 9-0 run from Catawba pushed the home side ahead as they stormed out of the break with momentum, led by Downs with a quick seven of her own to make it 52-48
- It would be all Downs and McIntosh for Catawba early in the 3rd, until Porter and Baker took over to combine for seven and extend the Catawba run to 23-7 coming out of the half. The home side would lead by as much as 14 at the 2:28 mark, as a Thorne jumper put them up 70-56
- Catawba would outscore Anderson 27-16 in the third frame to go up 70-62, though McDowell and Stafford were able to connect on key baskets to keep Anderson within eight points going into the final break
FOURTH QUARTER
- Both teams opened the fourth quarter trading buckets, with Thorne and Baker each hitting threes as Catawba kept themselves comfortably in front. Nine points would be the closest that Anderson would get, with a Sheridan three cutting the lead to 80-71 at the 6:21 mark
- McIntosh, Downs, and Thorne would each contribute to a 6-1 Catawba run to extend Catawba's lead up to 15 with 5:09 to play, at 86-71
- Catawba also stepped up defensively in the second half, with Anderson's leading scorer Passmore being held scoreless in the second half after putting up a team-high 22 points in the first half
- While the Trojans were able to convert another three makes from beyond the arc, they would be unable to pull to more than within nine again as Thorne, Downs, and Baker were able to convert late opportunities of their own to give Catawba the win, 101-88
UP NEXT
- The No. 6 ranked Catawba Women's Basketball team is back in action on Saturday, Dec. 16, as they welcome USC Aiken to Goodman Arena for the first of a pair of non-conference matchups to close out the calendar year. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
