ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. – Saint Augustine’s University battled hard against Elizabeth City State University but the contest slipped away from the Lady Falcons in the closing minutes.
Terri Jacobs (Fr./McDonough, Ga.) scored a career-high 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds and Regime McCombs (Fr./Greenville, S.C.) added 14 points, but the Lady Falcons lost 70-60 to the Lady Vikings in a CIAA women’s basketball contest at the R.L. Vaughn Center on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013.
The Lady Falcons (5-6 overall, 1-1 CIAA) stayed within striking distance the entire game, but the Lady Vikings (10-2, 2-0 CIAA) went on a 15-7 run in the final minutes for the win. Shatara Jackson of ECSU led all scorers with 25 points and Jasmine Whitehurst added 12 points.
The Lady Vikings rank first and the Lady Falcons are 10th in Division II in steals per game. Both teams forced over 20 turnovers but the Lady Vikings outscored the Lady Falcons 29-12 in turnover points which turned out to be the difference. The Lady Falcons, behind the play of reserves Jacobs and McCombs, kept close by outscoring the Lady Vikings 38-13 in bench points.
“We didn’t capitalize on their turnovers and they capitalized on ours,” St. Aug Head Coach Rachel Bullard said. “We also missed 10 free throws. You can’t do that against a good team like Elizabeth City State.”
The Lady Vikings scored 16 points off turnovers to build a 38-31 halftime lead. Depth kept the Lady Falcons in the game early. Led by 14 points from Jacobs and eight points from McCombs, the Lady Falcons outscored the Lady Vikings 22-12 in bench points in the half. Jacobs tied her career high for points by the first half.
The Lady Falcons open the second half with three straight points, but the Lady Vikings responded with seven in a row to push their lead back to double digits at 45-34. The Lady Falcons kept charging despite the deficit. They climbed back in the contest at 48-44 on two free throws by Ebony Spencer (Jr./Chesapeake, Va.).
At that point, the game was stopped for nearly 30 minutes after a Lady Viking player was injured from taking a hard spill. Once play resumed, the Lady Falcons closed within one point. They missed a chance to either tie or take the lead by missing the front end of a one-and-one at the free-throw line, and the Lady Vikings took advantage by opening a seven-point lead.
The Lady Falcons came roaring back again, pulling within 55-53 on two driving layups by Lakiya Rouse (Fr./Greensboro, N.C.), who scored all eight of her points in the second half. Once again, the Lady Vikings stretched their lead. A three-pointer by the Lady Vikings was the dagger. It made the score 70-57 with 1:02 left in the contest.
Temperance Jacobs (Sr./McDonough, Ga.) of the Lady Falcons converted a three-point play with 14.8 seconds remaining, but the outcome was already decided. Temperance Jacobs finished with 10 rebounds and Porscha Walton (Fr./Chesterfield, Va.) added seven points for the Lady Falcons.
“I’m proud of our fight and tenacity but we have to finish games,” Bullard said.
The Lady Falcons hit the road for the seventh consecutive game on Monday, Jan. 7, 2012, when they take on Chowan University in Murfreesboro, N.C. Game time is 5:30 p.m. at the Helms Center.
