Sports > November 20, 2008

By Joe Maugeri | Staff writer

Following a perfect preseason, the women’s basketball team opened its regular season with a 62-27 rout of UNC-Greensboro on Nov. 17 at the LJVM Coliseum.

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Junior guard Tiffany Roulhac prepares to shoot a free throw in a game last year. The women will play host to Appalachian State for their next game at 7 p.m. on Nov. 21. (Kelly Makepeace/Old Gold & Black)

The Deacons were led by senior Alex Tchangoue and sophomore Camille Collier in their season opener. Each scored a game-high 12 points in the win over the Spartans. Freshman Secily Ray led the game in rebounds, pulling in 11 boards for the Deacons in her first regular season appearance. Ray also added six points to the victory.

Senior Corrine Groves added 10 points and three steals in just over 19 minutes of playing.

Junior Sarah Riddle had another big game down in the paint for the Deacons. Riddle blocked a career-high two shots and pulled in six rebounds, another career-high.

The Spartans were led by junior center Agne Girstautaite, who scored eight points and added seven rebounds.

Early in the game, UNC-Greensboro’s sophomore guard Amanda Leigh nailed a three point shot to give the Spartans an early 6-5 lead, but the lead would be short lived. With just over 16 minutes left in the first half of play, Tchangoue would hit a jump shot that would spark a 25-4 Deacon run.

The Spartans would not break into double digit scoring until there was 2:11 left in the first half of the game.

UNC-Greensboro was unable to rally in the second half, as they were shutout in the first eight minutes of the half.

The story of this game, though, was the Demon Deacon defense.

In the first half of play, the women’s basketball team held UNC-Greensboro to only 13 points and the Spartans would only score 14 more points in the second half to add to the 27 point effort.

The score of the game set a new benchmark in the UNC-Greensboro record book. Before their blowout at the hands of the Deacons, no team had ever held the Spartans to 27 points or less. The closest an opposing team has come to this mark was last season when N.C. State held the Spartans to 29 points.

The Deacons were led to victory by their superior defense, which set a new school record in steals.

The women’s basketball team recorded 28 steals in the victory over UNC-Greensboro, burying the old record of 25 steals set against Delaware State on January 2, 1988.

Freshman Brooke Thomas and junior Courteney Morris each added five steals to the new team record.

During the contest, UNC-Greensboro was only able to shoot 19 percent from the field.

The win over the Spartans avenges the loss incurred by the Deacons from their previous meeting.

In 2005, the last time these two teams played, the Deacons dropped a close 70-64 loss to the Spartans.

The women’s basketball team will be back in action on Nov. 21 when they host Appalachian State at the LJVM Coliseum at 7 p.m.