ROANOKE, Va. –
DaiShaundria Giggetts' continued to put up numbers with her third straight 20-point outing, rallying the Cougars back in an away contest at Roanoke College, but the comeback fell just short, falling to the Maroons 68-61 on Saturday afternoon.
An 11-0 jump start for home Roanoke (5-7, 1-2 ODAC) was enough to muster up a sizable lead that carried throughout the first period. Assisted by forcing a number of turnovers from Averett (1-11, 0-4 ODAC), and making a trio of three-pointers, the Maroons commanded a 21-9 lead through 10 minutes. With the Cougars trailing,
Zariia America did her best to keep the visitors afloat, scoring seven of the team's nine points throughout the period.
The second quarter mainly gravitated around the Maroons maintaining their lead from previous occurrences, but the Cougars hung around and only trailed 17-14 throughout. The point distribution for the visitors was relatively balanced, but Averett's leading scorer
DaiShaundria Giggetts took off with six, but Roanoke went into halftime with a convincing 38-23 lead.
After the Maroons opened the third with a three-ball, Averett proceeded to stun the Cregger Center crowd, as the visitors stonewalled Roanoke for the next six minutes, limiting the home team to just one field goal. On the other hand, the Cougar offense roared back, making seven of 14 field goals, and perfect from the foul line, to creep right back to a three-point deficit at 42-39, with 4:05 to go in the period.
Both squads evened out as the clock ticked down, but the visitors were right on Roanoke's heels. Giggetts' driving layup at 1:20, the last field goal scored in the period, brought the contest to 49-45 in the home teams' favor, as the winner-take-all fourth quarter loomed.
Combined with yet another score from the fire-hot Giggetts,
Ny'Kerasia Coleman's three-pointer tied the game at 50-all with under nine minutes to play. Two quick makes from Maroon Alicia Farmer turned the tides back in Roanoke's favor, 54-50, but free throw splits from
Brianna Sams from the free-throw line kept the contest in arm's length.
Off the bench, America entered the double-digit threshold with 11 points, tying the enthralling game once more at 54-54, as the halfway mark approached in the quarter.
Layups and jumpshots were traded back and forth, but the Maroons had the edge, playing sound defense, and crafting chances to lead 62-56, as time loomed down for the visitors to stage a late comeback. Giggetts completely took over, leading the Cougars back to a one-point deficit, 62-61, as the freshman phenom surpassed 20 points for the third straight game, and five times overall this season.
Averett had a chance to tie again in the dying seconds, but
Emma Jones' three-pointer was blocked, and Roanoke grabbed possession. With the advantage, the Maroons played the foul game to sink multiple free throws, as the Cougars fell just short of the victory, 68-61.
Along with a game-high 22 points, Giggetts filled the stat sheet with seven rebounds, and led the team in assists and steals with four and six, respectively. America fell just short of a double-double, amassing 11 points and nine rebounds. Coleman reached double-digit scoring figures for the second time this season with 10 points, also adding on three steals.
As a team, the Cougars led the offensive rebounding margin, 19-18, and in steals, 15-10.
Averett heads to intrastate Winchester for an ODAC matchup versus Shenandoah University next on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.
