DANVILLE, Va. – Looking to build a streak from its previous contest, Averett University women's basketball welcomed Eastern Mennonite University on Saturday afternoon. A hot first quarter start was stymied by the visitors, and used its own momentum to down the Cougars, 71-53.
Fueled by the team's first ODAC win on Wednesday, Averett came out of the gates constantly pressing Eastern Mennonite, forcing nine turnovers in just over five minutes of play.
DaiShaundria Giggetts led the charge with 12 of the Cougars' first 13 points, leading 13-8 early. When the dust settled, the Royals countered with their own run, and took the lead 14-13 a little later, and never looked back. The visitors ended the quarter up 20-15, near flawless from beyond the arc.
Averett took matters into its own hands, and countered back with a few 3-balls, from the likes of duo
Skylar Jones and
Emma Jones. Creeping up on tying the contest, Eastern Mennonite's lead was only down to two at 24-22, with over half the period's time gone. It would be the closest that the Cougars would be, as the visiting Royals took off on a 12-0 run, including six of six free throw makes, to lead 36-22 at the half.
Giggetts' hot start kept her up top as the game's leading scorer at the break, with 12. Her and
Zariia America were hot on the defensive end, with two steals each.
The Royals' advantage in the third remained at a distance, up as much as 20 points until late in the period, at 49-29 with under four minutes remaining in the period. By then, Averett began to control the paint better, drawing a litany of fouls, and getting to the charity stripe at a fairly efficient rate. Out of a possible 11 attempts, the Cougars sunk eight, pulling within a few score of Eastern Mennonite.
Two more charity stripe makes from
Emma Jones made the visitors' lead only 15 headed into the final period, 54-39.
While Averett kept up valiantly with the Royals, the deficit built from previous periods was not enough to prevail back from, as the Royals achieved their first conference win of the campaign, defeating the home side, 71-53 final.
Giggetts kept her Rookie of the Year push going, finishing with a game-high 22 points and six steals.
Jaa Brown led the Cougars in assists with three, and
Ny'Kerasia Coleman finished with a team-high five rebounds, her second-highest mark this season.
As a team, the Cougars forced 28 Royal turnovers, led the steal margin 13-6, and sunk more free throws than their opponents, 16-12.
Averett next heads up-state to Lynchburg to take on the University of Lynchburg Hornets on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
