Dominant Second Half Lifts Shaw Lady Bears to 97-74 Victory over Saint Augustine's

Raleigh, North Carolina — The Shaw University Lady Bears used a dominant second half to knock off cross-town rival Saint Augustine’s 97-74 in a game played Saturday afternoon at C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium.

After leading by just four (40-36) at the half, the Lady Bears outscored the Lady Falcons 57-38 in the second half to win their ninth straight game as they improve to 17-2 overall and 8-1 in the CIAA. More importantly, however, the Lady Bears are 3-0 in the Southern Division. Saint Augustine’s falls to 9-9 overall, 5-4 in the CIAA and 2-1 in the Southern Division.

“We told them that at halftime that we need to come out, buckle down and play,” said Shaw assistant coach Jonas Richard. “We came out with more concentration and more focus in the second half and it showed. We ran our sets and got after it on the defensive end and it helped us score 57 points in the second half.”

The Lady Bears had a balanced scoring attack as five players finished with double figures and two recorded double-doubles. Taylor Dalrymple led all scorers with 26 points and had 14 rebounds. Ronika Ransford added 16 points. Crystal Harris scored all of her 14 points in the second half. Crystal Gordon had a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Crystal Wilson contributed 10 in the win for Shaw.

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SAU Lady Falcons Succumb 97-74 To Shaw

RALEIGH, N.C. – Freshman guard Regime McCombs (Greenville, S.C.) of Saint Augustine's University scored 20 points but the Lady Falcons succumbed to crosstown rival Shaw University 97-74 in a CIAA women's basketball game inside a full house at Spaulding Gymnasium on Shaw's campus Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013.

The loss snapped a two-game win streak for the Lady Falcons (9-9 overall, 5-4 CIAA, 2-1 Southern Division), who had won four of their last five games entering the matchup against the defending NCAA Division II champions. Both teams were tied atop the Southern Division standings at 2-0, but the Lady Bears (17-2 overall, 7-2 CIAA, 3-0 Southern Division), ranked 12^th nationally in Division II, gained sole possession of first place with the victory.

The Lady Falcons stayed even with the Lady Bears for most of the first half, but the game got away from them with the score tied at 36-36 right before halftime. A 48-22 run by the Lady Bears which started in the final two minutes of the first half gave them a comfortable 84-58 lead with just under six minutes left in the second half.

“I thought we handled ourselves well in the first half,” St. Aug Head Coach Rachel Bullard said. “In the second half, we didn't come out with the same level of intensity and it killed us.”

The Lady Bears took advantage of their superior height to attack inside. Crystal Harris, a 6-1 center, contributed 14 points and seven rebounds after not playing in the first half. For the game, Taylor Dalrymple, a 6-1 inside player for Shaw, led both teams with 26 points and 14 rebounds and Crystal Gordon, a 6-2 center, added 11 points and 16 rebounds. Ronika Ransford, a guard, had 16 points for the Lady Bears. After being outrebounded in the first half, the Lady Bears finished with more rebounds (59-46). The inside play of the Lady Bears and their transition game keyed their win.

Senior forward Temperance Jacobs (McDonough, Ga.) of the Lady Falcons followed McCombs with 13 points and a team-high 9 rebounds. Freshman forward Terri Jacobs (McDonough, Ga.) scored eight points and point guard Porscha Walton added (Chesterfield, Va.) added eight points, five rebounds and four assists.

Despite the loss, the Lady Falcons, who have five freshmen and three sophomores on their roster, never backed down against the defending NCAA and CIAA champions. To their credit, the Lady Falcons continued to play hard and never quit despite falling behind by a huge deficit, which is something they can build on for the rest of the season.

“It was a learning experience,” Bullard said. “It lets us know what we need to work on.”

There were positives to take away from the game. The Lady Falcons forced 22 turnovers which led to 17 points. McCombs was on fire early from outside, especially in the first half when she made four of her first six three-pointers.

For many of the Lady Falcons, this was their first time absorbing the frenetic atmosphere of Spaulding Gymnasium. They handled themselves with poise in the first half, especially McCombs, who came off the bench to lead the Lady Falcons with 12 points. She put on a shooting display in the first half, making four of her first six treys, often from deep range. She eventually finished the half shooting 4-for-8 behind the three-point line.

Led by the marksmanship of McCombs, the Lady Falcons stayed even with the Lady Bears in the first 20 minutes. The Lady Falcons held a five-point lead in the early moments, and the lead changed nine times while the score was tied seven times. The Lady Bears scored the last four points in the first half to take a 40-36 lead into halftime.

For the Lady Falcons, Terri Jacobs added six points off the bench as the Lady Falcons outscored the Lady Bears 25-9 in bench points in the first half. Led by five rebounds by Temperance Jacobs, the Lady Falcons held a 27-25 edge in rebounding including 12-6 in offensive boards. That led to 17 second-chance points for the Lady Falcons.

Dalrymple scored 14 first-half points for the Lady Bears. Kearah Jeffreys added seven points.

The Lady Falcons return to Emery Gymnasium on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013 for a divisional meeting with Livingstone College. The contest, which starts at 5:30 p.m., will be televised by WAUG-TV on Time Warner Cable Channel 168. Click on www.saintaugfalcons.com for live stats.

The matchup against Livingstone will be the sixth home game in the last seven contests for the Lady Falcons.

COURTESY SAINT AUGUSTINE'S UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION