2008 Woodie Awards
Women's basketball off to perfect start
Ian Richardson: Sports Editor
Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: Sports
The UNCW women's basketball team pushed its record to 2-0 Saturday with a 65-50 win over Winston-Salem State in the ISES Cancer Awareness Classic at Elon University. The result left the Seahawks unscathed through their first weekend after they defeated Longwood, 71-50, a day earlier.
Junior guard Greta Luksyte paced the Seahawks with a game-high 15 points as well as three assists and four steals. Three other Seahawks also hit double figures in the scoring column. Forwards Sahsha Taylor and Treasure Johnson each contributed 14 points while sophomore Brittany Blackwell notched 12.
Seahawks Head Coach Ann Hancock pointed to the play of Luksyte and Johnson as key in freeing up opportunities for Taylor and Blackwell, who were the Seahawks' two top scorers last season.
"Treasure and Greta have been aggressive and finding ways to score from all over the floor," she said. "It's good to have different options that can score so that teams cannot focus entirely on Sahsha and Brittany."
Against the Rams, UNCW never trailed and pushed the lead to as many as 18 in the second half. Turnovers were a big factor in the game as the Seahawks collected 13 steals, converting them into 26 points off turnovers.
"It seemed like every time that we would find ourselves in a situation where the momentum was about to change in their favor, someone would step up and make a basket or make a play on the defensive end that would swing the momentum back in our favor," Hancock said.
One question mark heading into the game was how the team would perform playing on two consecutive days. The results suggest that rest isn't always all it's cracked up to be. "It was good to be tested by two teams that play different styles," Hancock said. "It was also nice to play on back-to-back days and simulate the environment that we will see in Cancun and in the CAA tournament."
The Seahawks will make the long haul to Mexico over Thanksgiving weekend to take part in the Cancun Thanksgiving Classic. They will face off against Fordham to open the tournament Nov. 28 and will play either Ohio or South Carolina the following day.
Junior guard Greta Luksyte paced the Seahawks with a game-high 15 points as well as three assists and four steals. Three other Seahawks also hit double figures in the scoring column. Forwards Sahsha Taylor and Treasure Johnson each contributed 14 points while sophomore Brittany Blackwell notched 12.
Seahawks Head Coach Ann Hancock pointed to the play of Luksyte and Johnson as key in freeing up opportunities for Taylor and Blackwell, who were the Seahawks' two top scorers last season.
"Treasure and Greta have been aggressive and finding ways to score from all over the floor," she said. "It's good to have different options that can score so that teams cannot focus entirely on Sahsha and Brittany."
Against the Rams, UNCW never trailed and pushed the lead to as many as 18 in the second half. Turnovers were a big factor in the game as the Seahawks collected 13 steals, converting them into 26 points off turnovers.
"It seemed like every time that we would find ourselves in a situation where the momentum was about to change in their favor, someone would step up and make a basket or make a play on the defensive end that would swing the momentum back in our favor," Hancock said.
One question mark heading into the game was how the team would perform playing on two consecutive days. The results suggest that rest isn't always all it's cracked up to be. "It was good to be tested by two teams that play different styles," Hancock said. "It was also nice to play on back-to-back days and simulate the environment that we will see in Cancun and in the CAA tournament."
The Seahawks will make the long haul to Mexico over Thanksgiving weekend to take part in the Cancun Thanksgiving Classic. They will face off against Fordham to open the tournament Nov. 28 and will play either Ohio or South Carolina the following day.
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