Dec. 14, 2012
Final Stats
RALEIGH, NC – The Fayetteville State Lady Broncos held off a late second-half rally to score a 79-69 victory over the 17th-ranked Nova Southeastern Sharks on Friday evening during day one of the Shaw University Invitational. The Lady Broncos had four players score in double-figures led by Shuanda Ashford’s second double-double of the season.
Fayetteville State improves its record to 7-1 on the season and has now won five games in a row dating back to Nov. 20. Nova Southeastern falls to 6-2 overall with the defeat.
Ashford, a senior from Fayetteville, NC, finished the game with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Akysia Resper (Jr., Concord, NC) had a team-high 18 points and dished out six assists. Kristen Hanzer (Sr., Youngsville, NC) contributed 17 points and Tierra Coleman (Sr., Cameron, NC) tallied 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Lady Broncos led 33-25 at halftime after shooting 52.2% (12-of-23) in the first half led by Resper’s 11 points. FSU held a 10-point lead at the 9:45 mark after a jumper by Coleman to highlight a 10-0 run. Nova Southeastern answered with a 15-2 run to take a 25-24 lead on a Danielle Robinson layup with 4:23 left. It would be the last time the Sharks led in the contest. Fayetteville State closed the half out on a 10-0 run.
FSU opened the first five minutes of the second half on a 14-2 run to extend its lead to 47-29. A layup by Coleman with 12:42 remaining gave the Lady Broncos their largest lead of the game at 52-32. The Sharks never gave up and cut their deficit down to nine points at 72-63 with 2:25 left in the contest. Amanda Burakoski made it a six-point contest after back-to-back three pointers, but Fayetteville State sealed the game with consecutive three-point plays by Resper and Britney Whitehead (Sr., Enfield, NC). The six points by Resper and Whitehead put the Lady Broncos back in front by 10 points.
Fayetteville State made 18 of its 22 shots (81.8%) in the second half to finish the game with a season-best 66.7% shooting percentage. The Lady Broncos also shot 50% (4-of-8) behind the three-point line, and dominated inside outscoring Nova Southeastern 44-34 in points in the paint. The Sharks finished 26-of-67 (38.8%) from the field and 8-of-29 (27.6%) beyond the three-point arc. Meixandra Porter recorded a game-high 24 points for the Sharks.
Fayetteville State will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 15 as it returns to Raleigh for a 7 p.m. matchup against Washington Adventist in the finale of the Shaw University Invitational.
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