RALEIGH, NC – It was a war of attrition and half free-throw shooting contest in WPU's conference opener against North Carolina Wesleyan Monday night. 85 total fouls were called, nine players fouled out, and the two teams combined to shoot 124 free-throws.
The Pacers set a new single-game record for attempts and tied the record for free-throws made going 40-66 (60.6%) from the line, but their 60% clip in the second half wasn't enough to put the Battling Bishops away. Kenyata Harris tied the game with 13 seconds left sending it to overtime and Wesleyan pulled away to win, 87-77.
WPU (1-3, 0-1 USAS) also racked up 67 rebounds, the second highest single-game mark in program history. Derrica Jones had 17 of them matching her career high. Jones also dropped a career high 24 points despite having to play nearly half of her 33 minutes on the court with four fouls.
Krystal Williams gave a gutsy performance playing 43 minutes with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, four steals, and a blocked shot. Ka'la Jordan also scored 13 points to go along with eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
"I thought our effort was great tonight, but we're going to have a ton of games like this in conference, and we just need to execute a little better," said head coach Kelly Johnson. "We just didn't adapt quickly enough to all the touch fouls being called, and we missed way too many free throws"
WPU took a 21-9 lead midway through the first half and led by as many as 14 following a 16-0 swing that spanned nearly seven minutes. Wesleyan (3-2, 1-0 USAS) battled back making it a two point, 34-32, game but the Pacers led by seven at the half and never relinquished the lead until the 10:51 mark in the second. This lead change was only the third of 13 for the game, which was back-and-forth the rest of the way until overtime.
The Pacers will turn around on short rest for a non-conference game tomorrow at Mid-Atlantic Christian University, who they beat earlier this year, 77-41. The game will tip-off in Elizabeth City at 7:00 p.m.
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