RALEIGH, NC – The William Peace women's basketball team led at halftime, but Greensboro College, the North Division's top team, took over in the second to beat the Pacers, 65-49.
With the game tied (14-14) following a three from Greensboro at the 9:13 mark, a 9-0 swing in favor of WPU (6-12, 3-9 USAS) put them on top (23-14) four minutes later. DeJah Cheatham drained one from beyond the arc to push the Pacer's lead back to nine (29-20) with 2:02 left in the first, but the Pride (15-3, 10-2 USAS) cut it to four (30-26) at the break.
The game was tied again (35-35) with 17:25 to go, but the Pacers didn't score again until the 10:40 mark. Greensboro went on a 13-0 run during that span and never looked back.
WPU forced Greensboro to turn it over 20 times for 20 points at the opposite end, but the Pacers only shot 27% (17-of-63) from the field, 15% (3-of-20) from downtown, and 54.5% (12-of-22) from the free-throw line.
While Greensboro lost the turnover battle, they made up for it on the glass, out-rebounding the Pacers, 49-36. The Pride finished the day shooting 41.8% (23-of-55) from the field and 46.7% (7-of-15) from long-distance.
"In the second half you can't go 0-for-9 from the free-throw line when a team is making a run. If we step up and make some of those free-throws it's a completely different game," said head coach Kelly Johnson. "We are playing hard, and you have to give them credit because they are big and long inside, which gave us some problems, but we got some wide-open looks that we just have to hit."
Ka'la Jordan registered her first career double-double with 11 points and a career high 10 rebounds. Cheatham also scored 11 points with two boards and an assist.
Four of Greensboro's starters reached double-figures led by Shanita Hampton, who also put up a double-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Joslyn Spires had 12 points, three rebounds and seven assists, while Alexis Hite added 11 points and Vontreece Hayes chipped in with 10 more.
The Pacers women's basketball team returns to action tomorrow, hosting Averett University at 3:00 p.m. Video coverage and live stats will be available, as Patrick Johnson hits the air for the Pacers Basketball Network approximately 15 minutes prior to tip-off.
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