Columbus State women win 'weird' contest over UNC Pembroke

It was a game Columbus State women's basketball coach Jonathan Norton described as "weird." Senior guard Michelle Mitchell smiled at the description.

She was able to smile because the Lady Cougars opened Peach Belt Conference play with a 60-45 win over visiting UNC Pembroke, but that didn't erase the odd disparity between the team's ebb and flow on both sides of the ball throughout the game.

"It was a weird game," Norton said. "That'd be the best way to describe it. There were long runs for both teams, and I thought we looked a little rusty."

There was the good, like when the Lady Cougars turned a 13-11 lead into a 30-11 one by the midpoint of the second quarter.

And the bad, like how they allowed the Lady Braves to score the next 16 points to cut it to 30-27 early in the third quarter.

An 11-0 run after the lead was cut to three points gave Columbus State enough momentum to finish the game strong and get out of the conference opener with a victory, and Mitchell was happy to say that there was just enough good to outweigh the bad.

"We want to get a little bit more out of ourselves, but we got a win," she said. "That's the most important thing."

"That's something as coaches that you don't want to see, but you want to see how your team is going to respond to that without a timeout," Norton said of the team's response after the lead was cut to three.

In the end, Columbus State shot just 36.5 percent from the field. Mitchell finished with a game-high 20 points, her fifth straight game with 20 or more points. Brea Walk

er added 12, all coming on three-point shots, and Britteny Tatum added 10.

The defense held UNC-Pembroke to just 29 percent from the field and forced 16 turnovers, a fact Norton was quick to address after the game.

"Defensively, we'd have good stretches, but then we'd have a break down where we'd get hit on a screen or give up an easy shot," Norton said.

"I would say the game was just sloppy and weird, but we did hold them to 45 points and we got a win."

The sloppiness could be attributed to the team's long layoff over finals week and to the long layoff prior to that over Thanksgiving.

Norton said it had been difficult to maintain consistency with all the breaks, and that he is interested in how the team will respond to the Christmas holidays, as well.

"You have to go short practices because you don't want to overload them too much, and I think the rust maybe showed a little bit," Norton said.

Still, the team is now 6-1 overall this season and got a much-needed win to build momentum in conference play.

UNC Pembroke had two players in double figures, Avery Locklear with 18 and Jonissa Monley with 13.

Eryn Cochran, Ashley Asouzu, Tatum and Mitchell each had two steals on defense for the Lady Cougars.

UNC PEMBROKE (4-4, 0-2)

Avery Locklear 6-14 2-2 18; Jonissa Monley 6-11 1-2 13; Lashonda Prichard 2-8 2-2 6; Jasmine Huntley 1-5 0-0 2; Phoenicia Lawson 1-2 0-0 2; Chandrica Fuller 1-5 0-0 2; Mary Robinson 1-7 0-0 2; Airico Williams 0-2 0-0 0; Crystal Hicks 0-3 0-0 0; Ebone Stevens 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 18-62 5-6 45.

COLUMBUS STATE (6-1, 1-0)

Michelle Mitchell 9-24 1-4 20; Brea Walker 4-6 0-0 12; Britteny Tatum 4-7 1-1 10; Ashley Johnson 2-6 1-2 5; Ashley Asouzu 1-4 2-2 4; Gabby Williams 2-5 0-0 4; Erin Morrow 1-4 0-0 3; Tatiana Wayne 0-3 2-2 2; Alexys Woods 0-1 0-0 0; Eryn Cochran 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-63 7-11 60.

UNC Pembroke 11 10 8 16--45

Columbus State 21 9 15 15--60

3-point goals--UNC Pembroke 4-17 (Avery Locklear 4-6; Mary Robinson 0-5; Crystal Hicks 0-3; Ebone Stevens 0-3), Columbus State 7-17 (Brea Walker 4-6; Erin Morrow 1-2; Michelle Mitchell 1-3; Britteny Tatum 1-3; Tatiana Wayne 0-1; Eryn Cochran 0-2). Fouled out--UNC Pembroke-None, Columbus State-None. Rebounds--UNC Pembroke 42 (Jonissa Monley 9), Columbus State 44 (Ashley Johnson 10). Assists--UNC Pembroke 10 (Chandrica Fuller 3), Columbus State 12 (Ashley Asouzu 4). Total fouls--UNC Pembroke 11, Columbus State 13. Technical fouls--UNC Pembroke-None, Columbus State-None. A-224

This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 10:29 PM with the headline "Columbus State women win 'weird' contest over UNC Pembroke ."