Another slow start for the Centre College women's basketball team led to the Colonels' fourth consecutive loss of the season, a 68-53 defeat to Sewanee-the University of the South, Sunday, Jan. 7, in Sewanee, Tenn.
The loss drops the Colonels' overall record to 3-8 and 0-3 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), while Sewanee evens its overall record at 5-5 and improves to 2-1 in league action.
Centre struggled in the first half committing four turnovers before scoring its first points of the game. Sewanee jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. The Tigers pushed the lead to double figures at the 9:24 mark and continued to add to its lead finishing the half on a 15-5 run to take a 35-15 lead into the locker room.
The second half saw much of the same as Sewanee opened the half scoring the first 10 points of the half to push its lead to 30 points (45-15). The Colonels fought back and pulled within 13 points (60-47) with 3:48 left to play, but would get no closer, ending the game with a 15-point defeat.
Centre, which shot only 26.3% (5-19) in the first half, finished the game shooting only 30.2% (16-53). The Colonels also missed all 19 three-point attempts and have now made only two of their last 38 three-point attempts in the last two games. Sewanee shot 42.6% (20-47) for the game and made 24 of its 33 free throw attempts (72.7%).
The Tigers' Dani Pettay led all scorers with 21 points on seven of 13 shooting. Steffi Renninger scored 14 points and Courtney Childress added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman guard Chelsea Goodman led Centre with 13 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists off the bench before fouling out. Freshman guard Chrystal Claunch and freshman forward Keonia Masterson added 11 points each off the bench. Masterson also added a game-high 11 rebounds in the loss.
Centre will return to action Friday, Jan. 12, when it hosts Austin College in an SCAC contest. The game will be played as part of a men's/women's doubleheader and will start at 6 p.m. in Danville, Ky.
Newspaper Box Score Centre College vs The University of the South 01/07/07 3:00pm at Sewanee, TN At Sewanee, TN THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH 68, CENTRE COLLEGE 53 CENTRE COLLEGE (3-9, 0-3) Chelsea Goodman 3-10 7-8 13; Chrystal Claunch 3-9 5-5 11; Keonia Masterson 3-4 5-6 11; Monica Vonderbrink 2-4 2-4 6; Rebecca Rhule 2-6 0-3 4; Jenny Jones 1-4 2-2 4; Andrea Loveless 1-2 0-0 2; Holly Overcash 1-5 0-0 2; Tara Milburn 0-0 0-0 0; Jessi Asher 0-1 0-0 0; Jennifer Marees 0-3 0-0 0; Alison Denbow 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 16-53 21-28 53. THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH (5-5, 2-1) Dani Pettay 7-14 6-10 21; Steffi Renninger 3-8 6-6 14; Courtney Childress 2-3 6-7 10; Rachel Miller 3-7 0-1 7; Alden Knowlton 2-5 2-3 6; Anne Wills 2-4 2-2 6; Jamie Robinson 1-1 0-0 2; Acacia Mack 0-3 1-2 1; Veronica Phillips 0-0 1-2 1; Kelsey Nichols 0-0 0-0 0; Kelly Morrison 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-47 24-33 68. Centre College................ 15 38 - 53 The University of the South... 35 33 - 68 3-point goals-Centre College 0-19 (Chelsea Goodman 0-3; Chrystal Claunch 0-2; Monica Vonderbrink 0-2; Rebecca Rhule 0-2; Jenny Jones 0-1; Holly Overcash 0-3; Jennifer Marees 0-3; Alison Denbow 0-3), The University of the South 4-15 (Steffi Renninger 2-5; Rachel Miller 1-3; Dani Pettay 1-4; Anne Wills 0-1; Acacia Mack 0-1; Kelly Morrison 0-1). Fouled out--Centre College-Chrystal Claunch; Chelsea Goodman, The University of the South-None. Rebounds-Centre College 35 (Keonia Masterson 11), The University of the South 38 (Courtney Childress 10). Assists-Centre College 8 (Chelsea Goodman 3), The University of the South 15 (Anne Wills 4). Total fouls-Centre College 23, The University of the South 23. A-111