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No. 1 Â鶹ÊÓƵ pulls away in second half at No. 6 Freed-Hardeman, 87-64

Lavanda Ross

HENDERSON, Tenn. - 1/16/2010 - The No. 1 Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Tenn.) University Lady Bulldogs overcame an early deficit to win 87-63 at No. 6 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) University. Â鶹ÊÓƵ improved to 17-1 overall and 4-0 in the TranSouth. Freed-Hardeman (13-2, 1-1) dropped just their second game of the season.

This win for Â鶹ÊÓƵ extend several streaks for the Lady Bulldogs including their 10th straight win on the season and 39th straight TranSouth regular season victory.

The Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions came out making shots as they pulled out to an 18-9 lead with 72 percent shooting over the first seven minutes of play. Â鶹ÊÓƵ slowly started to make shots with Sara Chan and Lavanda Ross leading the way. The two combined for 25 of Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s 38 first half points.

After starting the game 0-of-8 from 3-point range, senior guard Jessica Graves tied the game at 26-26 with Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s first 3-pointer of the afternoon. The two teams swapped leads and baskets over the final five minutes of the first half before the buzzer sounded with Â鶹ÊÓƵ leading 38-37.

In the second half, the Lady Lions came out hot again, going on a 7-2 run to start the half. But Â鶹ÊÓƵ again rallied. Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Kaitlin Dudley sank a 3-pointer with 16:48 left put Â鶹ÊÓƵ up 47-46. A quick answer by Freed-Hardeman’s Tara Deatheridge put the Lady Lions back up by one, 48-47. However, a second straight 3-pointer from Dudley gave Â鶹ÊÓƵ the lead for good. Dudley finished with 17 points, 15 coming in the second half.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ maintained a single digit lead and with 9:44, led 61-55. Â鶹ÊÓƵ then put the game away with a 26-4 run to take an 87-59 lead with 1:09 left. The 28 point advantage was the largest of the game for Â鶹ÊÓƵ. Freed-Hardeman scored four points in the final minute to set the final at 87-63.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ was led by Jackson native Ross with a game-high 24 points. Chan finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season. Dudley’s 17 points and Graves’ 11 points rounded out the double figure scoring. Â鶹ÊÓƵ shot 54 percent from the field, 31 percent (5-16) from behind the arc and 67 percent (6-9) from the free-throw line.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ committed just 11 turnovers to 17 by Freed-Hardeman. Â鶹ÊÓƵ also dominated the glass with a 40-22 rebounding edge, including 18-5 on the offensive boards.

Freed-Hardeman was also led with four players in double figures paced by Deatheridge and Meribeth Boehler with 11 points each. Natalie Shumpert and Jana Cross each added 10 points. The Lady Lions shot 47 percent from the field, 29 percent (4-14) from behind the arc and made 11-of-11 free throws. Freed-Hardeman made 2-of-4 3-pointers in the first seven minutes, but managed just 2-of-10 for the remainder of the game.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ will look to extend their 52-game home winning streak on Monday when they host conference foe Mid-Continent (Ky.) University at 6:00 p.m.

#UNION#

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