AU women’s basketball opens the season at home with a win against North Greenville University
By Danielle Kennedy | Sports editor
The Augusta University women’s basketball team defeated North Greenville University on Friday night, Nov 14, at Christenberry Fieldhouse in their home opener, winning by a score of 76-58.
The Jaguar bench celebrates after a made three during the game. The Jags defended their home court against Greenville, winning by a score of 76-58. (photo by Layne Witherspoon/the Bell Ringer)
For a team that has 11 new players on the roster this season, they were able to adapt quickly throughout the game, outscoring the Trailblazers 31-26 in the second half after leading 45-32 at the half.
“It’s the first game, so you’re going to have jitters and all that comes into play,” said AU coach Celeste Stewart. “I think they did a good job of executing the game plan overall.”
There were a few wobbles in the first quarter with only a four-point lead going into the second quarter, but the team was able to quickly regroup.
“We’ve been building our chemistry, putting in different lineups together, seeing what works best,” said Stewart.
In the third quarter, the Jags dominated defensively, building a 26-point lead.
The team seemed to have a new wave of energy going into the third quarter.
“During halftime, we talked about cleaning up our defensive transition, because we were not getting back and not communicating,” said Elyse Autrey, who led the team in assists with four, to go along with 15 points and seven rebounds.
The team was led in scoring by Quinasia Abercrombie, a sophomore forward, who scored 16 points and had six rebounds.
“[We] were just being confident overall and just playing our game,” said Abercrombie. “Letting the game come to us and not forcing it.”
Maliyiah Mason led North Greenville (0-2) with 13 points, and Amiyah Ware added 12.
As part of the opening weekend for the women, AU will play again on Saturday, Nov 15, at 3:30 p.m. against Barton College at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
Contact Danielle Kennedy at dakennedy@augusta.edu.
Nadiyah Board (3) floats it up over the double team for a deuce. (photo by Rodrigo Burgos Avila/the Bell Ringer)
At the top of the page, Quinasia Abercrombie (24) breaks lose on the fast break for two of her 16 points.
Below, Tamir Whittle (1) goes up for a layup against the Trailblazer defense. Whittle led the Jags in the assist department with 5. (photos by Rodrigo Burgos Avila/the Bell Ringer)
