Davidson 49 Elon 68 (Women's)

Davidson's women's team takes the court for warmups here on this Saturday morning as they take on Elon in SoCon quarterfinal action. The Wildcats' last appearance was a 12-point victory over the College of Charleston at Senior night. The Cougars knocked off 4th seeded Georgia Southern this morning to advance to the semifinals against the juggernaut Chattanooga Mocs and Alex Anderson. The winner of Davidson-Elon will play Western Carolina tomorrow afternoon.

The Cougars held the Eagles to 23% shooting in the second half and kept all conference selection Tiffany Brown to 2-12 shooting.

Davidson owns two regular season victories over the Phoenix, the most recent coming as the Wildcats' penultimate game in Belk Arena. In that 68-54 victory, Alex Thompson recorded 18 points and six assists while Mercedes Robinson put up 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Heading into this game, Thompson owns an impressive streak of her own: 35 straight free throws. Stephen Curry hit 41 straight free throws earlier in the season.
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5 minutes to tip
Robinson is honored before the game for being selected All Conference. Davidson's crowd is larger than every school's men's crowd from yesterday besides College of Charleston. On the way in, I saw several younger Davidson fans getting the tailgating going at 10 a.m. in the parking lot.
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18:10 D 0 E 2
Elon gets the scoring going early with a post up and a layup. Paquette's first look went long and Katie Hamilton is already in. Elon with two early fouls away from the ball. Davidson's D has stiffened but the layups aren't falling (3 missed).
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15:55 D 5 E 6
Paquette misses a wide open layup in transition and the Elon pep band pours on the taunts. Shots are beginning to fall for Elon and Davidson looks frustrated. Thompson breaks the slump with a huge three. Would like to see more of those today with Elon staying committed to clogging the paint.
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15:00 D 5 E 9
Elon responds with a three of their own. Davidson has gotten two transition opportunities so far off of long defensive rebounds. Paquette converted on one and missed the other. SID Gavin McFarlin's scouting report listed Elon's troubles with the transition so we'll see if Davidson can continue to get easy opportunities.
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13:46 D 8 E 9
Honna Housley douses a three and Davidson is beginning to stretch the Phoenix defense. Robinson has been long on several paint opportunities, but Davidson's defense is stout. They have forced at least four turnovers so far.
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11:40 D 11 E 11
Housley with her second three and it looks like she is dialed in today. Robinson is still a little off, having thrown the ball away last time.

The Davidson pep band has about twenty members down here in their corner. They have new Cat in the Hat-type striped red and white collar shirts.
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8:57 D 16 E 16
Kelsey Cary with a nice turnaround in the lane, but Elon gets an offensive rebound that was loose for forever and they convert on a three that they never should have had. Housley again for three. She's got nine.
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7:14 D 16 E 19
And the missed layups continue for Davidson. Elon is getting a little more physical so I could conceive of a foul every once in a while, but none are coming. Hemerka and Robinson are still scoreless right now. Elon seems locked in on Davidson's passing and are getting fingertips on every other pass. Housley picked up her second foul so her three-point shooting is sitting on the bench.
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5:19 D 16 E 21
Thompson is so busy trying to swing the ball around that she's pretty much taken herself out of any and every opportunity to score. Hamilton comes in for two straight turnovers and Elon penetrates for another layup. Watts with a 30-second timeout. Thompson and Robinson need to be the scorers right now.
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3:59 D 20 E 21
Housley back in the lineup for a quick steal and score. She's got 11 while no other Wildcat has more than 3.

And the Wildcat is going nuts on the cowbell.
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1:00 D 22 E 23
The Wildcats continue to lose the ball on offense and Robinson is still scoreless. The Wildcats are outhustling for rebounds but they cant....Mercedes Robinson for two! Big basket for her.
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Halftime D 22 E 25
Tough half for the Wildcats offensively. Robinson didn't get on the board until the very end and Thompson only hit one shot. We'll see if Housley can continue her hot streak, and if Davidson can create a few more transition opportunities.
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18:35 D 25 E 27
Alex Thompson attempted one shot in the first half. She has already attempted one shot in the second half and now has six points. She's second in scoring right now behind Housley. Keep shooting Thompson.
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16:17 D 25 E 33
The Wildcats need to get Mercedes into a rhythm on the inside because Elon keeps getting on the verge of running away. Robinson continues to get banged around but the fouls are not coming. These rims are really tight. I hope that doesn't affect the men's team in an hour and a half.
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15:06 D 29 E 33
Housley with a nice jumper and then AT gets a steal and finds Robinson on the fast break. The Cats defense is intense but they are getting called for touch fouls away from the basket, breaking up their intensity. Housley with 13 points.
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13:50 D 33 E 34
Kelly Gassie gets on the scoreboard with an impressive drive and reverse layup...Robinson follows it up with a layup in the post and this looks like Wildcat basketball.
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11:34 D 35 E 38
Davidson's rebounding is impressive when you realize that Elon has an average size advantage at every position. But Elon won't away. Tierra Bumbrey has 10 points for the Phoenix, and she is penetrating off the dribble and getting the ball to her taller teammates. This one will go down to the wire.
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9:25 D 37 E 47
Elon hitting shots and Davidson frustrated with Alex Thompson on the bench. This one is getting away. Quick. The Wildcats need to get it together right now.
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7:03 D 39 E 51
That size is the difference right now as Elon gets several big jump ball rebounds on the offensive glass. Kelly Gassie trying to take over off the dribble but throws the ball away when doubled up. Thompson hasn't even looked at the basket in fifteen minutes. Davidson's defense is falling apart as well.
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5:00 D 42 E 56
Davidson has moved to a full court press but Tiffany Davis nails a dagger three-pointer. Another Elon layup...
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1:51 D 44 E 61
And Elon is now throwing up three-pointers at the shot clock buzzer and banking them in. This is sad for the sections full of Wildcat faithful pouring in. It's been a really tough year for these Cats with all of the injuries and this is a tough way to end the careers of Danielle Hemerka, Honna Housley, and Katie Hamilton.

Katie Hamilton: A Super Senior

The following feature was written by Davidson Assistant SID Lauren Biggers. The original story can be found here.

Senior Katie Hamilton’s college career hasn’t played out quite as she expected.

A late signee with the Wildcats, Hamilton was uncertain she even wanted to play basketball coming out of high school. At Davidson, though, she found the perfect mix of academics and athletics for which she had searched, which translated to immediate success on the court. Her first season, she led the team in scoring (11.9 ppg), 3-pointers made (45) and steals (35) and became the first Davidson player to earn Southern Conference Freshman of the Year honors.

After a sophomore campaign where she was again an All-SoCon selection after leading the team in scoring and ranking second in the league with an average of 15.8 points per game, Hamilton disappointingly missed all of the 2005-06 season after tearing her ACL in the offseason.

The following fall, her rollercoaster ride continued, and she returned to the starting lineup to help the Wildcats to the most successful campaign in school history. The 2006-07 team won a school-record 23 games and earned the program’s first postseason berth, a trip to the Women’s NIT, and individually, the two-time All-SoCon guard became just the 10th 1,000-point scorer in program history.

With enough credits in hand to graduate, Hamilton decided to play out her final year of eligibility for the Wildcats and get a dual-major. A five-year player is a pretty common thing on athletic rosters across the country, but more rare at Davidson, where there are no graduate programs to make such a stay-over more logical. Hamilton, though, didn’t think she was quite done with basketball.

“In terms of what made me want to come back, I kind of thought about it like, would I regret not coming back? Is there anything that I was rushing off to that won’t be there in another year?” she said. “And the more I thought through it, the more I thought if I don’t give it a shot, I’ll always wonder.”

Entering the 2007-08 season, Hamilton ranked sixth on the Davidson all-time scoring list with 1,134 points, while ranking in the top-10 in 11 other categories, and earned Preseason All-SoCon honors.

But the high hopes for her final season on the hardwood were quickly dashed. She was sidelined for most of the fall with a recurring knee injury that forced her to miss 14 games and still limits her playing time. It’s not exactly the finale for which she had hoped, to be sure, but don’t expect Hamilton to complain. It’s just not in her nature.

Always a major player in the team dynamics off the court, Hamilton rejoined the Wildcats on the hardwood in the SoCon matchup at the College of Charleston Jan. 2. She didn’t score, attempted just one shot and grabbed a rebound in seven minutes in the Wildcats’ 66-51 win. It was not a dynamic debut, but she was back to playing the game she loves.

“It’s an opportunity to be a part of this team for another year, which has been the most amazing part of my college experience in general,” Hamilton said. “The thought of getting to spend time with my teammates and getting to play basketball for another year. Why would I turn that down?”

Unsure of her on-court role this season, Hamilton decided to focus her energy on her off-court leadership.

“I have been really lucky in the past to have older teammates who were strong leaders on the team,” she said. “Physically, I was unsure about what my role on the team would be, so I think I had a goal of wanting to just be a consistent leader through encouraging my teammates.”

One of the best and most proven scorers in the conference, Hamilton at half speed is better than plenty at full speed, and any contribution she may offer is valuable to the Wildcats this year. Proving she can still add something, Hamilton scored 25 points in 24 minutes of action over the Wildcats’ three-game winning streak versus Appalachian State, at Greensboro and at Elon.

“I was hopeful that I’d be able to fill a more consistent and tangible role on the court, so I was hesitant to set too many athletic goals,” Hamilton said. “At same time, I was kind of like, ‘Well, we’ll see what comes, and if I do get the opportunity, I just want to play hard and enjoy it.’”

As a “super senior,” Hamilton has had the rare opportunity to play with a lot of players on a lot of different teams over her five-year career at Davidson. And with last year’s graduation of the three players she came in with – Brynn Kelly, Tia Washington and Jessica Mitchell – there were several question marks on this Wildcat squad entering this season, in addition to those surrounding her own playing time.

“This year early on, we were filling new roles,” Hamilton said. “We had people getting a lot more playing time than they had had before, and so it was an adjustment. But seeing the growth and seeing people come into their own has really allowed us to peak more towards the end.”

She points to the development of sophomore point guard Alex Thompson and junior forward Mercedes Robinson as the two most obvious examples.

“Alex is a great example,” Hamilton said. “Last year, she didn’t get a lot of playing time, but really wanted to learn. She comes back ready to fill the starting point guard role, this huge responsibility. And then Mercedes has completely dominated this season, which has been awesome. It’s been fun to see that development.”

It was also fun to be a part of the record-setting 2006-07 team along with Kelly, Washington and Mitchell, Hamilton acknowledges, but cites no particular team as more special than another.

“Every year is unique because every year has a different feel with different players and different people contributing in different ways,” she said. “Honestly, all of my years are pretty vivid.”

When the curtain does close on Hamilton’s career, the religion and sociology double-major intends to take some time off in Decatur, Ga., before heading back to graduate school to pursue a master’s in counseling.

“I’m really thankful,” Hamilton said. “I feel like I’ve gotten the opportunity to play the game I love and a lot of it. I think no one anticipates injuries or pictures those as a part of their career, but they happen. But those aren’t the defining aspects of my time here.”

No, those can be found in the record books.

Thompson, Gassie leave it all on the parquet in Wofford

They say that true commitment is built by always playing your hardest, even when no one is watching. On Friday night, the men's basketball team fought hard to a secure a very important Bracketbusters victory in front of a national television audience. On Saturday afternoon, the women's basketball team worked even harder to overcome a double digit deficit to win yet another SoCon battle on the road and pick up a game on Georgia Southern for the all-important third seed in the conference tournament. But only their families, three Davidson students, and a handful of Wofford fans were there to see it.

Davidson overcame a 20% shooting first half and a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Wofford 84-76 in overtime. Several Wildcats put up gaudy stats...Julia Paquette went 8-16 for 23 points, Mercedes Robinson picked up yet ANOTHER double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds and Alex Thompson recorded 18 points, 9 boards and a career-high 6 steals.

But this win wasn't about the stats. It wasn't even about beating a high-profile SoCon opponent on the road (which Wofford certainly isn't). This game was about Davidson continually coming out on top in situations when they should have been defeated. This was about overcoming all of that rationality in your gut that tells you that your doubt in the outcome is well based. The Wildcats kept hoping...on every steal, every jump shot and every rebound, and ultimately came out on top.

With four Wildcat players ultimately fouling out throughout the contest, Davidson coach Annette Watts had to go the end of her bench to find players to keep battling back as time was extended. But ultimately, she needed to look no further than her gutsy backcourt of Kelly Gassie and Alex Thompson.

Davidson went to a full-court press in the second half to keep Wofford off-balance, and the Cats' came up with several steals, despite allowing some easy Terrier shots. At one point, Wofford scored on four straight possessions late in the game. At another point, they drew fouls on Davidson for six or seven consecutive possessions. The Wildcats were nearly down and out at the end of regulation as Wofford was at the line with a three-point lead and just 40 seconds remaining. After the Terriers missed the free throw and got their own rebound. Things were even hairier. But Davidson forced a turnover, Paquette cut the lead to one. Wofford only got one point from the line on their next possession and Mercedes Robinson rebounded her own miss in traffic and put-back the game-tying basket with 3 seconds left in regulation.

After two more Wildcats fouled out in overtime, Thompson and Gassie took over on both ends of the floor. On one end Thompson is getting a rebound, then she sets up Julia Paquette for a basket. Then Gassie gets a huge steal and a fast break, misses her layup, gets a defensive rebound after another foul on Davidson, rebounds a miss by Kelsey Cary on the other end and gets the ball right back to her. After yet another Gassie defensive rebound, Thompson came open at the top of the key and hit the dagger three-pointer to put Wofford down for good. Thompson iced the game with her 9th and 10th straight free throws. Her 10-10 mark from the line ties a Davidson record for 100% free throw shooting with a minimum of 10 attempts.

The two Wildcat guards were breathing hard by the end, but it was their determination and savvy that pulled the rest of the team through when most of their veteran teammates could only watch and cheer.

This game could very well go down as one of the most exhilirating and hard-fought Davidson Wildcat games this year that no one ever saw. There are no SportsCenter highlights or parties on campus to welcome the team home. In fact, they are staying down in Spartanburg in prep for their road game at Furman on Monday. They will try to keep going about their business and working, step by step, towards a strong showing in the SoCon tournament.

But I don't have to look ahead quite yet. I get to reflect that today's game was one of the most special and gutsy performances that I have seen in a very long time.

Blogs killed the radio star

I experienced yet another perspective on Davidson Athletics on Tuesday night, when Wildcat radio man Derek Smith asked me to fill in for Tia Washington and do color for the radio broadcast of the Women’s basketball team’s game against Furman. The most color commentary that I have ever done came in my own living room bantering with my Dad as we watched a game with the sound turned down. Derek said that was all I needed to do on the radio, as long as I didn’t say anything too far out there. Not a bad deal.

As it turned out, I had a lot of fun. While I was expecting to be very nervous by those pregnant pauses that meant that I was supposed to have something witty and insightful to say, I found that there was so much going on in the game that Derek didn’t pause enough for me to get everything in. I do admit that there were a few moments where Derek’s up-tempo play-by-play lulled me into silence that I had to wake myself up and remember to say something. (You can hear the entire broadcast here).

So what actually happened in the game? Well Davidson overcame a 16-8 deficit to open up a 22-16 lead midway through the first half. During that stretch, they dominated the Paladins on the boards and mixed a potent three-point shooting attack with great entry passes that ended in open layups. The Wildcats were used to Furman’s 2-3 zone as they had faced something similar just a few games earlier at Elon.

Although Davidson had way too many ball-handling turnovers and went through an offensive slump to start the second half, they held on for the double-digit victory thanks to some strong play from Mercedes Robinson and Ashley Lax. Robinson put together another double-double by scoring 16 and rebounding 10, while Lax came off the bench to score a career high of 11 points.

I learned throughout the game of the constant torment of the color-man: you often don’t get the chance to say what you want and you never have much to say when you are put on the spot. I probably sounded like a broken record as I talked about the “great passes and good looks” that resulted in made baskets. I hope I wasn’t too ridiculously obvious with my commentary. Some of the best moments of the night included joking with Derek about the ease of some Wildcat baskets while he chided me for making it sound easier than it really was for a man like himself.

Overall, I really enjoyed breaking down Davidson’s play on the fly and organizing some thoughts for the world to hear. It definitely beats having to organize thoughts with these stupid commas and periods and reasonably short sentences. Maybe I should start on an audio blog where I want be judged for prattling on. Hmm, there’s a thought.

Davidson 68 Winthrop 63

I will be live blogging today's Women's basketball game today against Winthrop from here in Belk Arena. Although this year's team temporarily lost their fifth year scoring leader, Katie Hamilton, and sensational froshes, Ashley Lax and Chloe Woodington, to injury, the team is 3-2 with a 1-0 mark in the Southern Conference.

The Wildcats picked up their first conference victory against Georgia Southern last Thursday night. They were led by Mercedes Robinson, who recorded a double-double, and Alex Thompson who had 12 points and three assists.

Winthrop enters today's game with a 6-2 record with victories over Norfolk State and East Carolina.
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17:50 D 2 W 2
Julia Paquette gets Davidson on the board early. Winthrop looks a little slower than some of the teams that Davidson has played so far. But they did bring their own personal camera guy. Davidson Sports Info director didn't know he was coming.
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15:43 D 4 W 4
Davidson looks a little sloppy early. They are getting the ball inside but are not putting up good looking shots. Mandy Halbersleben was called for three seconds after missing a shot and getting her own rebound. And the Wildcat just came over and started stroking my head. Only at a women's basketball game at Belk Arena.
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12:47 D 7 W 4
There are a couple of Winthrop parents here today who are displeased at the officiating. It can be awkward when there isn't much noise and all of a sudden someone just screams at the ref. Winthrop isn't helping their own cause as they are now 2-11 from the field.
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9:20 D 12 W 10
Monica Laune hits a big three pointer to break the scoring draught, but this thing is still pretty ugly. Winthrop is shooting 14% from the field and have turned the ball over six times. Davidson on the other hand has had trouble with Winthrop's defense which is clogging the paint. The outside shots are open if Davidson takes them. And they are now...two three point tries on that last possession.
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7:49 D 16 W 16
And the shots are finally beginning to fall for both teams. Mercedes Robinson leads Davidson with 5 points. And I just noticed but Davidson has 7 team fouls to Winthrop's 2. The Eagles are making it rain from the free throw line, going 5-7. Monica Laune airballs her second three-pointer of the contest and Coach Watts replaces her with Kelly Gardner.
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4:52 D 18 W 26
And we just witnessed a pretty ugly display here right in front of the bench. Honna Housley went down on a drive to the basket being hit in the face. The play continued as Housley remained on the ground and the ball came back to hit her on the head while a Winthrop player ran into her back inadvertently. While the refs don't usually stop live play for an injury, many of the Davidson contingent was pretty upset at watching their senior guard being kicked around like a rag doll on the ground. It also doesn't help that Winthrop has been on a 10-2 run over the last three minutes.
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39 seconds D 22 W 26
Danielle Hemerka finally breaks Davidson's shooting slump with a big three. Both teams now have double figures in turnovers, and over 20 rebounds a piece. This game is not pretty.
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Halftime D 25 W 26
Davidson finished the half strong to go into the locker room down 1. Robinson leads all scorers with 8 points, while Hemerka has six points. The turnovers continue to be an issue for each team and if Davidson can control their dribble a little more effectively, I think that they have a good chance to pull out the win. They are getting the outside looks, they just need to knock them down.
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17:12 D 27 W 28
Kelly Gassie has been in the game for a good many minutes so far, but her speed and quickness have largely been unproductive. She's only scored four points to go along with three turnovers. Julia Paquette has also been pretty quiet today. Alex Thompson continues to emerge as this team's leader...she just forced another turnover and got an offensive rebound.
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15:00 D 28 W 30
And the shooting woes continue for Davidson. The Wildcats have the been the beneficiary of a few questionable calls (those Winthrop fans were going nuts!), and yet they haven't been able to pull away at all. The video producers in the Sports Information office are excited that this might be the first close game that they've broadcasted all year from Belk Arena.
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13:55 D 28 W 32
That whole foul thing evened up pretty quickly. Four straight fouls on Davidson and Winthrop is now in the bonus. And they can hit their free throws. Monica Laune drew a foul for Davidson to even up the foul race. Her shots look like they touch the roof before coming back down.
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11:46 D 35 W 35
Davidson had been held without a field goal for the first 6 and a half minutes of the stanza. But two quick layups has Davidson back in the game with a little bit of momentum. Both teams are in the bonus now with Mandy Halbersleben on the bench with four fouls. No one else for Davidson has more than 2 fouls.
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9:33 D 45 W 36
A three-pointer from Robinson, another one from Monica Laune and a layup from Paquette has Davidson on an 8-1 run coming out of the media timeout. Winthrop calls for time. While the shots looked pretty, the biggest play of that last sequence was SID Marc Gignac making a big stop on a sideline loose ball to save my laptop. And then Housley gets into the three-point act. Shooting daggas! (or whatever Coach Watts calls them)
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8:45 D 47 W 42
Several big shots from Winthrop keeps them alive and forces Coach Watts to call time. We have us a ballgame.
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6:16 D 53 W 47
A couple more fouls on each side of the floor and neither team can really affect the margin all that much. If Davidson can keep playing strong perimeter defense and hitting their free throws. They should pull out a win.
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4:30 D 55 W 54
Winthrop is getting their inside shots to fall and making this a ballgame. Davidson, on the other hand, can't seem to hold onto the ball. Thankfully, the refs are whistle happy and Davidson has still gotten chances at the line. But Winthrop is scoring on every possession now and Davidson needs to keep up. A bad three from freshman Kelsey Cary didn't help.
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3:30 D 57 W 59
Julia Paquette gets a big basket to break Davidson's FG slump. But Winthrop is hitting on all cylinders from outside. The Wildcats picked up a break on a loose ball foul right before the media timeout. Davidson needs to score on most every possession from here on out or step up the defense. Winthrop is close to pulling it away from a one possession game.
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1:14 D 62 W 61
Honna Housley with a huge three from the top of the key after Julia Paquette came up with a big defensive stop. The Wildcats need one more stop to win though.
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35 seconds D 64 W 61
Davidson got the stop. Alex Thompson made a huge shot on the other end to put Davidson up three and now the Eagles need a perimeter shot to win. The crowd here isn't large but they are on their feet and cheering.
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30 seconds D 66 W 61
Davidson steals the inbound pass and Honna Housley is fouled at the line. Free throws will put this one out of reach. Those were three big turnovers for Winthrop.
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Final D 68 W 63
Huge win for the Cats. Their defense came up big at the end and offset a somewhat sluggish offensive performance for three quarters of the game. Four Wildcats scored in double figures and Annette Watts became Davidson's new all-time leader in wins for women's basketball.

Women's Basketball schedule released

The 2007-2008 Davidson women's basketball schedule has been released on the team website. With non-conference games against the likes of Georgia, Virginia and Georgia Tech, Annette Watts' squad will hope to relive last year's success when the Wildcats made their first postseason appearance in school history.

Davidson will also participate in the Carolina First Classic in Asheville, NC in November and the St. Joe's Classic in December. In addition to a competitive non-conference schedule the Wildcats will have a full conference slate including games against perennial powers Western Carolina and Chattanooga. The conference scheduling committee didn't do the Wildcats any favors by scheduling both sets of games against the Mocs and Catamounts back-to-back.

Although the Wildcats will miss the contributions of graduated seniors Tia Washington, Jessica Mitchell and Brynn Kelly, they are very excited about a good freshman class that is coming in to add to an already talented young core of players. Katie Hamilton will be returning for her redshirt senior year after missing her junior season with an ACL tear. The Wildcats will be looking for Danielle Hemerka and Julia Paquette to control the interior while Kelly Gassie and Alex Thompson will take turns bringing the ball up the court.

Women fall to UTC yet again, 80-68

The Wildcats winningest season in the program’s history ended with a devastating loss to UTC on Friday, 80-68. The Wildcats hustled, fought and scrapped, but Chattanooga emerged victorious and advanced to yet another title game.

Davidson was taken hostage by the strong play of conference player of the year Alex Anderson who scored 22 points in the winning effort. The Wildcats jumped out to an early 14-4 lead, but Anderson lead the Mocs on a 41-15 run to end the first half. She finished the half with 20 points on 7-11 shooting.

As the second half started, Davidson showed that they would not quietly into the afternoon. Katie Hamilton poured in 10 second half points to finish with 17 overall. Brynn Kelly also contributed 18 points and eight rebounds in what might be her final game as a Wildcat.

The Wildcats could not find the right combination of players to make points on the offensive end while shutting down the Mocs’ outside shooting. Chattanooga seemed to answer every Wildcat run with a big three-pointer or a steal and finish.

"I don't know what we can do to top that team other than finding Stephen Curry's younger sister," Coach Watts said.

Chattanooga shot 11-27 from three-point land, while Davidson only managed 4-20. When Davidson shut down Alex Anderson in the second half, Brooke Hand found the hot hand and hit several three-pointers. She finished with a game-high 23 points.

Tia Washington ’07 finished with 17 points, many of which came late in the second half. The Wildcats refused to relent, even in the face of Chattanooga's shooting onslaught.

"Chattanooga had a lot of bullets in their gun, but we played really hard," Coach Watts said. "I was so proud of the effort of this team."

Davidson has not beaten Chattanooga since 1999, a losing streak that reached 17 with today’s loss. They have also never advanced to the tournament finals in their program’s history.

With their 23 wins on the season, the Wildcats still have an outside shot at an NIT bid.

Davidson women advance to face Chattanooga

Davidson gutted out a quarterfinal victory today behind the strong bench play of Mercedes Robinson '09 (14 points) and Kelly Gassie '09 (9 points). Robinson, who had struggled in several games at the end of the regular season, provided the veteran 'Cats with enough energy to eke out the 71-62 victory over Wofford.

Although the Cats were hampered by foul trouble to all-conference selection Katie Hamilton '08, they stuck to their gameplan and kept attacking the Terriers at the heart of their defense. Danielle Hemerka '08 (11 points) was the key to the second half run as several of her layups began to fell and fouls racked up against Wofford. Davidson finished with 32 points in the paint.

The Davidson defense forced 28 turnovers and they converted that into 27 points. They held the Terriers to 21-45 shooting, including 5-11 from three-point land. Davidson grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and had 15 second-chance points to Wofford's 3.

Although Davidson started the first half with relatively slow production on the offensive end, they continued to attack Wofford's oversized frontcourt in search of simple baskets.

The Cats will advance to meet the Chattanooga Mocs tomorrow. The Mocs are led by SoCon player of the Year Alex Anderson who averages over 20 points per game.

Coach Watts knows that the Wildcats face a challenge tomorrow: "We know that we just have to slow Anderson down. You can't completely stop her. However, I'm proud of our effort today, and I hope that we can reproduce it tomorrow."

Women Ballers Embody Spirit of "David"son

It all started with 10 minutes left in the first half against Appalachian State. The Wildcats were winning 26-8 and looked to be on their way to another easy victory over a lesser SoCon opponent. The women’s basketball team had only struggled twice in the last two months, and they were cruising along with no signs of stopping. All of a sudden, something happened. Shots began to rim out; the defense lacked intensity; the team was pressing and didn’t quite know how to play anymore. Although the Wildcats would hang on to win the Appalachian game (despite letting the Mountaineers pull it to a six-point game), they went up to Greensboro with the same scared mentality.

The Wildcats were blown out of the water by a Spartan team that had lost to Davidson earlier in the year. Coach Watts said that she was embarrassed by the performance because she thought that the team lacked intensity and desire. Tonight, Davidson returned to Belk Arena against a mid-level College of Charleston team. Coach Watts promised a renewed effort. She promised a Wildcat team that would play with pride.

By halftime tonight, Davidson was losing 40-25, and the team lacked pride. Over a week ago, this team was eyeing a possible NCAA at-large bid. By 8 p.m. on Wednesday, they were staring down the barrel of a fourth-place standing in a weak Southern Conference. Coach Watts had seen enough.

The Wildcats came out of the locker room with a renewed fire. They had the energy and intensity of a team that had their backs against the wall, and they played the role quite well. After all, these women have been playing the role of “David” against “Goliath” for many years now. It just so happens that this year they have the full assortment of talent to take down the giants.

The Wildcats stymied every offensive attempt that the Cougars put together, as they held them to a mere three points in the first twelve minutes of the second half. The Davidson offense began clicking as the Wildcats worked the paint for easy layups and hit Honna Housley for two huge three-pointers.

As the Wildcats cut into the lead, their spirit returned to their faces. Every Cougar pass was seen as an opportunity for a steal, every missed shot an opportunity for a big rebound. When the final buzzer sounded, Davidson had a 74-62 victory. They had scored 47 points in the second half, led by Tia Washington who had 19 on the game.

Perhaps the most defining image of the contest and of this season came when Danielle Hemerka returned to the lineup with under two minutes to play. She had been sidelined with a bloody nose and returned with a big protective facemask. With the Wildcats clinging to a six-point lead, a missed Jessica Mitchell free throw gave the Cougars a chance to cut into the lead. Three Cougar players went up for the rebound, but couldn’t secure it immediately. Hemerka jumped into the fray and pulled out the offensive board, forcing the Cougars to foul again and putting the game out of reach. With her 17 total points and team-leading six rebounds, Hemerka embodied the never-say-die attitude of a Wildcat team that is still learning to play in its new role: that of Goliath.

Even if they can’t beat everyone by thirty points, or trail to an evenly matched team down the road, look for these Wildcats to be resilient. Tonight they convinced themselves that they can win, and they even converted a few believers. The rest of the way isn’t paved with easy pit-stops, but I think that these Wildcats like it that way.

**photo by Richard Shayegan**

Conversation with Annette Watts

Coming off of a disappointing loss to UNC-G this past weekend, the Davidson Women's Basketball team is faced with some big contests against WCU and Chattanooga over this coming weekend. They will need to win at least one of these games if they hope to stay in contention for the regular season conference crown. I recently had a chance to sit down with head coach Annette Watts.

Will Bryan: Talk about the success of this season in the context of the pre-season expectations going in. Also, briefly touch on Saturday's setback at UNC-Greensboro.

Annette Watts: We didn't know how the chemistry would come back together with Katie Hamilton returning from injury. One would think that with a terrific player coming back, it would help everything on the whole. Yet I feared that the people who had stepped up last year would not maintain their game when she was back. I feared that they would stand back and watch. We are such a better team when you have to guard all twelve of us. I think that has determined our success. Those folks who stepped up last year have continued their play with Katie back in the lineup.

However, it is a process because we have never been on this side of the fence. We have never been first in the conference for consecutive weeks. We have always been the underdogs. We have always been David against Goliath. Right now we are struggling a little bit being Goliath, as we are playing not to lose instead of playing to win. We will get through this, but the question remains how rapidly that process will take place.

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