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.