PEMBROKE — Two days after drenching one of the hottest teams in the Peach Belt Conference, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke women’s basketball team closed out its homestand by gaining a double-digit advantage on the glass over the league’s best rebounding team, USC Aiken, in a 58-47 win on Wednesday.
Lady Braves (6-10, 5-5 PBC) coach John Haskins praised his team’s effort, especially Avery Locklear, after the game.
“The biggest thing was what we did on the glass,” Haskins said. “Avery got after it.”
The senior guard led the way with a team-high 12 rebounds, adding six points and four assists.
Lady Pacers (9-8, 5-6 PBC) forward Kwajelin Farrar was the conference leader in both rebounds and field goal percentage and came in averaging 17 points per game. Farrar ended with just 10 points, shooting 40 percent from the floor. She finished with nine boards and was held to just four points and four rebounds in the first half.
As a team, the Lady Pacers shot just over 31 percent for the game.
Locklear and Co. contained Farrar in the paint on both sides early on and the senior guard racked up six rebounds in the first quarter alone. Melanie Horne finished with 13 points and was 2-for-2 for downtown in the period and took a 14-11 advantage into the second.
Alecia Hardy returned from a three-game absence and filled the stat sheet to secure the group’s second straight win. Hardy had seven points to lead the team in the first half. She added nine rebounds and three assists, which Haskins says is what the team values in tough conference games.
“The biggest thing about Alecia is her versatility and she plays hard, too and really puts it all out on the floor. It was nice having her back, and it really helped our rotations,” Haskins said.
Locklear says the all-around contributions from the group is why they’ve been successful lately.
“I think this team, especially, we all just play hard,” said Locklear. “That’s one of the biggest things…we always play with maximum effort.”
In the third quarter, Locklear’s hustle on the glass produced easy scoring opportunities for herself and other teammates.
Just seconds into the period, she grabbed a missed shot and kicked it out to an open Horne who knocked in one of her game-high four 3-pointers to extend the lead, 32-24. With 4:20 left in the quarter, Locklear attacked the offensive glass again and this time, she put it back up, forced a foul, then hit both of the ensuing free throws to take a 36-30 advantage.
Tee Graham had a team-high 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds. She was 6-for-6 from the free throw line and hit two foul shots with 6:04 left to expand the margin, 56-40. Her jumper with 1:52 left gave the team a 58-44 lead.
Horne says the consecutive victories have given the team a surge of confidence going forward.
“I know at the beginning of the season we didn’t play like we can, but now I feel like we’re playing up to our potential,” she said.
The road ahead doesn’t get any easier for the Lady Braves as they head to Clayton State on Saturday looking to extend the streak to three.
