Box Score Lawrence and Perry pace Panthers with 17 points apiece
NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College women's basketball team began its 2014-15 season with a 67-48 victory over Plymouth State University Saturday night in game one of the Cheryl Warren-Powers '95 Memorial Tournament in Emerson Gymnasium.
Junior Kiley Shoemaker (Fayetteville, N.Y.) scored a team-high 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting, hauled in seven rebounds and notched three blocks to lead the Lyons. Senior Abbie Brickley (Sandy, Utah) added 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists, while classmate Kirsten Ferrari (Lynn, Mass.) chipped in with nine points, six assists and one board. Junior guard Rebecca Arnone (Litchfield, N.H.) compiled six points, a game-high seven assists and eight rebounds.
PSU sophomore DeAsia Lawrence (Middletown, Conn.) posted a game-high 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting, while teammate Taylor Perry (Simsbury, Conn.) matched Lawrence in points with 17 on 6-of-11 shooting.
The Lyons shot 42.4-percent from the field (25-for-59), registered 20 assists, five blocks and won the rebounding matchup 42-30, which included a 13-8 margin on the offensive glass.
Wheaton jumped out to a 17-2 advantage over the opening 8:12 of the contest. Ferrari collected six points – both coming on three-pointers – and Brickley contributed five points to highlight the spurt. The Panthers responded with a 16-8 run fueled by Lawrence who had ten points. Plymouth State also received two points each from senior Kelley Collins (Groveton, N.H.), sophomore Rosalie Edmonds (Goffstown, N.H.) and Perry.
Pierce bumped Wheaton's advantage back to double-digits with a three-pointer at 2:23 and Shoemaker added a layup at 1:42 to make it a 30-18 lead for the hosts. Lawrence answered again for Plymouth State with another three-ball to cut the Panthers gap back to single-digits, 30-21, to end the half but the Lyons outscored the guests 37-27 in the final stanza to pull away for the season opening victory.
The Blue and White notched a 34-10 differential in the paint, while Plymouth State held an 18-17 margin in points off turnovers and a 23-14 advantage in bench points. Wheaton outrebounded Plymouth State 26-11 in the second half, which included an 8-2 performance on the offensive boards.
Wheaton (1-0) will play in the championship game of the tournament tomorrow at 3 p.m. against the winner of Suffolk University and Yeshiva University. Plymouth State takes on the loser between both previously mentioned teams at 1 p.m. in the consolation round.
(Courtesy of Wheaton Sports Information)
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