In Piittsboro

Pivotal fourth quarter key in Lady Charger win

NW women squeeze by Panther Creek 47-42

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McKenna Snively’s jumper off the left baseline with 7:26 to play gave Northwood the lead for good as the Lady Chargers outscored Panther Creek 17-11 in a pivotal fourth quarter to register a hard-fought 47-42 win in the non-conference season-opener for both teams Tuesday night in Lewis Norwood Gymnasium.

Jyreah Smith topped Northwood with 15 points while Myla Marve chipped in eight. Snively and Chandler Adams contributed seven points apiece, with Adams grabbing a game-high 11 caroms, as the Lady Chargers connected on 37% (16-of-43) of their field goal attempts while turning the ball over 18 times.

Rosemary Pierson notched a double-double for the Lady Catamounts, tallying 15 points besides snaring 10 rebounds, while Errika Reid added nine points. Panther Creek shot 38% (17-of-45) from the floor and held a 31-26 advantage on the boards while committing 25 turnovers.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way we played this evening, considering we have a lot of new faces on this year’s team,” remarked Northwood coach Cameron Vernon after his squad improved to 2-4 all-time against the Lady Catamounts.
“We took good shots tonight yet couldn’t get a lot of them to fall. But McKenna Snively and Myla Marve, a pair of freshmen, managed to hit some big-time baskets in the final period and brought good defensive intensity to the court.”

“I thought the pace of the game wore on Panther Creek down the stretch, and our conditioning paid off at the end.”
“We did a good job forcing them to take tough shots, and when they put us on the foul line we executed.”

Lady Catamounts’ coach Danielle Sullivan stated she felt her team’s youth and Northwood’s defense were the key factors that decided the outcome.
“While we were extremely young on the floor tonight, starting three sophomores and a freshman, I saw some growth this evening,” said Sullivan. “Any time you have 20-plus turnovers you’re hurting your chances to pick up a victory, but we played Northwood even for three quarters before our youth showed down the stretch when they were able to convert our mistakes into points.”

“I was really pleased with the effort we got from (point guard) Errika Reid, who made good decisions leading our offense and kept us under control for most of the game.”

Kelli Cain’s inbounds layup with 5:45 left in the first quarter staked Panther Creek to an early 6-0 advantage before the Lady Chargers rallied to pull even at 6-all on Smith’s frontcourt steal and layup with 3:34 to go in the initial stanza.

Following offsetting baskets, the Lady Catamounts forged a 10-8 lead on Reid’s pull-up jumper in the lane with six seconds remaining in the opening frame.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Snively and Smith to begin the second period provided Northwood with a 14-10 advantage prior to consecutive Pierson treys igniting an 8-0 Panther Creek run that put the visitors from Cary up by four with 2:26 to go the second quarter.

After Smith’s three-pointer from the left wing and a Jaela Harris fast break layup gave the Lady Chargers a 19-18 lead with 40.3 seconds left in the first half, Kherry Cohea’s backcourt steal and subsequent layup with six-tenths of a second showing on the clock elevated the Lady Catamounts into a one-point advantage at intermission.

Following Caroline Robinson’s layup with 6:15 remaining in the third stanza that extended Panther Creek’s lead to 26-21, two Rae McClarty foul shots with 1:22 left in the quarter snapped a 28-all standoff and regained a brief advantage for the Lady Chargers before Reid’s trey from the right corner with 1.4 seconds to go put the Lady Catamounts ahead by one after three periods.

But Snively’s bucket 34 seconds into the fourth frame then sparked a 13-3 Northwood run to give the winners a 43-34 lead – the biggest margin by either team all evening – with 1:55 to play, and Panther Creek could never narrow the gap to less than four in the time remaining.

PC 10 10 11 11 – 42
NOR 8 11 11 17 – 47
Panther Creek (0-1) – Cain 1 2-2 4 Pierson 5 2-6 15 Robinson 3 0-0 6 Cohea 3 0-0 6 Reid 4 0-0 9 Stanford 1 0-0 2 Shannon 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 4-8 42.
Northwood (1-0) – Harris 3 0-2 6 Snively 3 0-0 7 Adams 2 3-6 7 McClarty 0 2-4 2 Smith 5 2-4 15 Bailey 1 0-1 2 Marve 2 3-4 8 Forbes 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 10-21 47.
Halftime-Panther Creek, 20-19. Three-point goals-Panther Creek 4-23 (Pierson 3-10, Reid 1-7, Cain 0-1, Stanford 0-2, Cohea 0-3); Northwood 5-13 (Smith 3-5, Marve 1-3, Snively 1-3, McClarty 0-2). Fouled out-McClarty, Cohea, Reid. Rebounds-Panther Creek 31 (Pierson 10); Northwood 26 (Adams 11). Turnovers-Panther Creek 25; Northwood 18. Total fouls-Panther Creek 20; Northwood 15.

Northwood, girls basketball, high school, sports