Box Score
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – It took a little while for the Lady Cats to find their rhythm here Saturday afternoon but thanks to a major effort from senior forward Tillisha Givens and a second-half explosion, Louisiana College was able to log a 86-61 non-conference win over the William Carey Lady Crusaders.
LC, 9-0 and ranked No. 24 in the most recent D3Hoops.com poll, came out somewhat flat and trailed 19-17 midway through the first half.
Givens was the anchor for the visiting team and scored 15 points, pulled five rebounds and made three steals in the first half which, coupled with eight first-half points and a blocked shot by Kayla Guidry, paced a late-half run and get the Lady Cats to the locker room with a 35-25 lead.
“I'm just glad I could add to the team,” Givens said. “We came out a little sluggish but were able to keep it together on defense. When we weren't scoring they weren't scoring either.”
Givens finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and three steals and the Lady Cats outscored William Carey (4-7) 50-36 in the second half.
“I guess this is an early Christmas present,” Givens said. “We had our glitches here and there, but we buckled down and got the win. That was out motto, to buckle down, get the win and have a good Christmas break.”
“Tillisha had a great night for us,” Louisiana College coach Jason Tinsley said. “She was out of practice last week and struggled a little against Mary Hardin-Baylor Thursday night. But she had a great practice yesterday and played a great game tonight. She put up 25 points and 10 rebounds and had 12 hustle plays. We chart effort on this team and anytime you've got 12 hustle plays in a game, you've had a great game.”
The Lady Cats shot just 30 percent from the field in the first half but rebounded to shoot 47 percent in the second.
Better, four Lady Cats joined Givens in double-figure scoring.
Roslyn Wilmer put up 14 points, Guidry and Janet Butler were good for 12 points apiece and Natosha Gottlieb put up 10 in the win.
William Carey was led by Hope Swindle with 12 points.
The Lady Cats will be on break until after Christmas but will return to action at home on Dec. 30 at 5 p.m. with another nonconference game, this against Loyola of New Orleans
