Ruston, the. – Supported by a new season-high 17 points Mia McGraw, Charlotte women’s basketball defeated Louisiana Tech 66-57 on Saturday afternoon. The Niners finish 2022 just as they started, beating UTEP in January, and winning two of their first three in Conference USA play.
“This wonderful team won,” the head coach began Mother-in-law’s face. “We’ve been looking all year for the rest of our team to step up. Every single one of our players has contributed. You can go down on a box score, it’s a great team win. Mia’s confidence was huge after missing a couple early. We wanted to give her the ball as much as we could. She was fantastic.” “I hope we get the confidence back. We have to focus on growing. That’s what we really want to do if we’re going to win growing. Big step today.”
Protective opening frame
Charlotte (6-6, 2-1 C-USA) got on the board Dazia Lawrence Both teams scored 23 points in a 26-second opening quarter on defense. McGraw’s free throw made it an 8-0 run to start 3-0. Ayesha Wade Cut the deficit to three with 2:47 left. After another wad is sprayed Keanna Rembert Louisiana Tech (8-5, 1-2) put home back-to-back shots to tie it up at 10-10 until hitting a corner three to take a 13-10 lead after one.
19 to take a half-time lead
The 49ers saw McMillian drain the first point from the charity stripe to start the second. Jacee Busick And Tamiya Davis He hit the first of two big triples to swing the momentum. Busick’s first cut it to two at 7:28 as Davis edged closer to the midway point, 20-19. After a nearly three-minute scoring drought by both teams, Busick and Davis came back 28 seconds apart to turn a one-point deficit into a five-point lead, 25-20, with 3:14 to show. LA Tech cut the deficit to one with two minutes left in the contest before late layups from McMillian and McGraw put the Niners up 29-25.
First half numbers
Seven different Niners scored at least two points in 20 minutes, led by Busick and Davis’ six points. The defense held the Lady Techsters to 29% shooting and 3-for-12 from long range in the first half.
Run late, lead by three
McGraw started the scoring in the third quarter and McMillian tied it 33-33 at the 4:26 mark with two free throws. Wade was able to score on one layup before McGraw started a 9-0 run late with back-to-back layups. Davis gets in a three and Rembert gets in the glass for a 46-40 lead with three.
French finish
McGraw opened the fourth with a layup before LA Tech responded on a 6-0 run. At the 6:51 mark, a pair of McMillian free throws followed by Davis’ fourth triple of the day to give the Niners a 53-49 lead. Charlotte would hold it the rest of the way to seal the deal with late baskets by Wade and McGraw, free throws by Besik and Lawrence.
Big box score
McGraw’s 17 rebounds and nine rebounds led both categories, while Davis hit a season-high 12 with four triples. Wade followed with nine, one for a career high, while Busick contributed nine. Charlotte shot 40% on the afternoon and held LA Tech to 34%, just 27% from behind the arc.
Let’s go home
A little more than two weeks after their last home game, a C-USA win over UAB on Dec. 19, the Niners return to Halton Arena to host FIU and Florida Atlantic next Thursday and Saturday. Both games are available on ESPN+ and tickets are also available at http://www.charlotte49ers.com.
