TOWSON, Md. - Jessica Haywood scored a career-high 18 points to help lead the Tigers past North Carolina A&T 74-69 on Saturday night in Preseason WNIT consolation bracket play. Shanae Baker-Brice added 21 points as the Tigers (2-1) won their second straight contest.
"I was happy with the pace of play tonight," said Coach Joe Mathews. "I thought we continued to improve on some of the things we needed to work on and Jess really came through with a strong performance inside."
The Tigers struggled with turnovers early in the contest as North Carolina A&T built a quick 12-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game. Omara Parker got the Tigers on the board at 17:52 as she hit one of two from the foul line. That free throw started an 8-0 run that made it a 12-8 game with 13:30 to play in the half. Kandace Davis had five points during that stretch. The Aggies extended their lead to 16-10 with 12:11 to play in the half. Towson went on a 10-2 run to take their first lead of the contest 20-18, with 9:39 to play. The Tigers closed the half on a 19-12 run to take a 39-30 lead into halftime. Haywood had 11 points in six minutes of action in the first half.
The Aggies opened the second half on an 8-1 run to make it a 40-37 game with 18:06 to play. The Tigers pushed the lead to 44-37 on back-to-back buckets before North Carolina A&T launched an 11-0 run to take back the lead. Ta'Wuana Cook scored nine of the 11 during that stretch to give her team a 48-44 advantage with 12:48 to play. The two teams would trade baskets over the next few minutes before a Baker-Brice jumper at 9:27, gave Towson back the lead for good. A three-pointer by Charmonique Watt at 7:37 made it a 59-51 game in favor of the home team. Towson would score 15 of the final 33 points to claim the 74-69 victory.
In addition to her 18 points, Haywood would contribute six rebounds. Baker-Brice posted her third straight 20+ point performance of the season. She also added four rebounds and five assists. Watt finished with nine points and three assists while Davis led the Tigers on the boards with seven.
Cook posted a game-high 25 points, four assists and three steals. Lamona Smalley contributed 15 points and eight boards off the bench.
The Tigers return to action on Tuesday, November 24 when they host local rival, UMBC at 7 p.m.
-- TIGERS --
