Lady Jags Fall To North Georgia

Lady Jags Fall To North Georgia

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A poor shooting night by Augusta State proved too daunting as the Lady Jaguars suffered a 57-45 Peach Belt Conference loss at the hands of North Georgia Saturday night in Christenberry Fieldhouse.

The loss dropped ASU to 7-5 and 2-2 in the PBC. North Georgia improved to 7-4 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

"We practice a lot with contact, but it did not show today. We missed a bunch of layups," said head coach Nate Teymer. "We did, however, hold some of their players in check. With others, we were not as aggressive as we should have been."

The Lady Jags were held to a season-low 16 points in the first half, taking 12 minutes to reach double figures. North Georgia, led by sophomore forward Jaymee Carnes, built a 10-point lead when Jessica Trice canned two free throws at the 9:47 mark. ASU answered with six straight that Laci Schreiber capped with a jumper with 6:10 left, pulling the Lady Jags within 18-14. ASU scored only one more basket the rest of the way, while the Lady Saints had an 8-0 run of their own to end the half, 28-16.

ASU improved little in the second half, shooting only 27.0 percent. North Georgia built a 17-point lead in the second half before the Lady Jags countered with a 14-4 spurt. An Eryka Menzies' 3-pointer with 8:16 remaining pulled ASU within seven, only to have the Lady Saints answer with six straight.

Carnes, who entered the contest leading the nation in scoring at 27.8 ppg., booked a double-double with a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds. Carnes also blocked six shots, while Trice notched 13 points and Stephanie Huffman grabbed 11 rebounds.

No Lady Jag scored in double figures. Brittany White and Tiffany Jaecks each paced the squad with eight points. White handed out six assists and nabbed a game-high six steals. Four other Lady Jags scored six points each. The two bright spots for ASU were free-throw shooting 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) and snagging 17 steals in the game.

The Lady Jags shot only 25.4 percent for the game, hitting on 18-of-71 shots which marked their worst shooting effort of the year. NGCSU hit on 18-of-46 shots (39.1 percent) and held the rebounding edge 48-36.

The Lady Jags take on perennial PBC power Lander on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 5:30 p.m., in Christenberry Fieldhouse.