It was a brisk night in the Queen City Saturday as the Charlotte 49ers women’s basketball team played host to Conference USA foe Marshall. Charlotte shot 48 percent from the field and 62 percent from behind the arc as they cruised to the 74-56 victory over the Thundering Herd giving the 49ers their first win in conference play.
Charlotte (5-10, 1-2) was a little slow out of the gate with multiple turnovers in the first couple minutes of play and quickly found themselves in a 5-0 hole when Head Coach Cara Consuegra called a timeout. Charlotte would go on a 9-0 run from that point.
Lefty Webster got a steal that led to fast break points for Olivia Rankin then Hillary Sigmon drained one of two first half three pointers to give Charlotte a 7-5 lead. Charlotte continued to control the pace for the rest of the half.
Webster was able to knock down two shots from deep before heading to the bench in foul trouble. Charlotte played 11 players in the first half and nine of them contributed points.
The 49ers had 12 assists on 14 made field goals in the first half and took a 36-30 lead into the locker room. Sigmon led all scorers at the break with eight points on 3-5 shooting including 2-3 from downtown.
The second half was more of the same for the 49ers who continued to move the ball around very effectively against the Marshall (9-5, 1-2) defense. At times the Charlotte offense looked a little stagnant but they seemed to always find someone open for a good shot when they needed it.
Sigmon knocked down two big threes for the 49ers in the second half and finished the game 4-5 from beyond the arc. Kira Gordon and Alexis Alexander had big second halves, scoring 13 and eight points respectively in the final 20 minutes.
Gordon finished the game with 16 points and eight rebounds to lead the way for the 49ers. Webster picked up her fourth foul with more than 13 minutes remaining in the game but was still able to contribute 13 points in just 19 minutes of action.
After the game, Coach Consuegra was pleased with the team’s effort on defense. “We played up to our potential and ability defensively,” she said. “That made me more proud than anything in this game.”
Charlotte ended the game with 29 field goals, 21 of which were assisted. “Just a really great team win that our players deserve because they earned it,” she continued. “We’re a better team when we move the ball. Today we did that.”
Charlotte will travel to the state of Texas for two games against conference rivals North Texas and Rice on the 15th and 17th. The game against North Texas is scheduled for an 8 p.m. tip on Thursday night.