'Cats Stay Perfect in League Play, Win 11th Straight vs. GSU

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DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Sophomore Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) exploded for 17 second-half points and junior Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) hit the 20-point plateau for the second time in her career in leading Davidson to a 65-54 Southern Conference win over Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon to remain perfect at 7-0 in league play.

Continuing their school-record start in SoCon play, the Wildcats – winners of their last four games – picked up their ninth straight league win overall dating back to last season's final two regular-season games, and evened their overall record to 8-8 this year. The 11-point win over the Eagles was also the 'Cats 11th in a row in the all-time series.

GSU dropped its second straight in falling to 9-7 overall, while falling to 4-3 in SoCon action.

Lax, who was held scoreless in the first half, scored 11 of her 17 second-half points in a four-minute stretch when the Wildcats broke open a 43-all tie with a 15-7 run for a 58-50 lead and 2:50 remaining in the game. The sharp-shooting guard started the run with a three-ball and then capped it off when she swished home a free throw to complete a three-point play.

The sophomore broke out of a two-game shooting slump, missing just one shot in the second half to close out the game 6-of-8 from the floor, including draining three of her five shots from behind the arc. Lax had been held to just 15 points her last two games on 5-of-23 shooting.

Meanwhile, Paquette had one of her best games this season as put her teammates on her back and carried them the majority of the first half and on into the start of the second half. Nine of her game-best 20 points came in the first stanza, including seven of them through the first six minutes to start the contest when the Wildcats had an early 11-4 lead.

After being forced to sit late in the first period when she picked up her second foul, Paquette opened up the second stanza with six straight points, including a jumper at the 16:35 mark to give Davidson a brief 32-28 lead. She later nailed her first career three-pointer at the top of the key that gave the Wildcats back the lead at 43-41 after GSU took a one-point lead.

The Eagles, who despite shooting just 28.6 percent from the floor, kept things close though in the second period by hitting some clutch shots when needed and taking care of the ball. GSU had just five turnovers in the game, with just one of them coming in the first half which helped the Eagles go into halftime tied at 26-all.

The game saw both teams trade the lead seven times, including four times through the first 13 minutes of a tightly played second half.

Joining Lax and Paquette in double digits was junior Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) and senior Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.) with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Besides her 13 points, Thompson dished out a game-high five dimes and hauled in a season-best eight boards.

Robinson, who is averaging a double-double against SoCon opponents this year, recorded her fifth straight double-double game when she pulled down an offensive rebound for her 10th board, and then laid the ball up and in for her 10th & 11th points with just 1:01 left in the contest. The offensive put-back gave Davidson a 62-52 lead on its way to the 65-54 win.

Georgia Southern's J'Lisia Ogburn was the lone Eagle to score in double digits when she dropped in 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 6-for-9 from the charity stripe. She also hauled in 10 rebounds to match Robinson with a double-double.

Davidson finishes its two-game home stretch with a 7 p.m. contest vs. College of Charleston on Monday, Jan. 12.

Game Notes: With the home win, Davidson has now won 25 of its last 30 games at John M. Belk Arena dating back to 2006-07 ... For the third time in the past four games, the Wildcats have had four players score in double digits ... Robinson registered her ninth double-double overall on the year and 26th of her career ... The Wildcats were aided in the second half by a 51.7 percent shooting performance, including hitting 5-of-8 shots from downtown ... the quartet of Thompson, Lax, Paquette and Robinson were the only Wildcats to score in the second half, scoring all 39 points.

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