Lady Titans win 20 - again

Birds fly. Fish swim. Waves pound the shore. The McDowell Lady Titans win 20 games.
The second-ranked Lady Titans (NCPreps.com) hammered the Asheville Cougars 83-43 Tuesday night, collecting their 20th win for the 19th time in the last 21 seasons.
McDowell (9-0 Mountain Athletic Conference, 20-0 overall) led wire-to-wire and was never threatened after opening up a 36-8 lead midway through the second quarter. Thirteen of the 15 Lady Titans players scored, and McDowell's bench outscored Asheville's entire team 49-43.
"It seems like forever since we played," said Lady Titans head coach Brian Franklin, whose team went six days between games due to winter weather. "And with us not being in school for two days, I was concerned with how we would come out and play early on. But I thought our effort was as good as it has been every night. They were ready to go and they played really well."
Tuccoa Brackett (3 rebounds, 3 steals) came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Xandi Gellman (4 rebounds) added 13, hitting 5-of-7 from the field.
Autumn Ward (3 assists, 3 steals), Mary Webb (4 assists) and Madison Thomas (6 rebounds) tossed in nine apiece in a remarkably well-balanced offensive attack.
The Lady Titans shot 49 percent (33-of-67) from the field, held the Cougars to 34 percent (14-of-41) and forced 38 turnovers, 23 of them coming on steals. McDowell also out-rebounded the Cougars (3-6, 10-8) 40-24.
"I was really pleased with what we did on the defensive end," said Franklin. "Offensively, we've been unselfish all year, but we were making the extra pass two or three times, and just doing some great things offensively and sharing the ball with one another."
Asheville was as close as 13-6 late in the first quarter, but McDowell reeled off 11 unanswered points during the final 2:30 to take a 24-6 lead after one period. The Lady Titans continued what became a 23-2 run in the second quarter, and owned a 36-8 lead on Webb's steal and layup with 3:59 to go before halftime.
Webb scored six during the run, while Ward and Brackett tossed in five each, Gellman had three, and Kaitlin Gallion (6 rebounds) and Thomas scored two apiece.
McDowell led 44-16 at the half and outscored the Cougars 24-10 in the third to take a 68-26 lead after three.
Ashly Surratt was the only Asheville player in double figures with 10 points. Ni Ni Perez and Anice Smith (13 rebounds) tossed in eight apiece.
The Lady Titans' win sets up a showdown against A.C. Reynolds in Asheville tonight. The game was originally set for Friday, but has been moved up a day due to impending bad weather (4 p.m. start—jayvee girls).
A.C. Reynolds (8-1, 14-2) is in second place in the conference standings. A McDowell win would almost certainly give the Lady Titans the MAC regular-season championship outright, as well as the top seed for the State 4A Sectionals. A loss would mean McDowell would likely end up sharing the conference title with A.C. Reynolds. The Lady Titans beat Reynolds 74-61 in the first meeting between the two Jan. 12.

Asheville (43) Ni Ni Perez 3-13 1-1 8, Courtney Rogers 1-4 0-0 2, Desiree Gamble 1-6 2-2 5, Mirrah Colbert-Grant 2-2 0-0 4, Anice Smith 2-5 4-6 8, Riat Bomar 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Jeffries 1-2 0-0 2, Nikita Biber 0-0 0-1 0, Ashly Surratt 3-7 3-3 10, Quan Sitton 1-2 0-0 2, Shamica Robinson 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 14-41 12-15 43.
McDowell (83) Jami Medford 2-4 0-1 4, Kaitlin Gallion 0-0 2-2 2, Xandi Gellman 5-7 3-4 13, Autumn Ward 3-9 2-2 9, Jaalen Corpening 2-6 2-2 6, Tuccoa Brackett 7-10 3-4 13, Madison Thomas 4-9 1-3 9, Mary Webb 4-5 1-2 9, MacKenzie Holland 0-2 0-0 0, Taylor Settlemyre 2-7 0-0 4, Brooke Epley 1-2 0-0 3, Madalyn Davis 1-2 0-0 2, Amber Fulbright 1-2 2-4 4, Anna Pittman 0-1 0-0 0, Katie Davis 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 33-67 15-24 83.

Asheville 06 10 10 17 – 43
McDowell 24 20 24 15 – 83

Rebounds: Asheville (24) McDowell (40) Rebound leaders: Asheville (Smith 13) McDowell (Thomas, Gallion 6) 3-point goals: Asheville (3-12) McDowell (2-9) Asheville (Perez 1-6, Rogers 0-1, Gamble 1-3, Surratt 1-2) McDowell (Ward 1-5, Settlemyre 0-2, Epley 1-1, Pittman 0-1) McDowell assist leaders: (Webb 4) McDowell steals leaders: (Medford 4) McDowell blocked shot leaders: (Gellman 2) Turnovers: Asheville (38) McDowell (23) Fouled out: Asheville (Gamble 2:17—third) Technical foul: Asheville bench