SPORTS

 

CHARLOTTE – The Davidson Wildcats took down cross-county rival UNC Charlotte on Wednesday afternoon, 79-65, after shooting 56.6 percent from the floor for the program’s best offensive outing since February 2014.

The ‘Cats drained 30 field goals and nailed six three’s in their fourth straight victory, improving to 9-3 overall.

Four Wildcats scored in double figures, for the third time this season, as Elle Sutphin scored a team-high 20 points and Adelaide Fuller added 16. Junior Suzi-Rose Deegan recorded her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and senior Cassidy Gould led the way from beyond the arc, going 4-for-4 from three and ending the day with 14 points.

“This is a huge game on our schedule for us and something we take a lot of pride in,” said Head Coach Gayle Fulks. “I’m really proud of how we came out and weathered a hot-shooting Charlotte team and I was just really proud of how we did it all together.”

Gould got the ‘Cats going almost immediately from Halton Arena, draining back-to-back three-pointers in the opening minutes of play. As Davidson and Charlotte exchanged leads, the 49ers came out on top of the first quarter, just barely edging out the ‘Cats 24-22.

After making all four three-point attempts in the first quarter, Davidson turned up the heat in the second and shot 72.7 percent from the floor while outscoring the 49ers 21-12. Sutphin had the hot hand in the second, scoring 12 points over 10 minutes of play, while the Wildcats drained five of their last six field goals of the half, including an offensive rebound turned tip-in from Fuller. 

With a 43-36 lead at halftime, the 49ers threatened the Wildcats with a 9-6 run in the third quarter and cut their deficit down to four. But with five minutes left in the frame, Deegan and Fuller, who scored eight points in the third quarter alone, combined for a 6-0 run and pushed Davidson to its first double-digit lead of the day, up 55-45.

From there the ‘Cats never looked back, leading by as many as 19 points over the final 10 minutes of play and running away with just the fifth win over Charlotte since 2000.

Up Next
The Wildcats will take a week break for the holidays before returning to action on Dec. 29 from Dallas, Texas to take on Texas Christian University.