UNC Pembroke’s Courtney Smith takes a shot attempt during Saturday’s game against Converse in Pembroke.
UNCP Athletics
PEMBROKE — The University of North Carolina at Pembroke women’s basketball team is typically a strong defensive unit against anyone it plays. But the Braves seem to be particularly strong at preventing Converse from scoring.
UNCP was dominant on the defensive end of the floor for the second straight meeting against the Valkyries on Saturday, earning a 75-32 win in the team’s first game of the new year.
“I thought defensively our effort was good (in the second half),” UNCP coach John Haskins said. “We finally made some shots, got the ball moving a little bit more attacked a little bit more. I thought we got it where we wanted to in the first half, but we didn’t really attack and weren’t able to make shots. But … we shot almost 50% from the floor, 42% from 3, only had eight turnovers and outrebounded them by 14. All those are really positive stats, so it was a good effort.”
UNCP (9-4, 4-0 Conference Carolinas) won the last meeting against Converse (5-7, 2-3 CC) by a 52-25 final on Feb. 4, 2023. Saturday’s outing was the Braves’ best defensive result of the season, surpassing a 56-45 win over King on Dec. 13.
The Braves held Converse to an 11-for-50 (22.0%) shooting clip from the field and a 6-for-24 (25.0%) mark from 3. The Valkyries were held to four field goals and 13 points in the second half, including no field goals and three points in the fourth quarter against mostly the Braves’ second unit.
Haskins pointed to the Braves’ containment of Sydney Wilson, Converse’s leading scorer this season who had just two points Saturday, as key to the team’s defensive success.
“They made a few 3s, but they’re kind of dribble driving and really trying to get in to Wilson, and kudos to both Hannah (Russell) and (Lillian Flantos) who did a great job on her, got her off her spots, sat on her left shoulder and didn’t let her turn to the basket there. That was one of the keys, because she’s a really good offensive player.”
The game marked the season debuts for UNCP guards Courtney Smith, Alcenia Purnell and Jada Coleman. Smith scored seven points with two steals in 12 minutes.
“It was great to have some familiar faces out there,” Haskins said. “To have Courtney out there, to have A.P. out there, and then to get Jada on the floor some. It’s really good to have those three back, and I think it just helps us so much with depth, and if somebody’s struggling we have some options to go to. And the other thing is Courtney’s experience — Courtney and A.P. — and having been on the floor for four years now.”
UNCP held Converse scoreless until a Jordan Brown free throw at the 4:29 mark of the first quarter, taking a 9-0 lead in the span. The Valkyries’ first field goal came with 3:04 left in the quarter on a Sydney Wilson jumper, and UNCP led 11-6 after the period behind four points from Lillian Flantos.
Zaria Clark scored six points during a 9-0 Braves run to take a 20-6 lead with 6:15 left in the half. Converse outscored UNCP 13-7 over the rest of the half, propelled by a pair of 3s from Zariyah Washington, and got as close as 24-19 before Courtney Smith’s first basket of the season closed out the first-half scoring and gave UNCP a 26-19 lead at the break.
UNCP started the third quarter on a 17-5 run, with 13 points in the stretch by Kalaya Hall, and led 43-24 with 2:15 left in the quarter.
“We just wanted to come out and punch first,” Hall said. “We’re just taking what the defense gave us, and we just made layups, that’s a big part of it.”
Smith scored five points in the last 1:06 of the quarter and the Braves took a 49-29 lead into the final 10 minutes.
“Just coming into today, I just thought just treat it as a regular game,” said Smith, whose return came after a torn ACL on Feb. 22, 2023. “It has been a long time, but I learned a lot from sitting on the bench the first few games.”
The Braves continued the momentum from the end-of-quarter sequence into the fourth, stretching the run to 24-0 behind two triples from Kelci Adams and another from Coleman, taking a 67-29 lead with 4:17 to go.
With reserves playing much of the fourth quarter, 11 Braves players scored at least one basket in the game.
Hall led UNCP with 17 points and dished four assists. Clark had 11 points and 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the season, and had four steals; Adams and Lillian Flantos each had eight points with four rebounds and Aniah McManus scored six points with five rebounds and five assists.
Zariyah Washington led Converse with 11 points and Sierra Jones scored six.
UNCP travels to Chowan on Wednesday for a 5 p.m. tipoff.
Sports editor Chris Stiles can be reached at 910-816-1977 or by email at cstiles@robesonian.com. You can follow him on X/Twitter at @StilesOnSports.