Augusta women's hoops team improves to 3-0 with rout of Newberry
By Nyla Robinson | Sports writer
The Augusta University women continued their winning ways by beating Newberry College 61-34 on Wednesday, Nov. 13, in a non-conference basketball game at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
Paced by graduate student Tyasia Freeman, who led the team in scoring with 12 points, the Jaguars improved to 3-0 on the young season. Freeman was followed by senior Je’Bria Fullwood, the Greensboro (N.C.) Day School product, with 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Newberry built a 14-10 lead to start the game, and early on AU looked frazzled as the Wolves brought pressure, using a man full-court press. Augusta turned the ball over six times in the first quarter alone. Missed free throws did not help the cause either, as AU went 2 of 6 from the free-throw line in the period.
“I think it’s the home opener, you know,” said AU Coach Celeste Stewart. “We maybe had some jitters. Also, there wasn’t a lot of stoppage of play, and fatigue started to settle in. We had to just be patient, just play within our offense, trust our defense, making sure we limited them to one opportunity, and then crash the glass.”
After settling down on the offensive end and forcing turnovers, the Jaguars got into the transition game to score some easy buckets. By halftime, they led 30-20.
Leading the way for Augusta was Freeman, a Burke County alumna who started her career at Emmanuel. She also had five rebounds.
“I just wanna prove that I can lock up defensively and score offensively,” said Freeman.
Stewart was pleased with Freeman’s performance.
“It's a new team for her, new environments, so I think she’s finding her rhythm now, and it was really good to see tonight,” the AU coach said.
In the third quarter, the Jaguars put the game away, outscoring Newberry 16-6. The AU defense picked up its intensity, forcing seven turnovers in the quarter—on a night when the Jags forced 28 miscues.
While not a great shooting game for either team (the Jaguars shot 39 percent and the Wolves 31 percent), AU found most of its points in transition and in the paint. Augusta outscored the Wolves, 42-16 in the paint.
The Jaguars next will play at Fayetteville State on Saturday, Nov. 16. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
Contact Nyla Robinson at nyrobinson@augusta.edu.
AU’s Je’Bria Fullwood (15) goes up for a shot against Newberry’s Ryan Howard (24) in the Jaguars’ 61-34 win over the Wolves. (photo by Lydia Williams/the Bell Ringer) At the top of the page, Jaguar guard Autumn Phillips puts up a jumper. (photo by Paula Toole/AU Athletics)
Augusta forward Tyasia Freeman (22) goes to the basket for the Jaguars; she had 12 points and four rebounds in the win over Newberry. (photo by Lydia Williams/the Bell Ringer)
