Abby Neff has a career night with 24 points as the Panthers defeat UMD
Panthers Notch First WHAC Victory of the Year at UM-Dearborn
Box Score
DEARBORN, Mich. - In their first WHAC contest of the 2011-2012 campaign, the Davenport Lady Panthers traveled to the University of Michigan - Dearborn to take on the winless Wolves. DU came home with an 84-43 victory to raise their regular season record to 6-2. They are now 1-0 in conference play.
After holding UMD to just 13 points over 17 minutes, the host team went on a 15-9 run to close out the half 41-28 in favor of the Panthers. The strong pressure that Davenport started the game with returned in the second half. DU extended its lead to 16 behind field goals from
Abby Neff and
Kia Frazier. Neff finished the game 10 of 12 from the field and 2 of 2 behind the arc and at the free throw line for 24 points.
The Wolves put their final points on the board at the 14:28 mark on a field goal from La'Dwan Jones. That cut the gap to 20 points as Davenport led 63-43. The Panthers would go on to put 21 more points on the board to finish out the game.
As a team, Davenport grabbed 19 steals and limited Dearborn to just 12 free throw attempts. DU's defense also held the Wolves to just 30% from the field, while the Panthers shot 51%. On the glass Karlee DePres was the top rebounder with 8. She also added 9 points.
Davenport will be on the road again this Saturday as they travel to face Indiana Tech. The Warriors entered the national rankings this week at No. 15. Game time is set for 3:00 PM.
Post-Game Comments - Head Coach Mike Williams
On winning their first conference game of the season - "It is good for us to get this conference victory on the road. At halftime we talked about things not coming easy for us no matter who we play and as long as they understand that we could be pretty good."
On the player of Abby Neff - "I told her to hunt the shot out there and once she started attacking the basket. Each game presents new opportunities for our players and they just have to step up and she did."
Post-Game Comments - Abby Neff
On getting their first conference win - "I think a big reason why we did so well tonight was because of our loss on Monday and I think that gave us a little bit of fuel and energy and we wanted to start off right in the conference."
On scoring 24 points - "I have to thank my team first as they saw me open and I got some good passes inside and we just worked the ball really well."
Post-Game Notes
Davenport is now 20-0 all time verses UMD...Neff's 24 points set a new career high...Saturday's contest will feature the No. 7 Panthers vs. the No. 15 Warriors
