Karen Aston’s team was having flashbacks Wednesday night. The 49ers were one of the top teams in the A-10 this season, but struggled at times with closing teams out.
Wednesday, they reversed the trend.
Despite squandering a 15-point halftime lead, the 49ers are moving on to the next round of the Women’s NIT after a 62-56 win over the Liberty Flames at Halton Arena.
“There have been times this year where its been a struggle—where we’ve lost leads,” Aston said. “We haven’t handled it well at times this year so I saw some growth in our team. You’re encouraged to see them still working on things.”
Charlotte jumped out to an early lead and led by as many as 18, 31-13 in the first half behind a trapping defensive scheme and high defensive pressure on Liberty’s guards. That pressure resulted in 13 first half turnovers for the Flames and 18 points off turnovers for the 49ers, leading to a 37-22 lead at the break.
“One of the goals of this was for us to dictate the tempo,” guard Epiphany Woodson said. “We wanted to speed them up and they wanted to slow us down. The first half we did a good job of getting the ball and going, we had a lot of transition buckets.”
Liberty got a boost in the second half from both Avery Warley and Devon Brown, who were both held to just four and two points in the first half, respectively. Despite foul trouble, Warley—the Big South’s leader in field goal percentage—score 10 second half points and grabbed five more rebounds.
I think we went to sleep a couple times in the second half,” Aston said, “but all in all, she’s (Warley) a good player and I thought we did a good job defensively.”
Brown gave the Flames immediate offense, scoring 12 second half points as Liberty closed the gap to 58-54 with just under two minutes remaining in regulation on a Kylee Beecher layup. Charlotte knocked down some key foul shots down the stretch to hold on and will face the South Carolina Gamecocks on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Columbia.
Liberty’s turnovers turned into instant points for the 49ers, as Charlotte scored 24 points off turnovers and registered a 20-8 margin in fast break points. Liberty, one of the nation’s top rebounding teams, had 49 compared to just 39 for Charlotte.
Charlotte’s Woodson led all scorers with 22 points while Amanda Dowe scored 12 and grabbed nine rebounds for Charlotte.
“I was proud of how our team stuck it out and stayed together, we worked together and got the win,” Woodson said.
The win was the 24th for Charlotte on the year, tying the 1990-91 team for most all-time.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Charlotte to play Charlotte
The Charlotte 49ers baseball team will play an exhibition against the Charlotte Knights on April 5. The game will be in place of two games that were rained out for the 49ers earlier this week. The game will be played in Fort Mill. No time has been set to this point. More details coming soon on this story.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Charlotte-Missouri baseball
1st inning:
Top: Corey Roberts got the start on the hill for Charlotte and didn't waste much time in retiring the side. Centerfielder Blake Brown led off the game for Mizzou with a pop-up to shallow right field to Charlotte's Tony Montalbano. Jonah Schmidt and Conner Mach both flew out to center and left field, respectively, to end the inning.
Bottom: Missouri starting pitcher Jeff Scardino was equally impressive to Roberts, striking out Cory Tilton, Shane Brown and Shane Basen on just 16 pitches to end the inning.
2nd inning:
Top: After two outs to open the inning, Missouri designated hitter Dane Opel blooped a hit to right field. After tipping the next pitch foul, Scott Sommerfield was thrown out at first to end the inning.
Bottom: Justin Wilson accounted for Charlotte's first out of the inning with a grounder to short stop Eric Garcia. Charlotte short stop Corey Shaylor grounded a 1-2 pitch to Garcia for the second out of the inning and Justin Seager closed out the inning with a flyball to center field.
3rd inning:
Top: Mizzou left fielder Ryan Gebhart hooked a Robert's pitch down the right field line for a 0-out triple to open the inning. Andrew Thigpen then scored Gebhart with a SAC fly to center, making the score 1-0. Brown picked up the second out for Missouri when he went down looking on three pitches from Roberts. Schmidt made the score 2-0 Missouri just two pitches later when he laced a 1-0 Roberts pitch over the left field fence, the first homerun of the season at "The Hayes." Roberts got out of the inning when Mach grounded out to second.
Bottom: Montalbano picked up Charlotte's first hit of the game when he chopped a full-count pitch past first base. He wasn't there for long, though, as Miguel Rodriguez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play on the next pitch. Justin Roland flew out to shallow center to end the inning.
4th inning:
Top:
Garcia was Roberts' first victim in the top of the fourth when he flew out to Tilton in center field. Catcher Andreas Plackis then went down swinging on a full count and after Opel struck out on three pitches, the inning was over. Roberts accumulated five strikeouts over the first four innings.
Bottom:
Tilton grounded Scardino's first pitch right back to the mound for Charlotte's first out and after Brown grounded out to Mach, there were two outs. Basen ended the inning on when he went down after three Scardino pitches in the next at-bat.
5th inning:
Top: Sommerfield opened the fifth inning with another flyball to a waiting Tilton for the first out. Gebhart didn't have as much luck in his second at-bat, as Roberts struck him out swinging. Roberts picked up his seventh strike out of the game on the next batter when Thigpen went down swinging.
Bottom: Wilson got the bottom of the fifth started for Charlotte with a chopper to the firstbaseman Sommerfield. Scardino covered the bag and just beat Wilson to first for the first out. Shaylor was just Charlotte's second base-runner of the game the next time up as Scardino walked him on five pitches. Next at bat was Seager, who took Scardino's first offering and flew out to center for the second out. Montalbano ended the inning when his foul pop-up was caught by the Missouri catcher Plackis.
6th inning:
Top: Roberts rang up Brown to start the sixth for his 8th strikeout of the game and second consecutive of Brown. After homering in his most recent at-bat, Schmidt drew a walk from Roberts on a full-count pitch to give Mizzou their first base-runner of the inning. He was thrown out by Charlotte's Rodriguez after attempting a steal of second on the next pitch, though for the second out. Mach was then Roberts' ninth victim of the game on a called third strike to end the inning.
Bottom: Scardino opened the bottom half of the sixth with a strikeout of Rodriguez and got Roland out on a throw to first base on the next pitch. Charlotte's Tilton ended the inning just two pitches later when he flew out to shallow right field.
7th inning:
Top: Garcia accounted for the first out of the seventh when he hit a 1-2 Roberts offering to a waiting Shaylor at short. Roberts got Plackis to fly out to left center for the second out but allowed a bloop single to shallow center by Opel in the next at-bat. Sommerfield flew out to deep right center on a 2-2 pitch in the next at-bat, though to end the inning.
Bottom: Scardino shwcased his fielding skills to open the 7th when he took a Brown bunt and easily threw him out at first. Basen got only Charlotte's second hit of the game in the next at-bat when he took a 1-1 Scardino fastball and sent it to the left-field warning track for a stand-up double. Wilson then got Charlotte on the board, scoring Basen with a single through the right side. Shaylor then got on-board when he hit a dribbler through the same hole, advancing Wilson to second. Scardino got out of the jam, though, as Seager grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
8th inning:
Top: Tyler Pilkington came to Roberts' relief in the 8th after Roberts threw 7 innings of four-hit baseball. Gebhart put a chink in Pilkington's armor early as he reached first on a hit through the left side. Thigpen then advanced Gebhart to second on a bunt down the left-field line for the first out. Brock Hudgens then took to the hill for Charlotte. Hudgens allowed a double to center by Brown, but Gebhart was thrown out at home by Tilton to keep it a one-run ballgame. Schmidt then flew out to deep right field to end the inning.
Bottom: Montalbano led off the eigth with his second hit of the day, this time a bloop single to right center that just dropped in. Rodriguez followed that up with a bunt that advanced Montalbano over to second on the frst out of the inning. Montalbano then advanced to third on a chopper to second by Roland for the second out of the 8th. Scardino ended the inning with Tilton on the next at-bat, though, and Charlotte trails 2-1 heading to the 9th.
9th inning:
Top: Ryan Mas came to the hill in relief to start the 9th for Charlotte and struck out Mach in his first at-bat. Garcia was Mas' second victim as he flew out to centerfield to a waiting Tilton. Mas then got Plackis to ground out to third to end the inning.
Bottom: Phil McCormick came to Scardino's relief in the bottom half of the 9th and struck out Brown for the first out. Charlotte's Basen got aboard, though when McCormick walked him on a 8+ pitch at-bat. Basen advanced to third on an errant throw to second by Missouri's Garcia. Wilson reached first and Charlotte had runners on the corners with just 1 out. Shaylor then hit a blooper to second that was bobbled by Missouri's Mach, which allowed Basen to score, tying the game at 2. Wilson was forced out at third on a base hit by Seager and after Montalbano struck out, the game heads to the 10th.
10th inning:
Top: Mas got the first out of the inning for Charlotte after he struck out Missouri's DH, Opel. Sommerfield reached first on a hit to shallow left center with one out, though. Gebhart chopped a 2-2 pitch over Mas, but Roland was right there to tag Sommerfield out at second for the second out; his throw to first wasn't in time to get Gebhart. Mas then walked Thigpen on five pitches, though, and Mizzou had a runner in scoring position. Brown then ended the inning with a foul pop-up to first, where Seager made the easy catch.
Bottom: Rodriguez opened the inning for Charlotte with a single that got through the Missouri short stop Garcia. Roland then advanced Rodriguez to second on a chopper back to McCormick for the first out. Tilton didn't win it with another walk-off like in the first game, but advanced Rodriguez to third when he was thrown out at first. Pinch hitter Ross Steedly ended the inning when he grounded out to second on the first pitch of the at-bat.
11th inning:
Top: John Hamilton came in to relieve Mas and walked Brannon Champagne in the first at-bat of the 11th before getting Mach to fly out to deep right field. Garcia then advanced Champagne to second when he grounded to second, where Shaylor bobbled the ball, allowing Garcia to reach first. In the next at-bat, Plackis advanced Champagne to 3rd when he hit a groundball to short. Garcia was forced out at second. After Opel was thrown out at first, the 11th is over.
Bottom: Basen picked up the first out of the 11th for Charlotte when he grounded out to third. McCormick then walked Wilson on six pitches, bringing Shaylor to the plate. Shaylor flew out to right field, though scoring the second out. Seager singled through the right side, advancing Basen to third to put Charlotte in yet another position to win the game. Montalbano struck out for the second time with RISP, though and Charlotte and Missouri heads to the 12th.
Top: Corey Roberts got the start on the hill for Charlotte and didn't waste much time in retiring the side. Centerfielder Blake Brown led off the game for Mizzou with a pop-up to shallow right field to Charlotte's Tony Montalbano. Jonah Schmidt and Conner Mach both flew out to center and left field, respectively, to end the inning.
Bottom: Missouri starting pitcher Jeff Scardino was equally impressive to Roberts, striking out Cory Tilton, Shane Brown and Shane Basen on just 16 pitches to end the inning.
2nd inning:
Top: After two outs to open the inning, Missouri designated hitter Dane Opel blooped a hit to right field. After tipping the next pitch foul, Scott Sommerfield was thrown out at first to end the inning.
Bottom: Justin Wilson accounted for Charlotte's first out of the inning with a grounder to short stop Eric Garcia. Charlotte short stop Corey Shaylor grounded a 1-2 pitch to Garcia for the second out of the inning and Justin Seager closed out the inning with a flyball to center field.
3rd inning:
Top: Mizzou left fielder Ryan Gebhart hooked a Robert's pitch down the right field line for a 0-out triple to open the inning. Andrew Thigpen then scored Gebhart with a SAC fly to center, making the score 1-0. Brown picked up the second out for Missouri when he went down looking on three pitches from Roberts. Schmidt made the score 2-0 Missouri just two pitches later when he laced a 1-0 Roberts pitch over the left field fence, the first homerun of the season at "The Hayes." Roberts got out of the inning when Mach grounded out to second.
Bottom: Montalbano picked up Charlotte's first hit of the game when he chopped a full-count pitch past first base. He wasn't there for long, though, as Miguel Rodriguez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play on the next pitch. Justin Roland flew out to shallow center to end the inning.
4th inning:
Top:
Garcia was Roberts' first victim in the top of the fourth when he flew out to Tilton in center field. Catcher Andreas Plackis then went down swinging on a full count and after Opel struck out on three pitches, the inning was over. Roberts accumulated five strikeouts over the first four innings.
Bottom:
Tilton grounded Scardino's first pitch right back to the mound for Charlotte's first out and after Brown grounded out to Mach, there were two outs. Basen ended the inning on when he went down after three Scardino pitches in the next at-bat.
5th inning:
Top: Sommerfield opened the fifth inning with another flyball to a waiting Tilton for the first out. Gebhart didn't have as much luck in his second at-bat, as Roberts struck him out swinging. Roberts picked up his seventh strike out of the game on the next batter when Thigpen went down swinging.
Bottom: Wilson got the bottom of the fifth started for Charlotte with a chopper to the firstbaseman Sommerfield. Scardino covered the bag and just beat Wilson to first for the first out. Shaylor was just Charlotte's second base-runner of the game the next time up as Scardino walked him on five pitches. Next at bat was Seager, who took Scardino's first offering and flew out to center for the second out. Montalbano ended the inning when his foul pop-up was caught by the Missouri catcher Plackis.
6th inning:
Top: Roberts rang up Brown to start the sixth for his 8th strikeout of the game and second consecutive of Brown. After homering in his most recent at-bat, Schmidt drew a walk from Roberts on a full-count pitch to give Mizzou their first base-runner of the inning. He was thrown out by Charlotte's Rodriguez after attempting a steal of second on the next pitch, though for the second out. Mach was then Roberts' ninth victim of the game on a called third strike to end the inning.
Bottom: Scardino opened the bottom half of the sixth with a strikeout of Rodriguez and got Roland out on a throw to first base on the next pitch. Charlotte's Tilton ended the inning just two pitches later when he flew out to shallow right field.
7th inning:
Top: Garcia accounted for the first out of the seventh when he hit a 1-2 Roberts offering to a waiting Shaylor at short. Roberts got Plackis to fly out to left center for the second out but allowed a bloop single to shallow center by Opel in the next at-bat. Sommerfield flew out to deep right center on a 2-2 pitch in the next at-bat, though to end the inning.
Bottom: Scardino shwcased his fielding skills to open the 7th when he took a Brown bunt and easily threw him out at first. Basen got only Charlotte's second hit of the game in the next at-bat when he took a 1-1 Scardino fastball and sent it to the left-field warning track for a stand-up double. Wilson then got Charlotte on the board, scoring Basen with a single through the right side. Shaylor then got on-board when he hit a dribbler through the same hole, advancing Wilson to second. Scardino got out of the jam, though, as Seager grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
8th inning:
Top: Tyler Pilkington came to Roberts' relief in the 8th after Roberts threw 7 innings of four-hit baseball. Gebhart put a chink in Pilkington's armor early as he reached first on a hit through the left side. Thigpen then advanced Gebhart to second on a bunt down the left-field line for the first out. Brock Hudgens then took to the hill for Charlotte. Hudgens allowed a double to center by Brown, but Gebhart was thrown out at home by Tilton to keep it a one-run ballgame. Schmidt then flew out to deep right field to end the inning.
Bottom: Montalbano led off the eigth with his second hit of the day, this time a bloop single to right center that just dropped in. Rodriguez followed that up with a bunt that advanced Montalbano over to second on the frst out of the inning. Montalbano then advanced to third on a chopper to second by Roland for the second out of the 8th. Scardino ended the inning with Tilton on the next at-bat, though, and Charlotte trails 2-1 heading to the 9th.
9th inning:
Top: Ryan Mas came to the hill in relief to start the 9th for Charlotte and struck out Mach in his first at-bat. Garcia was Mas' second victim as he flew out to centerfield to a waiting Tilton. Mas then got Plackis to ground out to third to end the inning.
Bottom: Phil McCormick came to Scardino's relief in the bottom half of the 9th and struck out Brown for the first out. Charlotte's Basen got aboard, though when McCormick walked him on a 8+ pitch at-bat. Basen advanced to third on an errant throw to second by Missouri's Garcia. Wilson reached first and Charlotte had runners on the corners with just 1 out. Shaylor then hit a blooper to second that was bobbled by Missouri's Mach, which allowed Basen to score, tying the game at 2. Wilson was forced out at third on a base hit by Seager and after Montalbano struck out, the game heads to the 10th.
10th inning:
Top: Mas got the first out of the inning for Charlotte after he struck out Missouri's DH, Opel. Sommerfield reached first on a hit to shallow left center with one out, though. Gebhart chopped a 2-2 pitch over Mas, but Roland was right there to tag Sommerfield out at second for the second out; his throw to first wasn't in time to get Gebhart. Mas then walked Thigpen on five pitches, though, and Mizzou had a runner in scoring position. Brown then ended the inning with a foul pop-up to first, where Seager made the easy catch.
Bottom: Rodriguez opened the inning for Charlotte with a single that got through the Missouri short stop Garcia. Roland then advanced Rodriguez to second on a chopper back to McCormick for the first out. Tilton didn't win it with another walk-off like in the first game, but advanced Rodriguez to third when he was thrown out at first. Pinch hitter Ross Steedly ended the inning when he grounded out to second on the first pitch of the at-bat.
11th inning:
Top: John Hamilton came in to relieve Mas and walked Brannon Champagne in the first at-bat of the 11th before getting Mach to fly out to deep right field. Garcia then advanced Champagne to second when he grounded to second, where Shaylor bobbled the ball, allowing Garcia to reach first. In the next at-bat, Plackis advanced Champagne to 3rd when he hit a groundball to short. Garcia was forced out at second. After Opel was thrown out at first, the 11th is over.
Bottom: Basen picked up the first out of the 11th for Charlotte when he grounded out to third. McCormick then walked Wilson on six pitches, bringing Shaylor to the plate. Shaylor flew out to right field, though scoring the second out. Seager singled through the right side, advancing Basen to third to put Charlotte in yet another position to win the game. Montalbano struck out for the second time with RISP, though and Charlotte and Missouri heads to the 12th.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Charlotte falls to Duquesne
The last time the Charlotte 49ers saw the Duquesne Dukes, Karen Aston’s crew might have taken their most gut-wrenching loss of the season. Charlotte allowed five points over the final 14 seconds and fell 70-68 to the Dukes in double-overtime.
Wednesday night had a similar ring to it as Duquesne surged past Charlotte in the second half to steal a win that was seemingly in the grasp of Aston’s 49ers. Charlotte took a 50-40 edge after a bucket at the 14:52 mark of the second half and seemed to be well on their way to an easy win.
That’s the last time the 49ers would score over the next seven minutes, though, as Duquesne used a 24-5 run to hand the 49ers another heartbreaking loss, 76-63. Known as a strong road team, Duquesne entered the night with an NCAA-leading 12 road wins.
"Not a very good mood at all," Aston said. "I'm really disappointed in the way we played the last 10 minutes. We made horrible decisions offensively. I thought it was way too much one-on-one and people trying to do stuff by themselves."
After scoring 13 points over the first five minutes of the second half, the 49ers scored only 13 more points over the final 14:52, leading to their seventh loss of the season.
Epiphany Woodson, Jennifer Hailey and Shannon McCallum all had 13 points to lead Charlotte as the Dukes inched a game closer to the 49ers in the A-10 standings. Charlotte travels to Olean, NY on Saturday afternoon for a match-up with St. Bonaventure.
After amassing 11 turnovers in the first half, things didn’t get much better for the 49ers, who had 10 more empty possessions in the second stanza. Duquesne also outscored Charlotte 20-12 in the paint in the second half as they shot 9-of-30 from the field. The 49ers hit just one 3-pointer in the game.
"Quite honestly, our team folded tonight," Aston said. "They didn't show a lot of character over the last 10 minutes. Again, sometimes you just have to say it like it is. I'm incredibly disappointed."
Orsi Szecsi led the Dukes with 23 points and nine rebounds.
Wednesday night had a similar ring to it as Duquesne surged past Charlotte in the second half to steal a win that was seemingly in the grasp of Aston’s 49ers. Charlotte took a 50-40 edge after a bucket at the 14:52 mark of the second half and seemed to be well on their way to an easy win.
That’s the last time the 49ers would score over the next seven minutes, though, as Duquesne used a 24-5 run to hand the 49ers another heartbreaking loss, 76-63. Known as a strong road team, Duquesne entered the night with an NCAA-leading 12 road wins.
"Not a very good mood at all," Aston said. "I'm really disappointed in the way we played the last 10 minutes. We made horrible decisions offensively. I thought it was way too much one-on-one and people trying to do stuff by themselves."
After scoring 13 points over the first five minutes of the second half, the 49ers scored only 13 more points over the final 14:52, leading to their seventh loss of the season.
Epiphany Woodson, Jennifer Hailey and Shannon McCallum all had 13 points to lead Charlotte as the Dukes inched a game closer to the 49ers in the A-10 standings. Charlotte travels to Olean, NY on Saturday afternoon for a match-up with St. Bonaventure.
After amassing 11 turnovers in the first half, things didn’t get much better for the 49ers, who had 10 more empty possessions in the second stanza. Duquesne also outscored Charlotte 20-12 in the paint in the second half as they shot 9-of-30 from the field. The 49ers hit just one 3-pointer in the game.
"Quite honestly, our team folded tonight," Aston said. "They didn't show a lot of character over the last 10 minutes. Again, sometimes you just have to say it like it is. I'm incredibly disappointed."
Orsi Szecsi led the Dukes with 23 points and nine rebounds.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Tyler wins ROW, again
Gabby Tyler is quickly becoming a big name in the A-10 and is tearing up the rookie rankings after being named A-10 Rookie of the Week for the third time in a row on Monday. The fourth such award for her this season.
Tyler helped the Niners to a pair of home blowout wins over George Washington and Dayton this week and has the them talking NCAA Tournament. The Emporia, VA native recorded nine points and eight boards against George Washington on Wednesday and then matched that performance with nine and eight on Saturday in a huge win over Dayton.
Tyler shot 44 percent from the field and 83 percent from the charity stripe last week. Charlotte puts their nine-game road winning streak on the line when they face La Salle on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Tyler helped the Niners to a pair of home blowout wins over George Washington and Dayton this week and has the them talking NCAA Tournament. The Emporia, VA native recorded nine points and eight boards against George Washington on Wednesday and then matched that performance with nine and eight on Saturday in a huge win over Dayton.
Tyler shot 44 percent from the field and 83 percent from the charity stripe last week. Charlotte puts their nine-game road winning streak on the line when they face La Salle on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
49ers coast to fourth straight win
Wednesday night didn't exactly start out the way Charlotte 49er head coach Karen Aston drew it up. Charlotte (18-5; 6-2) faced a trending George Washington team (7-15; 2-6) that--before winning two straight--had lost seven consecutive games.
But in the first half, Aston's 49ers looked like the team that averaged just over 56 points per game and had only one win in their last nine road games.
"I think you get in lulls sometimes in conference play and you have to try and have some maturity and work through them," Aston said of the team's slow start. "I kind of sniffed this out a little bit the last couple days of practice, I thought they had been pretty lethargic."
Charlotte shot just 29 percent from the field (0-7 3 FG) and turned the ball over nine times en route to a 27-21 lead for the Colonials at the break. George Washington wasn't much better (39 percent FG) but turned Charlott's turnovers into some easy transition buckets.
The deficit would have been larger for the 49ers if their rebounding edge (21-18) hadn't given them numerous second chance points.
Whatever Aston said to her players in the locker room seemed to hit home. Charlotte opened the second half on a 22-5 run over the first eight minutes and took a commanding 43-32 lead into the final 12 minutes.
"The reality of, 'If you don't win this game, you don't have a shot (at the NCAAs)'," Aston said of her teams urgency in the second half. "We're still trying to get there--that's our goal. It wasn't a lot of X's and O's, we just weren't playing very hard."
Helping Charlotte to their large second half run was a limited number of turnovers--just two over the first 10 minutes--and a growing rebounding margin. Charlotte outscored GWU 50-28 in the second half to win their fourth consecutive game and seventh in the last eight, 71-55.
Sophomore forward Jennifer Hailey picked up her second consecutive double-double with 12 points and 14 boards while reigning A-10 Rookie of the Week Gabby Tyler added nine points and eight rebounds for the 49ers (19-5; 7-2).
"I thought Jenn Hailey was terrific," Aston said. "You can look at her numbers, and they're not spectacular, but just her presence. She's just become a little bit of a leader."
Charlotte won the rebounding battle 47-34 and committed only five second half turnovers.
The 49ers will try to make it 20 wins on the season Saturday night in Halton Arena for a match-up with the Dayton Flyers.
But in the first half, Aston's 49ers looked like the team that averaged just over 56 points per game and had only one win in their last nine road games.
"I think you get in lulls sometimes in conference play and you have to try and have some maturity and work through them," Aston said of the team's slow start. "I kind of sniffed this out a little bit the last couple days of practice, I thought they had been pretty lethargic."
Charlotte shot just 29 percent from the field (0-7 3 FG) and turned the ball over nine times en route to a 27-21 lead for the Colonials at the break. George Washington wasn't much better (39 percent FG) but turned Charlott's turnovers into some easy transition buckets.
The deficit would have been larger for the 49ers if their rebounding edge (21-18) hadn't given them numerous second chance points.
Whatever Aston said to her players in the locker room seemed to hit home. Charlotte opened the second half on a 22-5 run over the first eight minutes and took a commanding 43-32 lead into the final 12 minutes.
"The reality of, 'If you don't win this game, you don't have a shot (at the NCAAs)'," Aston said of her teams urgency in the second half. "We're still trying to get there--that's our goal. It wasn't a lot of X's and O's, we just weren't playing very hard."
Helping Charlotte to their large second half run was a limited number of turnovers--just two over the first 10 minutes--and a growing rebounding margin. Charlotte outscored GWU 50-28 in the second half to win their fourth consecutive game and seventh in the last eight, 71-55.
Sophomore forward Jennifer Hailey picked up her second consecutive double-double with 12 points and 14 boards while reigning A-10 Rookie of the Week Gabby Tyler added nine points and eight rebounds for the 49ers (19-5; 7-2).
"I thought Jenn Hailey was terrific," Aston said. "You can look at her numbers, and they're not spectacular, but just her presence. She's just become a little bit of a leader."
Charlotte won the rebounding battle 47-34 and committed only five second half turnovers.
The 49ers will try to make it 20 wins on the season Saturday night in Halton Arena for a match-up with the Dayton Flyers.
Forum Notes
Scheduling:
Charlotte has scheduled their first FBS opponent--the Virginia Tech Hokies--for the first game of the 2019 season in Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, VA.
Earlier in the day, the 49ers announced three more home games for the 2013 season against UNC Pembroke, North Greenville and Chowan. Charlotte added a two-year contract with the Furman Paladins on Tuesday with the first game of the series coming in Greenville on Nov. 15, 2014. Charlotte has just one game left to schedule for 2013.
Other notes:
-Athletics Director Judy Rose said she has had contact with three FCS conferences recently; the Colonial Athletic Association, Big South and Southern Conference. When Charlotte does join a conference, Rose said she hopes to keep all other sports in the Atlantic 10. New football programs must play FCS football for at least two years, and Chancellor Phil Dubois said the 49ers will likely wait much longer than that to move to FBS.
"I don't want to sacrifice our freshman to a bunch of meat-eaters," Dubois said.
-Rose hopes to have a coach in place by April 1, just 27 days before the official groundbreaking on the stadium at 3:30 that day with a tailgate party to follow. The 49ers will play all games in the afternoon--at least at first--because lights for the stadium aren't yet in the budget. They would cost about $800,000.
-The initial stadium will have around a 15,300 capacity with the possibility to expand to 40,000 seats in the distant future. Rose said 7,000 seats will be reserved for student seating. Dubois said the capacity would stay at 15,000 for "a while" based on what other FCS programs average for attendance--around 7,500.
-Dubois said the team wouldn't entertain the idea of playing games in Bank of America stadium but that Carolina Panthers' President Danny Morrison had visited him, letting him know that the 49ers are always welcome at B of A. Dubois also noted that the stadium might be used for high school football games and that there is a chance he might pursue having the Shrine Bowl there.
-Plans for a marching band aren't in the cards for the time being, either. Rose noted that a traditional marching band costs around $250,000 annually and that the budget won't allow it imediately.
Charlotte has scheduled their first FBS opponent--the Virginia Tech Hokies--for the first game of the 2019 season in Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, VA.
Earlier in the day, the 49ers announced three more home games for the 2013 season against UNC Pembroke, North Greenville and Chowan. Charlotte added a two-year contract with the Furman Paladins on Tuesday with the first game of the series coming in Greenville on Nov. 15, 2014. Charlotte has just one game left to schedule for 2013.
Other notes:
-Athletics Director Judy Rose said she has had contact with three FCS conferences recently; the Colonial Athletic Association, Big South and Southern Conference. When Charlotte does join a conference, Rose said she hopes to keep all other sports in the Atlantic 10. New football programs must play FCS football for at least two years, and Chancellor Phil Dubois said the 49ers will likely wait much longer than that to move to FBS.
"I don't want to sacrifice our freshman to a bunch of meat-eaters," Dubois said.
-Rose hopes to have a coach in place by April 1, just 27 days before the official groundbreaking on the stadium at 3:30 that day with a tailgate party to follow. The 49ers will play all games in the afternoon--at least at first--because lights for the stadium aren't yet in the budget. They would cost about $800,000.
-The initial stadium will have around a 15,300 capacity with the possibility to expand to 40,000 seats in the distant future. Rose said 7,000 seats will be reserved for student seating. Dubois said the capacity would stay at 15,000 for "a while" based on what other FCS programs average for attendance--around 7,500.
-Dubois said the team wouldn't entertain the idea of playing games in Bank of America stadium but that Carolina Panthers' President Danny Morrison had visited him, letting him know that the 49ers are always welcome at B of A. Dubois also noted that the stadium might be used for high school football games and that there is a chance he might pursue having the Shrine Bowl there.
-Plans for a marching band aren't in the cards for the time being, either. Rose noted that a traditional marching band costs around $250,000 annually and that the budget won't allow it imediately.
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