Jan. 25, 2010
Final Stats
ELIZABETH CITY - Heading into a two-game road trip against traditional conference-powers Shaw and Johnson C. Smith, Eva Patterson-Heath said she wants to see more of one thing from her team.
Desire.
It was a lack of desire that the Broncos' first-year head coach said cost her team in its 71-68 loss at Elizabeth City State on Monday.
Prior to a scary play that left Vikings' freshman Kenyatta Gill motionless on the court for several minutes, the Broncos (10-6, 6-4 CIAA) led 68-66 and had an opportunity to push the lead to four.
After a 3-pointer by ECSU's Joyce Freeman and a pair of free throws, ECSU gained a three-point lead - their largest of the game -- they wouldn't relinquish.
"Elizabeth City was inspired when Kenyatta (Gill) went down," Patterson-Heath said. "I told the girls that an injury like that would be an inspiration to them. I told them that we had to match that. We didn't and it snowballed from there."
Deja Middleton led FSU with 15 points and 12 rebounds - her second straight double-double. Mercedes Humphries added nine points while Tiffany Haywood contributed a game-high 17 rebounds and nine points. Randi Watts, LaQuasha Jordan and Danielle Russell had seven points each.
ECSU's win snapped the Broncos' five-game winning streak over the Vikings, which dated back to the 2007-08 season.
After leading by as much as eight early in the first half the Broncos trailed 37-33 at halftime.
Crystal Smith, Freeman and Yasmine Washington all scored in double figures for the Vikings (12-5, 7-5 CIAA).
FSU travels to Raleigh on Saturday to face Shaw followed by a trip to conference-rival Johnson C. Smith on Monday. Tipoff for both games is set for 5:30 p.m
"All season long I've known that the CIAA is competitive," said Patterson-Heath. "On any given night any team can beat any team. We wanted to come here and steal this one but we weren't able to."
With five days before its next game, Patterson-Heath said FSU will go back to basics in practice.
"What we do now is continue to work on the little things and try and get better," she said. "This is a tough conference."
