Nov. 19, 2011
Final Stats
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Akyisa Resper was the race car.
Tashama Banner was the engine.
Missing two key guards due to injury, the Fayetteville State Lady Broncos never missed a beat, getting a career-high 26 points from Resper (So., Concord, N.C.) and a near triple-double from Banner (Sr., Fayetteville, N.C.) on their way to an 87-66 dismantling of Coker on Saturday at Felton J. Capel Arena.
Banner, who started at the point in place of Je'Lena Robertson and Bernadette Fortune, who both missed the game with injuries, was brilliant throughout, scoring all 13 of her points in the second half to go with nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals.
"It's not necessarily a new role for her as a fifth-year senior, but she did an incredible job for us," Fayetteville State head coach Eva Patterson-Heath said of Banner, a transfer from UNC Greensboro. "She really made us go."
As did Resper, who buried three 3-pointers on her way to 17 points in the first half. With Resper hitting from the outside, Banner also made sure center Tierra Coleman (Jr., Cameron, N.C.) was devastating inside against the smaller Cobras (0-3). Coleman finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season, slicing through Coker's ineffective 1-2-2 zone defense.
Everything was working for Fayetteville State (2-0) from the tip. The Lady Broncos, who outrebounded Coker 56-37, scored the first 10 points of the game, cruising to a 22-6 lead on Resper's second 3 less than 7 minutes into the game.
"She's just a great scorer," Patterson-Heath said of Resper, who had a game-high 14 points in the season-opening 73-40 win over Barber-Scotia last week. "She came out very offensive-minded - and she played well defensively, too. But she gave us a big lift in the early going."
Coker came back with two 3s from Kelley Godbout to spark a 9-0 run and trim the deficit to seven, 22-15, but that was as close as they would get for the rest of the game.
Effective on the perimeter, in the open floor and in the paint - the Lady Broncos held a 22-0 edge in fast-break points and a 60-30 advantage in scoring inside - Fayetteville State never looked back to win for the second straight time to open the season, the first time the Lady Broncos have done that since opening the 2007-08 season 5-0.
It's a great start for a Lady Broncos team looking to rebound from last season's struggles.
"We're very pleased with the start, and we're hopeful to be 3-0 heading into the game against UNC Pembroke (On. Nov. 29)," said Patterson-Heath. "That's where we'll get a good sense of where we are."
Fayetteville State led 42-32 at the half, but put the game out of reach within the first 5 minutes of the second half. Banner, with two quick steals, scored two baskets and had two assists in a span of 2 minutes to spark the Lady Broncos to a 17-2 run to start the second half. That gave Fayetteville State a 59-34 lead over the Cobras, who did not have a field goal in the second half until Godbout hit a 3 with 14:48 to go in the game.
Jessica Cohen led Coker with 25 points and 10 rebounds while Godbout added 13 points and 10 boards. Amber Lau, who came into the game leading the Cobras with 17.5 points per game, finished with just nine, but was a nonfactor for much of the game as the Cobras were held to just 36 percent shooting from the field.
The Lady Broncos host Paine at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Felton J. Capel Arena.
