By GAVIN McFARLIN
Davidson College Sports Information

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Sophia Aleksandravicius had her second-straight 20-point game and Kristen Johnsen added 19 points to lead Davidson to a 69-60 victory over the University of Texas-San Antonio in the title game of the UTSA Thanksgiving Tournament at Convocation Center.

The win followed a 70-55 triumph Friday over North Texas in the tournament’s opening round. (See that game report below.)

The Wildcats are now 3-3 overall. UTSA also is 3-3.

Alexsandravicius and Johnsen both were named to the all-tournament team, as the pair combined for 82 points and 35 rebounds during the two-game tournament.

Friday saw Johnsen registered her third career double-double with career bests of 20 points and 14 rebounds, while Aleksandravicius set a school-record for blocks with seven and added 23 points in a win over North Texas.

Saturday was much the same as the duo combined for 27 of Davidson’s 37 points in the second half alone when UTSA was cutting into the Wildcat lead.

Aleksandravicius had her sixth career 20-point game on 8-of-14 shooting and 4-for-6 from the  charity stripe. The 6-4 forward hauled in six boards and swatted away four shots to give her 11 on the weekend.

Johnsen was nearly perfect on the night, going 6-of-6 from the floor and 7-of-8 at the line for 19 points to go along with six boards and three assists.

Also hitting the double-digit mark for the first time this season was senior Ashley Lax with 14 points.

UTSA put three players in double digits with Amber Gregg and Ashley Gardner tying for team-high honors with 14 points.

Aleksandravicius and Johnsen opened the second half scoring all 10 of the Cats’ points through the first five minutes to push their halftime lead of seven out to 40-27.

Ashley Franklin’s layup for the Roadrunners later cut Davidson¹s lead down to four, 40-36, but the OCats did not back down, going on a quick 8-2 run to push its lead back out to 48-38.

Back-to-back baskets by Johnsen would push the lead out to 56-45 with 4:45 left. Johnsen along with Barbara Sitton, Lax and Lauren Murray then combined to go 9-for-12 at the line in the closing minutes to seal the win as UTSA got no closer than five points the
rest of the way.

In the early going, Davidson’s defense along with Johnsen and Aleksandravicius continued their strong showing from the night before. The defense held UTSA to just 8-of-25 shooting in the first half and the Roadrunners shot just 32.1 percent for the game. It was the fourth game Davidson has held an opponent to under 35 percent shooting.

Johnsen and Aleksandravicius scored half of the Wildcats’ first 16 points in giving Davidson a 16-12 lead.

After the score was tied at 18-all, Davidson went on a scoring spurt, rattling off a 12-5 run to close out the half for a 30-23 lead. Lax led the way with seven of those points, including a pair of treys, and netted 10 first-half points off the bench.

Again the Wildcats showed their scoring touch in the paint, dropping in 30 points after netting 42 points in the win vs. North Texas. They also turned 17 Roadrunner turnovers into 16 points.

RADFORD NEXT SATURDAY

Next on tap for the Wildcats is a 4 p.m. contest against Radford at Belk Arena on Saturday, Dec. 4. The game was moved up from its original time of 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Davidson’s win tonight was its first in the all-time series vs. UTSA … for the second game in a row the Cats shot more than 50 percent in the second half alone … Murray hauled in nine boards to give her 20 for the two-day tournament … Sitton filled the stat sheet over the weekend with totals of nine boards, six assists and four steals … in her return trip home, Chloe Woodington finished with 11 points, eight assists and two boards … the in-season tournament title is the Cats fourth since the 2001-02
season.

FRIDAY: Davidson 70, North Texas 55

Forwards Kristen Johnsen and Sophia Aleksandravicius combined for 43 points, with Johnsen tallying a double-double and Aleksandravicius setting a school-record for blocks, and Davidson shot a season-best 50 percent in opening the UTSA Thanksgiving Tournament in winning fashion, 70-55, over North Texas on Friday afternoon at the Convocation Center.

The Cats (2-3) shot 57.7 percent alone in the second half and were a season-best 28-of-56 for the game on their way to their first road win of the campaign. North Texas fell to 1-4, dropping its fourth straight.

Johnsen earned her third career double-double, finishing with a career-high 20 points and matching a personal-best with 14 rebounds. Her last three points of the game came on her third career make from behind the arc.

Aleksandravicius was just as solid on the blocks, finishing a career-best 11-of-17 from the floor for a team season-high 23 points and she added nine boards. The sophomore also set the single-game school mark for blocks when she swatted away a career-high seven shots. She has 21 blocks, 20 of them in the last four games, on the year.

San Antonio native Chloe Woodington had outstanding game playing in front of friends and family. She closed just two points off her career-best, finishing with nine, including a pair of three-balls. She also dished out a new personal-best five assists and Davidson as a team dished out a season-best 20 assists on its 28 field goals.

The duo of Johnsen and Aleksandravicius took turns dominating each half, with Johnsen starting things off in the first period.

The first half saw Davidson jump out to a 13-4 advantage when Woodington drained a three-ball with 13:41 left in the half. The defense did its part, holding North Texas to just 1-of-10 shooting to start and 20 percent overall for the half.

Another Woodington long jumper made it 22-12 with a little over six minutes remaining, and shortly thereafter, Johnsen scored the next four Wildcat points for a 26-14 lead. Two of her points, her 10th and 11th of the half, came on a put-back off her 10th rebound to give her a double-double in the first half.

Davidson went into the break with a 34-19 advantage.

The second half started with North Texas¹ Denetra Kellum scoring eight of the Mean Green¹s first 10 points to cut the deficit to 38-29. Then Aleksandravicius took over, scoring eight straight in sparking a 16-6 run to push the Wildcats¹ lead out to 54-35 at the 10 minute mark and forcing North Texas to burn a timeout. Woodington and Murray capped the run off with back-to-back three-pointers.

Aleksandravicius went on to score 11 more points in the half for 19 of her 23 total points and Davidson maintained at least an eight-point lead the rest of the way in taking home the 15-point victory.

North Texas was led by Jasmine Godbolt’s 18 points, 14 of those coming in the second half, and a game-high 16 rebounds. Kellum also reached double digits, with 10 points.

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