Montevallo Hands Lady Pirates Second Straight Loss, 62-54

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The University of Montevallo held the Armstrong Atlantic State women's basketball team to its lowest shooting percentage of the year in a 62-54 Peach Belt Conference victory on Monday evening at Alumni Arena.

The Falcons (10-5, 3-2 PBC) won the first-ever matchup between the two new conference rivals, while the Lady Pirates (6-8, 3-3 PBC) dropped their second straight contest.

A 7-0 run by Montevallo over the final 2:40 of the first half snapped a 21-all tie and propelled the Falcons to a 28-21 halftime lead. Amanda Scott hit 6-of-7 shots from the floor, including both three-point attempts, for 16 first-half points to lead Montevallo.

Montevallo stretched the lead out to 11, 38-27, with 15:05 remaining on a three-point play by Carrie Parrot. The Lady Pirates rallied, however, and eventually cut the lead to just one, 50-49, on a Marissa Rimbert basket with 3:10 left, but AASU missed seven straight shots from the floor over the next two and a half minutes, allowing the Falcons to build an eight point lead.

Scott finished the night with a game-high 21 points to lead the Falcons, while Alex Sanabria added 12 points off the bench.

AASU was led by 14 points apiece from seniors Dartayvia Thomas and Lauren Hall. Junior Arpine Amirkhanyan added her third double-double of the season with 11 points and a season-high 16 rebounds.

The Pirates outrebounded the Falcons, 55-46, including a 21-10 advantage in offensive rebounds. The Falcons finished the game shooting 36.5 percent from the floor, while the Lady Pirates made just 17-of-73 shots for a 23.3 percentage - their worst since hitting just 24.4 percent in a 62-46 loss to North Georgia on Jan. 19, 2009.

AASU hits the road for the next three contests, beginning on Wednesday with a 5:30 p.m. matchup with No. 15-ranked Lander in Greenwood, S.C.

Head Coach Matt Schmidt's Postgame Comments: 

On the poor shooting night: "We missed a lot of wide-open jumpers. It wasn't necessarily any one thing that [Montevallo] did defensively. It was the second game in a row that we did not shoot well."

On the second-half offensive philosophy: "We played inside out, tried to get touches inside and doubled out to get easier shots."

On the rebounding night: "We had a lot more opportunities to rebound the ball. Our kids went out and got the balls, but we didn't shoot it well, so they were out there to get."