Women's Basketball Picks Up First Win to Conclude WNIT

Saturday, November 22

Cullowhee, NC

6:30 pm

UC Riverside

Lafayette

Kemie Nkele recorded her 39th career double-double in UCR's win over Lafayette.

Women's Basketball Picks Up First Win to Conclude WNIT

11/22/2008 2:16:20 PM | Women's Basketball

Kemie Nkele records her first double-double of the season

Box Score

(Cullowhee, NC) - Kemie Nkele's (San Diego, CA) 16 point, 13 rebound performance lifted the UC Riverside women's basketball team (1-2) to their first win of the season, 54-41, against Lafayette College (0-3) in the third round of the preseason WNIT on Saturday evening at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, NC.

Entering the second half with a one point lead, UCR held Lafayette scoreless for the first 10 minutes of play as the Leopards were held to 13 total points in the period. The Highlanders extended their lead to as many as 16 points, 47-31, off a Roney Friend (Los Angeles, CA) jumper at the 7:04 mark.

Nkele led an even-balanced attack by the Highlanders as Tainoisouti Lott (Moreno Valley, CA) scored 12 points and had seven rebounds, Seyram Gbewonyo (Sylmar, CA) added nine points, and Friend and Katerina Glyniadaki (Chania, Greece) each had eight points.

Lott started things off for the Highlanders in the first half by scoring the first two buckets to give UCR an early 4-0 with two minutes gone by. The Highlanders then fell behind by as many as nine points, 22-13, off a Leopard layup at the 7:08 mark. From that point, however, UCR outscored Lafayette 16-6 as Gbewonyo's jumper with two seconds remaining gave UCR a 29-28 lead heading into the locker rooms.

The Highlanders continue play on the road as they travel to Flagstaff, AZ for the Northern Arizona Classic on Nov. 28-29. UCR is slated to face North Dakota on Friday at 3:05 pm and Bradley on Saturday at 1:05 pm.