Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 29, 1993 TAG: 9310290114
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
"I was worried a little against Nelson County, but we were at home," said Tanya Nelms, who led a defensive assault against Liberty on Thursday as the Golden Eagles whipped the Minettes 56-36 to take control of the Seminole District race.
All Staunton River had to do this week was win at William Campbell, which has the district's leading scorer, whip preseason favorite Nelson County and finish by beating archrival Liberty, a team that was tied for second in the district.
Nelms scored a career-high 29 points and Staunton River (16-2 overall, 16-2 Seminole District) never trailed. The Golden Eagles, tied with Nelson County one game ahead of the Minettes starting this stretch, lead Nelson County by one game and Liberty by two with two games left in the regular season.
Nelms' night was typical for Staunton River. She connected on 11 of 30 shots from the field, but she also had four steals, eight rebounds and played tremendous defense.
The third quarter was strange. Staunton River made only four of 19 shots and was outrebounded 14-13, yet enlarged a seven-point halftime lead to a 15-point margin. How did the Eagles do it? With five steals as they forced Liberty into 10 turnovers. For the game, Staunton River had 20 steals, with Courtney Hurd and Kim English each getting six.
Nelms' shooting never bothers Staunton River coach Linwood Roberts. "She can shoot anytime," he said.
Roberts also wasn't surprised by the mayhem that Staunton River created defensively.
"This is our usual style," he said. "Don't ask me how they get it done, but they manage to make up for mistakes."
Nelms hit a 3-pointer to end her cold streak in the third quarter and then made five of nine shots in the final period.
"I'm definitely a streak shooter," Nelms said. "When I was missing my shots in the third quarter, I was making up for it on defense."
"Nelms shot better than I've seen her in other games," said Liberty coach David Grant, whose rebuilding Minettes (14-4, 14-4) have been one of Timesland's surprises this year. "Their defense took us out of our offense and we never did get into anything. I thought we had chances for stick-backs."
English added 15 points, and Deena Mitchell had six assists for the Golden Eagles, who made only 21 of 69 shots.
Liberty held a 47-46 rebounding edge as Felicia Miller grabbed 15. The Minettes' field-goal shooting (13-of-51) was their undoing. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB