Davidson women’s basketball off to best start in school history, rolls past Charlotte
After defeating Charlotte in the first year of the “704 Cup” last year, Davidson women’s basketball head coach Gayle Fulks said they could keep their new trophy inside the locker room.
That trophy remained in the Wildcats’ locker room until practice Wednesday, when they placed it on their court ahead of Wednesday’s rematch with the 49ers. Fulks told them last year that they can look at the trophy as much as they want if they won it, and Thursday was their chance to defend it.
Not only did Davidson earn another win over their local foe, but it did so in blowout fashion, opening a sizable lead early in a 82-56 rout.
“We’ve been staring at the trophy for a year at this point,” forward Maddie Plank, who paced Davidson with 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting, told The Charlotte Observer. “We brought it out onto the court yesterday for practice, and we were like, ‘We want to keep this here.’ “
Davidson (11-1), which received four votes in the latest AP Top 25 poll, is off to its best start in program history. It recently wrapped up a six-game homestand in which it outscored its opponents by more than 27 points.
A short trip to University City on Thursday afternoon — Davidson’s first road test in more than a month — didn’t reverse any of its fortune.
“It’s good to remember what you’re playing for,” guard Issy Morgan, who contributed five points, told The Observer. “Every single game is competitive, but this is pretty special. It’s our only Cup game that we play for, and we have an excellent rivalry with Charlotte.”
Five players scored in double-figures for Davidson, which handed the 49ers (7-5) their first home loss of the season. They kept the game close early — the game was knotted at 17 after the first quarter.
But Davidson was outshooting Charlotte and, by the middle of the second quarter, had opened a 16-point lead. The Wildcats were dominant, holding Charlotte to single-digit points, and the contest was a blowout throughout the second half.
“Long-term: What can’t this team do?,” Plank said. “We want to have a great conference play and make it far in the postseason. Games like this, they matter just as much as a conference game. We wanted to come out and show our best selves.”
Once the final buzzer sounded, the Wildcats jumped around at center court and celebrated with the trophy. They’d won their ninth game in a row, and the visual that represents something they play for every year will be back in its spot for another year.
“We don’t want that Cup to ever leave,” Fulks told reporters postgame. “It’s going right back to the locker room.”