GOFORTH'S 19 SPARKS ROUT OF HILLCREST, MO

Sasha Goforth had been battling the flu, and was essentially running on a half-day of practice this week entering the Bulldog Classic Thursday at Fayetteville. But you wouldn't have known it. The star sophomore scored a game-high 19 points on an efficient 8 of 12 from the floor, guiding Fayetteville to a 61-21 rout of Springfield (Mo.) Hillcrest in Bulldog Arena. The Lady Purple'Dogs outmatched Hillcrest at every position, and carried a 35-14 lead into halftime. But Goforth's play to open the third put the sportsmanship rule into effect. She scored 11 of her 19 in the opening three minutes, 48 seconds of the second half and sat the rest of the way in preparation of tonight's matchup with Little Rock Central. "She has that ability," Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer said. "The thing about her is we rely on her so heavily defensively, and that's the part tomorrow that may be the biggest chore for her. "She shot the ball well tonight, though. She was tired, and I'm a little concerned about that (Friday) for her because she's going to have to play a lot of minutes." None of Fayetteville's big three -- Goforth, Jasmine Franklin, Coriah Beck -- played more than 13 minutes in the win. The trio still combined for 34 points, but Rimmer got a lift from his bench as well as his second and third units contributed 22 points, 15 coming in the first half. "That second group executed really well," Rimmer said. "They took good shots, and they're regular as far as what they do. They do a good job of just coming in and being consistent." Outside of Rimmer's top three scorers, the rest of the roster had scored just 18 points in Fayetteville's first two wins of the season. Thursday, 12 players scored, and reserves played a role in Fayetteville's 30 points off 20 Hillcrest turnovers and the Lady Hornets' poor shooting -- 16.7 percent. "Obviously our starting five is going to get tired, so it's important our bench can contribute," Goforth said. "That was kind of a worry this year if we were going to have more than five." Franklin added 11 points on 5 of 9 shooting, six rebounds and five steals in the win, her second consecutive game with six-plus rebounds and five or more steals. Audra Unruh followed with six points in just more than 11 minutes of action. Kelly Tan led Hillcrest with nine points. Fayetteville and Little Rock Central are scheduled to tip at 7 p.m in Bulldog Arena.

GOFORTH'S 19 SPARKS ROUT OF HILLCREST, MO

Photo Credit: Andy Shupe

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