Former Blue Comets break records for college teams

On the same day last week, two former Asheboro High School players made history for their respective college basketball programs. Both Asheboro natives are juniors and both wear number 4.

Diamond McDowell became the all-time double-double leader for the Anderson University Trojans in South Carolina during a Jan. 10 victory over Limestone when she recorded her 27th career double-double (19 points, 12 rebounds). 

For the season, McDowell is averaging 16.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, with her production increasing each year on the team. In last year’s South Atlantic Conference tournament, the 6-foot-2 forward set tournament records with 24 rebounds in a single game and 53 rebounds over three games.

And 5-4 guard Tanaesha Ellison of Peace College set a school record with 43 points in a 95-83 loss to Salem on Jan. 10. She broke the old mark of 42 points set 20 years ago. 

Earlier in the week, in a 70-60 win over Mary Baldwin, Ellison recorded a triple-double with 33 points, a school record 24 rebounds and a school record 11 assists, a performance that earned her National Division III honors for the week, the first such honors for any female basketball player at Peace. 

She also scored 27 points in a loss to Methodist during that same week.