ifinal 2: #3 GEORGIA SOUTHERN HOLDS OFF #7 DAVIDSON 62-57
NORTH CHARLESTON, South Carolina -- The comeback of the year in the Southern Conference was thwarted Friday when the third-seeded Georgia Southern Eagles held off a charge by the seventh-seeded Davidson Wildcats to advance to the SoCon Tournament finals with a 62-57 victory in the North Charleston Coliseum.
Davidson won the opening tip but the Wildcats missed their first nine field goal attempts to fall behind 13-0 just five minutes into the game. At the 14:51 mark Betthany Schott put Davidson on the board and the Wildcats began the long climb back, pulling ahead for the first time, 29-28, with 2:13 left in the half. Georgia Southern went on another run to end the half and held a 37-31 lead over the Wildcats at the break.
Davidson's first half comeback was keyed by its defense, specifically by 12 points scored off Georgia Southern turnovers. The Lady Eagles held a solid advantage on the boards (23-12), however, and shot a season-high 55.6% from the field to pull ahead of the charging Wildcats. At the halftime break GSU had three players with eight points: Shawnica Hill, Jessica Everett, and Rachel Loiacono. Davidson was led by Emily Callahan's 14 points collected on five-of-11 shooting from the field, a pair of three-pointers, and two free shots.
It took less than three minutes of second period action for Davidson to tie the score, and at the 15:27 mark the Wildcats took the lead, 41-39, on a made field goal by Amanda Horne. The Wildcats were leading again at the 7:43 mark when Jane Crayton connected on a field goal to give Davidson a 53-52 lead, but GSU regained the advantage with 6:08 to play on a Jessica Everett fast break, and held a four point lead with one minute left on the clock. A made three-pointer by Courtney Laird with 28 tics left on the clock ended a seven-minute field goal drought by the Wildcats, but the Lady Eagles answered by making four of six free throws in the final 24 seconds to earn the victory.
Georgia Southern was paced by Hill's 15 points, while Lanier added 13 and Everett contributed 12. Mimi Lindsey tied her career high with 15 of the Eagles' 47 rebounds and Lanier topped playmaking with five assists. The Wildcat offense was led by Callahan, who was held to two second half points for 16 in the game. Bethany Schott contributed 11 points and tied Robyn Flewelling for rebounding honors, with six.
With the win, Georgia Southern improved to 20-9 on the year and advanced to Friday's Southern Conference Championship game against Chattanooga for the first time since facing UNC Greensboro in 1998. The game, slated for a 2 p.m. start, will be broadcast on Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN HEAD COACH RUSTY CRAM
"I am very proud of the team and of the way we recomposed ourselves. We didn't shoot very well in the second half, but stepped up defensively."
"We started in a zone because we felt they would be a little sluggish after playing two games and that it would throw them off their tempo. I would've been crazy to think they wouldn't come back."
DAVIDSON HEAD COACH ANNETTE WATTS
"I couldn't be more proud of this team. We spotted them 13 points, but we had been there before. This team doesn't give up, we battled back and gave Georgia Southern all they could handle."
"I know people thought we weren't supposed to get this far. But we never doubted that we could get here. When I took this job, my goal was to start hanging banners. To do that, there are many steps. This was a huge step for this team."
Box Score (Final)
The Automated ScoreBook
Davidson vs Georgia Southern (03/07/03)
VISITORS: Davidson
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
33 CALLAHAN, Emily..... f 6 17 2 6 2 2 2 0 2 1 16 0 2 0 2 34
40 SCHOTT, Bethany..... f 5 10 0 2 1 2 2 4 6 2 11 0 3 0 2 32
44 LAIRD, Courtney..... c 3 8 2 5 0 0 1 2 3 4 8 3 3 1 0 26
21 FLEWELLING, Robyn... g 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 5 6 2 2 6 0 0 1 20
22 HALLSTED, Ashley.... g 1 8 1 3 0 0 1 4 5 5 3 2 3 0 2 30
04 SHADE, Lindsay...... 1 3 0 2 0 0 0 3 3 0 2 2 0 0 1 23
05 CRAYTON, Janell..... 3 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 6 1 0 0 0 8
10 HORNE, Amanda....... 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 2
32 NEWSOME, Joy........ 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
34 BRYANT, Meghan...... 2 4 0 0 3 4 0 4 4 4 7 2 2 0 0 18
42 DELK, Katie......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 5
TM TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 23 61 5 19 6 8 8 26 34 20 57 16 14 3 8 200
TOTAL FG%: .377 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG%: .263 REBOUNDS
F Throw %: .750 1
HOME TEAM: Georgia Southern
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
00 HILL, SHawnica...... f 6 14 0 0 3 4 2 3 5 2 15 2 2 0 0 28
34 EVERETT, Jessica.... f 6 13 0 0 0 0 3 5 8 1 12 1 2 0 0 32
42 LINDSEY, Mimi....... f 0 6 0 0 2 3 3 12 15 3 2 0 2 0 0 20
05 LANIER, Tiffany..... g 4 5 0 0 5 7 3 5 8 2 13 5 2 0 2 33
11 LOIACONO, Rachel.... g 3 8 2 5 0 0 0 1 1 0 8 4 3 0 1 24
10 DUBOSE, Lee......... 0 2 0 2 2 2 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 6
23 MCCORKLE, Kristy.... 0 2 0 1 2 4 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 0 1 15
25 EARLY, Adrienne..... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
31 NEWTON, Nicole...... 2 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 13
40 BENEMON, Dana....... 1 5 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 2 0 3 0 0 21
55 TILLER, Kellie...... 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4
TM TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 23 62 2 9 14 20 17 30 47 11 62 13 16 0 5 200
TOTAL FG%: .371 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG%: .222 REBOUNDS
F Throw %: .700 2,1
Date: 03/07/03 Site: Charleston, S.C. (N.Charleston Colise Attendance: 1058
Officials: Eric Brewton; Susan Bargo; Brad McMillion;
Technical fouls: Davidson-None. Georgia Southern-None.
Score by Periods 1 2 Total
Davidson............ 31 26 - 57
Georgia Southern.... 37 25 - 62
Imported from SCW8.BXP
Game ID: SCW8
Semifinal 1: CHATTANOOGA ADVANCES TO SOCON FINALS WITH 65-53 WIN OVER FURMAN
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC - Miranda Warfield registered 20 points to lead the top-seeded Chattanooga to a 65-53 win over fourth-seeded Furman Friday afternoon in the Southern Conference women's basketball semifinals in the North Charleston Coliseum.
With the win, the Lady Mocs (25-4) advanced to the finals, where they will face the winner of Friday's Georgia Southern-Davidson game on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be televised by Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast.
After an early 6-6 tie, the Lady Mocs pulled ahead to take a 20-12 lead by midway through the half. Furman rallied to take a one-point lead on a Jen Nadalin jumper with 5:58 to play in the period before Chattanooga regained a five-point halftime lead, 34-29.
The Lady Paladins (16-13) closed the gap to just one early in the second half at 34-33 on a Deshara Shealey jumper before a layup and 3-pointer from Nneka Irons made it 39-33.
Furman never got closer than a deficit of four for the remainder of the contest. The Lady Paladins made it 51-47 on a Shealey trey with 8:24 left to play, but the Lady Mocs went on a 12-2 run capped by a pair of Katie Galloway over the next 6:39 to put the game out of reach.
Warfield's 20 included 16 first-half points and 4-of-8 3-point shooting. Tiffani Roberson also had 15 points and five rebounds in the win.
Shealey, the coaches' pick for Southern Conference Player of the Year, led the Lady Paladins with 19 points and nine rebounds on the afternoon. Teammate Nadalin finished the day with 16 points on near-perfect 7-of-8 shooting, in addition to seven boards. Freshman Tommi Paris also tallied double digits with 10.
Furman outshot Chattanooga, 42.9 percent to 33.9 percent, and outrebounded the Lady Mocs by three, 40-37, but was hindered by 19 turnovers on the day.
CHATTANOOGA HEAD COACH WES MOORE:
"Furman's zone defense and full-court press makes the game ugly and frustrating for a coach. I'm proud of the way the players hung in and found a way to win. It was more of a grind than anything of beauty."
"This team knows how to win. They've been in this situation before. That kind of experience helps in this game."
FURMAN HEAD COACH SAM DIXON:
"I'm very proud of my team for competing for 40 minutes, but let me give all the credit to Chattanooga, they just wore us down and grinded out every possession. They made us work for everything defensively. I think what really hurt us was the physical aspect of the game and their ability to keep bringing bodies in and get on the boards. There was a stretch there when the game was a two or five point game and they continued to get second shots. I thought that a real key to the game."
Box Score (Final)
The Automated ScoreBook
Furman vs Chattanooga (03/07/03)
VISITORS: Furman
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
03 LAWRENCE, Kim....... f 1 11 0 0 0 0 3 6 9 3 2 1 1 1 3 35
40 ROACH, Katie........ f 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 5 5 4 4 0 3 0 0 30
21 NADALIN, Jen........ c 7 8 0 0 2 3 6 1 7 4 16 0 2 0 0 28
05 PARIS, Tommi........ g 4 6 0 0 2 2 0 1 1 3 10 1 2 0 0 30
24 SHEALEY, Deshara.... g 9 18 1 2 0 0 0 9 9 4 19 3 6 0 0 39
12 WELLS, Princess..... 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 7
20 HARRIS, Laney....... 0 4 0 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 16
22 FEW, Lauren......... 1 5 0 1 0 2 4 0 4 2 2 3 2 0 0 15
TM TEAM................ 3 3 2
Totals.............. 24 56 1 7 4 8 13 27 40 21 53 8 19 1 3 200
TOTAL FG%: .429 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG%: .143 REBOUNDS
F Throw %: .500 1,1
HOME TEAM: Chattanooga
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21 IRONS, Nneka........ f 3 9 2 6 0 0 1 0 1 1 8 2 0 0 1 24
42 WILSON, Jennifer.... f 2 8 0 0 5 6 1 5 6 2 9 2 1 0 2 31
34 PATTON, Tiffani..... c 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 12
11 MCDIVITT, Heather... g 0 5 0 4 2 2 1 2 3 2 2 1 2 0 0 29
20 WARFIELD, Miranda... g 7 12 4 8 2 2 0 2 2 1 20 2 2 0 0 29
03 BROWN, Katasha...... 1 6 0 4 0 0 2 0 2 1 2 0 2 0 0 12
05 GALLOWAY, Katie..... 1 7 0 5 3 4 1 4 5 0 5 2 1 0 4 25
25 SERMONS, Shamya..... 2 4 0 0 0 2 4 3 7 3 4 1 0 0 0 16
33 ROBERSON, Tiffani... 5 9 0 0 5 6 4 1 5 1 15 1 0 0 1 22
TM TEAM................ 1 3 4
Totals.............. 21 62 6 27 17 22 16 21 37 13 65 11 9 0 9 200
TOTAL FG%: .339 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG%: .222 REBOUNDS
F Throw %: .773 2,1
Date: 03/07/03 Site: Charleston, S.C. (N.Charleston Colise Attendance: 0
Officials: William Franklin; Edward Novak; Angel Stanton;
Technical fouls: Furman-None. Chattanooga-None.
Score by Periods 1 2 Total
Furman.............. 29 24 - 53
Chattanooga......... 34 31 - 65
Imported from SCW7.BXP
Game ID: SCW7