College of Charleston 69, Charleston Southern 56
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC - Freshman Jade Hughes opened her collegiate career scoring 23 points to lead the College of Charleston women’s basketball team to the 69-56 win over the Charleston Southern Bucs in front of 759 fans at the North Charleston Coliseum.
The Cougars open the season 1-0 while the Bucs drop to 0-1.
The Cougars held a nine point lead at halftime 36-27 before pulling away in the second half and holding as much as a 22-point lead mid-way through the second half. The Lady Bucs weren’t through, though, as they continued to spread the ball and clawed back to within nine at 64-55 with just under three minutes to go in the game. The rally would end there as the College of Charleston would hold on to win
Hughes led four Cougars in double-figures with 23 points. She was eight-for-eight from behind the charity stripe. Melissa Chambers followed with 17 and with 13 points were Nikki Williams and Erica Irick. Williams also led defensively with nine rebounds. Deborah Cherry led Charleston Southern with 13 points, with Keena Wicker putting in 11, as well as a team-leading eight boards.
Charleston led CSU in rebounding with the 43-37 edge, as well as field goal percentage, .381 to .340. The Cougars held the 12-7 advantage in steals and the 17-10 edge in assists.
Furman 98, Kennesaw State 95
GREENVILLE, SC - Sophomore guard Chrissy Phelps sank a pair of free throws with 26 seconds left to give Furman a five-point cushion in its season opening game against Kennesaw State Friday night in Timmons Arena. The Lady Paladins went on to post a 98-95 victory and Phelps tied her career high with 20 points in the win.
The first half looked very much like the season's opening action as the teams combined for 30 turnovers and 27 missed shots before the halftime break. Sophomore center Jessica Lange connected on seven-of-nine first-half shots to lead all scorers with 14, while Kennesaw State's Shavonder Clarke was nipping at her heels with 13 points for the Owls. Though KSU took a two-point lead on a Clarke jumper with 7:40 to go in the half, the Lady Paladins held on for a 45-43 lead at the break. There were nine first half ties.
Phelps hit a jumper less than one minute into the half to make Furman's lead four, but a minute later the game was tied for the 10th time and KSU took the lead. The 13th and final tie of the game came with 9:39 to play, when Furman freshman Sarah Baker hit a pair of free throws to even the score at 75. Furman regained the lead it had lost at the 17:50 mark on a Lauren Few jumper at 8:51 and held on until the end, taking the three-point decision.
In addition to Phelps' 20 points, Few totaled 15, Jessica Lange added 14, Princess Wells totaled 11, and Sarah Baker and Tommi Paris each contributed 10. In addition, Phelps topped the team in rebounds, with nine, and dished off five assists with six steals. KSU took 85 shots to the Lady Paladins' 63, but made 42.4% compared to the Lady Paladins' 47.6%.
The Owls were paced by Clarke's 26 points, while Nikki Gurley added 24, Jennifer Baker managed 21, and Ngoneh Gaye tallied 10. Clarke also paced the Owls with 15 rebounds and claimed three steals.
Elon 75, North Carolina A&T 70
ELON, NC ? Kitara McMoore knocked down 18 points and hauled in nine rebounds, Robyn Shipley netted a career-high 17 points with a career-best five three-point field goals and Nikko King posted career highs with 14 points and five blocked shots as Elon staved off North Carolina A&T 75-70 in women’s basketball action Friday night at Alumni Gym.
In the early going, the Phoenix (1-0) reeled off seven-straight points to trade a 5-4 deficit for an 11-5 advantage on a Nicole Allison three-point field goal with 11:42 remaining in the opening stanza.
The Aggies (0-1) later scored seven consecutive points themselves, transforming a 20-14 deficit into a 21-20 edge on a free throw by Bianca Johnson with 4:32 left before the intermission.
Elon responded with a 12-2 surge to close the period, claiming a 32-23 halftime lead on a three-point bucket by Shipley ? her third of the first stanza ? with 39 seconds to play before the break.
The Phoenix eventually built a 14-point cushion when a Shipley three-pointer capped a 7-0 Elon spurt with 12:32 left in the contest. North Carolina A&T later inched within 64-58 on a old-fashioned three-point play by Johnson with 3:16 remaining, concluding a 7-2 run by the Aggies.
Elon scored the next five points in a row to reestablish control, stretching its advantage to 69-58 when Myra Donkin drained a three-point basket with 2:45 left.
After shooting 45.2 percent (14-for-31) in the first half, the Phoenix fired 58.3 percent (14-for-24) in the second half to finish with a 50.9-percent clip for the contest. McMoore sank eight of her 13 shots from the floor while King canned six of her eight field goal attempts and Shipley dropped five of her 10 tries from behind the arc.
North Carolina A&T out-rebounded Elon by a 55-40 margin, but was unable to put together an extended run against the Phoenix defense. The Aggies were held to a 23.5-percent (8-for-34) performance from the field in the opening period before connecting on 34.0 percent (16-for-47) of their shots in the second stanza to finish at 29.6 percent for the game.
Kira Tillman amassed a game-high 23 points with three steals, Johnson posted 16 points, Shareka Glover collected 14 points, seven assists and three steals and Melea Gibson pulled down a contest-best 16 caroms for North Carolina A&T.
The 75 points marked the most for Elon in 13 games, dating back to 77-75 overtime victory at eventual Southern Conference tournament champion and NCAA tournament entrant Western Carolina on Jan. 17. The Phoenix only reached the 70-point plateau in two games last season.
#6 North Carolina 86, Davidson 48
CHAPEL HILL, NC - No. 6 North Carolina's Ivory Letta scored 12 of her game-high 20 points in the second half and 14 players in all scored for UNC as the Davidson Wildcats women's basketball team fell in its season opener on the road, 86-48, Friday, Nov. 18 in Carmichael Auditorium. The Wildcats are 0-1 on the season and UNC opens at 1-0.
The Wildcats were within six points, 26-20, in the first half, before UNC ran off a 22-4 run to end the first half and close out the scoring in the first half up 48-24.
UNC outscored Davidson 38-24 in the second half and had a lead as big as 42. The Wildcats did hang with the Tar Heels in the rebound category, hauling in 46, 24 of those on the offensive end, while UNC had 48.
Wofford 97, Montreat 48
SPARTANBURG, SC ? The Wofford women’s basketball team opened its 2005-06 season with a 97-48 win over Montreat College on Friday night at the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Kelsi Koenig turned in a double-double with a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Summer Nichols contributed 15 points while senior Nakia Mister and freshman Kate Dempsey added 14 points each. Dempsey also scored a double-double in her first collegiate game with a game-high 11 rebounds.
Montreat was led by Alicia Rachels with 9 points. Jaime Gragg scored 8 points and led the Lady Cavaliers with six rebounds.
Wofford led from start to finish, scoring the first 10 points of the game and charging to a quick 16-6 advantage with 12:45 remaining in the half. Montreat rallied and outscored the Terriers 10-4 over the next two and one-half minutes to pull within four at 20-16. Wofford held a 9-point lead at 32-23 with 4:51 remaining in the half before outscoring Montreat 16-7 for a 48-30 halftime advantage.
Wofford’s lead was never less than double figures in the second half. The Terriers’ 49-point margin of victory was its largest lead of the night. Wofford outscored Montreat 49-18 in the second half. The Terriers’ 97 points were the most they had scored since a 97-74 win over Davidson during the 2001-02 season.
“I was very pleased with the win,” said head coach Edgar Farmer. “We started off a little slow but we turned it on in the second have. We grew up as a basketball team today.”
Junior center Jenny Weurding also reached double figures with 12 points while junior Mary Jo Yee scored 11 including all three of Wofford’s three-point field goals.
The Terriers shot an even 50 percent from the floor in the game (37 of 74) while holding Montreat to 27 percent shooting (17 of 62). Wofford forced Montreat into 29 turnovers in the game and recorded 18 steals. Weurding led all players with four blocked shots. For the game, the Terriers held a 64-28 rebounding advantage.
NC State 76, UNC Greensboro 46
RALEIGH, NC ? The UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team opened its 37th season of competition with a 76-46 setback to No. 23 NC State on Friday night at Reynolds Coliseum.
Junior guard Jasmine Byrd led UNCG (0-1) with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting and had a game-high six steals, while sophomore guard Kemena Brooks notched 10 points. Junior forward KaLeah Latham added nine points
Khadijah Whittington led NC State (1-0) with career-highs in points with 21 and rebounds with 16. Tiffany Stansbury, a second team All-ACC honoree last season scored 15 points and Keisha Brown had 10 points.
NC State led 5-0 just over a minute into the game when Byrd nailed a 3-pointer at the 18:00 mark for the Spartans first field goal of the season. With NCSU still leading 11-6, Gillian Goring, who stands 6-7, scored five quick points off the bench to put the Wolfpack up 16-6 with 13:10 to go.
Senior Shanika Jackson answered back for UNCG with a layup off a steal from Byrd at 11:59 to make it 18-10, but that was the closest the Spartans would get in the opening half. NC State closed the stanza on a 24-10 run to take a 42-20 lead to the locker room. Whittington led all scores in the first half with 15 points, while Byrd and Latham paced UNCG with five points apiece.
NC State extended its lead to 53-24 at the 15:34 mark on a Rachel Stockdale 3-pointer, but the Spartans answered with 14 of the next 15 points to cut their deficit to 54-38 with 9:06 to go in the game. Back-to-back 3-point plays by Latham and Brooks and a 3-pointer by Byrd led the charge for the Spartans.
The Wolfpack would go 7:08 without a field goal to allow UNCG back in the game. Monica Pope snapped the shooting drought with a jumper from the wing with 8:28 remaining. From there, the home team scored eight more in a row to take a 64-38 lead as they cruised to the victory.
"I thought we never quit tonight and stayed composed throughout the game and I thought that would be very key tonight," head coach Lynne Agee said. "NC State was just bigger, stronger, faster and we knew that coming in."
Chattanooga 76, Middle Tennessee 66
CHATTANOOGA, TN - Senior Tiffani Roberson netted her sixth career double-double to lead the Lady Mocs to a 76-66 win as Chattanooga and Middle Tennessee renewed rivalries Friday night at the McKenzie Arena.
“We’ve got to have Tiffani scoring inside,” Lady Mocs Head Coach Wes Moore said. “She needs to be able to take some of the heat off everybody else.”
Roberson pulled down a career-best 13 rebounds and scored 21 points (10-of-13) and was one of four Lady Mocs in double-digits. Senior Nicole Mattison scored 16 points while fellow senior Katasha Brown went 3-for-6 from the 3-point line to score 15. Sophomore Alex Anderson tipped in 13 points as the Lady Mocs improved to 1-1 on the season. Mattison and Anderson each pulled down eight rebounds and Brown was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Chattanooga shot a scorching 51.0 percent (26-of-51) from the floor and made 20-of-28 free throws in the second half after missing its lone attempt in the first to shoot 69 percent on the night. The Blue Raiders outrebounded UTC 42-40 and won the turnover battle 25-18.
The Lady Mocs led 15-3 at the 13:23 mark in the first half, but Middle Tennessee battled to within four points with 8:39 to play in the half on an eight-point run to put the score at 15-11. The Blue Raiders outscored Chattanooga 17-13 to tie the score 28-28 at the half.
The two teams battled back and fourth over the first four minutes of the second half, but Chattanooga began pulling away with a 12-2 run to take a 44-34 lead at 12:01. The Lady Mocs would maintain the lead not letting MTSU get to within six the remainder of the game. Chattanooga tallied its second 40+ second half output of the season pouring in 48 in the period.
“We were able to come out in the second half and were able to build the lead back up a little bit and hang onto it,” Moore said. “It was a good team effort and everyone contributed.”
Middle Tennessee was paced by Chrissy Givens with 18 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Krystle Horton notched 14 points and was the only other Raider in double-digits. Tia Stovall tossed in seven points and pulled down nine rebounds.
While it was the home opener for the Lady Mocs, Middle Tennessee accounted for at least a third of the 1,544 fans on hand for the game. The Blue Raiders fell to 0-1 in head coach Rick Insell’s collegiate coaching debut. Insell was the head coach at Shelbyville High School for the past 28 years and had a 775-148 overall record and 10 TSSAA Class AAA State titles.
The Lady Mocs will travel up to Knoxville Monday night to take on the second of its four in-state opponents this season. The Lady Vols are ranked second in the AP Polls behind Duke and own a 7-0 record against the Lady Mocs since 1980. Last year UTK came away with a 68-34 victory over Chattanooga in the Roundhouse.
Detroit-Mercy 75, Western Carolina 72
DETROIT, MI - Trailing by 17 points with nine minutes to play in the second half, Western Carolina mounted a feverish rally to erase the double-digit deficit. However, the comeback fell three points short as the Lady Catamounts dropped their season opener 75-72 to the Detroit-Mercy Titans at Calihan Hall Friday night.
Down five, sophomore Chevon Keith made a steal, dished it to her classmate Ashley Pellom, who then converted a lay-up to shrink the margin to one possession, 75-72. On the ensuing Titan possession, Western played the foul game with hopes that Detroit would miss from the charity stripe. UDM's Kelly Jaskot complied, missing both attempts in the two-shot foul with the Lady Cats securing the rebound.
With the final seconds ticking off the game clock - and the Cats out of timeouts - Western pressed the ball up the court, getting it in the hands of the sharp-shooting freshman guard, Lauren Powell. The Asheville, N.C. native's buzzer-beating attempt from six feet inside the mid-court circle was on target, but hit the back of the iron ending the game. During the second half run, Western outscored Detroit by a total of 26-to-12.
"We are a young team," said head coach Kellie Harper. "We did not take care of the basketball in the first half, then the early portion of the second half hurt us more as we fell behind. But none of our players quit when we fell behind and I am proud of the effort they displayed in making the comeback."
Sophomore Jessika Johnson led four Lady Catamounts in double-figures with a career-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting on the night. Her classmate, Monique Dawson, finished with a dozen points, all scored in the first half, and four steals while Powell, playing in her first collegiate game, and junior Erin May each netted career-highs in scoring with 11 points apiece. May added a team-high eight rebounds, while Keith boarded seven.
Leading 21-20 in the first half, Western went as cold from the floor as the mid-November weather outside of Calihan. That fact was compounded as Detroit began to find its rhythm, putting together an 18-to-5 run to close out the half with a 38-26 lead.
The Titans' run continued in the second half as Detroit managed to pull out to its largest lead of 17 at the 12:35 mark, 56-39. After trading buckets, and trailing by 17 for the fourth-time in the second half, Western began its aforementioned run, holding UDM scoreless for just over two minutes inside the final three and setting up the game-ending situation.
Overall, WCU struggled in both the turnover and free throw shooting departments. The Lady Catamounts committed 23 total turnovers, including 16 in the first half alone, and shot a dreary 18-of-29 from the free throw line, 62-percent. Western did out rebound UDM, though, 42-to-35, including a 15-to-14 edge on the offensive glass.
Georgia Southern 82, Florida State 57
TALLAHASSEE, FL - An 11-2 run by Florida State over the final four minutes of the first half broke open a four-point game and the Seminoles cruised to an 82-57 win over Georgia Southern Friday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
GSU led for most af the first. 10 minutes, ahead by as many as six points- Senior Lee1 DuBosa (Jefferson, GEL) started the scoring on the opening possession and later on, back-to-back 3’s from sophomore Tiffany Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) put the Lady Eagles up 12-8. Sophomore Sbawnda Atwood (Pamacola, Fla,) put together a scoring run of her own, hitting shots on three straight possessions and at the 1O-minute mark GSU was up 24-20.
“If it’s a 1O-minute ballgame we’re 1-0 right now,” said Georgia Southern head coach Rusty Cram. ?We came out and our seniors stepped up and did a great job. We played wed in the first 1 0 minutes.”
From there Georgia Southern was beset by turnovers, committing miscues OR seven siraight trips down the floor and a 10-0 Florida State run gave the Seminoles a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“They just turned up the heat, pressure-wise,” added Cram. “I thought we would handle it better than we did. 1As we got tired we started to lose that chemistry.”
Atwood led the Lady Eagles with 10 points at the break while Dubose and Brown had six each.
The team shot .565 from the floor compared to 50.0 percent for the Seminoles.
Thirty-eight of FSU’s 45 points in the first half came from three players: senior Ganiyai’
Adeduntan (15), junior Alicia Gladden (13) and Freshman Britany Miller (10).
Florida State opened the second half with an 1 1-4 rally and did not lead by fewer than 20 points the rest of the way.
Adeduntan led all scorers with 18 points while Gladden finished up with 15.
Atwood tallied a team-high 14 for the Lady Eagles off the bench and Brown contributed 12.