Morehead State 66, College of Charleston 50
MOREHEAD, KY - Sophomore Megen Gearhart scored 18 points and hit a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line, while two other Lady Eagles reached double figures as the Morehead State women’s basketball team held off the visiting College of Charleston Cougars, 66-50, Monday at Johnson Arena.
With the win, MSU moves to 2-0 to begin the year for first time since 2002-2003. College of Charleston fell to 1-1.
The Lady Eagles led by as many as 16 (34-18) in the first half and as many as 17 (42-25) in the final half before the Cougars rallied to trim the margin to just five (43-38) with 11:13 left in the game. Morehead led 53-43 with 5:29 remaining but went on an 11-4 run to move ahead 64-50 with just 1:27 left in the game. Seven of the 11 points came from the free throw line, including three key charity tosses by Gearhart.
Junior Jessie Plante also reached double figures for the second straight game, dropping in 13 points, while sophomore guard Anitha Smith-Williams came off the bench for 12 points, four assists, six rebounds and three steals in 26 minutes. Junior Holly Williams led the Lady Eagles with 11 rebounds, her second consecutive double-figure rebounding night. Junior center LaKrisha Brown, who scored 24 points in the season opener, was hampered by foul trouble and was limited to nine points and seven rebounds.
For College of Charleston, Erica Irick came off the bench for a team high 14 points, while Jade Hughes tallied 12 and Melissa Chambers tossed in 10.
The Lady Eagles again won the battle of the boards, claiming 44 rebounds to the Cougars’ 34. The Lady Eagles also shot 76 percent from the free throw line, including 6-of-6 in the first half. College of Charleston was limited to nine free throws.
For the game, the Lady Eagles hit on 40 percent of their shots from the field (21-of-53) and turned the ball over 18 times. The Cougars recorded 12 steals, including seven in a second half that saw them play almost the entire 20 minutes in a full-court press defense. MSU came up with eight steals and forced 20 Cougar miscues.
Charleston Southern 68, Wofford 61
CHARLESTON, SC - The Charleston Southern women’s basketball team scored a 68-61 win over Wofford Monday night.
Both teams are now 1-1 on the year.
Wofford fell behind 7-0 early but dictated play for the remainder of the first half, taking a 33-28 halftime lead. Mary Jo Yee led the Terriers in the first half, scoring nine points on three of six shooting from 3-point range.
Wofford extended its lead to seven points on three occasions early in the second half, the last at 39-32 with 18:04 to play on a layup by K.C. Correll. However, Charleston Southern went on a 15-2 run, tying the game at 41 with 14:30 remaining and building its lead to 47-41. Kelsi Koenig broke the run with a jumper with 11:58 left to play in the game, bringing Wofford within four at 47-43.
The Terriers tied the game at 49 on a jumper by Nakia Mister and built a five-point lead at 54-49 on a pair of baskets and a free throw from freshman Summer Nichols.
The Lady Bucs rallied again and knotted the game at 59 with 2:09 remaining. A pair of free throws by Keena Wicker put Charleston Southern ahead 61-59 with 1:43 to play. A Wicker layup with just under a minute remaining put the Terriers behind 63-59 and forced them to foul. CSU made four of five free throws inside the final minute of action.
“We’re learning how to win, we’re getting close but we just have to take the next step,” said head coach Edgar Farmer. “The effort was there for 40 minutes without question. They left it all on the floor. Unfortunately, some shots didn’t fall. I’m proud of the way these Terriers fought tonight. I saw some flashes that will bode very well for when we get into Southern Conference play.
“I’m excited about the direction of this basketball team and I truly believe they’re going to do some special things this year.”
Correll led Wofford with 13 points while Koenig chipped in with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Charleston Southern was led by 15 points from Wicker and 14 from Erica McCoy. McCoy added nine boards.
#1 Tennessee 92, Chattanooga 50
KNOXVILLE, TN - Chattanooga senior Katasha Brown was one of three players in double-figures in the Lady Mocs 92-50 loss to No. 1-ranked Tennessee Monday night at the Thompson-Boling Arena.
Brown notched 11 points and senior Tiffani Roberson tallied 10 points for her third double-digit scoring effort in as many games. Sophomore Alex Anderson recorded back-to-back doubles with 10 points in the effort making 5-of-8.
The Lady Mocs led twice in the game, once 4-2 on a lay up from Anderson at the 18:16 mark and then again a little more than a minute later on a lay up from Brown to put it up to 6-4. After that the Lady Vols went on a 15-2 run to lead by 11 at 13:25. Two minutes later, Tennessee put together a 17-2 run that lasted just more than eight minutes and gave the Vols a 25-point lead.
“You rush your shots,” Lady Mocs Head Coach Wes Moore said. “You know how long and athletic they are and windows close quickly. You miss shots you normally make.”
The Lady Mocs shot 32.2 percent on the night making 19-of-59 and were just 2-of-16 from beyond the arc. Freshman forward Erin Ogan made the first for UTC in the game and the first in her collegiate career with 13:27 to play in the game. Brown tallied the second with 1:59 to go.
After a 58.1 percent shooting effort in the first half by Tennessee, the Lady Mocs held UT to just 38.2 percent in the second. Anderson managed her third two-block effort on the season raising her career total to 41, seventh on UTC all-time charts.
The Lady Vols won the battle of the board 50-30 and scored 25 points off 18 UTC turnovers.
Anderson was the high-rebounder for UTC with six and Nicole Mattison had five to go with her six points and four assists. Laura Hall had four assists and three steals.
Shanna Zolman had a game-high 20 points and was 4-for-9 from 3-point range. Candace Parker had 14 points and nine boards while Sybil Doster had a game-best 11 rebounds.