Story Courtesy Chattanooga sports information
Chattanooga 60, Austin Peay 51
CLARKSVILLE, TN - After leading by 21 points at the half, Chattanooga held on to win its seventh consecutive game, edging Austin Peay 60-51 at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tenn.
The Lady Mocs looked tough to beat in the first half hitting 47.1 percent from the floor with six 3-pointers. In the second half the Lady Govs moved to a man-to-man defense and the Lady Mocs hit just 6-of-25 in the second and shot 37.3 percent for the game.
Tiffani Roberson led all scorers with 19 points and Brooke Hand added 17 for the Lady Mocs. Hand hit nothing but air on her first 3-point try then knocked down the next five and led all scorers at the break with 17 points. The Lady Mocs went 16-of-34 in the first half and were 46.2 percent from beyond the arc hitting 6-of-13. UTC missed all four attempts in the second.
Amber Bacon knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Lady Govs a 3-0 lead half a minute into the game. Sparked by a jumper from Tiffani Roberson, Chattanooga went on a 24-2 tear to take a 24-5 lead midway through the half.
Chattanooga led 42-17 in the second half for its largest lead of the game. The Lady Govs’ Ashley Haynes hit a jumper at 1:32 to pull Austin Peay to within six, but UTC knocked down 6-of-8 free throws in the final 1:06 to push the lead back up to nine.
Story Courtesy College of Charleston sports information
Coastal Carolina 58, College of Charleston 51
MYRTLE BEACH, SC - Senior Erica Irick scored 15 points in the final 20 minutes to lead the College of Charleston women’s basketball team back from an 18-point second-half deficit only to fall short 58-51 to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in action tonight at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.
The Cougars drop their third straight to go to 3-5 on the year, while the Chanticleers improve to 4-2 on the year.
The first half saw both teams trade baskets with the gap never going above four points until 3:41 left before intermission, with the game tied at 18, the Chanticleers went on a 9-2 run to head into the locker room with a seven-point 27-20 lead. Neither team shot well with the Cougars owning the slight .345 to .313 edge in shooting percentage. The only telling stat of the first half was the 11 turnovers by Charleston and the eight by Coastal. The Chanticleers were able convert those turnovers into 13 points as opposed to just four by the Cougars.
The second half opened the same way the first half ended, with a big run by the Chanticleers. They opened the half with a 13-2 run over the first 3:39 minutes to go up 40-22. Coastal Carolina was able to keep the margin in double figures for most of the second half until 5:56 left in the game when the Cougars went on a 14-1 run over the next five-and-a-half minutes to cut the Chanticleer lead to five. With just 24 second left after that the Cougars ran out of time and lost by seven, 58-51.
Charleston edged Coastal in shooting percentage, .373 to .328 but went 1-for-10 from three-point range, as opposed to 5-for-15 for the home team. Coastal Carolina led in rebounding 44-39 and had two less turnovers, 16-14.
Cougar Irick led all scores with 23 points, while Melissa Chambers followed for the Cougars with seven. She also led the team with six rebounds. Kim Turner, who had 13 points in the second half, led Coastal with 17 points and eight rebounds, followed by Calisha Yates with 12 on the night.
Story Courtesy Georgia Southern sports information
Troy 74, Georgia Southern 71
TROY, AL - The Georgia Southern women’s basketball team rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, but managed just three points in the final three minutes as Troy held on for a 74-71 win Tuesday evening at Trojan Arena.
TU sophomore Amy Lewis led all scorers with 21 points, shooting 5-for-8 from three-point land. Audrey Muse added 18 for the Trojans.
Senior Lee DuBose (Jefferson, Ga.) poured in a team-high 15 points and had six rebounds. Fellow senior Nicole Newton (Dublin, Ga.) tallied 13 points and five boards.
“I feel like the kids got better tonight,” said Georgia Southern head coach Rusty Cram. “They played hard and we had every opportunity to win that ballgame. I thought it came down to about five keys plays and we lost four of them. We broke down at major times.”
Troy (5-3) held an eight-point lead at halftime and scored the first points of the second half to go up by 10. DuBose and sophomore Chequilla Jessie (Sanford, Fla.) keyed a 10-0 run over a two-minute span to tie the game. Both players contributed four points each while Newton capped off the rally.
The Trojans went back up by five but back-to-back treys from sophomore Tiffany Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) and DuBose gave GSU (2-5) the lead (48-47) for the first time since the 7:34 mark of the first half.
After 10 minutes of play in the second period, sophomore Fallon Lee (Englewood, Tenn.) capped off a 7-0 run with her third trifecta to give Georgia Southern its biggest lead of the contest, 57-50.
“We had to play catch-up to start the second half and we came back and took the lead,” added Cram. “But we let down again and let them back in it.”
Down by seven later in the contest, Lewis’ fifth and final three-pointer knotted the score at 66-66. Jessie put the Lady Eagles back up by two on their next trip down the floor, but was unable to complete the three-point play. Jessie’s basket, coming at the 3:15 mark, was GSU’s last points until eight seconds left in the game.
A jump shot by junior Laura Lee Holman tied the game and later she put the Trojans up for good with a free throw.
Down by four, Newton brought the Lady Eagles back to within one, 72-71, with a three, but Holman made two more free throws and a shot at the buzzer by Brown was off the mark.
Neither team started particularly well on offense as they combined for just five points through the first three and a half minutes.
Troy’s duo of Lewis and junior Audrey Muse powered the offense in the first 10 minutes of the game combining for all 14 Trojan points and 28 in the first half. Lewis and Muse were the only two players in double figures in the first half with 15 and 13, respectively.
A bulk of Georgia Southern’s offense early on came from behind the three-point line with two from Lee and one from DuBose. DuBose, playing in her first game since Nov. 29, led the Lady Eagles with eight points.
“Lee has worked hard to get herself rehabilitated and was still playing at about 75 or 80 percent. She is an incredible workaholic and she does things right. What she accomplished tonight was pretty remarkable.”
Thanks to Lewis and Muse, Troy trailed by one (15-14) at the 10 minute mark and together sparked a run that broke open a 19-19 tie. Muse hit a layup and following a GSU turnover, the two combined on a rare five-point play. Lewis hit a three-pointer and Muse converted two free throws on a Lady Eagle foul away from the play.
Three free throws from DuBose and a layup by freshman Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) cut the deficit down to two, but a 10-0 run put the Trojans up 36-24. Lewis started the run again with a triple and was capped off by five straight points by freshman Kylie Morrisey.
Story Courtesy Furman sports information
Auburn 86, Furman 42
GREENVILLE, SC - Furman's Lady Paladin basketball team fell to 4-5 on the year Tuesday night with an 86-42 loss to Auburn in Timmons Arena. The victory put the Tigers at 7-4 on the season.
Auburn combined excellent field goal shooting (58.8%), an outstanding effort from three point range (60.0%) and solid defensive numbers that included three first period blocks to take a 50-24 lead into the half.
Furman's Lauren Few poured in 11 first half points on three-for-three shooting from beyond the arc and a 2-for-2 mark at the line, but Auburn's Nitasha Brown and Dewanna Bonner had 13 and 10 points, respectively, at the break, and Brown had already notched seven assists in the game.
Brown went on to record the first double-double of her career with 13 points, 11 rebounds, while Marita Payne ended the night as the Tigers' top scorer with 17 points, in addition to her team-high five blocks. Bonner tallied 16 points on the night while KeKe Carrier, a 6-7 freshman out of Lake Charles, La., totaled 13 points in the winning effort.
Despite the clear height advantage held by the Auburn team Furman matched the Tigers on the boards and were paced by Few's 15 points on the night. Tommi Paris recorded a team-best four assists and claimed six rebounds, while adding eight points to the Furman total.
"We did some good things," said coach Sam Dixon after the loss. "We made progress. I have said we are a work in progress and we continue to be so. Their height was a factor for us, but for us to be even on the boards with them is a positive. The freshman competed hard. In fact, the whole team competed hard. We are getting better - we've just got to keep improving."
The Lady Paladins will break for the Christmas holidays before returning to action on Dec. 29 in a 5 p.m. game against Maryland-Eastern Shore at the Terrapin Classic. On the 30th, the Lady Paladins will face either Maryland, ranked 6th in the latest women's basketball coaches association poll, or Central Connecticut State, winners of the Great Alaska Shootout.
Story Courtesy Wofford sports information
Sacramento State 71, Wofford 57
SACRAMENTO, CA - A 12-0 run by host Sacramento State to open the game sparked the Hornets to a 71-57 victory over visiting Wofford in women's basketball action Tuesday.
Sacramento State began by hitting its first five field goals, including a pair of 3s to take the early advantage. Senior Nakia Mister scored the Terriers' first bucket at the 15:49 mark, which kick-started a 16-4 Wofford surge to even the game, 16-16, with 9:11 showing on the clock. A layup by freshman Liz Miller capped the streak.
The Hornets, however, would not be denied as they countered with a 9-0 run to take the lead for good at 25-16 on an Ashley Cadotte layup with 4:27 to go. The Terriers continued to cut into the lead as the half came near its end and trailed by just four, 29-25, at the intermission.
Wofford (4-5) started the second half with a different starting five for the first time this season. The new set of players kept the Terriers in the contest as a Kelsi Koenig layup with 17:35 remaining pulled the visitors within five, 34-29, at the 17:35 mark.
Outside shooting continued to keep Sacramento State comfortably ahead as it pushed its lead to 12, 44-32, on Kim Sheehy's third of her game-high four 3-pointers with 14:39 to play. Junior Mary Jo Yee then cut the Hornet lead again to single digits with a trey of her own at 13:54 to make the score 44-37.
After Katelyn Ciampi pushed the Sacramento State (4-4) lead to its pinnacle at 17 points, 61-44, with 6:08 remaining, Wofford went on a 12-3 surge to again pull within eight, 64-56, with 1:34 to go. Mister and Koenig each had four points in the run for the Terriers.
One final streak by Sacramento State, a 7-1 edge, closed the game's scoring.
Koenig tallied a career-high 21 points on 7-of-9 field goals to lead all players. Her previous career high was 19 in this year's season opener versus Montreat Nov. 18. She also garnered game-high honors with eight rebounds.
Mister joined her in double figures with 14 on 7-of-12 from the field. She added six rebounds, as Wofford held a 41-to-40 carom advantage over the Hornets.
Also leading the Terriers in categories were Miller with four assists and five steals, while classmate Kate Dempsey blocked two shots.
Pacing the Sacramento State scoring attack was a 17-point outing from Cindy Alldrin. Cadotte added 16, while Stephanie Cherry posted 14 and Sheehy contributed 12. Cherry registered a team-high seven rebounds.