Story Courtesy Wofford sports information
Western Carolina 79, Wofford 54
SPARTANBURG, SC - Nineteen points from freshman Lauren Powell and accurate free throw shooting helped the Western Carolina women's basketball team earn a 79-54 road victory Saturday afternoon at Wofford in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Powell was accurate herself, hitting on her first five shots, including four 3-pointers, to lead all scorers with 17 points at halftime. She then missed her first attempt of the second half and finished 6-of-7 from the field, including 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc, and added 3-of-3 at the foul line for a team-high 19 points.
The Lady Catamounts were also strong from the charity stripe, making 20-of-25 (80.0 percent) shots for the game. They hit their first 11 from the line, all in the first half.
After freshman Summer Nichols put the Terriers on the board first, Powell answered with her first trey of the contest. Senior Nakia Mister then brought Wofford (4-6, 0-2 SoCon) within two, 8-6, just before the first media timeout at 15:50. Western Carolina responded with a 10-2 run to open up an 18-8 lead with 12:20 to play in the opening session. The Lady Catamounts continued their first half surge with an 18-10 run, capped by another Powell 3-pointer, to hold a 36-18 lead with 2:43 remaining in the stanza. The remaining points of the half all came from the foul line as WCU entered the intermission ahead, 38-21.
Western Carolina (1-9, 1-0 SoCon) then scored the first four points of the second half before Mister converted on back-to-back layups with 17:46 and 17:13 to play. The Lady Catamounts saw their lead swell to as many as 34, at 62-28, at the 9:19 mark.
Following a timeout, the Terriers came out with more intensity and attempted to chop away at the margin. The closest Wofford would get the remainder of the game would be 20 following its only 3-pointer of the contest, made by junior Mary Jo Yee, with 4:56 showing on the clock.
Joining Powell in double-figure scoring for WCU were Ashley Pellom with 11 and Chevon Keith with 10. Pellom added a game-high eight assists. She also tied teammate April Parker for game-high tying honors with seven rebounds.
Mister paced the Terriers with 19 points, one shy of her career-best total. She collected seven rebounds and was 5-of-7 from the foul line.
Her three steals tied with teammate Liz Miller and five Lady Catamounts for the top individual tally.
Sophomore Kelsi Koenig added 11 points, while Nichols chipped in seven.
For the first time this season, Wofford employed a new starting lineup. Today's starting five featured a pair of freshmen in Miller and Nichols, along with sophomore Koenig, junior Yee and senior Mister. Mister and Yee are the only members of the team to start all 10 games this season.
Story Courtesy UNC Greensboro sports information
Coastal Carolina 68, UNC Greensboro 54
CONWAY, SC ? Playing a rare New Years Eve game, the UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team lost 68-54 to Coastal Carolina Friday afternoon at Kimbel Arena.
UNCG (4-6) sophomore guard Kristen Boone had 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Meghan Chamberlain added eight points for the Spartans.
Coastal (5-2) had four players score in double figures led by Amber Rose’s 14 points. Alisha Dill had 13 points, while Kim Turner and Calisha Yates had 12 and 10 points respectively.
Coastal used a 9-0 run to begin the second half that gave the Chanticleers their largest lead of the game, 50-25, with 15:44 showing on the clock. UNCG showed its mettle by running off a rather large 26-9 run to get within eight points, 59-51, with 6:38 to go.
A steal at mid court by Boone led to a layup by Kemena Brooks, which got the Spartans to within eight, but that was as close as the Spartans would get as Coastal answered with nine straight points to go back up 68-51 with 3:30 remaining.
Coastal closed the first half on a 16-0 run over the final 6:07 to take a 41-25 lead to the break. Boone had tied the game at 25-25 for the Spartans on a put-back layup at the 6:07 mark, but that proved to be the last points UNCG could muster in the half.
Tyler would bury a jumper to start the run for Coastal, while Young knocked down a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, sending the Chanticleers into the locker room with a comfortable advantage.
Boone paced UNCG with six points in the opening 20 minutes, while Meghan Chamberlain had five points. Turner scored Coastal’s first eight points of the game, before sitting down with two early fouls. Rose and Dill each provided seven points.
Today’s game marked the first time the Spartans have played on the last day of the calendar year since a 71-69 loss to Tulane at the UNCG Marriott Classic in 1995.
Story Courtesy College of Charleston sports information
North Carolina 101, College of Charleston 48
CHAPEL HILL, NC - Three Cougars scored in double-figures but it would not be enough to overcome an 18-2 run the Tar Heels opened the game with to fall to the fifth-ranked North Carolina Women's Basketball team 101-48 in front 2815 fans, the largest home crowd of the year for the Tar Heels.
Ivory Latta had 14 points in 16 minutes Saturday to lead No. 5 North Carolina to a 101-48 win over College of Charleston.
The Tar Heels set season highs for field goals (39) and points in a half (57), and finished with their highest point total since a 101-63 victory over Tennessee-Martin on Dec. 3, 2003.
No North Carolina player was in the game for more than 20 minutes, and no starter played more than 17 minutes.
"It's good to give some of the kids a chance for playing time and some confidence," North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "It doesn't do any good to leave starters out there just to beat a team by 60-70 points."
Heather Claytor had 12 points on four 3-pointers, while LaToya Pringle added 11 points and Erlana Larkins 10. North Carolina (13-0) made 9-of-20 3-pointers and won its 26th straight in Chapel Hill.
On Thursday, North Carolina struggled to top Old Dominion 88-80 in overtime.
"At Old Dominion, we didn't start with any intensity, while they were fired up and played really well," Hatchell said. "Tonight, we went after them early."
Erica Irick led College of Charleston (3-6) with 12 points. Melissa Chambers had 11 and Jade Hughes added 10 in the Cougars' fourth straight loss.
The Tar Heels jumped to an 18-2 lead after College of Charleston turned over six of its first eight possessions. The Cougars had 19 turnovers by halftime and 30 for the game.
The Tar Heels led 58-20 at the break and took their biggest lead, 94-38, on a jumper by Rashanda McCants with 4:13 to play.
"Maybe our team was a little star-struck," Charleston coach Nancy Wilson said. "But the turnovers had more to do with the size differential and the quickness differential.
"We knew they were good, with all their athletic ability and their size. We were just hoping to see some growth by our players in the game, especially in the second half."