Story Courtesy College of Charleston sports information
East Tennessee State 59, College of Charleston 55
CHARLESTON, SC - Freshman Nikki Williams netted her first career-double and Melissa Chambers scored in double-figures for the fifth time in six games to lead the College of Charleston women's basketball team back from a 13-point deficit in the first half, only to fall just short in the final minutes, 59-55, to East Tennessee State in front of 537 fans tonight at the John Kresse Arena.
The Cougars drop their first home game and go to 3-3 on the year, while East Tennessee State wins its fourth straight to go to 5-1.
The Bucs opened the game with a 10-0 run that was only ended at the 15:19 mark by two free throws from Erica Irick. The first Cougar basket came at 13:12 by Tiffany Green. East Tennessee State kept the deficit around 12 until about five minutes left in the first half when Charleston ended on a 9-0 run to go into the locker room only down by three at 26-23.
Charleston opened the second half with a basket by Marketta Talley and Chambers to take the short-lived 27-26 lead with 18:24 left. ETSU went back up with a small 6-0 run to go up by five with 15:04 left. Both teams traded baskets over the next 10 minutes and Charleston even tied the game at 46-all with just 5:22 left. The Cougars were unable to turn the corner and the Bucs were able to keep the lead on timely shots and rebounds. With 1:24 to go in the game the scored was tied again when Chambers connected on two free throws to make the score 55-55. That was as close as the Cougars would get as they missed a three-pointer late and ETSU made a timely steal and free throw to keep the game just out of reach for the 59-55 loss.
Four Bucs scored in double-figures with Candace Gibson leading the way with 19 points. She also had 11 rebounds for a double-double. Three other Bucs scored 10 points apiece. Chambers had 12 points for Charleston, while Williams netted 10 points to go along with her team-leading 11 boards. Charleston did out-rebound ETSU 50-38, but it was the Bucs with the .344 to .302 edge in field goal percentage. The Cougars were 16-for-18 from the line and enable the team to keep the game close in the waning minutes, as the Bucs were just 13-for-20.
Story Courtesy Western Carolina sports information
Auburn 79, Western Carolina 48
Auburn, AL - Western Carolina was limited to 20-percent shooting from the floor, including a season-low 16-percent in the second half, as the Lady Catamounts fell to the Auburn Tigers, 79-48, Wednesday night in non-conference action.
Sophomore Monique Dawson led the Lady Catamounts (0-6) with 14 points, half of which came from the free throw line. Making her first collegiate career start, freshman Amelia Miller scored nine in the loss. Sophomore Chevon Keith added seven in the loss, pulling down a team-high nine rebounds which included six on the offensive end.
Auburn (5-4) snapped a two-game losing skid, placing four in double figures, led by 16 points from DeWanna Bonner and Whitney Boddie.
Story Courtesy Davidson sports information
Charlotte 79, Davidson 60
Charlotte, NC - The Wildcats placed four players in double-figures, the second time this season its happened, but it was not enough as the Davidson women's basketball team could not get the better of its cross-county rival, the Charlotte 49ers, falling 79-60 in Halton Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 7. Davidson dropped to 1-5 overall, while Charlotte improved to 5-3.
Davidson had a two-point lead, 8-6, through the first five minutes of play in the opening half. Senior Janell Crayton (Atlanta, Ga.) and sophomore Danielle Hemerka (Blackwood, N.J.) netted six of those points.
Later, Charlotte used a 7-0 run to take its biggest lead of the half at the 13:02 mark. Sakellie Daniels and Danielle Burgin each went 2-for-2 at the charity stripe during the run.
Then at the 7:18 mark in the first half, the Wildcats regained the lead on freshman Mercedes Robinson's (Baltimore, Md.) layup in the paint off a pass from junior Jessica Mitchell (Wilkesboro, N.C.) and Davidson led 22-21. The 49ers came right back with back-to-back layups by Tameka Smith and had 25-22 lead with 6:05 to go in the half.
With the 49ers leading by five, 27-22, Crayton moved the Wildcats to within one point, 27-26, by scoring four straight points with 3:08 left in the first half stanza. Crayton poured in 10 of her 13 points in the first half, including two three-pointers.
Charlotte would go into the locker room up 35-30 on Danielle Burgin's jumper before the buzzer. Both teams played very aggressive in the first half, forcing a combined total of 32 turnovers. There were also six lead changes in the first stanza of play.
The 49ers came out and ran off a 13-5 spurt in the opening five minutes of the second half to take its biggest at the time 48-37 with 15:31 to go. Davidson drew to within six points after the media timeout as junior point guard Tia Washington (Charlotte, N.C.) scored four of her season-high 13 points in the next minute and half, and the Wildcats trailed 48-42 with 14:02 left in the game.
Traci Ray put a dagger in the Wildcat momentum though, and allowed the 49ers to take control of the game by canning back-to-back three-pointers to give the 49ers a 54-42 lead. Charlotte would led by as many as 19 points the rest of the way.
Freshman Kelly Gassie (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) tried to keep the Wildcats in the game, dropping in 13 of her team-high 15 during the second half, but it wasn't enough and Davidson dropped its third straight road game, 79-60.
Crayton and Washington finished with 13 points each and Hemerka gave Davidson its fourth player in double-figures in points with 11. Junior Brynn Kelly (Spokane, Wash.) pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds, 10 of them on the offensive end. She had five of those boards in the first five minutes of the start of the game.
Overall, the Wildcats had 34 rebounds and shot 40.7 percent from the field. Its the first time this year Davidson has shot over 40 percent on the road. The Wildcats also had their third game with over 10 steals, pocketing 12 on the evening.
Charlotte used its height advantage to score 48 of its 79 points in the paint and finished the game shooting 47.6 percent from the field. Pam Brown led all scorers with 16 points, while Daniels and Smith chipped in with 12 apiece.