Story Courtesy Georgia Southern sports information
Georgia Southern 65, Furman 48
STATESBORO, GA - The Georgia Southern women's basketball team held Furman to 27.3 percent shooting and 48 points while senior Nicole Newton (Dublin, Ga.) poured in 22 points lifting the Lady Eagles to a 65-48 win Saturday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The victory snaps a six-game losing streak to Furman and ups GSUs record to 8-11 overall and 5-5 in the Southern Conference. The Lady Paladins lose their seventh in a row and fall to 7-13 and 3-7.
Georgia Southern fell behind 8-5 early on after a jumper by Furman’s Jessica Lange at the 15-minute mark. From there, the GSU defense went almost 10 minutes before allowing another field goal, while running off a 15-2 run to lead 20-10. Six different players contributed, led by freshman Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) whose fourth point capped off the rally.
The Lady Paladins would not be denied and came back with an 8-1 run to cut the deficit to three, 21-18, after a 3-pointer by Chrissy Phelps.
The two teams went into the break with GSU up 27-23.
Furman shot 23.3 percent (7-30) from the floor in the first half.
“The defensive intensity was just incredible tonight, and it turned into some easy baskets for us,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “The defense won this basketball game. That, and we handled their pressure. Up at their place, we had 23 turnovers and tonight we had nine, a season low. We prepared hard for it and the girls responded.”
The second half remained close as the largest Georgia Southern lead was five. Furman tied the contest at 39-39 at the halfway point, but hit another shooting slump going over four minutes without a bucket. The Lady Eagles used the drought to go up 50-41 before Jessica Lange hit a jumper with 6:27 to play.
Lange's basket was the closest the Lady Paladins would get the rest of the way. GSU proceeded to go on an 8-0 binge to lead by 15 (58-43). The defense kept Furman off the scoreboard for 3:19 and cruised to the 17-point victory.
Newton scored 16 of her 22 points in the second half and freshman Ashley Rivens (Charlotte, N.C.) posted a career-best 11 rebounds. Melson added 10 points and four assists.
Furman failed to have a player score double-figures and were led by Lange, Phelps and Sarah Baker who had eight each. Melissa Liebschwager pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds.
Georgia Southern takes a day off before wrapping up its three-game homestand Monday against Wofford. Start time is set for 5 p.m.
Story Courtesy Western Carolina sports information
Wofford 69, Western Carolina 64
CULLOWHEE, NC - Western Carolina erased a 10-point deficit midway through the second half, cutting the Wofford lead to two, 49-47. But it was as close as the Lady Catamounts would get, trailing by three-or-more over the final 10 minutes as they fell to the Terriers, 69-64, in Southern Conference play in the Ramsey Center Saturday night.
The loss snapped Western’s nine-game winning streak over the Terriers and overshadowed a career-night by sophomore Monique Dawson. The second-year player from Charlotte, N.C., recorded her first career double-double, leading all scorers with 20 points and a career-best 11 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end. Freshman Teshymia Tillman, who saw more minutes at the point due to an injury to sophomore Ashley Pellom, finished with 16 points, three assists, and three steals in the loss.
Western only connected on one, 3-pointer ? by Dawson at the 16-minute mark of the second half ? shooting 1-for-12 on the night for a season-low 8.3-percent overall. The Lady Catamounts did, however, out rebound the Terriers, 50-45. In addition to Tillman’s six rebounds, sophomores Chevon Keith and Jessika Johnson finished with seven and six boards, respectively, with freshman post April Parker also corralling six misses on the night.
After back-to-back WCU buckets and a quick 4-0 lead to open the game, the action settled down in the first half, enduring five ties through the first 10-minutes with neither squad able to sustain a lead. Wofford was the first to break suit, taking its largest lead of five points with five minutes remaining before intermission only to see the Lady Cats battle back and force two additional ties before the half. The Terriers eased ahead over the final two minutes and led at the break by three, 38-35.
Wofford pulled out to its largest lead of the game, 45-35, with a 7-0 spurt out of the locker room. But the Lady Cats recovered, answering with a 7-0 run of their own to slice the Terrier advantage back to three, 45-42, with Dawson tallying each point during the swing. Western would pull to within two, twice at the midway mark of the half, but the Terriers managed to keep the Lady Catamounts at bay to pick up the win.
Four Terriers (6-13, 2-8 SoCon) scored in double-figures, with a trio tallying 15 points apiece. Senior Nakia Mister, junior Mary Jo Yee, and sophomore Kelsi Koenig each finished with 15, and freshman Summer Nichols added 10 points in the win. Mister led the Terriers on the glass, boarding eight misses, and junior K.C. Correll tallied seven rebounds and a team-high three steals.
Western Carolina returns to action on Monday, Jan. 30, with a Noon tip-off at Elon. The game will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard on Power 90dot5, WWCU-FM in Cullowhee or on-line at www.WWCUFM.com. Wofford is also in action on Jan. 30, visiting Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga. with a 5:00 pm tip.
Story Courtesy College of Charleston sports information
College of Charleston 65, Appalachian State 57
Charleston, SC ? Erica Irick score 17 points and Marketta Talley added 16, including 10 in the second half to lead the College of Charleston women’s basketball team back from a six-point second-half deficit to defeat the Appalachian State Mountaineers, 65-57, in front of 706 fans at the John Kresse Arena.
The Cougars win their second straight and fifth straight at home, while avenging a 76-62 loss to the Mountainners eaflier in the season, to go to .500 on the season at 9-9 overall and 6-4 in the Southern Conference. Appalachian State snaps a three-game winning streak and falls to 9-10 and 5-5 in the league.
Charleston opened the game strong and led by 19 at 30-11 with 3:20 left in the first half before Appalachian State took a 12-2 run into the locker room and only trailed by nine at intermission, 32-23. Charleston shot 45.2 percent in the first half, while ASU shot 32.0.
Appalachian State continued the trend to start the second half, going on an 18-8 run over the first six-and-half minutes to take a one-point 41-40 lead with 13:35 left. The Mountaineers extended their lead to six at 46-40 with 12:07 left before the Cougars used a 13-7 run over the next nine minutes to tie the game up at 53-53 with 3:17. A basket by Sarah Moye at 3:17 gave the Cougars the lead for good. Charleston then used stingy defense and timely free throws to extend the lead and outscore ASU 10-4 down the stretch to take the 65-57 win. Appalachian State, which was shooting close to 70 percent at a point in the second half, finished the final 20 minutes shooting 48.3 percent. Charleston shot 45.5 percent in the half.
Charleston shot 45.3 percent from the field for the game, while Appalachian State shot 40.7. CofC out-rebounded ASU 37-25, and was edged in steals, 14-18. ASU forced 31 Cougar turnovers, which led to 34 points, while CofC forced 25 ASU turnovers, resulting in 20 points. Following Irick’s and Talley’s double-figure scoring game was Jade Hughes with 13 and Moye with 10. Irick and Moye both had eight rebounds apiece to pace the team. Greteya Kelley led ASU with 17 points, while Danielle Edward had seven rebounds to lead defensively.
The Cougars host Davidson Jan. 30th at 4:30 PM, while the Mountaineers travel up the road to Furman for a Jan. 31st game at 7:00 PM.
Story Courtesy UNC Greensboro sports information
UNC Greensboro 63, Davidson 62 (OT)
DAVIDSON, NC - The Davidson Wildcats women's basketball team played its second overtime contest in the past three games, but weren't able to hold off two rallies in the second half by UNC Greensboro and fell by the count of 63-62 in overtime on Saturday afternoon. Davidson, who defeated Wofford last Saturday, Jan. 21 in overtime, dropped its second straight SoCon game to fall to 6-4 and 10-9 overall. UNCG moved its winning streak to four games, improving to 6-4 in SoCon play and 10-9 overall.
The Spartans first rally came in the early going of the second half. After Davidson took an eight-point lead, 30-22, on a jumper by junior Jessica Mitchell (Wilkesboro, N.C.) with 19:22 to go in the game, UNC Greensboro used a 17-7 run over the next eight minutes of play to take its first lead of the half at 39-37 when Kemena Brooks laid one up and in from the blocks.
Brooks also hit a three during the run and had a team-high 17 points.
Davidson regrouped and regained the lead at 42-39 on five straight points, three of them at the charity stripe, by senior Janell Crayton (Atlanta, Ga.). Crayton scored all but two of her 13 total points in the second half.
Later, the Wildcats pushed its lead out to seven points, 47-40, with 7:33 to go in the game on one of Mitchell's four three-pointers on the afternoon.
UNCG came up with its second rally, a 7-0 run, to tie the score at 47-all with 4:23 leave on the clock. Jasmine Byrd highlighted the run with a three-point play on a fast break.
Junior Tia Washington (Charlotte, N.C.) then forced overtime with her jumper in traffic and 22 seconds on the clock to tie the score at 55-all.
Washington finished 5-of-6 from the field and had her third straight game of 10 or more points, dropping in a even 10.
The Wildcats had leads of three, 58-55, and two, 60-58, in overtime, but UNCG would not fold and came back to tie the score up each time. Then with
51 seconds left, Washington got a pass for sophomore Danielle Hemerka (Blackwood, N.J.) for a layup and a 62-61Wildcat lead.
The Spartans came right back down and Kristen Boone drove the lane for a layup with 34 seconds left and UNCG had a 63-62 lead. Davidson used a timeout to work up its last play, but when play resumed, a Mitchell jumper from the left wing hit off the back of the iron and time expired as the Spartans escaped with the 63-62 win.
Davidson looked to put UNC Greensboro away early, leading by as many as 11 points in the first half, but the Spartans trimmed the lead down to four points, 26-22, on a layup by Brooks and the Wildcats went into halftime up 28-22.
Mitchell finished with a game-high 22 points for Davidson. It was her third straight game of 10 or more points and 13th game overall. Hemerka chipped in with nine points, nine rebounds, and six assists. It was the sixth straight game she has led Davidson in rebounding.
UNC Greensboro's KaLeah Latham had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Davidson hits the road for its next two contests starting with a game at College of Charleston on Monday, Jan. 30 at 4:30 p.m. The Wildcats were victorious the last time the two teams met, defeating the Cougars 71-57 at Belk Arena on Jan. 3.
Story Courtesy Chattanooga sports information
Chattanooga 77, Elon 47
CHATTANOOGA, TN - Alex Anderson tallied her fourth double-double of the season and led three Lady Mocs in double figures as Chattanooga earned a decisive 77-47 win over Elon in Southern Conference action at the McKenzie Arena Saturday night.
Anderson led all scorers with 17 points and 13 rebounds, Brooke Hand hit four 3-pointers for 12 points on the night and Tiffani Roberson chipped in 10 points going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
The Phoenix scored the first four points of the game and held a slim lead until the 12:25 mark. Laura Hall’s second steal of the game led to a layup from Roberson that gave UTC its first lead of the game at 14-12 and sparked a 16-4 run putting Chattanooga up 28-16 with 5:18 to play in the half.
The Lady Mocs drained seven first-half 3-pointers and led 35-22 at the intermission hitting 56.5 percent of their shots from the floor.
“The first half wasn’t real pretty,” Lady Mocs’ Head Coach Wes Moore said. “I felt that we played to their tempo in the first half, but I was pleased with the way we started the second half. We had a little bit more intensity and energy.”
Chattanooga started the second half with a 19-3 run building the lead to 54-27 with 12:39 to play in the game. Moore went deep on his bench tonight as all 12 Lady Mocs saw action and 11 scored.
“Earlier in the year, there were times where one or two possessions could change the outcome of the game so I didn’t go as deep on the bench as I would like to have,” Moore said. “Now here at home, there is a little bit more of a comfort zone. The freshmen are looking a bit more comfortable so its great getting there feet wet, get them ready for conference tournament time.”
Freshman forward Ashley Huff scored a career-high six points in eight minutes and made her first collegiate 3-pointer, scoring from the top of the key. “She’s a great 3-point shooter and can run the floor extremely well,” Moore said. “We’ve just got to get her to settle down. She’s a little nervous with the ball.
Three Elon players notched double digits on the night including a career-high tying 14 from Nikko King. King led the Phoenix with six rebounds. SoCon leading scorer Kitara McMoore also tallied 14 points and was held to just three rebounds. Myra Donkin was the third Elon player in the double-figure with 10 points, including two 3-pointers.
Chattanooga outrebounded Elon 39-22 and outscored them from the bench 37-11. The Lady Mocs shot 56.0 percent on the night making 28-of-50 and were 10-of-19 from beyond the arc.
The win was the Lady Mocs’ 15th consecutive and moved UTC to 16-3 overall and 10-0 in the league play. The Phoenix fall below the .500 mark at 9-10 and 4-6 in SoCon action. The Lady Mocs will host UNC Greensboro in the second game of a three-game homestand Monday night at 7 p.m. Elon will return home to host Western Carolina at Alumni Gym on the same night at the same time.