SoCon Tip-In’s
Elite Company
The Eagles victory over Wofford on Monday, Jan. 2 allowed Georgia Southern head coach Rusty Cram to tally his 100th SoCon victory. Cram, who is in his 10th season at the helm of the Eagle program, joins Chattanooga’s Wes Moore as the only league coaches ever to matriculate past the century mark in conference wins. Moore, after the Lady Mocs’ 82-75 win over UNC Greensboro on Jan. 2, now has 112 league wins to his credit in eight seasons in charge of the UTC women’s basketball program. Lynne Agee of UNC Greensboro, who enters the 2005-06 season with 95 career victories, will also more than likely usurp the 100 career league win in the upcoming season.
Nation’s Best
The Wofford women's basketball is the nation's top program for steals per game according to the latest statistics released by the NCAA for games through Jan. 2, 2006. The Terriers are averaging 15.5 steals per game, 0.7 more than second-place Oral Roberts.
Career Night
Kitara McMoore garnered the league’s best individual night of the 2005-06 season on Monday, Jan. 2. McMoore, trying to lead the Phoenix to its first SoCon win of the campaign acquired a career-best and season league-high 31 points in Elon’s victory over Western Carolina. McMoore was 12-for-18 from the field on the evening and even acquired 16 rebounds in the Phoenix victory.
We Want McMoore
McMoore’s exploits on the court have not been confined to the game against Western Carolina, as the sophomore forward is the league’s top scorer at 15.2 points per game and the conference’s top rebounder, averaging almost nine boards per contest. McMoore has also tabulated a league-best four double-doubles on the season.
Conference Play in Full Swing
When Western Carolina defeated Wofford on Dec. 31 the 2005-06 SoCon season had reached its fruition since up to that point Western Carolina remained the only school to not hit the hardwood against a league opponent. The upcoming week commences full-fledged league play, with myriad conference institutions done with their non-conference slates.
Squashed
Western Carolina’s SoCon-opening 79-54 win over Wofford on New Year’s Eve ended a season-opening nine-game losing streak. Prior to their win over Wofford, the Catamounts had not seen their names etched in the win column since their SoCon Tournament championship victory last March. The Catamounts could not maintain their winning ways, as Elon defeated the Cats 85-72 on Monday evening in Cullowhee, NC.
Still Chugging
The Holiday season did not seem to slow down the Chattanooga Lady Mocs. Chattanooga, which had almost two weeks in between its win over in-state rival Austin Peay on Dec. 20 and its SoCon win over UNC Greensboro on Jan. 2 have themselves in the midst of a league-high eight-game winning streak. Its eight-game stretch with nary a loss has not gone unnoticed nationally, with the Lady Mocs dropping a bit, but still owning a Top 30 RPI rating (No. 28) per Collegiate Basketball News’ women’s RPI Report.
Crowned Wildcats
After starting the season 2-6, Davidson ended its holiday season efforts on a three-game winning streak and just one game under .500. The Wildcats’ third win in a row left them with a tournament title as well, as Davidson’s victory over Georgia State on Dec. 30 earned them the Hyatt Regency Invitational crown. The 63-56 victory over the host Panthers at GSU Sports Arena left the Wildcats 4-5 on the season against non-conference foes, which included a 70-61 win over in-state rival East Carolina in their Hyatt Regency tourney opener on Dec. 30.
Truly Valuable
Davidson junior Brynn Kelly was named the Hyatt Regency Tournament Most Valuable Player after tallying 24 points and garnering 10 rebounds for the Wildcats in their two victories. Kelly accumulated a career-best 17 points in the Wildcats’ first-round win over the Pirates of East Carolina. Teammate Tia Washington joined Kelly on the all-tournament team due to her all-around solid play. Washington scored 10 points in the win over East Carolina and then acquired six points, six assists and five rebounds in the championship game. Washington, a junior point guard, now has dished out at least one assist in 18 straight contests.
Scouting the SoCon
Appalachian State (6-6, 2-1 SoCon)
Appalachian State had a season-high four-game winning streak snapped in a 74-64 loss to IPFW in its first round game at the Cyclone Classic in Ames, IA on the campus of Iowa State University ... Appalachian rebounded in the consolation game of the tournament, downing Nicholls State 76-54 ... Eboni Kirby finished the contest with 21 points and 15 rebounds ... Kirby averaged 11.7 ppg and 10 rpg in the Mountaineers’ three games ... The team also had another four-game streak break when Furman downed the Mountaineers 67-60 on Monday.
College of Charleston (3-6, 1-1 SoCon)
The Cougars are in the midst of a four-game slide after starting the season 3-2 ... College of Charleston last won on Dec. 5 against the Hatters of Stetson ... College of Charleston fell to Coastal Carolina (58-51) and North Carolina (101-48) over the holiday season.
Chattanooga (9-3, 3-0 SoCon)
The Lady Mocs only had two games over a two week break over the Holiday season, but they were fruitful in the two contests, going 2-0 in the games with wins over in-state rival Austin Peay and SoCon foe UNC Greensboro ... The two wins extended the Lady Mocs’ winning streak to a league-high eight games ... The Lady Mocs erased a 10-point deficit in the second half to UNC Greensboro by shooting 63.3-percent ... UTC’s Laura Hall had a career-best 25 points in the win over the Spartans, going 9-for-10 from the field ... Katasha Brown now has 169 three-pointers and is one trey away from tying Miranda Warfield for most 3-pointers in team history ... When the Lady Mocs take the court against Appalachian on Jan. 7 it will be their fifth straight road contest.
Davidson (5-6, 1-1 SoCon)
Davidson tallied its first perfect week of the season last week in wins over East Carolina and Georgia State ... The two wins earned the Wildcats the crown at the Hyatt Regency Invitational, which was held on the campus of Georgia State at the GSU Sports Arena ... The title earned the Wildcats their first regular-season tournament victory since winning the Lancer Invitational at the commencement of the 2004-05 season ... Brynn Kelly earned tournament most valuable player honors at the Hyatt Regency Tournament ... Kelly had a career-high 17 points in the win over ECU, going a career-best 7-for-8 from the field in the game ... Davidson is now on a season-high three-game winning streak.
Elon (5-6, 1-2 SoCon)
Elon was perfect last week, going 2-0 with wins over UNC Pembroke and Western Carolina ... The win over Western Carolina was the first SoCon victory of the year for the Phoenix ... With the win, Elon usurped its cummulative win total of the 2004-05 season ... The victory over the Cats was also the first road win for the Phoenix in almost a year, with the last road win for the program against Western Carolina on Jan. 17, 2005 ... Kitara McMoore, the league’s leading scorer (15.2 ppg) and rebounder (9.0 rpg), had the best individual game thus far in the conference in the win over Western, finishing with a career-high 31 points, also a league season-high ... McMoore, who owns a league-high four double-doubles, also brought down 16 boards in the contest.
Furman (6-6, 2-1 SoCon)
The Lady Paladins stayed at .500 after going 2-2 over their last four games, with victories over Maryland-Eastern Shore and Appalachian State ... Furman’s win in Boone was only the second road win of the season for the Lady Paladins ... Tommi Parris is 48-for-49 from the charity stripe on the season ... Parris was a perfect 19-for-19 in the four games and averaged 10.8 ppg.
Georgia Southern (4-7, 1-1 SoCon)
Last week was a banner week for Georgia Southern ... In the Eagles’ first SoCon win of the campaign against Wofford, head coach Rusty Cram became only the second SoCon coach all-time to tally 100 league victories, joining Chattanooga’s Wes Moore as the only head coaches to surpass the century mark in conference victories ... Nicole Newton pulled down her 500th career rebound in the Eagles’ 57-53 win over Southern ... Lee Dubose became the sixth player in school history to record 100 3-pointers in their career last week, moving up to second in school history in 3-point percentage (36.4%) as well.
UNC Greensboro (4-7, 0-2 SoCon)
After reeling off a season-high three straight wins, including a victory over the Big East’s West Virginia, UNC Greensboro is now mired in a four-game skid after two losses last week to Coastal Carolina and Chattanooga ... The four-game skid is the program’s longest since succumbing in five straight during the 2003-04 season ... Kristen Boone now has a steal in all 35 games of her collegiate career ... Meghan Chamberlain had a career-high 15 points on Monday in the loss against Chattanooga.
Western Carolina (1-10, 1-1 SoCon)
Western Carolina finally emerged victorious last week in its conference opener against Wofford, snapping a season-opening nine-game slide ... The nine-game slide was the Cats’ longest since dropping nine-consecutive games during the 1991-92 season ... The win over the Terriers was the Cats’ eighth-straight victory over Wofford ... Western held the Terriers to 21 points in the first half, the least amount allowed by the Catamounts since limiting Davidson to 21 in the first half in quarterfinal action at the 2003 SoCon tourney ... The Catamounts recorded a season-best 19 steals against the Terriers ... April Parker earned her first double-double of her career in the loss to Elon with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Wofford (4-7, 0-3 SoCon)
The Terriers got off to their best start in almost four years, but have fallen on hard times of late, losing six straight after opening the season 4-1 ... The Terriers have allowed a league-high 88.3 points in their three conference games, including allowing 80.5 in the Terriers’ two SoCon losses to Western Carolina and Georgia Southern.