Story Courtesy Elon sports information
Western Carolina 56, Elon 48
ELON, NC - The Western Carolina Lady Catamounts posted three players in double figures in the scoring column to defeat the Elon Phoenix by a 56-48 margin in Southern Conference women’s basketball action on Monday afternoon from Alumni Gym on Education Day With the Phoenix.
The tight game featured four ties in the first five minutes, with the last coming at the 15:07 mark when Western Carolina’s Chevon Keith nailed a jumper to even the score at 11. After both teams suffered a scoreless drought of 8:04, Western Carolina (4-16, 4-7 SoCon) pushed its lead to seven at 20-13 with 3:44 left in the half when Teyawna Hardy hit a jumper. A three-point bucket from Myra Donkin with five seconds remaining in the period drew Elon (9-11, 4-7) to within one at 22-21 at the break.
After WCU pushed its advantage to 26-21 early in the second stanza, Elon went on a 7-2 run to even the score at 28 when Tierra Bumbrey drained a jumper at the 14:40 mark. The score remained close and Elon grabbed its first lead of the second half when a Nikko King layup with 6:02 to play put the Phoenix ahead 46-44. The Lady Cats immediately answered and knotted the score at 46 when Keith hit a jumper.
From that point, Western Carolina went on a 12-2 run to end the game and provide the final margin.
Bumbrey finished the game with a season and game-high 16 points for Elon. Donkin added a career-best 13 markers off the bench for the Phoenix. Kitara McMoore, the league’s leading scorer at 15.1 points per game, was held to only four points, but grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.
Western Carolina was paced by 14 points from Lauren Powell, including four threes. Hardy netted 11 points and Keith finished the afternoon with 10 markers. Keith finished one rebound shy of a double-double.
The Lady Cats outrebounded Elon by a 41-34 margin and also held edges in turnovers (14-15) and field goal percentage (39.6-34.5). The Phoenix tallied 11 assists to eight for WCU and swiped seven steals to six for the Lady Cats.
Story Courtesy College of Charleston sports information
Davidson 71, College of Charleston 67
CHARLESTON, SC - The College of Charleston stormed back from a 19-point deficit in the second half only to fall just short at the end and lose a heartbreaker to Davidson, 71-67 in women’s basketball action tonight in front of 563 fans at the John Kresse Arena.
The Cougars drop to 9-10 overall and 6-5 in the Southern Conference, while the Wildcats snap a two-game losing streak to go to 11-9 and 7-4 in the league.
Davidson stormed out of the gates in the first half, holding the Cougars to the teens in field goal percentage much of time, while shooting in the 60s. Davidson led 39-20 with 2:37 to go before Charleston staged a small comeback with a 9-1 run to end the half down by 11, 40-29. Davidson ended the stanza shooting 56.3 from the field, while Charleston improved its percentage to 40.7. Charleston had 13 turnovers in the first half compared to just seven for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats came out of intermission and picked up where they left off, extending their lead to 19 at 54-35 with 15:18 left in the game. The Cougars turned a corner, outscoring the Wildcats 30-10 over the next 11-and-a-half minutes to pull ahead 65-64 with 3:28 left. The Cougars would lead by as much as three before the Wildcats used four straight free throws to take back the lead and keep it for good, holding the Cougars scoreless over the next minute-and-a-half to take the eventual 71-67 win. Charleston shot 39.4 in the second half, while Davidson was held to just 29.6. The Wildcats outscored the Cougars 26-6 inside the paint in the half, finishing the game ahead 34-18.
The College of Charleston shot 40.0 percent for the game and Davidson shot 44.1. Charleston edged Davidson in rebounds 4-137 and only had six turnovers in the second half to end with 19, compared to 15 for the Wildcats.
Sarah Moye collected her second career double-double with 10 points and a team-leading 12 rebounds. Jade Hughes paced the team in scoring with 15 while Erica Irick followed with 10 along with Moye. Danielle Hemerka led Davidson with 16 points and Brynn Kelly paced the squad with nine boards.
Story Courtesy Georgia Southern sports information
Georgia Southern 80, Wofford 73
STATESBORO, GA - Freshman Ashley Rivens (Charlotte, N.C.) scored six of Georgia Southern’s final seven points helping complete a 10-0 run in the final three minutes to down Wofford 80-73 Monday in women’s basketball action from Hanner Fieldhouse.
Georgia Southern improves to 9-11 overall and 6-5 in the Southern Conference. Wofford falls to 6-14, 2-9.
GSU senior Nicole Newton (Dublin, Ga.) tied her career high with 24 points and set a new personal best with six steals. Fellow senior Lee DuBose (Jefferson, Ga.) added 12 and sophomore Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) and freshman Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) had 11 each.
“I don’t know what else can be said about Nicole,” said Georgia Southern head coach Rusty Cram. “Everybody is doubling her up and setting their defense up to stop her. She continues to find that soft area, and sometimes it takes us the entire first half to find the weakness. She does such a great job of reading that.”
The Terriers’ Mary Jo Yee and Kelsi Koenig shared team-high honors with 16 points each while Liz Miller tallied 12.
Neither team led by more than four points in the first 10 minutes, stalemating to a 22-22 tie. Newton proceeded to score four straight and senior Leslie Spoon (Benton, La.) finished off the 6-0 run with a jumper.
Wofford quickly responded with a 9-0 rally, with five coming from Yee. The Terriers built a five-point lead (38-33) after two free throws from Koenig at the 2:47 mark, but the Lady Eagles scored nine unanswered points on four straight possessions and eventually went into the break up 44-41.
The two teams combined to shoot 54.8 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes. The Lady Eagles’ 54.5 percent was the second-highest in a first half all season.
The Lady Eagles led for most of the second period, stretching their advantage to as much as six on two brief occasions. The final time came with seven and a half minutes left after two free throws from Rivens. Yee responded with a quick three-pointer, one of a season-high-tying four on the night, and two points from the charity stripe by Miller cut the deficit to one.
Atwood made one of two from the line but Wofford’s Jenny Weurding hit a lay-up on the next trip down the floor to knot the score at 66-66 with 6:08 remaining, and Koenig hit a triple to cap off the 10-1 run.
Lay-ups by Atwood and Newton put GSU back on top by one, but a free throw by LaToya Strong and another trifecta from Yee gave the Terriers’ their final lead of the contest, 73-70, with three and a half minutes left.
A free throw from sophomore Christa Waterman (Sugar Hill, Ga.) and a bucket by Newton tied the score. Rivens took over from there, hitting two free throws to break the tie, and then hit her only field goal of the night, a runner down the lane for a four-point lead (77-73). Georgia Southern forced a key turnover before Rivens iced the game with two more points from the line.
“Ashley nailing those free throws relaxed us enough to take a deep breath and finish the ballgame under control,” added Cram. “Those free throws were bigger than just the points - they allowed us to finish the game.”
Atwood notched her first career double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Melson dished out five assists, tying her personal best.
Story Courtesy Chattanooga sports information
Chattanooga 72, UNC Greensboro 68
CHATTANOOGA, TN - Sophomore Alex Anderson tallied her fifth double-double this season and iced the game for the Lady Mocs with a pair of free throws with 5.7 seconds to play and Chattanooga held on to win its 16th consecutive game, edging UNC Greensboro 72-68 at the McKenzie Arena Monday night.
Anderson had 16 points and 10 rebounds and two blocks for Chattanooga, but missed opportunities down the stretch to put the game away. She made one free throw at the 4:19 mark to give UTC a 64-60 lead, but missed the next and two more with 1:45 to play as the Lady Mocs held a slim 66-63 lead.
Anderson found Tiffani Roberson under the basket with 1:10 to play and the Lady Mocs led 68-63, but Greensboro’s Kristen Boone put in a quick jumper to get back to within three. Roberson missed a layup with 32 seconds and Anderson was fouled on the rebound. Her free throw troubles continued as she missed the first of a two-shot attempt.
After a 30-second Chattanooga timeout, Anderson stuck the second and UTC led 69-65. Nicole Mattison forced a turnover by Boone and was fouled on the break. She hit the first of her two free throws and Chattanooga led 70-65, but her second rimmed out and the Spartans responded with a 3-pointer from Kemena Brooks to pull to within two, 70-68 with eight seconds to play.
Boone fouled Anderson with 5.7 second remaining in the game, sending her to the line once again. Anderson, 8-of-15 from the line, sent the first one through and after another 30-second timeout from Moore, the second found home and the Lady Mocs led 72-68. Brooks 3-point shot as time wound down clanked off the front of the rim and Chattanooga moved to 17-3 overall and 11-0 in league play.
“They were definitely the aggressor tonight,” Lady Mocs Head Coach Wes Moore said. “They came out hungry. We still have a lot of areas to address and the one that stands out is the rebounding situation. To be outrebounded 51-35 just doesn’t get it.”
The Spartans outrebounded Chattanooga 23-19 in the first half and stepped it up the second grabbing 28 off the glass to UTC’s 16 including 19 second half defensive boards.
To start the game, Greensboro jumped out to a quick start on Chattanooga with a 10-1 run. The Lady Mocs were 0-6 before they saw their first field goal at the 15:06 mark on a 3-pointer from Nicole Mattison making it 10-4 UNCG. Chattanooga cut it to 16-17 on a fast break play from Anderson to Roberson and the Lady Mocs’ first lead of the game came on Brooke Hand’s 50th 3-pointer of the season, putting UTC up 21-19. The Lady Mocs led 37-29 at the half.
Chattanooga scored 14 points off 16 Spartan turnovers, but UNCG outscored the Lady Mocs in the paint 34-28 and had 17 more second chance points, 27-10. UTC shot 44.8 percent from the floor, making 26-of-58 and six from beyond the arc while the Spartans (10-10, 6-5) went 28-of-70 for a 40 percent performance.
Tiffani Roberson led all scorers with 17 points and had six rebounds and Katasha Brown chipped in 11 points and tied her season high with seven rebounds. Mattison had nine points, four rebounds and dished out six assists. Laura Hall had nine points and Hand mustered eight.
Four UNC Greensboro players registered double figures led by Boone’s 14. She had five assists, five rebounds and three steals. KaLeah Latham and Ashley Current each had 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds while and Kemena Brooks recorded 10 points.