Elon 60, Campbell 46
ELON, N.C. ? Led by Tierra Bumbrey’s game-high 17 points, the Elon Phoenix claimed a 60-46 victory in non-conference women’s basketball action over the Campbell Lady Camels in the first game of the 2006-07 season for both squads from Alumni Gym on Saturday afternoon.
Campbell (0-1) netted the first four points of the game and grabbed its largest lead of the game at 8-3 with 15:02 to play in the first period when Octavia Blackwell put in a layup.
The Phoenix (1-0) would tie the score at eight on a Tiffany Davis layup at the 13:52 mark and took its first lead of the game at 9-8 when Davis hit the first of two free throws with 12:53 to play in the half.
The Lady Camels reclaimed the lead at 15-13 on a layup from Gara Bell at the 10:35 mark, but would eventually surrender the lead for good when Elon’s Amber Wall put in a layup off an assist from Davis that put the Phoenix ahead 18-17 with 5:57 remaining in the first stanza.
Elon would outscore Campbell 13-6 over the remainder of the half and held a 31-23 edge at the break.
During the first 5:02 of the second half, the Phoenix went on a 14-6 run, including nine points from Bumbrey, and grabbed its largest advantage of the day at 45-29.
The Lady Camels clipped away at the Elon lead and clawed back to within four points with 3:43 to play when Bell hit a layup to make the score 49-45.
From that point on, the Phoenix scored six points to only one for Campbell to provide the final margin.
Along with Bumbrey, Elon was led by Davis’ 12 points. Bumbrey swiped four steals and passed for three assists. Nikko King paced the Phoenix on the boards with eight rebounds.
Campbell’s Adrienne Rieley and Blackwell each finished the day with 10 points. Rieley recorded her first double-double of the season as she also collected a game-high 10 rebounds. Bell grabbed 10 rebounds as well for the Lady Camels.
Overall, Elon held advantages in the following statistical categories: free throw percentage (71.4-44.0), blocks (4-2), steals (11-8) and turnovers (19-31). Campbell outrebounded Elon (52-40) and held an advantage in field goal percentage (32.7-30.8).
Up next for the Phoenix will be a trip to North Carolina. Elon will take on the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill at 5:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Campbell will host UNC Greensboro at 7:00 p.m. that same day.
Appalachian State 64, UCF 44
BOONE, N.C. - Junior Whitney Tossie scored a career-high 22 points and senior Jaime Bennett grabbed a career-
high 14 rebounds to spur Appalachian State University women’s basketball past UCF, 64-44, in its season-opener Saturday at the Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers start their season at 1-0 for the first time in five years. The loss is the Golden Knights’ first on opening day in three seasons.
Appalachian tied a school record with 22 steals on the afternoon and forced 37 UCF turnovers. Thirty-three of the Mountaineers’ 64 points came off of Golden Knight turnovers and 31 of their points came on the fast break.
ASU also held UCF to just 29.6 (16-54) percent shooting from the field. Appalachian finished the game shooting 48.3 (28-58) percent.
Tossie (Oviedo, Fla.) led the defensive effort as well, adding eight steals to her 22 points. She moved into sole possession of fifth place in the ASU record books with 155 career steals. The 5-9 guard added team highs of four assists and two blocked shots.
Bennett (Woodstock, Ga.) came a point shy of a double-double with nine points and 14 boards. She added three assists on the day. Junior college transfer Maria Grimes (Birmingham, Ala.) joined Tossie in double digits with 11 points. Grimes and freshman GiGi Thomas (Tallahassee, Fla.) each added five steals in their Appalachian debuts.
Keunta Miles and Francine Houston led the spread-out UCF offense with seven points, respectively, while Amber Long and Kristin Thomas each chipped in six points. Miles and Thomas each added six rebounds. Celeste Hudson led the team with three steals.
The Golden Knights scored first after halftime off a jumper by Miles, before the Mountaineers used an 8-0 run to force a UCF timeout and give the home team a 36-23 advantage with 17:02 to go in the game. The Golden Knights would once again get as close as 12 at 49-37 with 8:04 left in the game, but the Mountaineers outscored the visitors, 14-7 in the final eight minutes for a 64-44 victory.
UCF scored first in the game on a jumper by Houston at the 19:04 mark. Tossie converted her own steal into two points on the visitor’s next possession to tie the game at two. The Golden Knights claimed their only other lead of the game at 5-4, before ASU outscored UCF, 12-4, in the next five minutes for a 20-9 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
With under a minute to go in the opening period, UCF trailed by nine at 28-19 before Houston hit two free throws in the final four seconds to cut the ASU lead to seven at 28-21 heading into halftime.
The Mountaineers remain at home as they host Georgia Tech, Tuesday, November 14 at 7 p.m. at the Holmes Center.