Western Carolina 74, Wake Forest 71
Winston-Salem, N.C. - Western Carolina closed the first half with a 24-to-6 run to lead at halftime by two, then only trailed once in the second half en route to downing Wake Forest, 74-71, Tuesday night in nonconference women's basketball action.
The Lady Catamounts (1-1) were led by junior guard Monique Dawson with a career-high 24 points including 10 from the free throw line. She was joined in double-figures by sophomore guard Lauren Powell with 17 and junior Chevon Keith with 11.
WCU trailed by as many as 16 in the first half, 22-6, before closing the stanza by outscoring Wake, 24-6, to lead at intermission, 30-28. In the second half, the Demon Deacons (1-2) pulled ahead, 35-34, at the 17:34 mark. But a Powell 3-pointer at 17:19 put the Lady Catamounts ahead for good. Western converted on 12 of 14 over the final three minutes to hold on for the victory, just its second out of the last six meetings with Wake Forest.
Western returns to action this Friday and Saturday in tournmaent action in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Lady Cats face Xavier this Friday at 6:00 pm.
Georgia Tech 79, Appalachian State 53
BOONE, N.C. ? Georgia Tech used a second-half surge to hand Appalachian State University women’s basketball its first loss of the season by a score of 79-53, Tuesday at the Holmes Convocation Center.
With the loss the Mountaineers fall even to 1-1 on the season. The Yellow Jackets improve to a perfect 2-0 with the win. After a 22-steal performance in its season-opener Saturday, ASU produced just eight steals, but forced 23 turnovers by the visitors.
Georgia Tech scored 17 points off of free throw attempts, finishing at a
94.4 percent mark as a team. The Mountaineers continued to run on offense, scoring 15 fast break points.
Senior Jaime Bennett (Woodstock, Ga.) scored a career high 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor and 7-of-8 from the line to lead Appalachian, who trailed at halftime by a 29-26 margin. Bennett led the team with eight rebounds and added two assists. Junior Whitney Tossie (Oviedo, Fla.), coming off a career-high game against UCF, added 14 points and six boards for the Mountaineers.
Junior Maria Grimes (Birmingham, Ala.) joined Bennett and Tossie in double-figure scoring with 11 points. She added team highs with five assists and four steals.
The Yellow Jackets were able to build on their lead in the second half through a 22-point effort from guard Chioma Nnamaka. Nnamaka shot 5-of-9 from beyond the arc to pace Georgia Tech. Janie Mitchell added 20 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots, while Stephanie Higgs chipped in 15 points, four assists and three steals.
Appalachian trailed by three,29-26 at halftime. Georgia Tech outscored its opponent, 37-10 in the next 11 minutes, including a 24-0 run to take its largest lead of the game of 30 points at 66-36 with 9:08 to go in the game.
The Mountaineers counted with a 13-0 run of their own to pull within 23, as GT’s next hoop didn’t come until the 2:32 mark. The Yellow Jackets put 10 more points on the board in the final two and a half minutes as they went on to defeat Appalachian, 79-53.
Georgia Tech scored first at the 19:43 mark on a layup by Janie Mitchell, but ASU grabbed its first lead of the game at 6-4, extending it to 8-4 off a jumper by Bennett with 17 minutes to go in the opening period.
With the game tied at 10 with 14:31 to go in the half, ASU went on a seven-minute scoring drought and GT scored 10 in that period of time to take a 20-10 lead. Down 10 at 27-17 with 2:44 to go in the half, the Mountaineers outscored the Yellow Jackets, 9-2 to pull within three and enter halftime down 29-26.
ASU will leave the friendly confines of the Holmes Center for the first time this season in its next game, when the Mountaineers travel to Normal, Ala. to face Alabama A&M Saturday, November 18 at 4 p.m.