New Mexico 64, Georgia Southern 43
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. ? New Mexico forward Dionne Marsh scored 22 points in front of 8,505 fans at The Pit, Friday evening, defeating the Georgia Southern women’s basketball team by a 64-43 margin, at the AmeriSuites Midtown Thanksgiving Tournament.
The Lady Eagles fall to 1-5 with the loss, extending a five game losing streak. The tournament host Lobos improve to 3-2 in the first day of the two-day tournament.
The Lady Lobos won the tip-off and put the first points on the board when senior guard Katie Montgomery sank a jumper 30 seconds into the game.
The Lady Eagles first shot attempt was off the mark, but on the next GSU possession, Tiffany Brown’s jumper from the right baseline put the Lady Eagles up on the board for a 4-2 score. Brown led the team with 12 points and three steals.
Starting guard Ashley Rivens gave GSU the 5-4 lead on the next possession, draining a three-pointer at the 17:20 mark.
The Lobos regained the lead the next time down the court on Marsh’s layup.
Carylon Whitney responded with a three-pointer with 16:32 on the clock to give the Lady Eagles the 8-6 lead.
The lead changed hands three more times, ultimately in favor of the Lobos when Marsh sank a layup with 12:22 remaining in the first half, with the Lobos gaining a two-point advantage (14-12). It was last time the lead would change hands for the remainder of the half as New Mexico led the Lady Eagles 29-21 going into the locker room.
The Lady Lobos had recently defeated No. 25 Texas and held the No. 23 ranking just a week ago.
Head coach Rusty Cram was pleased with the defensive performance in the first stanza.
“I thought we played good defense,” said Cram. “We were playing good defense in the first half. We got through a couple combinations, but then we started putting them on the free throw line.”
Georgia southern got into foul trouble drawing 14 first-half fouls, which sent the Lobos to the line nine times. But the Lobos struggled from the charity stripe, making 7-of-17 free throws (41.2 percent) in the first stanza.
Leading the Lady Eagles at the half was Carolyn Whitney and Ashley Rivens with seven points apiece.
Starting the second stanza, Lady Lobos Julie Briody was sent to the line twice within a minute span. She added four more points to the UNM tally to give the Lobos a 33-23 lead.
The Lobos went on a 12-2 run in the first 11 minutes of the half. Christa Waterman broke the drought with two consecutive buckets and a pair of free throws to close the Lobo lead to 41-29 with 9:40 remaining. Waterman finished with seven points and three rebounds.
After a quick Eagles’ foul, Tiffany Brown stole the ball and scored on a fast break layup. On the next possession, Brown buried a three pointer, and the Lady Eagles quickly found themselves down by just nine points (43-34) with 8:52 remaining.
But the Lobos prevented the Lady Eagles from a comeback, as New Mexico went on a 16-1 scoring run, giving the host team a 25-point lead, its largest lead of the contest, with 4:19 remaining.
Though GSU improved its second-half shooting, the Lobos made a game total 20-of-50 (.400) buckets from the field and sank 21 foul shots on 34 attempts.
“It was a great college environment for us to be in tonight playing (New Mexico),” said Cram. “We played some hard-nosed basketball players out there tonight. And we can grow with that.”
The Lobos outscored GSU in the paint by a 26-10 margin, while scoring 21 points off of Georgia Southern’s turnovers. The Lady Eagles defense forced 19 Lobos’ turnovers, leading to 14 GSU points.
Rusty Cram and the Lady Eagles now look ahead to the battle for third place when they play Western Illinois, tomorrow (Nov. 25) at 6 p.m. The championship contest will begin at 8 p.m. and will feature New Mexico versus Siena College. The Saints earlier defeated Westerw the live action by clicking here, then clicking on the game, and then clicking on the GameTracker icon.
UNLV 70, Elon 40
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Latosha Pace scored 17 points off the bench and the UNLV Lady Rebels shot 48.2 percent from the floor to defeat the Elon Phoenix by a 70-40 score in game two of the 2006 Lady Rebel Shootout from the Thomas and Mack Center on Friday.
UNLV (2-2) jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Phoenix (2-2) came back and grabbed its only lead of the game at 4-3 when Tiffany Davis hit a jumper with 17:46 to play in the period. The Lady Rebels retook the lead for good on their next posession as Shamela Hampton netted a layup at 17:29.
The Phoenix kept the game within striking distance and trailed 13-9 after a Nikko King layup with 12:46 to play in the first half, but UNLV closed the period with a 22-6 run to hold a 35-15 lead at the break.
Elon fought hard at the start of the second half, scoring the first bucket of the period, but quickly saw UNLV put more distance between the squads. The Lady Rebels pushed their lead to more than 30 at 64-33 when Pace drained one of her three three-point buckets with 4:30 to play.
Bad luck followed Elon's shots to the rim as the Phoenix got many good looks, but the shots just would not fall and Elon finished the night shooting just 26.2 percent from the field.
Tierra Bumbrey led Elon with nine points and four assists, while King, Rachel Hester and Amber Wall all finished the game with eight points. Both King and Wall led the team with six rebounds.
Along with Pace, UNLV's Samantha Stickler (12 points) and Brittany Halberg (12 points) each finished in double figures in the scoring column. Faye Muller led the Lady Rebels with eight rebounds and Halberg passed for eight assists.
Elon did a tremendous job shutting down Sequoia Holmes, UNLV's leading scorer who entered the night averaging 20.0 points per game, holding her to just five points on the night.
Despite 18 offensive rebounds, Elon trailed on the boards by a 47-36 margin.
Elon will now take on Kansas State in the consolation game of the Lady Rebel Shootout at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time (4:00 p.m. Eastern) on Saturday. UNLV advances to the championship game against Wisconsin.
Western Carolina 71, Weber State 70
Fort Collins, Colo. ? Trailing by two with three seconds remaining in regulation, Western Carolina junior Chevon Keith knocked down a pair of free throws to knot the game at 61 and force overtime. In the extra session, the Lady Catamounts rallied from down five points to pull ahead, 71-70, on two more Keith charity tosses and used a pair of free throws from junior Jessika Johnson to down the Weber State Wildcats, 72-70, in the first round game of the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational.
The Lady Catamounts advance to Saturday’s championship game against the host Colorado State Rams, who defeated Idaho on Friday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 pm MT (10:00 pm ET) at the Moby Arena. The game will be carried by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard locally in Cullowhee on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 or online at www.WWCUFM.com <http://www.wwcufm.com/> or www.CatamountSports.com <http://www.catamountsports.com/> .
Western (2-3) had four players score in double figures led by 18 from junior Monique Dawson who added a team-high tying eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Kendra Eaton tallied a career-high 13 points, also pulling down eight boards, with Keith scoring 12 ? all in the second half and overtime ? and sophomore Lauren Powell with 11. Senior Erin May was a third Lady Cat to record eight rebounds, adding six points off the bench for WCU.
Weber State opened the game with seven answered points to take the early lead, 7-0. However, the Lady Catamounts countered with a 9-0 spurt to take their first lead of the game, 9-7, at the 14:40 mark of the first half. Four minutes later, WCU pulled ahead, 13-12, and ran out to a seven-point advantage, 24-17, with six minutes to play before halftime. However, WSU rallied with a 10-2 run to take a one-point lead, which was their point margin at intermission, 31-30.
At the outset of the second half, Weber State ran out to a four-point advantage twice before WCU countered at the 14 minute mark to lead by two, 38-36. The Wildcats pulled back out and continued to hold the lead in the see-saw affair, taking a five-point advantage at the eight minute mark.
With 1:07 showing on the game clock, Western trailed by four after a WSU senior Chelsey Warburton drained a shot clock buzzer-beating, 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 61-57 lead. On the ensuing possession, Western nearly lost the ball in traffic in the lane, but a key timeout kept the ball in the Lady Catamounts court. After the stoppage, Powell connected on a runner in the lane to cut the deficit to two, 61-59. At the opposite end, Warburton had her lay-up attempt blocked by Johnson, who also corralled the rebound. Powell tried to tie the game up but missed on a lay-up attempt. However, she was able to gather her own offensive rebound and dish to Keith who threw one towards the rim and was fouled setting up her overtime-forcing free throws.
In overtime, Weber State again ran out to a five-point advantage midway through the session, but again the resilient Lady Catamounts countered. Eaton tipped in her final two points off a miss to shave the deficit down to three, 69-66. After one made Wildcat free throw, Keith scored in the paint to cut it to two. May pulled Western to within one with a 1-of-2 showing from the free throw line. On WSU’s next possession, reserve guard Ahkiah Hunter missed a lay-up and then turned the ball over after pulling down the board with a foul. Keith then went to the other end and hit a pair of charity tosses to put WCU up by one, 71-70. After Weber’s Shantee Releford missed two free throws, Johnson got the rebound, was fouled, and hit a free throw for the two-point lead and time expired as the Wildcats attempted to rush the ball up the court for the final shot.
All told, the back-and-forth affair, which was never led by more than seven points on either side, endured 11 lead changes and was tied eight times. Western out rebounded the Wildcats, 51-to-42, which included 22 offensive rebounds.
Weber State had three players reach double-digits led by a game-high 25 from guard Sara Tuomi, who was 10-of-15 shooting including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Warburton added 21 points with post Shantee Releford scoring 11 and pulling down a career-best 17 rebounds.
South Alabama 63, College of Charleston 51
BROOKLYN, N.Y. ? A sluggish second half on eight-of-31 shooting from the Cougars gave South Alabama the advantage as the Lady Jags topped College of Charleston, 63-51, in the LIU Turkey Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Cougars (1-3) will play Cleveland State on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the consolation game, and the Lady Jags (3-1) will take on host Long Island at 4 p.m. in the championship game.
College of Charleston out-shot South Alabama in the first half, despite the Jags’ 33-29 score at the half. The Cougars got within two, 40-38, on five straight points from Jade Hughes at the 15:36 mark, but the Jags stretched their lead to as many as 13 to seal the win.
South Alabama out-rebounded the Cougars, 29-52
Jade Hughes led Charleston with 14 and dished out a game-high seven assists. She was followed by Erika Smith with 12. Sarah Moye and Ashley Scott each grabbed five rebounds to lead the defensive effort.
Furman 53, Duquesne 51
Wilmington, N.C. -- Melissa Liebschwager knocked down both ends of a one-and-one with 3.7 seconds remaining to lift Furman to a 53-51 win over Duquesne in the first game of the Hilton Wilmington Riverside Classic on Friday afternoon.
With the score tied at 49 apiece and less than one minute to play, Kristi Little hit both shots of a one-and-one to put the Dukes ahead 51-49 with 38 seconds left in the game. Maggie McKemie was fouled during one free throw attempt, and made a pair from the line to pull Furman back even. Little missed a layup, and Furman called timeout with six seconds showing on the clock.
The Lady Paladins inbounded to Liebschwager, who drove down the left side of the lane, and was tripped up by Little. The sophomore from Memphis, Tenn. hit both free throws to secure the win for Furman.
Jessica Lange led the Lady Paladins with 10 points, while Sarah Baker hit three treys to add nine points for Furman. The Lady Paladins got scoring contributions from ten players on the night.
Furman led by one point at halftime, but Duquesne came out of the lockerroom on a 9-0 run in the first three and a half minutes to take a 32-24 lead on Jocelyn Chandler’s layup. The Dukes had a three point lead with two minutes remaining as Jade Singleton hit a jumpshot, but Lee Stephens’ second three-pointer of the half tie the game at 49-49 with 52 seconds remaining.
Courtney Opie and McKemie each recorded six rebounds for the Lady Paladins, while Chrissy Phelps added a career-high six assists to go along with her seven points, including four-of-four from the free throw line in the second half.
With the win, Furman improves to 3-1 on the season, while Duquesne falls to 2-2 overall. The Lady Paladins are back in action on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. against the winner of the UNCW-Youngstown State game in the championship game of the Hilton Wilmington Riverside Classic.
Middle Tennessee State 98, Chattanooga 69
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Four players scored in double-digits for the Chattanooga women's basketball team, but it wasn't enough as the Lady Mocs fell 98-69 to Middle Tennessee (3-2) at The Murphy Athletic Center Friday night.
Alex Anderson led the Lady Mocs with 16 points and eight rebounds. She scored just two points in four minutes in the first half. She sat out most of the period with foul trouble as did Brooke Hand, who was just 1-for-3 from the 3-point line with nine points on the night.
Chattanooga got on the board first with Hand's trey, but Middle bounced right back getting a pair of free throws from Starr Orr, then Amber Holt stole the ball and got a layup to take a 4-3 lead at 18:09.
UTC retook the lead on a 3-pointer from Wade-Fray, but MTSU produced a 9-2 run, building its lead to 13-8 three minutes later. The Lady Mocs hit back-to-back three's from Wade-Fray and Laura Hall to get back in front at 14-13, but it was the last time Chattanooga would hold the lead. Middle Tennessee outscored UTC 24-11 over the next eight minutes to lead 37-25 with 4:25 to play in the first half.
UTC pulled to within seven twice before the half was over, but Middle held on and led 50-38 at the break. Both teams were in foul trouble early as the Blue Raiders pressed from the start and didn't let up. Twenty-five combined fouls were called in the first and both teams were shooting in the bonus at the eight-minute mark.
Laura Hall scored all 12 of her points in the first half, knocking down UTC's final six of the opening period in the final 2:07 of the half. Freshman Jenaya Wade-Fray made her first collegiate start Friday and scored a career-high 11 points, dishing out four assists and making three 3-pointers in the first half.
In the second half, Chrissy Givens scored 10 of the Blue Raiders' first 15 points to build the lead to 65-46 at the 16:03 mark. UTC went on a 6-2 run to get back to 15, but wouldn't get any closer as MTSU handed the Lady Mocs their fist loss in three games.
Shanara Hollinquest came off the bench to score 13 points and grab five boards going 4-for-5 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.
The Lady Mocs were outrebounded for the first time this season 40-28 and held to under 70 points for the first time.
Givens led all scorers with 29 points and had seven rebounds while Holt tallied a double-double with 26 points and 10 boards.
Chattanooga, 3-2, will close out its five-game road trip at Alabama on Wednesday, Nov. 29 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., with an 8:00 p.m. tip-off.
UNCG 81, Longwood 50
GREENSBORO, NC ? The UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team downed Longwood, 81-50, in the opening game of the UNCG Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday afternoon at Fleming Gym.
Senior Jasmine Byrd once again led the Spartans (3-1), finishing with 22 points. The Dumfries, VA native went 8-11 from the field, including 4-6 from beyond the arc. Sophomore Gini Grimsley tallied 13 points, while freshman Agne Girstautaite had eight points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
UNCG had 11 players hit the scoring column, while all 13 Spartans saw playing time. Of the Spartans 81 points, 37 came from the bench.
“We went to the bench and really played our depth and it showed. All around, it was a great team effort for us,” said head coach Lynne Agee.
Longwood (3-2) was led by Abigail Freese and Keiva Small, who finished with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Small also finished with a game-high eight rebounds for the Lancers.
The Spartans set the tone early by opening up the first half on a 16-2 run, led by Byrd, who had nine points in the run. UNCG continued to dominate the first half, only allowing the Lancers to shoot 26 percent from the field and score 18 total points. The Spartans closed out the half shooting 54.5 percent from the field and led 46-18 going into the break.
UNCG scored the first six points of the second half to make it 52-18 after a pair of Byrd free throws. The Spartans largest lead of the game was 38 points, which happened in the final six minutes after a Girstautaite free throw.
After only shooting 24 percent in their 86-40 loss to Charlotte on Monday, the Spartans came out in full force and finished the afternoon by shooting 52 percent.
“We came out ready to play and opened the game in a hurry early,” said Agee. “We maintained the intensity right away and played great defense.”
The 22 Lancer turnovers resulted in 15 steals and 24 points for the Spartans.
The Spartans will play the winner of North Carolina A&T/Providence on Saturday at 3 pm in the tournament’s championship matchup.