Alabama 68, Chattanooga 56
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The Lady Mocs closed out a five-game road trip with a 68-56 loss to Alabama Wednesday night at the Coleman Coliseum.
Alex Anderson tallied her third double-double of the year with 16 points and a career-high tying 18 rebounds. UTC outrebounded Alabama 48-41 and snagged 22 offensive boards which translated into 19 second chance points.
Amy Mohr forced a turnover and cut the Tide's lead to 48-44 at the 8:18 mark, but that was as close as it would get for UTC as Alabama came back to outscore the Lady Mocs 10-1 to go up by 13 points with 6:39 to play.
Chattanooga was cold from the free throw line sinking just 7-of-17 and managed five from the 3-point line.
After shooting just better than 25 percent in the first half, Chattanooga stepped it up and went 13-for-28 in the second, scoring 37 points.
Brooke Hand hit three from beyond the arc for 11 points while Shanara Hollinquest chipped in 11 points as well making 4-for-7 from the floor.
The Tide's Navonda Moore scored 17 second half points en route to a game-high 25. Courtney Strauthers had 10 points for Alabama and Kate Mastin, who averages more than 20 points a game was held to 10. Alabama improves to 5-2 on the year.
The Lady Mocs even their record at 3-3 and return home to host the Courtyard Classic Dec. 2-3 at the McKenzie Arena. Western Carolina will take on Eastern Kentucky Saturday at 1 p.m. and the Lady Mocs will host St. Joseph's after the conclusion of that game. On Sunday, UTC will take on Eastern Kentucky after the WCU-SJU game at 1:00 p.m.
Davidson 81, High Point 63
HIGH POINT, N.C. ? Using a 13-0 run to open the game and dropping in 54.7 percent of its shots (29-of-53), the Davidson Wildcats finished out their six-game road trip with a solid 81-63 win over High Point at Millis Center on Wednesday evening in women's basketball action. Davidson concluded the road trip at 4-2 to improve its overall record to 5-2 on the season.
Davidson finished up its longest road trip since a six-game swing at the start of the 2003-04 season when they went 2-4. High Point suffered its third loss and is now 2-3 overall.
The 81 points were just one off of the 82 the Wildcats scored earlier this season against East Tennessee State. Every Wildcat player that suited up this evening etched their names in the scorers' book and for the first time this year, Davidson placed five players, all starters, in double-figures.
The 54.7 percent shooting was a season-best and the 'Cats were just as deadly from behind the arc, hitting five of their 12 shots for a 41.7 percent
Davidson, who shot 57.1 percent in the second half on Sunday in a win over Cornell, carried its sizzling shooting on into the first stanza against High Point. The Wildcats scored on every shot in the books, racing out to a 13-0 lead before the first media timeout was blown. They hit five of their first eight shots and finished the half at a 51.5 percent clip, including 44.4 from downtown.
Davidson was carried offensively in the first half by seniors Jessica Mitchell (Wilkesboro, N.C.) and Brynn Kelly (Spokane, Wash.), along with redshirt junior Katie Hamilton (Lilburn, Ga.). The trio combined to score 25 of the Wildcats' 45 points in the first half, and Mitchell and Hamilton canned a combined three three-balls in leading Davidson to a 45-29 halftime advantage.
Hamilton led all Wildcat scorers' with 14 points, while Mitchell and Kelly finished with 12 points apiece. Junior Danielle Hemerka (Blackwood, N.J.) was second on the team with 13 points and senior Tia Washington (Charlotte, N.C.) gave Davidson five players in double-digits with 10 points.
Much was the same in the second half as the Wildcats scored the first nine points, while holding High Point scoreless till the 15:16 mark. Davidson would jump out to its largest advantage, 58-31, at the 12:43 mark on a Hamilton layup and the Wildcats missed only eight shots (12-of-20) in the entire second half for a 60.0 percent clip. The Panthers got no closer than 14 points as the Wildcats picked up their fifth double-figure win by the count of 81-63.
Davidson did a majority of its damage in the paint, scoring 42 of its 81 total points. Their unselfish play was one reason the 'Cats got so many easy looks, dishing out 18 assists led by four players with three each. The Wildcats moved their streak of dishing out 10 or more assists to 25 games.
Defensively, the Wildcats held High Point to 34.9 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers, marking the third time this year they have held an opponent to under 35 percent shooting while forcing 20 or more turnovers.
Keeping the Panthers somewhat close was its three-point shooting. High Point buried 11 shots from behind the arc with Candyce Sellars and Ayonna Thompson combining for six as each scored a game-high 20 points. Sellars closed with a double-double, pulling in 10 rebounds in leading the Panthers to a 37-34 advantage.
The Wildcats finally return home after their six-game road swing and will start a four-game homestand with a matchup against Emory on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 2 p.m. This will be the Wildcats first-ever meeting against the Eagles.
Western Carolina 81, UNC Asheville 78
Asheville, N.C. ? Western Carolina junior Ashley Pellom scored a career-high 20 points off the bench and her classmate Monique Dawson made 13-of-15 from the free throw line, including four inside the final 20 seconds, as the Lady Catamounts held on for the 81-78 victory over mountain-rival UNC Asheville Wednesday night in front of 741 in the Justice Center.
The win, which snapped WCU’s three-game losing skid to the Bulldogs, was the third-in-a-row for Western this season and pushed the Lady Catamounts above .500 at 4-3. It also gave Western Carolina its first lead, 3-2, in the head-to-head Parkway Series competition. UNCA dropped its third-straight to fall to 2-4 on the year.
The game endured 17 ties and 19 lead changes with neither squad managing more than a six-point lead. WCU matched its largest advantage inside the final minute of the game as Pellom sank a pair of free throws to push the Lady Cats ahead 76-70. However, UNCA would not go away as Katie Baldwin connected on her second of two 3-pointers on the night to pull the ?Dogs within three, 76-73 with 28 seconds to play. After Western’s Lauren Powell hit one of two charity tosses for a four-point lead, UNCA’s Brittany Hendley shook free and buried another trey to close the deficit to one, 77-76, with 22 seconds remaining. Yet, Dawson connected on four-in-a-row from the line to propel WCU to the win.
For the second-straight game, Pellom led four Lady Catamounts in double figures, connecting on 7-of-12 from the field and a was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. The Wilmington, N.C., native also dished out four assists and pulled down four rebounds. Despite struggling from the floor (3-of-12), Dawson was nearly perfect from the charity stripe, connecting on a career-high 13 en route to 19 points. Powell chipped in 14 points in front of her hometown crowd, while junior Chevon Keith just missed her first double-double of the season finishing with 11 points, a team-high nine rebounds, and dishing out a career-best seven assists.
Midway through the first half, WCU opened up the see-saw affair with five-unanswered points to take a six-point, 31-26 lead at the 9:53 mark. Then, over the next three minutes, neither team could manage to score, combining for six turnovers and eight missed shots. The Bulldogs countered with a 16-to-4 run to erase the six-point deficit and build a six-point lead of their own with two and a half remaining before intermission. Although Pellom hit a runner in the lane at the buzzer, UNCA led at the half by one, 41-40.
Both teams traded baskets throughout the majority of the second half before Western pulled ahead by its largest margin of the second half at six inside the game’s final 60 seconds.
UNC Asheville was led by junior guard Ashton Barton who tied a career-high with 25 points. Hendley added a career-high 21 points, while Amanda Elder finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Hendley had a season-high seven assists.
Western Carolina shot 52-percent from the field in the first half en route to season-high 48-percent for the game, while Asheville hit 27-of-63 shots, including a season-high 10 3-pointers for 42.9-percent .
Western Carolina returns to action this Saturday and Sunday in tournament play at the Courtyard Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Lady Catamounts will face Eastern Kentucky on Saturday at 1:00 pm and Saint Joseph’s on Sunday also at 1:00 pm. Both games can be heard on www.CatamountSports.com <http://www.catamountsports.com/> , with Sunday’s contest also broadcast on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 and www.WWCUFM.com <http://www.wwcufm.com/> .
Clemson 67, Furman 62
Clemson, S.C. -- D’Lesha Lloyd and Lele Hardy each recorded double-doubles and Clemson withstood a Furman second half rally as the Tigers defeated the Lady Paladins 67-62 on Wednesday night in front of 1,341 at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Furman, looking for its second straight win at Clemson, placed three players in double-figures, but could not overcome a 10-for-25 effort from the free throw line in the second half.
The Lady Paladins entered the game shooting 66 percent from the free throw line on the season, and had shot better than 81.3 percent from the charity stripe in each of the last three contests. Furman finished the game
13-for-29 from the line, for a season-low 44.8 percent.
Lloyd led Clemson with 16 points and 13 rebound, while Hardy added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers.
Courtney Opie scored a career-high 19 points for Furman. The sophomore from Powder Springs, Ga. made 8-of-12 shots from the field and 3-for-6 from the line. Chrissy Phelps added ten points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds. Lee Stephens also reached double-figures for Furman with ten points.
Trailing 27-24 at the half, Furman scored four straight points in the first minute of the second half to grab a 28-27 lead. Clemson responded with a 14-0 run, as Furman could not score over the next five minutes. The Tiger lead grew to as many as 16 when Tasha Taylor’s jumpshot made the score 47-31 with 12 minutes remaining.
Furman battled back, cutting the lead to five points on three occasions, but could not get any closer as the Tigers held on for their third win of the season.
Clemson held a 36-20 advantage in points in the paint, while Furman edged the Tigers 17-14 in points off turnovers. Clemson snared 16 offensive rebounds, converting them into 19 second chance points.
With the win, Clemson improves to 3-4 overall this season, while Furman evens its record at 3-3 with the loss. The Lady Paladins are back in action on Saturday as Furman plays host to Coastal Carolina at 1:30 p.m. in Timmons Arena.