Wofford 77, Winthrop 51
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- A career-high 20 points by sophomore point guard Liz Miller keyed a trio of Terriers in double figures as Wofford ran away early and never looked back in earning a 77-51 victory against Winthrop in women's basketball action Friday evening inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C.
Miller connected on 5-of-7 3-pointers and six field goals overall in addition to 3-of-4 from the foul line to lead all scorers and register a career-best outing for the second-straight game. The State College, Pa., native added four steals, three rebounds, three assists and just one turnover in 28 minutes.
The contest started with Wofford (5-2) seeing a near mirror image of itself as Winthrop donned old away Terrier uniforms after leaving its own uniforms unintentionally back home in Rock Hill, S.C.
The Terriers capitalized on the Lady Eagles in the first half after the two teams kept the score close for the first 15 minutes. Two six-point Terrier advantages were the largest margin by either team until Miller hit her lone 2-point field goal of the night at 4:40 give Wofford a 30-23 edge. Junior Kelsi Koenig then tallied seven of the team's last nine points in the frame as the Terriers closed the half on an overall 13-5 surge to take a 39-28 lead into the break.
Wofford continued to increase its lead to 16, 44-28, early in the second half when Miller converted on the first of three treys in the second stanza at 18:21. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Miller pushed the margin to 18, 50-32, nearly three minutes later at 15:26. Winthrop (2-7) attempted to chip away at the lead on a layup by Amanda Leigh and free throws from Jessica Fansler; however, the Terriers would not let the visitors get any closer than 15 points the remainder of the game.
Another set of consecutive triples, this time by senior Mary Jo Yee, gave Wofford a 25-point edge, 63-38, with 8:54 to play. Freshmen Kristin Bradley and Kelly Dwyer gave the Terriers their largest lead of the night, 28 points, on separate occasions late in the half. Bradley's field goal was the first of her young Wofford career.
Junior Kelsi Koenig finished with 17 points, including a 4-of-6 night from the foul line. The two misses at 10:34 of the second half were her first since the first half of the Charleston Southern game Nov. 15. She had made 26 straight until that point and has converted on 33 of her last 36 overall since then.
Yee chipped in 11, highlighted by three treys, to increase her career tally to 144, just 25 shy of tying Ricaye Harris (2001-05) for the all-time Wofford mark.
Senior Jennifer Weurding had three blocked shots to close within five of Appalachian State's Valorie Whiteside (1984-88) for the career Southern Conference record at 195.
Fansler led the Lady Eagles with 13 points on 5-of-9 from the field, while Yvonne van Daalen matched her in field goals and finished with 10 points. Franchesca Davenport collected a game-high nine rebounds, including eight defensively, and added seven points.
Wofford had 20 assists on the night on 26 field goals and the Terriers shot 50.0 percent from behind the 3-point arc (10-of-20).
The Terriers' 5-2 record matches the 2001-02 squad for the best start in the program's Division I history (1995-present). The 1989-90 and 1992-93 teams both began their campaigns at 6-1.
A 7 p.m. Wednesday tip at No. 2 North Carolina is next on the docket for Wofford. Winthrop will also play an ACC foe in its next outing, a 7 p.m. Monday meeting in Raleigh, N.C., at North Carolina State.
Georgia Southern 75, Central Florida 71
ORLANDO, Fla. ? Jessica Geiger’s right side jumper and Ashley Rivens free throw with seconds remaining sealed the come-from-behind victory for the Georgia Southern women’s basketball team, Friday night, defeating Central Florida 75-71 at UCF Arena.
Georgia Southern improves to 4-5 with the non-conference win, while the Golden Knights fall to 1-7.
Juniors Shawnda Atwood and Tiffany Brown both led the team with 14 points, as five Lady Eagles scored in double digits. Ashley Rivens scored 11 points while Chequilla Jessie and Ashley Melson netted 10 points apiece.
A sort of homecoming for Jessie, the Sanford, Fla. native also added a team-high seven rebounds.
“Chequilla Jessie was a force in the paint for us, giving us that stable lift for us,” said 11th year head coach Rusty Cram.
Golden Knights Francine Houston led all scorers with 23 points while Keunta Miles scored 17 on the night.
The Golden Knights controlled the first half with a hot hand, shooting 14-of-34 from the field (.438), including 5-of-9 from downtown (.556).
Georgia Southern struggled from the field, going 9-of-35 (.257) in the first stanza. But the Golden Knights sent GSU to the foul line 13 times, and 11 successful foul shots - five from Atwood - helped keep Georgia Southern in the game, trailing by only four going into the half (36-32).
The Lady Eagles turned the momentum around in the second half. GSU improved their shooting going 14-of-35 (.400) from the field and forcing 12 turnovers.
“When we start playing intense, then our numbers will pick up, our scoring will pick up, forcing turnovers will pickup, rebounding, everything,” explained Cram of the team’s second half. “We quit worrying about what we’re supposed to do, and we just do it. We start competing at that point. We start controlling the tempo of the game, instead of the other team controlling it.”
Brown made nine of her 14 points and a key three pointer with 9:50 remaining that tied up the match at 50-all.
Francine Houston returned on the next possession and buried her fifth trey of the evening to regain the lead.
The momentum swung back in favor of the Lady Eagles when Jessica Geiger and Shawnda Atwood hit consecutive buckets in the paint for a 56-55 GSU lead.
The Lady Eagles claimed their largest lead of the game when Brown grabbed the offensive rebound and hit a jumper, giving GSU the 67-59 lead with 4:09 remaining.
UCF tried to rally back, cutting the lead down to just three points off a successful jumper by Keunta Miles with just over a minute remaining.
But Ashley Rivens made a key defensive play when she saved a potential UCF fastbreak layup by forcing a jump ball as the shooter was in motion, giving the Lady Eagles possession with 58 seconds remaining in the game, and leading 72-69.
The Lady Eagles held the advantage in total rebounds with 49, compared to UCF's 32. GSU finished the game shooting 21-of-28 (.750) from the charity stripe.
Up next for the Lady Eagles is a home match versus Jacksonville, Wednesday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. It begins the five game homestand lasting the remainder of the year.
Richmond 63, Appalachian State 62
NEW ORLEANS - After trailing by 26 points at halftime, Appalachian State University women's basketball scored 48 second-half points, but it wasn't enough as it fell to Richmond University, 63-62, Friday in the opening game of the Four Points by Sheraton UNO Lady Privateer Invitational at the Human Performance Center.
The Mountaineers fall to 3-4 overall, while the Spiders improve to 3-5 on the season. The game proved to be a tale of two halves as ASU shot just 15 percent from the field in the first half and 50 percent in the second half. Appalachian also improved its free throw shooting, upping from a 46.2 percent mark from the charity stripe in the opening period to an 81.8 percent clip in the second half.
Richmond did just the opposite, shooting nearly 50 percent from the field in the first half and dropping to 22.2 percent in the second period. The Mountaineers committed a season-low 14 turnovers in the game, forcing 20 by their opponent.
Whitney Ketner (Spartanburg, S.C.) and Whitney Tossie (Oviedo, Fla.) led the Mountaineer offense with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Ketner grabbed a career-high nine boards. Maria Grimes (Birmingham, Ala.) and Jaime Bennett (Woodstock, Ga.) joined the two in double-digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Grimes added four assists, while Bennett chipped in nine boards.
Sarah Williams led the Spiders with 14 points and eight rebounds. Christina Campion and Austina Zygaite each chipped in eight points, with Campion adding five rebounds.
The Mountaineers didn’t get their first field goal until the 12 minute mark in the first half, and scored just 14 points in the opening period to trail 40-14 at halftime.
Appalachian opened the second half with an 11-0 run to cut the lead to 17 points at 42-25. ASU continued to chip away at Richmond’s lead, pulling within 10 points at 53-43 with 8:30 to go, forcing a Spider timeout.
Two free throws by GiGi Thomas (Tallahassee, Fla.) and a layup by Tossie cut the lead to six at 55-49 with just over five minutes to go. The Mountaineers owned the momentum at that point, with just the clock standing in the way. Trailing by eight, 60-52, ASU pulled a 6-2 run to trail by four points with 27 seconds left. With eight seconds left, Bennett tipped in a Grimes’ miss to pull within two at 62-60.
The Mountaineers fouled Kara Powell on the next Richmond possession. Powell missed her first free throw shot and made the second, giving ASU the ball down by three with five seconds to go in the game. On the last possession, Appalachian passed up on a three pointer and Bennett got the pass down low and put up a jumper at the buzzer, as the Mountaineers fell one point short in a 63-62 loss.
Appalachian will play tournament-host New Orleans in the consolation match Saturday, December 2 at 2 p.m. ET. UNO lost to Southeastern Louisiana, 72-68 in overtime, Friday in the second game of the tournament.