Western Carolina 53, UNC Greensboro 52
Greensboro, N.C. ? Western Carolina led by as many as 15 points in the second half, but had to survive a feverish rally by the home-standing UNC Greensboro Spartans to secure its second-straight Southern Conference win, 53-52, Wednesday afternoon in Fleming Gymnasium. Sophomore Brooke Johnson hit two free throws with 16 seconds showing on the game clock to put Western back on top to earn the victory.
The win snaps UNC Greensboro’s 10-game home winning streak and concludes WCU’s 11-game road swing at 7-4. On the season, the Lady Catamounts improve to 7-5 overall, and are 2-0 in league play for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
After leading from the opening tip, Western surrendered the lead for the first time at the 1:55 mark after back-to-back UNCG lay-ups, the second coming off a steal on the in-bounds play. Up one, 52-51, the Spartans had three chances to expand the lead after a WCU turnover but could not increase their lead. Johnson then calmly drained two charity tosses to put the Lady Cats ahead by one, 53-52, and then endured a fever pitch over the final seconds to hold on for the victory.
Sophomore Lauren Powell led a balanced scoring attack for WCU and was the lone Lady Catamount to reach double-figures, finishing with 10 points. Junior Chevon Keith just missed her second-straight double-double scoring nine and boarding 10 rebounds, while Brooke Johnson tallied eight, six of which coming from the free throw line, while pulling down six rebounds and blocking two shots.
Kendra Eaton scored seven for WCU off the bench with junior Ashley Pellom boarded a career-high eight and dished out four assists.
Using tenacious defense in the first half, Western limited the Spartans to 22-percent shooting from the floor and an opponent-low 16 points, leading at intermission, 28-16. After the break, the Lady Catamounts outscored UNCG 7-to-4 over the first four minutes to go up by 15 before the Spartans began their comeback.
With Western up 12, 49-37, with 6:02 to play, UNC Greensboro embarked on an 11-0 run to slice the deficit to one at the 2:56 mark then went ahead one with 1:55 to play setting up the wild finish.
UNCG (6-4, 0-2 SoCon) was led by senior Jasmine Byrd with a game-high 16 points while KaLeah Latham finished with nine and Irene Otamiri and Kemena Brooks each recording eight. Post Brittany Frazier led the Spartans with nine rebounds.
Western Carolina will return home for the first-time in 50 days when it hosts Eastern Michigan in the Ramsey Center on Saturday, Dec. 30. Tip-off for the final non-conference game of the season is set for 4:00 pm.
North Carolina A&T 81, Elon 46
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Amber Bland scored a game-best 23 points to lead the North Carolina A&T Aggies to an 81-46 non-conference women's basketball victory over the Elon Phoenix from the Corbett Sports Center. With their fifth straight victory, A&T improved to 6-4 on the year while Elon fell to 5-6.
The Aggies scored the first 11 points of the game, including four each from Bland and Ta'Wuana Cook before Elon got on the board on a jumper from Shamica Spears at 17:11. Elon never closed to closer than nine in the half and A&T grabbed its largest lead of the stanza at 36-17 with 3:17 to go when Bland hit a jumper. The Aggies led 38-20 at the break.
Elon came out of the break hot, scoring the first four points and cutting the lead to 14 on a Nikko King layup with 18:19 to play. The Aggies continued to pour on the offense, building a lead of as many as 37 points with 3:09 to go when LaPorsha Lowry put in a layup.
A&T shot 54.2 percent from the floor on the night, connecting on 32 of 59 attempts from the field. The Phoenix hit just 32.3 percent, senidng 20 of 62 shots through the twine.
Leading Elon was Tierra Bumbrey who scored 11 points and passed for five assists. Spears finished the evening with eight points and a game-best eight rebounds.
Along with Bland, Cook (16 points), Lamona Smalley (12 points) and Brittanie Taylor-James (11 points) hit double figures in the scoring column.
Elon will break for Christmas before heading to SoCon foe Chattanooga for a 3:00 p.m. tilt on December 30.
Davidson 77, Gonzaga 69
SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Davidson women's basketball team hit a season-high 11 three-pointers and placed four players in double figures for the third time this year as the Wildcats set a school record with their eighth straight win in defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs, 77-69, at McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash. on Wednesday evening. The Wildcats improved to 11-2 overall, continuing their best start in school history. Davidson also picked up its fourth straight road win and moved to 5-1, another school best, and finished its first-ever trip to the state of Washington, 2-0. Gonzaga dropped to 7-8 on the year.
"It took a lot of maturity to get two wins out here on the West Coast and being so far away from home, but the team responded to the challenge," said head coach Annette Watts, who moved her career record at Davidson to 87-70 in her six years. "We are just clicking on all cylinders right now, and I couldn't be more proud of how they have played together as a team. We're looking to keep things rolling on into the new year."
After Gonzaga jumped out to an early 17-10 advantage in the first stanza, junior Danielle Hemerka (Blackwood, N.J.) took charge for the Wildcats on offense as she scored nine of Davidson's next 18 points in helping the 'Cats take a 28-25 lead with 4:42 remaining on the clock. The junior went on to score 11 first-half points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a three-pointer. Senior Jessica Mitchell (Wilkesboro, N.C.) and Honna Housley (Riceville,
Tenn.) along with Hemerka all drained three-pointers during the 18-8 run as Davidson finished 6-of-14 from behind the arc in the first half. Overall, the 'Cats went 11-for-22 for the game from downtown.
Davidson pushed its lead out to as much as eight points, 35-27, when Housley hit her second three-ball of the half in the right corner, and the Wildcats would carry a 35-30 lead into halftime. Housley came off the bench to score six of her nine points in the first period.
The Wildcats then showcased a little of their patented, stout defense to start the second half in holding the 'Zag to two single free throws and an 0-for-6 shooting performance from the field in the first five minutes of play.
"Defense can never have an off-night and I preach it to the team every practice," said Watts. "We really stepped up the pressure in the early part of that second half, and of course this whole week against Eastern Washington and tonight against Gonzaga. Our defense was a huge part in picking up two hard-fought wins this week."
Redshirt junior Katie Hamilton (Lilburn, Ga.) and sophomore Mercedes Robinson (Mansfield, Texas) took care of the rest on offense for Davidson in the second half as they combined for all 23 of their points in the second stanza. Hamilton, who got in foul trouble in the first half, hit 4-of-8 shots from the field, including two three-pointers for 12 points. Robinson was clutch in the paint, hitting all five of her shots with a free throw for
11 points off the bench.
Davidson never trailed in the second half, leading by as many as 13 points, 73-60, when Robinson hit a running layup with 2:19 remaining in the contest. The Wildcats went on to hit 59.3 percent of their shots in that second half and picked up the 77-69 win over the Bulldogs. For the game, Davidson shot 50 percent (29-58) and the 29 field goals made, were tied for the second most this season.
Hemerka paced Davidson with 15 points, while Mitchell was the fourth 'Cat to reach double figures, finishing with 12 points. She also hauled in six boards and dished out six assists. Senior Tia Washington (Charlotte, N.C.) helped Davidson tie a season-high in assists (23) with a team- and season-high nine. Finally, senior Brynn Kelly (Spokane, Wash.) ended her return trip home with five points and a game-high seven boards.
The Bulldogs were paced by Michelle Elliott, who dropped in a game-high 16 points, nine of them from behind the arc. Despite having six players who are six-feet or taller, Gonzaga tied with Davidson in the rebounding margin, 38-38. The 'Zags shot only 37.3 percent from the field and were hurt by poor free throw shooting, going only 20-for-35.
Davidson takes a little Christmas break before returning to the hardwood floor on New Year's Day in Charleston, S.C. against the College of Charleston. Gametime is set for 2 p.m.
Georgia Tech 82, College of Charleston 50
The College of Charleston women’s basketball team could not overcome hot shooting by Georgia Tech in the first half and fell to the Yellow Jackets, 82-50, in action in front of 471 fans tonight at the John Kresse Arena.
Charleston falls to 4-6 on the year, while Georgia Tech improves to 7-3.
The first half saw the Cougars keep the margin to within 10 points for the first 19 minutes of action, despite a poor shooting performance, and only trailed by eight at 20-12 at the 11:06 mark. Georgia Tech responded, though, with a 12-0 run over the next four minutes to take the 20-point 32-12 lead at 7:06 and was able to keep the gap in double digits for the rest of the half and went into the locker room with the 48-21 lead at intermission.
Charleston shot just 30.4 percent from the field in the first half, while Georgia Tech fired a blistering 54.5 percentage from the floor, including a five-for-11 effort from behind the three-point arc. The Cougars were held to just 10 rebounds in the first 20 minutes, including just four offensive boards. The Yellow Jackets pulled down 22 rebounds in the first stanza.
The Cougars improved their shooting performance in the second half, firing 37.5 percent from the field, compared to 42.9 for the Yellow Jackets. Although the second half score was closer, 34-29, Charleston was too far in the hole to recover and fell by 32 points, 82-50.
For the game the Cougars shot 34.5 percent from the field, while Georgia Tech shot 49.2. The Cougars were out-rebounded 44-30, while the turnovers were fairly even as the Cougars had the slight 15-12 edge. The Yellow Jackets capitalized on those turnovers, scoring 21 points of them, compared to just nine for CofC. Georgia Tech was nine-for-18 from the three-point line while the Cougars were just two-for-eight.
Charleston was led by Erika Smith and Nikki Williams, both of whom scored seven points apiece. Deidra Jones paced the Cougars with six rebounds, a career-high.
Janie Mitchell and Chioma Nnamaka both had 21 points to lead the Yellow Jackets. Mitchell posted a double-double with her team-leading 10 rebounds.
The Cougars are off for the holidays and resume action Dec. 29th as they host Southern Conference opponent Appalachian State. The game, originally scheduled for 2:00 p.m., has been moved to 1:00 p.m. The Yellow Jackets next host the Georgia Tech/Atlanta Marriott NW Holiday Invitational Dec. 29th and 30th. Georgia Tech plays Alcorn State the 29th at 1:00 p.m. in the first game.