High Point 54, Elon 51
ELON, N.C. Amber Manuel posted 12 points and eight rebounds and Candyce Sellars tallied eight markers including the game-winning three-pointer and 11 boards as High Point staved off Elon 54-51 for a non-league women?s basketball victory Wednesday night at Alumni Gym.
In the early going, the Panthers (3-3) sprinted to a 16-6 lead on a three-point bucket by Katie Ralls with 13:58 to go in the opening stanza.
Trailing 26-16 with 5:17 to play in the first period, the Phoenix (4-4) used a 9-4 spurt to pull within 30-25 on a trey by Tierra Bumbrey with 2:19 left before halftime.
A jumper by Andrea Tucker and a lay-up by Jennifer Long stretched the High Point edge to 34-25 with 44 seconds remaining in the opening stanza. After settling for a 34-27 halftime advantage, the Panthers maintained a lead of four to nine points on their way to fashioning a 45-36 edge on a three-point basket by Sellars with 10:56 remaining.
Elon then went on a 15-6 run to force the lone tie of the contest at 51-51 on a lay-up by Amber Wall with 4:17 left to play. High Point held the Phoenix scoreless the rest of the way while Sellars? three-pointer with 2:58 left proved to be the game-winning basket.
Wall (13 points, 10 rebounds) posted her second career double-double performance while teammate Nikko King (10 points, career-high 13 rebounds) recorded her first. Bumbrey dished out a game-high six assists. Elon?s Tiffany Davis snatched a contest-best five steals to lead all players.
The Phoenix collected 14 steals to eight for High Point. Elon has averaged
16.7 steals over its past three contests.
The Panthers, who never trailed, won the battle of the boards by a 40-35 margin while shooting 42.3 percent (22 of 52) from the field. HPU fired 45.0 percent (9 of 20) from three-point land and 12.5 percent (1 of 8) from the charity stripe.
High Point?s nine treys tied the most allowed by the Phoenix this season.
Elon also surrendered nine three-point field goals to No. 2 North Carolina last month.
The Phoenix fashioned advantages in points in the paint (24-20), points off turnovers (18-5), second chance points (11-9), fast break points (8-0) and bench points (18-16). Elon committed 17 turnovers to 23 for the Panthers.
Elon shot 36.7 percent (18 of 49) from the floor including 18.2 percent (2 of 11) from beyond the arch and 50.0 percent (13 of 26) from the free throw line.
The contest marked the Phoenix?s first home loss of the season and the Panthers? first road victory of the year. Elon is now 3-1 at Alumni Gym.
With its third consecutive victory over the Phoenix, High Point evened up the all-time series at 36-36. The series began with a 38-34 triumph by the Panthers on Feb. 3, 1972.
High Point hosts Gardner-Webb on Dec. 10 at the Millis Center. Following its final exams, Elon returns to action when Winston-Salem State visits Alumni Gym on Dec. 14.
North Carolina 95, Wofford 36
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- A 17-2 run to close the first half after Wofford cut the deficit to nine spurred the No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels to an 95-36 victory over the Terriers in women's basketball action Wednesday night inside Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Wofford implemented a new defensive strategy in the contest, holding the ball in the backcourt for nearly 20 seconds before moving down the court and attempting its offensive gameplan. The plan worked for the first 15 minutes as North Carolina was unsure offensively and defensively of what to do as it took the Tar Heels out of their normal run-and-gun, up-tempo offense.
Wofford (5-3) scored six straight points after falling behind 25-10 at the 9:13 mark to close the gap to nine, 25-16, with 5:48 to play in the opening stanza.
It was the closest the Terriers would get the remainder of the game after they jumped in front, 5-2, on a 3-pointer by Liz Miller and a bucket by K.C.
Correll over the first two minutes.
The nine-point Tar Heel advantage would soon turn into a 24-point halftime edge as Erlana Larkins took control. She scored eight of North Carolina's final 17 points in the half before Correll added a field goal at 1:07 and the teams entered the lockerrooms with the Tar Heels ahead, 42-18.
North Carolina (9-0) continued to pour it in early in the second stanza as it increased the lead to 34, 59-25, at the second media timeout. Wofford did not score in the half until Laura Depko tallied a basket at 13:28. She added a trey and Kate Dempsey also knocked down two points before the timeout.
Nine points over a two minute stretch, all by Susanna Paul and Mary Jo Yee, decreased the lead to 38, 72-34, with 8:40 remaining. Freshman Kathlyn Varno registered the Terriers' final points of the evening at 76-36 before the Tar Heels closed the game on a 19-0 spurt.
Wofford will return home for a 7 p.m. Friday meeting with Montreat before taking next week off for exams.
North Carolina returns to action when it hosts its fourth Southern Conference opponent of the season, a 2 p.m. tip-off Sunday against Western Carolina.