Story Courtesy Furman sports information
Western Carolina 63, Furman 49
GREENVILLE, SC - Monique Dawson scored 10 points as Western Carolina handed Furman its second straight loss 63-49 on Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena. Chrissy Phelps led Furman in scoring with 14 points. Phelps has scored in double-figures in four of the last five contests.
Western Carolina (7-18, 7-9 Southern Conference) out rebounded Furman 48-29, including 18 offensive boards that led to 14 second chance points. Furman (9-17, 5-11 SoCon), which leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 38.8%, was unable to find its rhythm from beyond the arc, shooting only 28.6% on six-of-21 shooting.
After trailing by as many as 11 points in the second half, Furman cut the lead to 51-47 on a Katie Agin jumpshot with just over seven minutes remaining. The Catamounts ended the game on a 12-2 run, as the Lady Paladins shot just one-of-13 from the field during the stretch.
Furman shot 18-of-54 (33.3%) from the floor for the game, its lowest shooting percentage since a 27.3% performance at Georgia Southern on Jan. 28.
Melissa Liebschwager joined Phelps in double-figures as she poured in 10 points. Megan Scott and Melynda Gant led Furman on the boards as each pulled down seven rebounds. Tommi Paris was tops on the team with three steals.
Paris scored seven points for the Lady Paladins, including a perfect four-of-four from the free throw line. Paris entered the game leading the conference, and sixth in the nation, in free throw percentage at 91.3% (84-92). The senior from Chattanooga, Tenn. also leads the conference in three-point shooting percentage at a 45.9% clip, but was just one-of-seven against the Catamounts.
Jessica Lange had two blocked shots for Furman, improving on her Southern Conference leading 1.96 blocks per contest. Lange now has 51 blocks on the season, and 76 for her career, good for seventh place all-time in Furman history. Lange needs just seven more blocks to pass Kena Hodges for sixth place in the Lady Paladin record books. The sophomore from Knoxville, Tenn. has had at least one blocked shot in 17 straight games, dating back to Dec. 29. Lange has put up multiple blocked shots on 15 occasions this season.
Story Courtesy College of Charleston sports information
Chattanooga 68, College of Charleston 63
CHARLESTON, SC - Jade Hughes scored a game-leading 23 points which included a career-high five three-pointers, as the College of Charleston women’s basketball team fell 68-63 in a hard-fought battle with Chattanooga in front of 486 fans at the John Kresse Arena.
The Cougars fall to 11-14 overall and 7-9 in the Southern Conference while the Lady Mocs extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 21 games and improves to 22-3 overall and 16-0 in the league.
Charleston led at half 33-29 after trailing early in the contest, 12-3 with 15:13 to go in the half, before a Cougar 11-2 run over the next four minutes knotted the game at 14-14. Both teams fought back and forth and with 6:07 left in the half the game was tied again at 21-21. Charleston ended the half with a 12-8 run for its four-point halftime lead. The Cougars did lead by as much as eight with 1:15 left but two straight UTC baskets cut the margin to four. Charleston had just six turnovers at half compared to eight for the Lady Mocs. The Cougars shot 36.1 percent from the field, while Chattanooga shot 39.4.
The Cougars led by as much as six in the second half and led 41-35 with 16:33 left in the game before six straight baskets by the Lady Mocs tied the game up 41-41 with 13:55 to go. It was a back-and-forth contest the rest of the game with no team able to take a decisive lead. The second half had six ties alone, the last one coming at the 2:38 mark, 62-62. The Lady Mocs would collect six of the seven final points, four of which were free throws, to take the final 68-63 win.
Chattanooga shot 55.2 percent in the second half to end the game with 46.8 percent, while the Cougars stayed consistent, shooting 38.5 in the second half to finish with 37.1. Charleston had a season-low nine turnovers and pulled down 32 rebounds. Chattanooga had 16 turnovers and 46 rebounds.
Following Hughes’ 23 points was Melissa Chambers with 12 points. Three Lady Mocs scored in double-figures with Alex Henderson leading with 16 points and 10 rebounds, all defensive, for her eighth career double-double. Katasha Brown had 14 points and Tiffani Roberson collected 13 as well for the Lady Mocs.
Story Courtesy UNC Greensboro sports information
UNC Greensboro 53, Elon 45
GREENSBORO, NC ? Junior forward Kaleah Latham scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds in leading UNC Greensboro to a 53-45 victory over Elon in a Southern Conference women’s basketball game Saturday afternoon at Fleming Gym.
Latham, the Athens, TN product, was 4-of-6 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line in leading UNCG (14-11, 10-6 SoCon) to its eighth win in the last 10 games and in the process, tying last season’s win total of 14 with two regular seasons game left to be played.
Sophomore guard Kemena Brooks, who was named conference player of the week of Monday, tossed in 10 points for her seventh double digit effort in the last eight games. Irene Otamiri, Meghan Chamberlain, Kristen Boone and Jasmine Byrd each tossed in seven points for the Spartans, who swept the season series with Elon for the first time in the three years that the Phoenix have been a member of the SoCon.
Kitara McMoore, the league’s leading scorer and rebounder, posted game-highs with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Tierra Bumbrey added nine points for Elon (11-14, 6-10 SoCon), who has now lost three of its last four games.
A 12-6 run over the final 10:46 of the first half gave UNCG a 28-16 lead at halftime. Elon never led in the game and once again had a tough time scoring against the Spartans defense. In the first meeting of the year, UNCG gave up its fewest points in the programs Division I era in a 59-35 win at Elon on January 21. That included only 12 points scored by the Phoenix in the second half.
UNCG took its largest lead of the afternoon, 44-31, on a 3-pointer by Byrd at the 8:38 mark of the second half. The Phoenix got within five points twice, the final time after a McMoore jumper with 1:19 left made it 50-45, but Boone converted one free throw and Latham iced it with a pair from the charity stripe with 38 seconds to go.
The Spartans improve to 8-4 at home this year, while Elon falls to 3-9 on the road.
Story Courtesy Georgia Southern sports information
Appalachian State 78, Georgia Southern 73
STATESBORO, GA - Appalachian State had five players in double-figures to offset a 21-point performance by Georgia Southern senior Nicole Newton (Dublin, Ga.) in a 78-73 win over the Lady Eagles Saturday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Newton’s 21 points were a game-high total and was joined in double-digits by sophomores Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) and Chequilla Jessie (Sanford, Fla.) who had 12 each.
ASU was paced by Kiki Conyers who poured in 14 points, followed by Danielle Edwards with 13. Jocelyn Wyatt and Greteya Kelley had 12 each and Whitney Tossie tallied 10.
Appalachian State improves to 13-12 overall and 9-7 in the SoCon. Georgia Southern falls to 9-16 and 6-10.
“I thought we got beat mentally in certain areas, but other than that, I thought we played a pretty good basketball game,” said GSU head coach Rusty Cram.
The Lady Eagles shook off the slow starts they exhibited in their last two games and jumped out to a 6-0 lead and was up 8-1 after two free throws by Newton. Six of the eight points came from Newton’s hands.
Six straight points by Appalachian State cut the deficit to 8-7, but GSU maintained its advantage through the first 10 minutes of the game. Down 20-13, the Mountaineers went on a 13-5 run, eventually going on top on an old-fashioned three-point play by Kelley.
Atwood grabbed the lead back on a three-point play of her own and later, two free throws from Atwood put GSU up 32-28.
The teams ended the first half on alternating scoring runs. ASU scored five straight to go up one (33-32), then allowed a 7-0 run by Georgia Southern (39-33) before closing out the period with six unanswered points and the two teams went into the break tied at 39-39.
The Mountaineers continued the strong play through halftime and scored six of the first seven points of the period, but a three-point play by freshman Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) and a jumper by senior Leslie Spoon (Benton, La.) knotted the score at 45-45.
For the next 10 minutes the largest lead by either team was four, a 57-53 GSU advantage with 8:15 remaining, and at the five-minute mark of the second half, the teams were tied at 60-60.
Appalachian State won the last five minutes, and two Conyers free throws with 4:41 left to start a 10-3 run put the Mountaineers up for good.
After the spurt, the Lady Eagles countered with an 8-1 run and a layup by Newton cut the lead down to one, 71-70.
Conyers made one of two at the line, but a key GSU backcourt violation with 1:35 left proved to be the turning point. On the next possession, Eboni Kirby hit a jumper from the circle with 1:02 remaining to put ASU up four, 74-70.
The Lady Eagles had a chance to tie the game with a three in the final seconds but were unable to convert.
“Everybody showed up and played tonight - I don’t think we had bad minutes from anyone, but I thought we broke down a made some crucial mistakes in the last two or three minutes and in different points of the ballgame,” added Cram.
Story Courtesy Davidson sports information
Davidson 58, Wofford 43
DAVIDSON, NC - Jessica Mitchell scored a game-high 17 points and Brynn Kelly recorded a double-double to lead Davidson to a 58-43 victory over Wofford in women's basketball action Saturday evening at Belk Arena. The win was the Wildcats' third consecutive as they improve to 15-10 overall and 11-5 in the conference. Wofford falls to 7-18 and 3-13 in league play.
Mitchell, a 5-9 junior guard from Wilkesboro, N.C., connected on seven of her 15 attempts from the floor to finish in double-figures for the 18th time this season.
Entering the year without a double-double for her career, Kelly (Spokane, Wash.) collected the third of her junior campaign with 14 points and 10 rebounds on the evening. Senior Janell Crayton (Atlanta, Ga.) also finished in double-figures with 10 points for the Wildcats.
Tied 13-13 in the opening period with just under nine minutes left, Davidson went on a 13-4 run started by a Mitchell bucket and ended with a Kelly 3-pointer to head into the locker room leading, 26-17. Both Mitchell and Kelly led the Wildcats in the first 20 minutes with eight points each.
Wofford opened the second half with a 7-1 run capped off by a Mary Jo Yee trey to cut the deficit to 27-24, but couldn’t inch closer as the Wildcats responded with a 16-3 streak of their own to grab their largest lead of the evening, 43-27, with 13:07 remaining.
The Terriers’ Nakia Mister and Yee each finished in double-figures with 16 and 14 points respectively, while Jenny Weurding contributed a career-high 12 rebounds and seven blocks. Liz Miller’s three steals on the night gave her 62 for the year to set a new Wofford Division I single-season record.
Both teams hit just three buckets from long range and struggled from the floor, shooting under 40 percent, but the Wildcats turned 24 Wofford miscues into 25 points en route to their ninth straight victory over the Terriers. Davidson finished with a 44-41 edge on the glass including 14 offensive boards.