Story Courtesy Wofford sports information
College of Charleston 59, Wofford 45
SPARTANBURG, SC - The Wofford women's basketball team could not overcome a poor shooting afternoon in falling, 59-45, Saturday afternoon to College of Charleston in the Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Terriers shot 16-of-60 (26.7 percent) from the field for its second lowest field goal percentage of the season and could not contain the Cougars' 24-of-56 (42.9 percent) effort, including a 55.6 percent (15-of-27) outing in the second half.
Following a Kate Dempsey layup to give Wofford a 9-8 lead with 11:12 to play in the opening session, College of Charleston (10-10, 7-5 SoCon) used a 15-0 run over the next seven minutes to take a 23-9 edge at the 4:13 mark. Erica Irick scored five points and Jade Hughes added four during the stretch.
The Terriers then responded with an 8-2 spurt, including a pair of 3-pointers from Mary Jo Yee, to close within 25-17 at the half.
Wofford (6-15, 2-10 SoCon) then trimmed the lead to five, 27-22, on a Nakia Mister layup with 17:08 to play in the second half. Over the next 10:20, the Cougars widened their margin to as high as 14, 43-29, on the strength of eight points from Erika Smith. The Terriers then cut the deficit down to six, 45-39, on a 10-2 surge capped by a layup from K.C. Correll with just over five minutes remaining.
Over the final five minutes, Charleston outscored Wofford, 14-6 and held its highest lead at 16, 59-43, with 1:30 to play on a Marketta Talley 3-pointer.
Irick finished with 15 points to lead all players, while Smith chipped in with 14 off the bench. Hughes scored 11 and dished out a game-high five assists.
Sarah Moye grabbed a game-high tying nine rebounds, one more than Irick, as the Cougars held a 47-34 advantage on the boards.
Leading the Terrier attack was 10 points from Mister, Yee and Kelsi Koenig, the team's three-leading scorers. Mister almost posted a double-double with a game-high tying nine caroms.
Story Courtesy Elon sports information
Elon 58, Georgia Southern 48
ELON, NC - Myra Donkin made the most of her first career start at Elon, knocking down a career-high 14 points - eight in the contest's final 2:04 - as the Phoenix clipped Georgia Southern for a 58-48 Southern Conference women's basketball triumph Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gym.
The Lady Eagles (9-12 overall, 6-6 Southern Conference) reeled off the afternoon's first five points - a free throw by Ashley Melson sandwiched in between a pair of field goals by Chequilla Jessie - en route to a 12-7 edge on a lay-up by Nicole Newton with 12:35 to play in the opening period.
The Phoenix (10-11, 5-7) answered by reeling off the contest's next nine points, staking claim to a 16-12 lead on a three-point basket by Robyn Shipley with 8:29 left before halftime. Georgia Southern responded with a 13-4 run to close the half, taking a 25-20 advantage into the locker room after a jumper by Lee DuBose with five ticks remaining.
Early in the second stanza, Elon used an 11-1 run to transform a 27-22 deficit into a 33-28 edge on another Shipley three-pointer with 12:07 left in the contest. Altogether, the second half witnessed 11 lead changes and two ties.
The Lady Eagles claimed their final lead at 45-44 on a put-back by Newton with 3:37 to go. The Phoenix went on a 13-3 surge - led by eight points by Donkin (right) - to fashion a 58-47 lead on a pair of charity shots by Shipley with 19 ticks left.
The contest featured a match-up between the Southern Conference's top two scorers and rebounders. Elon's Kitara McMoore (14.6 points and 9.5 rebounds per game) entered the contest leading the league in both categories while Newton (14.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game) stepped into Alumni Gym ranked second in both.
McMoore narrowly missed recording her 10th double-double performance of the season, scoring 14 points and hauling in nine rebounds. She canned seven of her nine attempts from the floor and snagged four steals. Newton finished with six markers on 3-for-8 shooting along with six caroms.
Shipley finished with 12 points while teammate Nikko King ended up with eight points, five rebounds, two blocked shots and a career-high four steals. Melson (11 points, six rebounds), Jessie (nine points), Lee (nine points) and Shawnda Atwood (eight rebounds) led Georgia Southern.
With the victory, Elon avenged a 64-58 setback to the Lady Eagles in Statesboro, Ga., on Jan. 7. The two teams have now met six times - all in the past three years - with each squad emerging victorious three times.
Georgia Southern won the battle of the boards by a 45-30 margin, but yielded 19 turnovers while the Phoenix committed a season-low nine turnovers. The Phoenix outscored the Lady Eagles 21-6 off turnovers. The Lady Eagles fired 32.1 percent (17-for-53) from the field for the game, including 24.0 percent (6-for-25) in the second half.
Story Courtesy UNC Greensboro sports information
UNC Greensboro 72, Furman 48
GREENSBORO, NC ? Junior guard Jasmine Byrd scored 20 points to lead UNC Greensboro to a convincing 72-48 victory over Southern Conference rival Furman in women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Fleming Gym. The win gives the Spartans a season sweep of the Lady Paladins for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign.
Byrd, the native of Dumfries, VA, connected on 8-of-12 shots from the field to lead the Spartans to their fifth win in the last six games. Sophomore guard Kristen Boone had 14 points and a career-high nine steals for UNCG (11-10, 7-5 SoCon). Sophomore center Meghan Chamberlain tossed in 12 points and had seven rebounds, while junior forward Irene Otamiri dished out a career-high seven assists.
Jessica Lange led Furman (7-15, 3-9 SoCon) with a career-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Chrissy Phelps added 10 points for the Lady Paladins. Sarah Baker pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
UNCG opened the second half with eight straight points to up its advantage to 39-20. That start led to the Spartans shooting an efficient 63.3 percent (19-of-30) from the field in the second half and 51.6 percent for the game.
Furman never got any closer than 14 points the rest of the way. UNCG’s largest lead of the game was 24 points, which came on three separate occasions in the final 4:33 of the game. The Spartans improved their record to 6-1 when scoring 70 or more points this season.
UNCG turned the ball over just 11 times, compared to 22 times for the Lady Paladins. The Spartans turned those miscues into 33 points. UNCG also held a 30-22 advantage in points in the paint and 14-0 in fast break points.
Similar to the first meeting of the year between the two schools, UNCG got off to a quick start by draining its first six shots to open a 15-2 lead at the 15:26 mark of the first half. Back on January 7, the Spartans grabbed a 22-7 lead, only to give it away, before securing a 69-66 road victory in Greenville,SC.
Byrd drilled four 3-pointers in the opening 7:51 to give the Spartans a 20-4 lead. UNCG would take its largest lead of the half, 27-9, on a trey by Boone with 7:08 showing on the clock. Furman would then close the half on an 11-4 run to get back into the game, trailing 31-20 at halftime.
Lange single handedly kept Furman in the game with 15 points in the first half. On the other bench, Byrd paced UNCG with 14 points.
Story Courtesy Western Carolina sports information
Davidson 67, Western Carolina 63
CULLOWHEE, NC - Trailing by 10 with 4:18 to play in regulation, Western Carolina mounted a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to one, 62-61, but could not complete the comeback as Davidson connected on 5-of-6 free throws inside the final 30 seconds to edge the Lady Catamounts, 67-63. Saturday night's score was identical to the final tally of the Jan. 7 meeting at Davidson, also won by the Wildcats.
Freshman Teshymia Tillman capped Western's game-ending run with a runner in the lane, pulling the Lady Catamounts to within one point. On the ensuing possession, WCU senior Teyawna Hardy was whistled for a foul and then given a technical foul, which put Davidson junior Jessica Mitchell at the free throw line for a combined four shots. The 62-percent free throw shooter sank all four, giving the Wildcats five-point advantage. Hardy tried to atone for the fouls, draining a jumper on the offensive end, but Mitchell hit one-of-two from the line inside of 10 seconds for the final tally.
Western (4-17, 4-8 SoCon) was led by freshman Lauren Powell, who recorded her team-high 17th double-digit scoring outing with 13 points, including three, 3-point baskets. Senior Teyawna Hardy and sophomore Monique Dawson each added 10 points in the loss, with Hardy tying her career-high with four steals.
Freshmen Kendra Eaton and Tillman each scored seven, with the latter dishing out a game-high five assists, with sophomore Chevon Keith leading WCU with nine rebounds, five of which came on the offensive end.
Early in the first half, Davidson broke a 7-7 tie with a 10-0 run over a five-minute span to take a 17-7 lead with 11:53 showing on the game clock. But the Lady Catamounts rallied, using three-consecutive lay-ups to shave the margin to four, 17-13, two and a half minutes later. The Wildcats advantage hovered around five points until late in the half when Western forced the game's fourth tie, using six-consecutive free throws. Freshman April Parker connected on the final two of the six with 1:18 to play before halftime, knotting the score at 27. Inside the final 60 seconds, each team traded 3-pointers, with Hardy connecting for WCU first and sophomore Danielle Hemerka draining one at the buzzer for Davidson, to stand tied at intermission, 30-30.
The second half continued where the first half left off, each team trading baskets in a seesaw affair. But Davidson, utilizing a 14-2 run, took the lead for what would prove to be the final time just inside the 14-minute mark. During the Wildcats' run, Western missed four shots and committed three costly turnovers. The lead would balloon to a game-high 11, 55-44, on a Kelly Gassie jumper with 7:38 to play in regulation, which would prove to be Davidson's final points from the floor. The Wildcats scored their final 12 points from the free throw line, connecting on 12-of-18 from the charity stripe.
Davidson (12-9, 8-4 SoCon) placed five players in double-figures for the third time this season, led by the double-double effort of junior Brynn Kelly who scored 14 points and pulled down 10 defensive rebounds. Her front court classmate, Jessica Mitchell, finished with 13 points, seven of which came from the charity stripe, with Hemerka and freshman Kelly Gassie each tallying a dozen, and senior Janell Crayton finishing with 11 points and eight boards.
Story Courtesy Chattanooga sports information
Chattanooga 87, Appalachian State 66
CHATTANOOGA, TN - The Chattanooga women’s basketball team ran its win streak to 17 games Saturday night at the McKenzie Arena in front of 2,057 fans with an 87-66 rout of Appalachian State. Chattanooga improves to 18-3 on the year and remains perfect in the Southern Conference with 12 consecutive wins. The Mountaineers fall to 10-11 on the year 6-6 in league play.
Senior Katasha Brown led all scorers with 22 points sinking a career-high 9-of-10 free throws in the first half. Tiffani Roberson and Brooke Hand each scored 14 as the other two Chattanooga players in double digits and Nicole Mattison pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.
Chattanooga started the game with a 14-4 lead with just over five minutes gone in the game. Brown and Alex Anderson each tossed in four points in the run. Hand sank a 3-pointer with 5:10 to play in the half to spark a 14-6 run capped off by a layup from Anderson at the 2:18 mark to give the Lady Mocs their largest lead of the first half at 42-24. UTC went into the break with a 45-30 lead.
Chattanooga outscored Appalachian State 35-13 over the first half of the second period for its largest lead of the game at 9:57 on an old-fashioned three-point play from freshman guard LaShandra McCoy.
“I’m proud of the way we came out of the gate,” Lady Mocs Head Coach Wes Moore said. “We had good defensive intensity and played well for the first 30 minutes of the game.”
Over the final 9:27 the Mountaineers fought back against the Chattanooga subs outscoring the Lady Mocs 23-7. Jocelyn Wyatt, one of three ASU players in double figures, scored eight of her career-high tying 19 points and tied her career-best with three 3-pointers. Danielle Edwards tallied a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 boards. Greteya Kelley chipped in 10 points making 5-of-7 from the field.
Chattanooga outrebounded the Mountaineers by a narrow 35-32 edge and scored 34 points off 25 ASU turnovers. Chattanooga’s bench outscored Appalachian State’s 31-20 and the Lady Mocs went 11-of-24 from beyond the 3-point arc. The Mountaineers made 3-of-14.
Laura Hall tied a career-high with seven assists and scored seven points. Mattison had eight points, three steals and three assists. She needs just two more dishes to reach 300 for her career.
The Lady Mocs can clinch its seventh consecutive league title with a win over Davidson on Monday night. The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. in Davidson, N.C. Appalachian State will travel to Western Carolina Monday night for a 7 p.m. tip.