Story Courtesy Davidson sports information
Chattanooga 76, Davidson 59
DAVIDSON, NC ? The Chattanooga Lady Mocs placed nine players in the scorer's book, winning its 18th straight game and 14th straight over Davidson as the Wildcats could not slow down the number one team in the Southern Conference, falling by the count of 76-59 on Monday evening in SoCon women's basketball action.
With the win, Chattanooga clinched at least a share of the regular-season SoCon title with Davidson the only team able to catch them. Davidson saw its SoCon record fall to 8-5 and its overall record to 12-10. Chattanooga moved to 19-3 overall and a perfect 13-0 in SoCon play.
The Wildcats did place three players in the double-figures, the fifth straight game it has at least had that many in double-digits and was Davidson 18th game overall. Junior point guard Tia Washington did her best to keep Davidson in the game with a perfect night. She was 7-of-7 from the field, including a three-pointer, and 2-for-2 at the line for a team-high 17 points. Washington also chipped in with five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. With her four assists, she has now had at least one or more assist in 29 straight games.
Fellow junior Jessica Mitchell (Wilkesboro, N.C.) had 14 points, 11 of them in the second half and four of them from the line. Davidson was 10-of-12 from the line for 83.3 percent, while also winning the rebounding margin 31-30.
Senior Janell Crayton (Atlanta, Ga.) was behind Mitchell in the books with 12 points on 6-of-13 shooting. The Wildcats shot 43.4 percent, but Chattanooga hit an even 50 percent from the field and had its second straight game with 11 three-balls on 26 attempts.
The Wildcats stormed out to a 9-0 lead with 16:41 to play in the first half. Mitchell hit one of her two threes in the opening three and half minutes.
Davidson maintained the lead till the 8:45 mark when Katasha Brown, who dropped in 19 points, nailed one of her five three-pointers on the evening and the Lady Mocs took its first lead at 16-15. Chattanooga would then add to that lead as the Lady Mocs scored 26 of the next 34 points and moved its lead out to 19, 42-23, with 46 seconds left in the first half. Davidson add one more bucket before halftime and found itself down 42-25.
The Wildcats opened the second half on a 10-0 run as Mitchell scored six points in the run and Davidson was within seven points at 42-35 and 16:56 on the game clock.
Chattanooga then went on its own run over the next nine minutes, out-scoring Davidson 21-12 and had a 63-47 lead with 7:23 go in the game.
Davidson would get no closer than 15 points the rest of the way and despite matching Chattanooga with 34 points in the half, found itself on the wrong end of 76-59 loss.
Brown was 7-of-11 from field and buried five shots from behind the arc to pace the Lady Mocs. Brooke Hand came off the bench and added two three-pointers as she scored 14 points, while Kristen Spann recorded 12 points to give Chattanooga three players in double-digits.
Story Courtesy UNC Greensboro sports information
UNC Greensboro 72, Georgia Southern 62
GREENSBORO, NC ? UNC Greensboro came back from a 10-point first half deficit to post a 72-62 victory over Georgia Southern in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Monday night at Fleming Gym.
Sophomore guard Kemena Brooks came off the bench to lead UNCG (12-10, 8-5 SoCon) in scoring with 15 points, while junior guard Jasmine Byrd had 14 points. Sophomore forward Jasmine Dixon added 10 points and sophomore center Meghan Chamberlain pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds in leading the Spartans to a 46-38 rebounding advantage.
Lee Dubose and Ashley Melson each tossed in 14 points to pace Georgia Southern (9-13, 6-7 SoCon), while Shawnda Atwood had 11 points.
Georgia Southern would take its only lead of the second half, 50-48, at the 15:22 mark, when UNCG clamped down its defense and held the Lady Eagles to only one field goal over the next 10:38. During that time, the Spartans regained the lead and increased their advantage to 63-53 after a free throw by Brooks at the 6:51 mark.
A jumper by Concella Henry got the visitors back to within seven points, 63-56, but seven straight points by UNCG put the game out of reach as the Spartans won their sixth in the last seven games and find themselves in a tie for second place in the league standings with Davidson after the Wildcats fell 76-59 Monday night against Chattanooga.
UNCG led 11-7 early in the first half after Dixon drilled just her second 3-pointer of the season at the 15:32 mark. GSU came back and tied the game for the first time, 13-13, before going on a 14-6 run in a 6:46 span to take a 27-19 lead with 7:37 left until halftime.
Christa Waterman would put the Lady Eagles up 36-26 on a short jumper in the paint at the 4:01 mark. From that point, the Spartans closed the half on a 15-2 run to go into the break leading 41-38. Junior forward KaLeah Latham began the rally with a layup, while Brooks put UNCG up 39-38 on a mid-range jumper in the final minute of action.
Byrd led all scorers with 12 first half points, while junior forward Irene Otamiri added eight points. Sophomore guard Kristen Boone picked up two quick fouls, but managed to dish out six assists in 13 minutes of court time. Dubose had 11 points to lead the Lady Eagles.
Boone finished the evening with all seven of her points coming from the free throw line in leading UNCG to a 78.3 percent (18-of-23) shooting clip from the charity stripe, compared to only 8-of-14 for the Lady Eagles. Boone also handed out eight assists, but did not come up with a steal for the first time in her career that spans 46 games. She entered the night just percentage points behind the national leader with 4.8 thefts per game.
Story Courtesy Western Carolina sports information
Western Carolina 82, Appalachian State 65
CULLOWHEE, NC - On a night where Western Carolina honored its all-time leading scorer, Jayne Arledge, the Lady Catamounts did not disappoint, putting on an offensive display over the first 20 minutes and using defense to secure the win down the stretch. In a game dominated by momentum swings and runs, the Lady Catamounts put together a clinching, 12-0 spurt over a three and a half minute span late in the second half en route to an 82-65 win over Appalachian State Monday night in the Ramsey Center.
The win, Western's second in its last three games, completed the seasonal sweep of the Mountaineers, a feat accomplished for the first time since 2003.
Led by freshman Lauren Powell and sophomore Monique Dawson, Western Carolina (5-17, 5-8 SoCon) put five players in double figures in the win. The duo finished with 14 points, with Powell draining three, 3-pointers and Dawson knocking down a perfect 10-of-10 offerings from the charity stripe. Freshman Teshymia Tillman scored 11 first half points, including an acrobatic circus lay-in at the buzzer, and finished with 13 for the game. Senior Teyawna Hardy scored a dozen, with freshman April Parker rounding out the quintet with 10 points. It was the first time since Feb. 11, 2004 that Western had put five players in double-figures, ironically at Appalachian State in an 80-65 WCU victory.
But it was the play of freshman guard Amelia Miller that nearly stole the show. The Winnsboro, S.C., native finished with a career-best 10 rebounds, tied a career-high with a pair of steals, and just missed her career number by scoring eight points off the bench. Sophomore Chevon Keith led the team with a pair of steals and the team's lone blocked shot.
Utilizing a 17-0 run midway through the first half, Western Carolina broke open the seesaw affair to build a commanding 18-point lead with 4:35 remaining before intermission. During the run, ASU went 0-for-5 from the floor and Western forced five Mountaineer turnovers. The Apps countered by whittling the deficit to 12 on the strength of a 7-1 spurt, but Tillman's buzzer-beating crowd pleaser pushed the lead back to 14, 44-30, at intermission.
The game's second major momentum shift made an appearance just after halftime as Appalachian State (10-12, 6-7 SoCon) opened the second stanza with a 13-0 run to slice the deficit to one, 44-43, at the 16:45 mark. Despite not tallying its first field goal after the half until a minute later, Western never relinquished the lead. Appalachian pulled to within two, 58-56 at the eight minute mark, but the Lady Catamounts held the Mountaineers scoreless for nearly the next four minutes while embarking on what would prove to be the game-winning, 12-0 run. All told, Western scored 10 of its final 12 points from the free throw line to secure the victory.
Appalachian State was led by junior Jaime Bennett and freshman Greteya Kelley, each scoring the baker's dozen, 13 points, with Kelley adding a game-high seven steals. Seniors KiKi Conyers and Jocelyn Wyatt each finished with 10 points in their final visit to Cullowhee. Wyatt tied junior teammate Danielle Edwards for the team-high in rebounds, boarding seven in the loss.
Western Carolina outrebounded the Apps, 41-36, and made more free throws (26-of-35) than the Mountaineers attempted (12-of-14). For the game, Western shot 44.8-percent from the floor, including a season-best 50-percent in the first half, while Appalachian State connected on 39.7-percent of its shots from the floor.