#9 Furman 66, #8 College of Charleston 63
CHARLESTON, SC ? Furman’s Tommi Paris netted 19 points and hit four crucial free throws down the stretch to lead the ninth-seeded Lady Paladins to a 66-63 victory over eighth-seeded College of Charleston Cougars in the first game of the 2006 Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championships from McAlister Fieldhouse. With the victory, Furman upped its record to 10-19 on the year and advances to face top-seeded Chattanooga on Friday afternoon. The Cougars dropped to 11-17 this season.
The first half of play was a back-and-forth battle that featured eight ties, the last coming with 3:24 remaining in the period when Charleston’s Nikki Williams hit a jumper to even the score at 25. The Lady Paladins closed the half on a 10-1 run to hold a 35-26 halftime advantage. During that run, Paris scored seven points while Princess Wells accounted for the other three markers.
College of Charleston came out hot in the second half, using a 15-2 run over the first 5:39 of the period to grab a 41-37 lead on two Jade Hughes free throws. Furman, who has now won seven consecutive Southern Conference Tournament openers, responded and knotted the score at 41 when Wells sank two from the charity stripe with 11:18 left on the clock.
The Cougars answered right back, pushing their lead to as many as four points, the latest coming when Hughes drained a three-point bucket with 9:08 left to give Charleston a 50-46 edge.
The two teams stayed close and, with 1:25 remaining, the squads saw the fifth tie of the half at 60-60 when Williams hit a jumper for the Cougars.
Furman, who made 30 of 31 free throw attempts on the day, scored its final six points from the line, including four from Paris. Charleston’s final three points came on a three-point bucket from Erica Irick. The 30 free throws made by the Lady Paladins in one off of the Southern Conference Tournament record of 31 set by East Tennessee State in 1990 and equaled by Appalachian State in 1999.
The game’s leading scorer was Charleston’s Erika Smith who netted a career-high 22 points on 10 of 15 shooting from the floor. Smith also collected a career-best nine rebounds, finishing one carom shy of her first career double-double. Hughes added 10 markers in the loss for the Cougars who shot 40.4 percent from the floor on the day.
Furman was paced by Paris and Chrissy Phelps who added 12 points off the bench. Melynda Gant led the Lady Paladins on the boards with six.
The Lady Paladins advance to the quarterfinals of the SoCon Tournament where they will face off against SoCon regular season champion and No. 1 seed Chattanooga.
#7 Georgia Southern 77, # 10 Wofford 66
CHARLESTON, SC ? Seventh-seeded Georgia Southern used a 20-10 run at the start of the second half and Lee DuBose and Shawnda Atwood netted career highs in points with 19 and 18, respectively, as the Eagles advanced to the quarterfinals with a 77-66 win over 10th seeded Wofford in the second game of the 2006 Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championships from McAlister Field House. With the win, Georgia Southern moved its record to 11-17 on the year and will face second-seeded UNC Greensboro on Friday afternoon. The Terriers finished its year at 7-21.
Georgia Southern jumped out to an early 11-5 lead in the first half on Shawnda Atwood’s jumper off a pass from Ashley Melson at the 14:25 mark. Atwood scored six of her eight first half points in the opening minutes of the first stanza on her way to a new career-high of 18 points. She finished 7-of-10 from the field with four boards, four assists, and a game-high six steals.
The Eagles were also very unselfish in the first half, dishing out 12 of their 18 assists in the opening half with DuBose leading the way with six assists.
Wofford answered back with a 12-0 run capped off by a three-point play from forward Kelsi Koenig and the Terriers regained the lead at 17-11 with 10:22 left in the half.
Tied at 20-20 with 6:34 on the clock, the Eagles used a quick 8-0 run to take a 28-20 lead, as Nicole Newton ended the run with a free throw.
Wofford cut the lead down to two, 30-28, at the 2:00 mark, but Georgia Southern’s Concella Henry and Lee DuBose scored the final five points of the half for the Eagles on two free throws and a three-pointer, and GSU went into halftime up 35-32.
DuBose then came out in the second half by scoring eight of her career-high 19 to push the Eagles three-point advantage out to 13, 55-42, with 11:45 left in the game. Wofford had closed to within two, 41-39, on a jumper by K.C. Correll, but GSU pushed used a 14-3 run to grab the 13-piont lead.
Later, Wofford cut the lead down to eight points, 72-64, with back-to-back-to-back threes, two by Mary Jo Yee and one by Kelsi Koenig with 2:39 to go in the game, but the late rally wasn’t enough and the Eagles secured the 77-66 win.
Georgia Southern’s Nicole Newton had her seventh double-double of the year with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Melson gave the Eagles four scorers in double-figures with 13 points.
Wofford was paced by Yee’s 12 points, all on three-pointers, and Nakia Mister scored 10 points. Mister added three steals and closed out her career two steals shy of tying the all-time mark with 197. Jenny Weurding finished the season as the all-time leader in blocked shots as she swatted away four to give her 173 for her career.
Georgia Southern advances to the quarterfinal round of the 2006 SoCon Women’s Basketball Tournament where they will square off against second-seeded UNC Greensboro at 5 p.m. on Friday.