Western Carolina 64, College of Charleston 52
Cullowhee, N.C. ? Western Carolina erased a sluggish start with a 16-to-2 first half spurt, then held the College of Charleston scoreless for the first nine minutes of the second as a part of a 23-to-4 run to pull away for its fifth-straight win, 64-52, over the College of Charleston Monday afternoon in front of a rambunctious Education Day crowd. WCU has now defeated the Cougars in nine of the last 10 meetings in the series.
Western (13-7, 7-2 SoCon) also claimed the 500th victory in program’s 42-year history with the win.
Junior Ashley Pellom was the lone Lady Catamount in double figures on the afternoon, scoring 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and connecting on 5-of-6 free throw attempts. The Wilmington, N.C., native also dished out six assists to give her 220 for her career which moved her into ninth-place on WCU’s career assists chart, bypassing Marlena Surratt (1991-93). Her classmate, Monique Dawson, just missed double-digits with nine points, while three ? Brooke Johnson, Chevon Keith and Lauren Powell ? finished with eight points apiece.
Keith paced WCU with eight boards, adding three steals, while Brooke Johnson blocked two shots to move into a tie for eight-place on Western’s single-season blocked shots list. She eclipsed both Ginger Eichhorn (1983) and Pam Daniels (1985) and now with 26 blocks on the season stands tied with Charlene Penland (1988-89). Junior Jessika Johnson rounded out Western’s top performers, adding seven points and six boards in the win.
With Western slow out of the gates, Charleston raced out to an early seven-point lead, 12-5, just five minutes into the game. The Cougars pushed the advantage into double figures, taking their largest lead of the game at 13 on two separate occasions by both a 22-9 and a 24-11 count with the latter occurring at the 9:50 mark. During that stretch, the Lady Catamounts missed nine shots as a part of 5-for-14 shooting and turned the ball over eight times.
However, Western found its footing over the next eight minutes, outscoring the Cougars 16-to-2 to erase the 13-point deficit and grab its first lead of the game, 27-26. Charleston managed back-to-back baskets, including a 3-pointer, to surge back out by four and appeared to have stemmed momentum, but Kendra Eaton sank a pair of free throws and Pellom made an athletic move to find Jessika Johnson in the paint for a lay-up as the buzzer sounded to make it a one-point, 32-31, Cougar lead at intermission.
Out of the halftime locker room, Western scored 12 unanswered points as a part of a 23-to-4 run to take an 18 point lead with 7:51 remaining in the contest. The Cougars were without a field goal for the first nine minutes of the final frame, missing all seven of their field goal attempts during that stretch and committing 10 turnovers. Over the final seven minutes, Charleston could only manage to trim WCU’s cushion to 12 on three separate occasions, including a lay-up inside the final 10 seconds which provided the final margin of victory.
For the College of Charleston (9-10, 5-4 SoCon), sophomore Jade Hughes finished with a team-high 12 points as the only Cougar in double figures. The Spartanburg, S.C., native also finished with four assists and four steals. Melissa Chambers, Sarah Moye, and Ashley Scott each finished with eight points with both Moye and Chambers boarding eight misses in the loss.
Charleston managed to out rebound Western Carolina, which led the SoCon in rebounding margin coming into the game, 43-to-38, with the Cougars grabbing 21 offensive boards. After committing 12 first half turnovers, Western only gave it away four times over the final 20 minutes. Conversely, CofC had nine first half turnovers and 12 in the second, 10 of which came during WCU’s decisive run.
Western Carolina opens the second half of its conference season this Saturday as a part of its current three-game home stand. WCU hosts the Wofford Terriers at 4:00 pm in the Ramsey Center. The Lady Cats downed Wofford, 76-67, in Spartanburg back on Dec. 17.
UNCG 62, Wofford 54
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- A 19-4 UNC Greensboro spurt covering both halves, including the final five minutes of the first half and the opening five minutes of the second stanza, provided the comeback the Spartans needed to secure a 62-54 road victory over Wofford inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena Monday night in Southern Conference women's basketball action.
UNC Greensboro, the preseason league favorite by the coaches and media, trailed 26-19 with 5:05 remaining in the first half following a pair of free throws from sophomore Liz Miller and a jumper by junior Kelsi Koenig. The Spartans, however, then received a layup from Meghan Chamberlain and back-to-back 3-pointers from the game's leading scorer, Jasmine Byrd, to close within 28-27 at the half.
Wofford had led for much of the session as it kept UNCG (13-7, 6-3 SoCon) off balance defensively. The seven-point edge would be the Terriers' largest of the game.
Byrd added seven-straight points for the Spartans during the opening minutes of the second half, including another triple at 16:18, to increase the visitors' margin to eight, 38-30. Koenig then traded baskets with Byrd on back-to-back possessions for each team as Wofford (9-10, 3-6 SoCon) closed within six, 40-34, with 14:16 to play.
The Terriers then managed a 6-0 run of their own over three-and-a-half minutes, capped by a Laura Depko layup at 11:01, to trim the deficit to two, 42-40. Freshman Kelly Dwyer kept Wofford within two but an old-fashioned three-point play by Brittany Frazier put UNCG back up five, 48-43, as the teams approached the final five minutes.
The Spartans would increase their lead to a game-high nine on a pair of instances, the last at 1:38, on a pair of Byrd charity tosses, but the Terriers hung tough with Miller draining a 3-pointer to cut the margin to five, 58-53, with :37 seconds remaining.
A pair of free throws by preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year Kristen Boone and a layup by KaLeah Latham as time expired provided the final score.
Byrd finished with 26 points on 8-of-14 from the field, including hitting half of her treys to become the school's all-time 3-point leader. Latham finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Boone added 11 points. Boone entered the contest ranked third nationally in steals per game was held without a swipe for only the second time in her career.
Miller paced Wofford with 16 points, the second-straight game in which she has led the team. It also marks her fourth-straight double-digit effort, all against league opponents. Koenig contributed 11 points and eight rebounds, while Depko chipped in with seven points off the bench.
Jennifer Weurding added four blocks to raise her career tally to 221, while Wofford registered 16 steals and forced 25 turnovers.
The Terriers will return to action when they travel to Cullowhee, N.C., to face Western Carolina at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Spartans will also play again Saturday, but at home against current league leader Davidson at 3 p.m.
Davidson 75, ASU 62
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Appalachian State University women’s basketball couldn’t recover from an early deficit as it fell to Davidson, 75-62, in Southern Conference play Monday at Belk Arena.
With the loss the Mountaineers dropped to 9-11 overall and 3-6 in the SoCon, while the league-leading Wildcats improved to 17-3 on the season and 8-1 in the league.
Davidson opened the game with a 19-0 run and shot 8-for-9 from the field and 3-for-3 from three-point range during the opening five minutes. The Wildcats used a solid defensive effort as ASU’s first points of the game didn’t come until the 14-minute mark.
The Mountaineers recovered from a 31-percent shooting performance in the first half and shot 50 percent in the second half to end the game shooting 40.7 percent from the field. ASU also got red-hot from beyond the three-point arc in the second period, converting 5-of-7. Although the Wildcats got off to a hot start, they ended the game shooting 43.1 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three-point line.
For the second-straight game, ASU out-rebounded its opponent with 40 boards compared to 33.
Junior Maria Grimes (Birmingham, Ala.) led the Mountaineers in scoring for the second-straight game with 19 points on four three-pointers. In the last three games, Grimes has put in 13 three’s. She tied her career high with five steals and added five rebounds and four assists. Sophomore Brittany Mixon (Altamonte Springs, Fla.) recorded a career-high 15 points for ASU and added six boards, two blocks and a steal.
Junior Whitney Tossie (Oviedo, Fla.) and senior Carleena Costner (Gastonia, N.C.) chipped in 10 points apiece.
Katie Hamilton led Davidson with 17 points, coming one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards. Tia Washington added 14 points, eight coming off the charity stripe where she went a perfect 8-for-8. Mercedes Robinson and Danielle Hemerka each added 12 points.
After two points by the Wildcats to open the second half, the Mountaineers hit two-straight shots, one a three by Grimes to pull within nine points at 35-26 with 18:52 to play in the game. Davidson used a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 41-26 with just under 17 minutes to go.
Davidson hit another basket and Mixon hit seven-straight points to pull within 11 points at 44-33 with 15:14 remaining. Another three-pointer by Hamilton and a two by Grimes gave Davidson a 47-35 lead before Appalachian used a 6-0 run of its own, all points by Grimes, to pull within six points at 47-41 with 12:24 to play.
The Wildcats came out of ASU’s timeout with a bucket by Hemerka, but Mixon countered with her 15th points of the game to cut the lead back to six points at 49-43 with 11:50 to go. Davidson outscored Appalachian, 9-2, in the next three minutes to take a 58-45 lead with 8:38 to go in the game.
Both teams added points, four for Davidson, five for Appalachian in the next four minutes as the headed into the final media timeout with Davidson holding a 12-point, 62-50 lead with four minutes to go.
The Wildcats converted all six of their free throw attempts in the final minute and a half as they held on for a 75-62 victory.
The Wildcats opened the game hitting eight of its first nine shots and went 3-of-3 from beyond the three-point arc to jump out to a 17-0 game in the opening five minutes of the first half.
The Mountaineers got their first points of the game off a layup by Shante Williams at the 14:01 mark. Davidson continued its hot streak as it went 10-of-12 shooting in the first 12 minutes of play. Both teams went cold for the next four minutes as Appalachian outscored Davidson, 6-1, to cut the lead to 16 at 16-10 with 8:31 to go in the opening period.
Mixon added two free throws for a 26-12 deficit before Hamilton snapped Davidson’s six minute field goal drought with an old fashioned three-point play to extend the lead to 29-12 with 5:57 to go in the half. Mixon followed with back-to-back layups to cut the lead to 13 at 29-16 with 4:31 to go in the opening period.
Hamilton hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to extend the lead back to 14 points before Tossie put in her first points of the game to make the score 30-18 in favor of the home team with a minute to go. After another six-minute Wildcat field goal drought, Alexandra Thompson hit a three-pointer with 25 seconds to go. Grimes countered with her first three of the ball game with five seconds to go and Davidson missed a last-second shot as the two teams went into halftime with the home team leading 33-21.
The Mountaineers return home as they host back-to-back doubleheaders with the men’s team. The ASU women host the College of Charleston, Saturday, January 27 at 1 p.m. and Furman on Monday, January 29 at 4:30 p.m. The Mountaineer men follow each game with contests against The Citadel at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and the College of Charleston at 7 p.m. on Monday.
Chattanooga 78, Georgia Southern 63
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Alex Anderson led five Lady Mocs in double figures Monday night at the McKenzie Arena as Chattanooga claimed a 78-63 Southern Conference win over Georgia Southern in front of 1,217 fans.
The loss is the sixth straight for the Eagles who fall to 7-13 overall and 2-7 in SoCon play. The Lady Mocs improve their record to 14-6 overall and 7-2 in conference action and are tied at second in the league standings with Western Carolina who beat College of Charleston today in Cullowhee, N.C.
Anderson, who led all scorers with 17 points, played just eight minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls in 15 seconds. Kristen Spann knocked down a career-high 14 points and just missed her first career double-double with a game-high eight rebounds.
“We had some kids step up,” Lady Mocs head coach Wes Moore said. “Kristen Spann hit some big 3’s for us. Ashley Huff knocked down some free throws then had a big steal for a layup.”
The Eagles got on the board first and outscored UTC 7-2 in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the game, but the Lady Mocs would not be denied and claimed their first lead of the night with a 12-0 run to go up 14-7 at the 13:20 mark before Anderson left the game.
“I struggled with whether or not to leave her out there and go to the zone where they couldn’t isolate her so we’d at least have her on the offensive end,” Moore said. “At the same time, we were hanging in there close. You hate to have her pick up her third foul in the first half.”
Chattanooga had a scoring drought of its own after Anderson left the game going 0-for-5 and committing three turnovers as Georgia Southern closed to within one at 14-13 with 9:20 to play in the half. The Eagles led 20-16 with 4:03 to play in the half.
Tagan Hatchett drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 3:46 to play pulling UTC to within one. Ashley Huff followed that with a pair of free throws putting Chattanooga in front 21-20. Georgia Southern grabbed its third and final lead of the game on a layup by Ashley Rivens, but Huff’s next two free throws would give the Lady Mocs the lead for good. Chattanooga went into intermission with a 30-24 lead.
The second half started with the Lady Mocs pushing the lead to 53-31 at the 13:10 mark with scoring from all five starters. Chattanooga would continue to pressure the Eagles leading by as much as 26 points at the halfway mark of the period.
“It didn’t hurt having Alex Anderson back on the floor,” Moore said. “We’re pretty confident that she’s going to be successful one-on-one, but if they double down on her we can kick it out to a 3-point shooter.”
Hatchett, Spann and Brooke Hand each hit three 3-pointers as the Lady Mocs went 9-for-26 from beyond the arc, making five in the second half. Hand scored 11 points, had four rebounds and three assists while Huff and Hatchett each chipped in 10 points. Laura Hall just missed double figures with nine points. She grabbed four boards and dished out three assists.
The Lady Mocs never relinquished its double-digit cushion, but the Eagles did get as close as 68-58 with 4:13 to play in the game.
Carolyn Whitney led the Eagles with 16 points making 4-of-12 from beyond the arc and Tiffany Brown was 7-for-16 from the field for 15 points. Ashley Rivens had nine points for Georgia Southern and Ashley Melson pulled down a team-high six rebounds. Christa Waterman had five rebounds and two steals for the Eagles.
Chattanooga outrebounded the Eagles 36-33 but gave up 14 offensive boards for 13 GSU second chance points. The Lady Mocs committed 19 turnovers to Southern’s 18, but UTC scored 26 points off the miscues to the Eagles’ 20.
The Lady Mocs shot 49 percent on the night after a 64 percent second half showing and were 19-of-25 from the free throw line. The Eagles were 26-of-65 from the floor on the night for a 40 percent mark and made just 5-of-8 from the charity stripe.
The Eagles will travel to Greenville, S.C. to take on Furman at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon while Chattanooga will hit the road for a two-game road trip beginning with a 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon matchup at Alumni Gymnasium on the Elon campus.
Elon 56, Furman 50
ELON, N.C. Rachel Hester scored 14 points and Tierra Bumbrey added 13 points and six assists as Elon beat Furman 56-50 in Southern Conference women?s basketball, ending a four-game skid Monday night at Alumni Gym.
The Phoenix (8-11 overall, 3-6 SoCon) hit the ground running and never trailed, sprinting to a 20-4 lead on a jumper by Urysla Cotton with 11:06 remaining in the opening stanza. The Lady Paladins (6-14, 1-8) responded with a 16-4 run to draw within 24-20 on a put-back by Kali Holtfreter with 3:14 to play before the break.
Elon reeled off the next nine points to close the first period, seizing an eventual 33-20 halftime advantage on a three-point bucket by Hester with 1:24 remaining in the frame. The Phoenix opened the second stanza with an old school three-point play by Amber Wall, stretching the run to 12-0 and the Elon edge to 36-20 with 19:22 left in the contest.
With the Phoenix leading 40-24 with 16:14 to go, the Lady Paladins went on to score 10 unanswered points to close within 40-34 on a three-point basket by Melissa Liebschwager with 11:50 left. Back-to-back Elon treys by Nicole Allison and Bumbrey ended the run and fattened the Phoenix lead to 46-34 with 7:58 to play.
Furman fired 36.5 percent (19 of 52) from the field, including a 36.4-percent clip (4 of 11) from three-point range. The Lady Paladins connected on 61.5 percent (8 of 13) of their attempts from the free throw line.
Elon shot 34.5 percent (19 of 55) from the floor, including 44.4 percent (a season-high 8 of 18) from behind the arc. The Phoenix converted 10 of 13 tries from the charity stripe for a 76.9-percent clip, marking the third time this season that Elon made at least 70 percent of its shots from the line.
Wall posted nine points and seven rebounds as the Phoenix improved to 7-2 at Alumni Gym and 8-0 after leading at halftime this season. Elon also improved to 4-4 all-time versus Furman with its third consecutive victory in the series.
Holtfreter and Katie Agin led the Lady Paladins with 13 points apiece, but Furman fell to 0-10 on the road for the season. Agin grabbed six boards while teammate Chrissy Phelps posted six caroms and nine assists.
Furman forged advantages in points in the paint (24-22) and off the bench (36-16) while Elon earned edges in rebounding (39-36), assists (16-13), turnovers (18-19) and points off turnovers (26-20). The teams ended up deadlocked in steals (12-12) and second chance points (19-19).
Bumbrey tallied a steal in the contest, moving into a tie with Jana Siler (1988-1992) for 10th place on Elon?s all-time career steals list at 152. Bumbrey?s six assists gave her 271 for her career, keeping her at sixth place on that Phoenix list behind Elizabeth Ward (293 in 1989-1993).
Elon returns to action at noon Wednesday, hosting non-conference foe Longwood on Education Day at Alumni Gym. Furman hosts Georgia Southern at 3 p.m. Saturday.