Chattanooga 89, Davidson 76
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Despite four players scoring in double figures, the Davidson women's basketball team was done in by a 15-for-27 shooting performance by the Chattanooga Mocs from behind the arc as the Wildcats school record 10-game winning streak was snapped in an 89-76 loss on Education Day at Belk Arena on Jan. 8. The Wildcats dropped their 15th straight decision to Chattanooga and fell to 13-3 overall, while suffering their first league loss in five games. Chattanooga, who had five players score in double digits, won for the eighth time in the past nine contests to improve to 11-5 overall and are tied with Davidson for first in the league with a record of 4-1.
Over 1,000 students and teachers were in attendance as part of the Education Day, a promotion put together by the Davidson marketing department. Before the game, the students were treated to a few classes in the athletic department and a feel of what college life is all about.
The 15 three-pointers by Chattanooga matched a school record and set a conference mark. Jenaya Wade-Fray's led the three-point barrage with a perfect 5-of-5 showing from behind the arc for 15 points off the bench. Alex Anderson had her ninth double-double of the year with a game-high 23 points and 10 boards. Laura Hall and Brooke Hand combined to go 7-for-13 from downtown and finished with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Kristen Spann was the fifth player in double figures with 12 points, while pulling down nine rebounds. The Mocs shot 51.7 percent from the field for the game, including 58 percent in the first half.
Sophomore Mercedes Robinson (Mansfield, Texas) led the charge for Davidson, registering her second career double-double and the Wildcats third of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds in her first career start in place of injured senior Brynn Kelly (Spokane, Wash.). The 12 rebounds matched her career-high as she hauled in six on each end of the court. Senior Tia Washington (Charlotte, N.C.) led the Wildcats with a season-high 14 points and pulled down a career-best seven rebounds.
Chattanooga quickly raced out of the gates by stroking it from downtown. Coming into the game hitting nearly 34 percent of their three-balls, the Lady Mocs drained six of their first eight shots from downtown, including back-to-back ones by Hall, and Davidson found itself down 28-16 with 10:27 left in the half. Eight of the Mocs' first 11 makes overall were netted from downtown as Chattanooga finished 11-of-18 from the behind arc in the first half.
Davidson never got closer than 11 points on a layup by junior Danielle Hemerka (Blackwood, N.J.) at the 7:21 mark in the first stanza and went into halftime trailing 50-35.
After Chattanooga took a brief 19-point lead, the Wildcats used a quick 7-2 run capped off by a jumper from Washington and a layup on the right side from sophomore Mandy Halbersleben (Maineville, Ohio) to bring Davidson within 12 at 60-48 at the 13:36 mark. Halbersleben had a career game off the bench, finishing with a career-best 12 points on a career-high 6-of-7 shooting from the field in 19 minutes of action.
Unfortunately, it was as close as Davidson got the rest of the game as Chattanooga led by as many as 23 points on its way to the 89-76 win.
Davidson did outscore Chattanooga in the paint, 38-20, and got 27 of its points from the bench. Sophomore Kelly Gassie was the fourth Wildcat to finish with at least 10 points, closing out the contest 4-of-9 from the field and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe for an eve 10 points.
The Wildcats will now hit the road for its next two contests, starting with a Jan. 13th trip to Statesboro, Ga. for a battle against Georgia Southern. Davidson swept its two-game series against the Eagles last season. Gametime is set for 5 p.m.
College of Charleston 52, Furman 49
Greenville, S.C. -- Erika Smith scored 14 points, and Nikki Williams added 12 points as College of Charleston rallied to defeat Furman 52-49 on Monday night at Timmons Arena. Furman, which led by as many as 13 points in the first half, dropped its sixth straight contest, and has now lost eight of its last nine games.
Melissa Liebschwager led the way for Furman with a career-high 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor, including two three-pointers and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
Late in the second half, Furman took a three point lead when Chrissy Phelps three-point play put the Lady Paladins up 47-42 at the 5:42 mark. The Lady Paladins failed to score a field goal the remainder of the game, with two Liebschwager free throws providing the only Furman scoring.
Jade Hughes hit a trey to cut the lead to two points, and Williams banked in a three-point shot to put the Cougars up by one with 3:45 remaining. Smith hit a jumper in the lane to increase the Charleston lead to three points, before Liebschwager’s free throws pulled Furman to within one at 50-49 with under three minutes to play.
Maggie McKemie was fouled after snagging a defensive rebound with 27 seconds left, but the sophomore missed on the front end of a one-and-one that would have tied the ballgame. Jill Furstenburg connected on two free throws and Liebschwager’s three-point attempt was wide to provide the final margin.
Furman shot 40 percent from the field on 16-of-40 shooting, and held Charleston to just 31.1 percent shooting (19-61). But the Cougars held a commanding 41-32 advantage on the boards, including 21 offensive rebounds which led to 17 second chance points.
The score was back and forth early in the first half before Furman used a 15-5 run to take a 24-11 lead at the 7:03 mark. College of Charleston was able to trim the lead to 27-23 at the intermission.
With the win, College of Charleston improves to 7-8 overall, 3-2 in the Southern Conference. Furman falls to 5-11 on the season, 0-5 in conference play. The Lady Paladins return to action on Saturday as Furman plays host to Wofford at 3:00 p.m. at Timmons Arena.
UNCG 80, Georgia Southern 55
GREENSBORO, NC ? The University of North Carolina at Greensboro had two players in doubles figures, with senior Jasmine Byrd leading the way with 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor as the Spartans defeated Georgia Southern 80-55 in Fleming Gymnasium on Monday night.
KaLeah Latham had a game-high eight rebounds, while Brittany Frazier and Ashley Ling both had career nights. Frazier posted a career-high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting and Ling dished out a career-high five assists.
“This was an important game for us,” head coach Lynne Agee said. “We knew it was going to be a tough physical game going in and it was from start to finish. I’m proud of the way that we handled their pressure. Jasmine Byrd had another big night for us and Brittany Frazier provided a terrific spark off of the bench.”
Georgia Southern was led by Tiffany Brown, who scored 15 points. Chequilla Jessie and Ashley Melson added seven rebounds each.
Georgia Southern (7-9, 2-3) opened the second half on a tear scoring the half’s first four-points to bring the UNCG lead to 41-32 in the early goings but Byrd was able to get the Spartans back into their rhythm hitting a three-pointer through the right side, extending the lead to 44-32.
The Spartan’s stifling defense was able to force back-to-back Georgia Southern turnovers but couldn’t convert on the other end, instead giving the ball right back to the Eagles who were able to hit several big shots cutting the lead to 49-39 with just under 15 minutes to play in the half.
UNCG (10-5, 3-2) got right back in the game going on a 6-2 run and holding the Eagles to one field goal over the next three minutes. Georgia Southern tried to pull the game close with several quick baskets but a 12-3 run in the games final five minutes sealed the victory as the Spartans picked up their fourth consecutive victory.
The Spartans shot 47.5 percent from the floor on 29-of-61 shooting from the floor and picked up 47 rebounds.
UNCG started the game fast, opening up with a 13-2 run in the games first four minutes. Byrd led the charge connecting on two three-pointers early in the game. The Spartan defense continued to trouble Georgia Southern, forcing the Eagles into five turnovers through the first eight minutes.
The Eagles continued to go cold from the floor, but finally got their first field goal at the 12:34 mark. UNCG responded by going on an 8-2 run over the next four minutes to extend their lead to 28-11 at the 7:45 mark.
Georgia Southern was able to cut the UNCG lead to 10-points with just under three minutes remaining but and got as close as 36-28 in the second half but the Spartans went on a 5-0 run to close the half and took a 41-28 lead into the lockeroom.
UNCG shot 46.9 percent from the floor in the first half on 15-of-32 shooting, their best first half shooting percentage since playing Longwood at the UNCG Thanksgiving Classic.
The Spartans head to the Greensboro Coliseum to take on ACC rival Virginia Tech, Jan. 10. The game is part of doubleheader with the UNCG men’s team, who are taking on Virginia Tech in the later game. Tip-off is set for 5 pm.
Western Carolina 71, Appalachian State 60
Cullowhee, N.C. ? Using a 12-0 run to open the game, Western Carolina led wire-to-wire in winning its fourth-straight over its mountain rival Appalachian State, 71-60, Monday night in Southern Conference action in the Ramsey Center. Four Lady Catamounts reached double-figures in scoring and three tallied double-digit rebounding nights as WCU matched its win total from a year ago, moving to 9-7 overall, 3-2 in the SoCon.
Junior guard Monique Dawson led the Lady Catamounts with 17 points, seven rebounds and a career-high six steals. The Charlotte, N.C., native also dished out three assists and was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Sophomore transfer Brooke Johnson posted her second double-double as a Lady Catamount, scoring 16 off the bench, added 10 rebounds and tied her WCU career-best with four blocked shots.
Rounding out Western’s double-digit scorers were sophomore Lauren Powell with 14, including WCU’s lone 3-pointer of the night, and 13 from junior Chevon Keith who added three assists and a pair of steals. Keith also became the 20th Lady Catamount all-time to record 500 rebounds in a career, tallying four on the night to move to 503 over her three-year career. She is now 25 rebounds shy of moving up to 19th on the chart.
Both sophomore Kendra Eaton and freshman Kristen Feemster came off the bench to add rebounding help for the Lady Catamounts, who held a commanding 54-to-42 edge on the glass. The two each boarded a season-high with 10 to tie Johnson for the team lead. Feemster, seeing her first action in three games, had an immediate impact, grabbing a defensive board less than a minute after she subbed into the game en route to her career-high. Nine of Eaton’s 10 rebounds were on the offensive end, and despite not recording a field goal, the Winston-Salem, N.C., product scored five points from the free throw line.
After securing the opening tip from junior Jessika Johnson, Keith raced right to the basket from the left side and made a lay-up six seconds into the contest, sparking a 12-0 run as the Lady Catamounts held the Mountaineers scoreless for the game’s first six and a half minutes. During WCU’s spurt, Appalachian went 0-for-8 from the floor, 0-for-2 from the free throw line and committed seven turnovers. The Mountaineers recovered, though, with a 16-6 run of its own to slice the deficit to two, 18-16, with 6:17 remaining before halftime. However, a pair of Dawson free throws and a fast break lay-up by Brooke Johnson pushed Western back out in front by six, 22-16. ASU would close to within four points before intermission, but six unanswered points by WCU pushed the lead back to 10 and stood at five, 30-25, at the break.
Appalachian State made its first of two legitimate second half pushes within the first minute and a half of the second half, outscoring Western 5-to-2 to pull to within a pair, 32-30, at the 18:52 mark. Western retaliated with an 8-0 spurt, including an old-fashioned 3-point play by Dawson, a pair of Keith free throws and Powell’s trifecta, to again lead by 10, 40-30. Five quick points the other way for the Apps closed the gap back to five, 43-38, at the 14:27 mark, but that was as close as the Mountaineers would get the remainder of the game.
The lead fluctuated between five and 10 points over the next seven minutes before matching a game-high 12 three times over the final seven minutes as WCU was nearly perfect from the free throw line. The Lady Cats shot 81.1-percent (30-of-37) from the stripe for the game, the second-best performance of the season on the second-most single-game attempts (37).
The game was marred with inconsistency as the two squads combined for 50 turnovers (25 apiece), 52 team fouls (26 apiece) and 69 free throw attempts (18-of-32 for ASU, 30-of-37 for WCU).
Appalachian State (8-8, 2-3 SoCon) was led by 18 points from junior transfer Maria Grimes, who connected on 3-of-9 from 3-point range and just 3-of-8 from the charity stripe. Sophomore Whitney Ketner scored six of her 10 points from the free throw line with a perfect 6-for-6 outing. Junior Shante Williams led the Apps on the boards with a career-high 11 boards in the losing effort. Saddled with early foul trouble, ASU’s leading scorer, junior Whitney Tossie, was held to five points which is 12 points below her seasonal average entering the game.
After playing back-to-back home games, the Lady Catamounts hit the road for three SoCon games beginning this Saturday afternoon in Chattanooga against the defending champion Lady Mocs. The start time this Saturday has been moved up to 3:00 pm at the McKenzie Arena to accommodate a television broadcast of the game in the Chattanooga viewing area. Western will also visit Georgia Southern (Jan. 15) and Furman (Jan. 20) during the road swing.