Western Carolina 62, Clemson 53
CLEMSON, S.C. - Western Carolina women's basketball tamed the Tigers of Clemson with a 62-53 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum Sunday. It was the first-ever victory for the Lady Catamounts over Clemson (1-1) and the first time since 2002 WCU has opened the season 2-0.
The Lady Catamounts shot just 23.1 percent in the first half and hit only six field goals but Western Carolina again proved they are a second-half team. Western Carolina doubled its shooting percentage in the second half, shooting 40.3 percent and was 15-of-37 from the field.
Western Carolina was down by three at half, 28-25. The club trailed by as much as 10 points, in the first half, with four minutes to go. However, the Lady Catamounts whittled it down to single digits hitting 5-of-6 from the free throw line and Chevon Keith connecting on a jumper in the final minutes of the half.
Early in the second half, Monique Dawson hit a lay-up with 14:15 left to play to tie the game at 33. The Lady Catamounts would tie the game again off a pair of free throws by junior Brooke Johnson. The club took its first lead of the second half, and second of the game, when Ashley Pellom hit a lay-up with 12:21 left.
Clemson retook the lead with 12:01 left when the Tiger's Kirstyn Wright drained a three-pointer. Western Carolina took its third and final lead of the game again thanks to Pellom who hit two of three consecutive baskets to build a 59-50 lead. Western Carolina would never relinquish the lead again.
Western Carolina shot 33.3 percent from the field and hit just two three-pointers in the game. The Lady Catamounts were 18-of-31 from the free throw line, shooting 58.1 percent. The club had 27 turnovers and forced Clemson to 28 turnovers.
The Lady Catamounts had two players who recorded double-doubles and four score in double figures in the game.
Senior Chevon Keith had 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds - the second consecutive game she has tallied a double-double. Keith also cracked the top-10 career list for rebounds as she now has 681 and surpasses former Lady Catamount Serena Surratt who had 669 from 1981-84.
Junior Brooke Johnson also notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. It was Johnson's third in her career.
Senior Monique Dawson led the Lady Catamounts with 17 points. She also had five rebounds and three assists.
Pellom ended the game with 13 points hitting a perfect 6-for-6 from the field. She also had two assists and two steals.
Western Carolina will travel to Minnesota next weekend to play in the Subway Classic. The Lady Catamounts face host Minnesota on November 16 at 7 p.m. and play Louisville at 3 p.m. November 17.
NOTES:
GOING 2-0: Western Carolina begins the season 2-0 for the first time since 2002. The club defeated Gardner-Webb and High Point to start the season five years ago. It is also the first time a club coached by Head Coach Kellie Harper has started a season 2-0.
FIRST-EVER WIN: The Lady Catamounts victory over Clemson is the first in school history for Western Carolina. It breaks a 7-0 streak the Tigers had over WCU.
CAREER-HIGH FOR KEITH: Senior Chevon Keith tallied a career-high 16 rebounds over Clemson.
SECOND TIMES A CHARM: Head Coach Kellie Harper faced in her first collegiate game as a Head Coach when she led the Lady Catamounts to face the Tigers in 2004. Just three short years later, Harper notched her first win over Clemson as a head coach and is now 1-1 over the Tigers at the helm of the WCU program.
Georgia Southern 67, Stetson 51
DELAND, Fla. ? Seniors Shawnda Atwood and Chequilla Jessie scored a team-high 12 points each to lead the Georgia Southern women’s basketball team to a 67-51 non-conference victory at Stetson, Sunday afternoon (Nov. 11) at Edmunds Center in DeLand, Fla.
The Lady Eagles improve to 1-1 on the season, while the Hatters fall to
0-2 overall, giving Georgia Southern a 21-9 all-time series advantage since 1980.
Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) led the team with 10 rebounds contributing to her first double-double of the season and fourth of her career. Jessie (Sanford, Fla.) pulled down nine rebounds while Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) had a strong performance with nine points and eight rebounds. Junior Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) scored 10 points shooting 4-of-5 from the field.
Stetson was led by Kellie Olson with 14 points, followed by Jessica Conner with 11 points and nine rebounds.
“It’s always great to get that first win, just because it relaxes everybody,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “When you start the season this early, everybody’s looking for that win because you know how important that is, to get that under your belt, especially on the road. You can tell that for the kids it’s almost like a sigh of relief. So now we pick it up and go with it.”
In first-half action, the Hatters were the first to put points on the scoreboard as Ayesha Barkley hit a pair of buckets to put the Hatters ahead 4-0. But key Georgia Southern steals and rebounds helped spur a 7-0 run capped by a long jumper by Jessie, giving the visitors a 7-4 lead with 14:00 on the clock.
A pair of buckets by Ashley Melson and a triple off the hands of Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) put the Eagles up 16-7 with 9:25 remaining in the first half.
Elise Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) sparked a 7-1 run that put the Lady Eagles ahead 25-10 with 4:45 on the clock. But Stetson worked its way back from the 15-point deficit by responding with a 10-3 scoring drive, including seven points off the hands of Kellie Olson, to end the half trailing by eight points, 28-20.
In first half action, the Hatters got into foul trouble early, allowing the Lady Eagles to head to the charity stripe and connect on 8-of-11 attempts from the line. GSU’s last seven points of the half came from the free-throw line and they held a 28-20 advantage going into the locker room shooting 9-of-33 (.273) from the field, compared to Stetson’s 6-of-23 (.261) shooting.
In the second half the Hatters closed the gap to within five points twice in the first 10 minutes and GSU held a 46-41 advantage with 10:38 remaining.
Then the Lady Eagles countered with a 14-0 run over the next six minutes for a 60-41 advantage with 4:13 on the clock. The run was sparked by Geiger’s three-pointer and jumper, and extended by a triple off the hands of Atwood to beat the shot clock.
The Lady Eagles held on to the lead they produced just three minutes into the first half for their first win of the season.
Georgia Southern took advantage of the Hatters’ 27 turnovers, scoring 31 points off the home team’s miscues, compared the Stetson’s 14 points.
The Lady Eagles out-rebounded the Hatters 44-38 and made 14 steals, including a game-high four swipes by Carolyn Whitney, who also netted eight points.
“The kids are starting to believe,” said Cram. “It was obvious tonight they got their composure back. They were saying it. We heard it from the bench. They were taking ownership. And when they start taking ownership, that’s half the battle. I thought we contained them pretty well. And every time they made a run, we answered it.”
The Lady Eagles continue their tough three-game road trip to battle No. 10 Georgia, Tuesday, November 13 in Athens.
#1 Tennessee 76, Chattanooga 56
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Chattanooga women’s basketball team fell 76-56 to No. 1 ranked Tennessee Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena before a crowd of 13,811.
Chattanooga trailed the Lady Vols 32-28 at the break and Tennessee pulled away by as much as nine points, but Laura Hall scored nine straight to start the second half to get the Lady Mocs to within two at 39-37 at the 16:53 mark. However, Tennessee forced four straight turnovers after the 16 minute media timeout and put the lead into double digits at 48-37 a minute-and-a-half later. The Lady Mocs would only get as close as seven points for the remainder of the game.
Hall tallied her points on a pair of fast break layups, a jumper and a trio of free throws and led the Lady Mocs with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Alex Anderson was stymied down low in the first half, but Shanara Hollinquest stepped up her offense and went 4-for-5 from the floor with a free throw for nine points at the half. She closed out the game with 13 points and five rebounds as the only other Chattanooga player in double digits.
The Lady Mocs were 8-of-22 from the 3-point line with Jenaya Wade-Fray sinking three for the second straight game. Tennessee was 4-for-13 from beyond the arc and shot 46.5 percent on the day. The Lady Vols held a slim 39-34 margin on the boards and took advantage of 32 Chattanooga turnovers but only scored 21 points off the miscues. UTC scored 16 points off 18 Tennessee mistakes but only shot 21-for-54 (38.9%) from the floor for the day.
Candace Parker had a game-high 23 points, but managed just eight in the first half making 3-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-4 from the free throw line. She had seven rebounds on the day and was 2-for-2 from the 3-point line. Vicki Baugh went 5-for-6 and was the only other Lady Vol in double digits with 11 points and Nicky Anosike had a game-best 10 rebounds, just missing a double-double with nine points.
Chattanooga will host Clemson Saturday, Nov. 17 at the McKenzie Arena at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the McKenzie Arena box office at 266-MOCS (6627). Larry Ward will have all the action live on the flagship station of the Lady Mocs, Ruby-AM WDOD 1310 or online around the world at the official website of UTC athletics, GoMocs.com.
Coastal Carolina 59, Wofford 58
CONWAY, S.C. -- A strong start to the second half put Wofford on top but host Coastal Carolina scored the game's final six points to rally for a thrilling 59-58 triumph Sunday afternoon in the women's basketball season opener for both schools.
The Terriers opened a sluggish first half by both teams by scoring the first three points and held the Lady Chanticleers off the scoreboard until Vicky Blanchard netted a bucket at 16:36 cutting the margin to one. Wofford continued to maintain much of the possession but could not muster more than a four-point lead on a Natalie Gramblin layup to make it 11-7 with 10:10 left in the period.
Coastal Carolina (1-0) used four-straight points from Courtney Grambley to knot it at 11 apiece before a pair of C.J. Ware free throws at 5:02 gave the 'Chants their first advantage, 18-17. Coastal increased its edge to as much as five, 22-17, on another set of free throws by Lacey Lyons. Lyons hit a 3-pointer to match CCU's highest advantage of the half to that point, 25-20, with 2:24 remaining.
Lyons would knock down her third triple of the half with 1:14 to play to increase the lead to 10, 30-20, before junior Liz Miller converted a pair of charity tosses to close out the stanza's scoring and bring the Terriers within eight, 30-22, at the break.
Sophomore Kelly Dwyer jumped started a 12-0 Wofford (0-1) surge out of the lockerroom. She hit the team's first 3-pointer before Miller made her first triple of the season a short time later. On the next two Lady Chanticleer possessions, Dwyer stole a pass in the backcourt and raced to the other end uncontested for layups forcing a timeout to be called.
Coastal did not net its first points of the half until Blanchard pulled the 'Chants within two, 34-32, with her first score of the period. The Terriers used solid free throw shooting to increase their lead to nine, 43-34, with 11:58 showing on the clock. Freshman Mahagony Williams posted her first collegiate points keeping the advantage at eight, 47-39, with 9:43 remaining.
Senior Kelsi Koenig was fed by Gramblin underneath for a layup, while junior Summer Nichols also had an easy conversion giving Wofford its final seven point lead, 57-50, with 2:50 to play.
The Lady Chanticleers then turned to Blanchard, who they had found all second half, for decisive shots down the stretch. The Terriers could not keep from fouling CCU, either, giving the hosts six foul line attempts in the final 1:05 with Coastal making one-half of them.
Following Amanda Stull's miss on the back-end of a two-shot foul with :21 seconds left, Sydnei Moss raced to the loose ball and registered the ensuing layup cutting the deficit to one, 58-57, with :19 seconds showing on the clock.
Moss then stole the ball before Wofford could get it across half-court and fed Blanchard for the game-clinching layup at the :11 mark. The Terriers had one last-ditch effort as Miller could not draw the foul as the final buzzer sounded.
Koenig registered her fifth career double-double by leading Wofford with 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Miller knocked down all eight of her free throw attempts in netting 11 points, while Dwyer added eight. Gramblin also scored a career-high eight points, while Summer Nichols had six steals.
Blanchard led all players with 18 points, 16 of which came in the final 20 minutes. She also grabbed a team-high nine boards, eight on the defensive glass.
Lyons finished with 16 points, including four 3-pointers, on seven attempts.
Wofford will return to action when it hits the Benjamin Johnson Arena floor for the first time this season at 5 p.m. Wednesday against Southern Virginia.
#23 Vanderbilt 68, Furman 51
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Christina Wirth scored 17 points to lead Vanderbilt (No. 17 ESPN/USA Today; No. 23 AP) to a 68-51 victory over Furman on Sunday.
Wirth was 7-of-11 from the field, and had six rebounds and three assists to pace a Commodores offense that shot 52.1 percent from the field.
Vanderbilt (2-0) jumped out to a 14-0 lead behind eight points from Jessica Mooney. After being held scoreless for the first 6:50, Furman (1-1) cut the lead to 23-17 with 8:07 remaining on a 3-pointer by substitute Lee Stephens, who scored a team-high 13 points.
The Lady Paladins would get no closer as Jen Risper followed with two baskets to extend the lead to 10. The Commodores held Furman to 36.4 percent shooting from the field and led by as many as 30 points in the second half.
Mooney finished with 10 points, while Merideth Marsh had nine points on three 3-pointers.
Vanderbilt was 8-of-20 from 3-point range, while Furman made eight of 15 from beyond the arc.
The Commodores shot 65.4 percent in the first half and held Furman to just 40 percent to lead 39-23, although the Lady Paladins connected on five of eight 3-pointers.
Vanderbilt will next hit the road to face Indiana State on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. CT in Terra Haute, Ind.
North Carolina State 74, UNC Greensboro 29
RALEIGH, N.C. ? The UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team opened the 2007-08 season with a 74-29 setback against No. 25 North Carolina State on Sunday afternoon in Reynolds Coliseum.
UNCG (0-1) was led by senior forward Brittany Frazier who had five points while teammates Meghan Chamberlain and Agne Girstautaite each added four points in the loss.
“While the result wasn’t what we were looking for this was a good game for us to play, said head coach Lynne Agee.” They are a young team like us and we got a chance to see what a team that works really hard each and every play looks like looks like. We spent too much time dwelling on our mistakes today and ended up making more mistakes as a result. We have a short turnaround with a game on Tuesday and we will have to find a way to regroup before then.”
Khadijah Whittington led NC State (1-0) with 23 points and 16 rebounds on 10-of-20 shooting. Nikitta Gartrell and Megan Zullo were also in double-figures with 12 points each.
The Spartans took a 4-3 lead early after Brittany Frazier scored the Spartans first field goal of the season at the 18:48 mark but North Carolina State would respond with a 12-2 run to take a 16-5 lead midway through the half.
UNCG tried to gain some momentum near the end of the half and recorded stops on several NC State possessions. Meghan Chamberlain hit a quick jumper and Monique Floyd hit her first collegiate bucket while a free throw from Lakiah Hyson put UNCG into double digits. The Spartans couldn’t stop Whittington, who accounted for nearly half of the NC State points heading into the break.
Whittington led all scorers with 13 points at the break. Chamberlain led UNCG with four points while Ashley Mullins, who connected on the lone three pointer of the half, was the next leading scorer with three points.
North Carolina State extended their lead to 50-15 at the 16:41 mark sparked by three consecutive buckets from Zullo. Gini Grimsley ended UNCG’s drought with a jumper through the left side but UNCG couldn’t top Zullo’s hot hand from behind the arc as the Wolfpack went on a 14-1 run midway through the half.
The Spartans were able to get quality points out of Lakiah Hyson and Brittany Frazier to cut the lead to 69-23 at the 7:56 mark. UNCG was able to make some key stops down the stretch and found some points off the bench in Sharniece Wadelington and Kendra Smith.
The Spartans outscored NC State 4-0 over a three minute span late in the half but couldn’t stop NC State from scoring as the home team cruised to the victory.
UNCG 29 points were the fewest points scored in school history; the previous low was 32 scored against High Point during the 1971 season.
The Spartans open the 2007-08 home schedule on Tuesday when they welcome Liberty to Fleming Gym. Tip off is set for 7 pm. NC State faces another Southern Conference team on Tuesday when they host Appalachian State at 7 pm.
SIDELINES: UNCG has opened on the road for the 12th time in the last 13 years... the Spartans are 12-15 in season openers under Lynne Agee...UNCG opened the 2005-06 season at NC State, a 76-46 NC State victory... the last ACC opponent the Spartans faced was Virginia Tech in the Greensboro Coliseum last February.... UNCG played 14 players including Monique Floyd, who earned her first collegiate start. Kendra Smith, Sharniece Wadelington, Johanna Womack, and TaShama Banner made their Spartan debut....Ashley Mullins, who saw her first game action since injuring her thumb late last Nov, hit on her first shot of the game.
AGATE:
NC STATE 74, UNC GREENSBORO 29
UNC GREENSBORO (0-1)
Brittany Frazier 2-7 1-3 5; Meghan Chamberlain 2-3 0-0 4; Agne Girstautaite 0-4 4-6 4; Lakiah Hyson 1-5 1-2 3; Monique Floyd 1-5 1-3 3; Ashley Mullins 1-2 0-0 3; S Wadelington 1-3 0-0 2; Gini Grimsley 1-6 0-0 2; Kendra Smith 1-2 0-0 2; Kemena Brooks 0-0 1-2 1; Ashley Ling 0-2 0-0 0; Johanna Womack 0-1 0-0 0; Tashama Banner 0-0 0-0 0; Jasmine Dixon 0-4 0-1 0. Totals 10-44 8-17 29.
NC STATE (1-0)
Khadijah Whittington 10-20 3-5 23; Nikitta Gartrell 5-9 2-2 12; Megan Zullo 4-9 0-0 12; Chanita Jordan 3-8 2-4 8; Sharnise Beal 3-5 0-0 7; Gloria Brown 3-7 0-0 6; Amber White 1-6 1-1 4; Shayla Fields 1-6 0-0 2; Hanna Halteman
0-2 0-0 0; Lucy Ellison 0-0 0-0 0; Brittany Strachan 0-1 0-0 0; Tia Bell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-73 8-12 74.
Halftime NC State, 40-13 3-point goals--UNC Greensboro 1-8 (Ashley Mullins 1-2; Gini Grimsley 0-4; Ashley Ling 0-1; Jasmine Dixon 0-1), NC State 6-20 (Megan Zullo 4-9; Sharnise Beal 1-2; Amber White 1-5; Shayla Fields 0-2; Brittany Strachan 0-1; Nikitta Gartrell 0-1). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-None, NC State-None.Rebounds--UNC Greensboro 32 (Brittany Frazier 5; Ashley Ling 5), NC State 53 (Khadijah Whittington 16). Assists--UNC Greensboro 4 (Brittany Frazier 2),NC State 15 (Nikitta Gartrell 6). Total fouls--UNC Greensboro 12, NC State 19. Technical fouls--UNC Greensboro-None, NC State-None. A-1363