#25 North Carolina State 82, Appalachian State 69
RALEIGH, N.C. ? The Appalachian State women’s basketball team fell to No. 25 North Carolina State, 82-69, in the Mountaineers’ season opener.
Any questions about how the Appalachian State (0-1) freshman would handle the transition to college were answered less than a minute into the first game of the season. Point guard Robin Colbert sank a pair of free throws just 33 seconds into the opener against North Carolina State to give the team its first lead of the young season. A Whitney Randolph trey cut the Wolfpack (2-0) lead to three points with 7:26 left in regulation
Colbert went on to score ASU’s first seven points and the newcomers accounted for 22 of the team’s 35 first half points. Frances Hernandez connected on her second three-pointer of the night and Whitney Tossie drained two foul shots with 23.8 seconds left to help ASU to a small 38-35 deficit at the intermission. Tossie closed out the night with 12 points, three assists and three steals. Hernandez shot 3-for-4 beyond the arc for nine points.
Sam Ramirez scored all seven of her points in the first half, and picked up six rebounds off the bench. Colbert led the team with 17 points 3-of-6 shooting and made 9-of-11 free throws. The freshman also led the team with eight rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes in her debut. Randolph shot 5-for-10 in the game to finish with 10 points as the Apps shot 43.4 percent from the field.
The second half opened with five straight points for Colbert, before junior Brittany Mixon made the next three field goals for the team. Mixon scored 10 points in the game and led the team with 38 minutes on the floor.
NC State’s Khadijah Whittington scored a career-high 26 points in the win. The Apps made their first nine free throw over the first 29 minutes of the contest and shot 14-for-18 in the game. The Appalachian bench outscored NC State 18-12, and the four freshman guards combined for 35 points on 9-for-18 shooting. The win was the 710th of Wolfpack coach Kay Yow’s career.
The Mountaineers open up their home slate on Friday against NC Central at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Liberty 62, UNC Greensboro 44
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? The UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team fell in its home opener, 62-44 to Liberty Tuesday night in Fleming Gym.
“This was not how we envisioned starting the season,” head coach Lynne Agee said. “I was extremely disappointed with our lack of mental focus today. We talk about sustaining 30 seconds on both ends of the court and we didn’t do that today, which led to many of our breakdowns.”
UNCG (0-2) was led by junior Gini Grimsley who tallied 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting from the floor while senior Meghan Chamberlain tallied four rebounds in the loss. Sophomore Lakiah Hyson set a new career-high with six points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor.
Liberty (1-0), who picked up their first win of the season, was led by Megan Frazee who tallied 14 points and nine rebounds. Teammate Rebecca Lightfoot also tallied nine rebounds in the win.
Despite only leading by two points at the break, Liberty started the second half with a 12-0 run to pull ahead 21-34 and pulled down five boards in the first five minutes of action and never looked back. The Lady Flames, who led by as much as 22 points in the second half, tallied 20 points in the paint and shot 44 percent in the second half, to put the game out of reach.
Both teams seemed sluggish from the outset and neither team was able to find the basket until about two minutes into the game when UNCG’s Monique Floyd hit a bucket in the paint to put the Spartans ahead. Liberty wasn’t far behind with their first bucket and notched the game at 2-2 at the 15:45 mark.
The Spartans utilized offense from Hyson and Ashley Mullins and several free throws from Agne Girstautaite to pull ahead 9-2 with just under 12 minutes remaining.
The Lady Flames capitalized on several UNCG miscues and was able to tie the game but the Spartans responded with a bucket from Hyson on the next play to keep the lead. Freshman Kendra Smith came up with a big charge that gave possession to UNCG, which Hyson quickly converted into a bucket to put the Spartans ahead, 13-9 midway through the half.
A 4-0 run gave the Flames their first lead of the half at the 9:05 mark and the teams traded buckets on the next few possessions but a triple from Gini Grimsley, her first of the season, put UNCG ahead.
The teams traded buckets on the next few possessions but Liberty was able to take an 18-15 lead after hitting some quick buckets in transition.
Liberty used a 5-0 run later in the half to pull ahead 23-17 but a UNCG bucket in the paint from Chamberlain, along with two points from the charity stripe in the final seconds of the half sent UNCG to the locker room trailing 23-21.
Liberty was 43.1 percent from the floor on 22-of-51 shooting and recorded
42 rebounds while UNCG was 32.6 percent from the floor on 14-of-23 shooting while only recording 25 rebounds.
The Spartans are next in action Sunday when they head to Durham, NC to take on No. 9 Duke in non-conference action. UNCG returns home Nov. 23-24 when its hosts the UNCG Marriott Classic. The Spartans welcome Boston University, UNC Asheville and North Carolina A&T.
AGATE
LIBERTY 62, UNCG 44
LIBERTY (1-0)FRAZEE, Molly 6-10 3-4 17; FRAZEE, Megan 5-12 4-4 14; WATKINS, Courtney 3-5 0-0 7; LIGHTFOOT, Rebecca 3-8 1-2 7; HAMMOND, Rachel 3-7 0-0 6; FRAZEE, Moriah 1-5 3-4 5; BREAM, Alexandria 0-1 2-2 2; SMITH, Heather
0-1 2-2 2;MAINE, Kittery 1-1 0-0 2; McLEOD, Rachel 0-1 0-1 0; FASNACHT, Allyson 0-00-0 0. Totals 22-51 15-19 62.
UNCG (0-2)GRIMSLEY,Gini 3-12 2-2 10; MULLINS,Ashley 2-3 0-0 6; HYSON,Lakiah
3-5 0-0 6;FRAZIER,Brittany 2-6 2-4 6; FLOYD,Monique 2-4 1-2 5; CHAMBERLAIN,Meghan 1-32-4 4; BROOKS,Kemena 0-5 3-4 3; GIRSTAUTAITE,Agne 0-3
2-2 2; SMITH,Kendra1-2 0-0 2; LING,Ashley 0-0 0-0 0; BOONE,Kristen 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 14-432-20 44.
Halftime: Liberty 23-21.3-point goals--LIBERTY 3-6 (FRAZEE, Molly 2-2; WATKINS, Courtney 1-1; LIGHTFOOT, Rebecca 0-1; HAMMOND, Rachel 0-2), UNCG 4-12 (GRIMSLEY,Gini 2-9; MULLINS,Ashley 2-2; BROOKS,Kemena 0-1). Fouled out--LIBERTY-None, UNCG-None.
Rebounds--LIBERTY 42 (LIGHTFOOT, Rebecca 9; FRAZEE, Megan 9), UNCG 25 (CHAMBERLAIN,Meghan 4). Assists--LIBERTY 8 (WATKINS, Courtney 3), UNCG 9 (BROOKS,Kemena 2; FLOYD,Monique 2). Total fouls--LIBERTY 20, UNCG 20.
Technical fouls--LIBERTY-None, UNCG-None. A-365
#8 Georgia 105, Georgia Southern 66
ATHENS, Ga. ? The Georgia Southern women’s basketball team fell to a sharp-shooting Georgia, Tuesday night (Nov. 13) at Stegeman Coliseum by a 105-66 decision.
Georgia Southern falls to 1-2 on the young season, while Georgia remains undefeated at 3-0.
The Lady Eagles were led by senior forward Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola,
Fla.) with 16 points and seven rebounds, hitting 6-of-13 from the field. Also scoring in double-figures was junior guard Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) and sophomore forward Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Six Lady Bulldogs scored in double figures, including Tasha Humphrey with a game-high 18 points
The Lady Eagles won the tip, but Georgia got out to an early 13-2 lead with 16:31 on the clock. Georgia Southern’s first points came off a pair of free throws by Geiger.
The Lady Eagles’ first bucket came off a put-back by Atwood after an offensive rebound, closing the Georgia lead to nine points, 13-4 with 16:13 on the clock.
But Georgia took advantage of their size and forced 16 first-half turnovers and slowly widened the gap to take a 52-21 lead going into the break.
At the break, Atwood paced the team with nine points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field. Geiger followed with seven points and four rebounds. Leading the Lady Bulldogs was Megan Darrah and Humphrey with 11 points, apiece.
Sparked by an old-fashioned three pointer by Ashley Rivens (Charlotte, N.C.) 20 seconds into the second half, the Lady Eagles came out shooting, more than doubling their score from the first half. Georgia Southern scored 45 points, compared to UGA’s 53, including six three-pointers in the second stanza, plus a three-point play by Atwood at the 12:08 mark, 75-44.
But the Lady Bulldogs also improved their shooting in the second half, shooting 20-of-31 (64.5%) from the field.
“They went to a zone early in the second half,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “That was good for us to be able to work against a zone. That was certainly a bright spot for us. They exposed our post game in the first half and we had no answer for it and I thought that that’s where the whole thing started to spread the wealth, as far as points are concerned.”
Sophomore guard Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) finished the game with nine points while dishing out a game-high five assists. Geiger swiped a game-high four steals on the night.
Georgia led the Lady Eagles in field goal shooting, making 37-of-65 attempts (56.9%), while holding GSU to 23-of-68 shooting (33.8%). The Lady Bulldogs also the rebounds category (46-33), while also edging GSU 17-20 in the turnover margin.
The Lady Eagles will have a week to prepare for their next contest which is the home opener versus Jacksonville State. The non-conference match-up is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.
#7 North Carolina 98, Elon 53
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Tierra Bumbrey scored all 15 of her points from beyond the arc, but her efforts were not enough as North Carolina had four players reach double digits to help the Tar Heels to a 98-53 win over the Phoenix.
"This is the best we've ever played them," said Phoenix mentor Brenda Paul. "There's a reason they are one of the best teams in the country."
Ceter DeGraffenreid recorded a double-double, pouring in 12 points and grabbing 11 boards for UNC (3-0), and Rashanda McCants scored a game-high 16 points, going 7-of-14 (50%) from the floor.
Katie Whidden led the Phoenix with five rebounds, while Bumbrey dished out five assists.
Elon (1-3) outshot UNC from the perimeter in the second half, going 7-of-14 (50%).
The Tar Heels forced 19 of the Phoenix's 32 turnovers in the first half, scoring 22 of their 56 points as a result. Elon got in foul trouble early, sending Carolina to the charity stripe 17 times in the first half alone, where the Heels shot 76.5% (13-of-17).
Bumbrey grabbed a team-leading three boards in the first frame, and hit back-to-back treys at 11:52 and 10:32 to bring the score to 29-13 in favor of the Tar Heels, but was otherwise held scoreless in the stanza. She added nine points from downtown after the break to set a career high with five made three point shots.
UNC grabbed 30 first-half rebounds, led by DeGraffenreid's nine, holding the Phoenix to just 15 as a team.
The Phoenix stuck with the Tar Heels for the opening of the second half, scoring nine points to UNC's 11 before the first media timeout. But Elon went nearly five minutes without a bucket in the second half as Carolina pulled ahead 91-40 with just over five minutes remaining in the ball game.
"There's a reason you play these games," added Paul. "You want to put your players up against the best person at their position and see how you match up, and I thought we did well."
UNC scored 42 points off of Phoenix turnovers while Elon only capitalized on five points from Tar Heel turnovers.
Elon's 53 points were the most put up by an Phoenix team versus North Carolina since Dec. 28, 2000 when the Phoenix fell 77-58.