Western Carolina 77, #21 Louisville 72
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Brooke Johnson scored 17 points and Western Carolina held off a late rally by No. 22 Louisville for a 77-72 win Saturday.
Western Carolina used a 10-0 run early in the second half to take the lead, which grew to 11 points, but Louisville rallied and had two chances to tie it or take the lead in the final two minutes.
The Cardinals (1-1, 0-0 Big East) had a total of four shots on those two possessions, but could not score. They finished a dismal 27-of-70 (38.6 percent) from the floor.
Ashley Pellom had 12 and Chevon Keith 11 for Western Carolina (3-1, 0-0 Southern). Louisville's Angel McCoughtry, an All-American last season and first team Preseason All-American, led all scorers with 19 points.
Western Carolina has an 11-day break before hosting UNC Asheville on November 28 at 7:00 p.m.
Chattanooga 65, Clemson 55
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Senior Alex Anderson led Chattanooga to a 65-55 win over Clemson Saturday night at the McKenzie Arena. The Lady Mocs move to 2-1 on the year and the Tigers even out at 2-2.
Anderson went 8-for-13 from the floor and was 8-of-11 from the free throw line for a game-high 24 points. She just missed a double-double with nine rebounds and tallied five assists. Brooke Hand knocked down her fourth 3-pointer of the game to put UTC up 60-53 with 4:47 to play. Erin Ogan’s trey with 1:36 to play put the game securely out of reach.
After a near seven minute scoring drought, Anderson hit back-to-back short jumpers followed by eight points from Jenaya Wade-Fray as the Lady Mocs pulled out front by seven on Hand’s shot from beyond the arc.
Hand closed out the game with 12 points draining four 3-pointers while Wade-Fray and Ogan chipped in eight apiece. Ogan finished the game with eight boards, two assists and two steals and Wade-Fray had five boards and five assists.
Sthefany Thomas led Clemson with 19 points and Morganne Campbell was the only other Tiger in double-digits with 15 points. Whitney Hood had a team-best eight rebounds and April Parker had six.
The Lady Mocs will travel to Johnson City, Tenn., to take on former Southern Conference foe East Tennessee State at 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WDOD-AM 1310.
Davidson 59, UNC Asheville 42
ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Freshman Kelsey Cary (Anselmo, Calif.) pulled down a season- and game-best 12 rebounds, sophomore Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) added nine points and four assists in her return trip back home, and junior Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.) registered the Wildcats' first double-double of the season as the Davidson women's basketball team secured the Carolina First Classic title with a 59-42 win over Georgia State in the championship game on Saturday afternoon at the Justice Center on the campus of UNC Asheville.
The title marked the third in the past four years for Davidson when playing in-season tournaments. It's also the second time the Wildcats have defeated GSU in a championship game after winning a 63-56 decision at the Panthers own holiday tournament in 2005-06.
Davidson, who defeated UNC Asheville in the first game of the classic on Friday, ran its overall mark to 2-1, while the Panthers fell to 1-2 on the season.
Cary, who tallied a season-high 23 points in the win over the Bulldogs, added eight points and two assists to finish the weekend with 31 points, 20 rebounds, four assists and two steals to earn MVP honors. The freshman hit 10-of-15 shots from the field, including 4-of-5 from downtown.
Thompson thrilled her hometown fans for two days with numerous nice passes, clutch shots and some hard-nosed Wildcat defense. The 'Cats point guard finished the two-day classic with double-double numbers, 15 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, while nailing 6-of-9 shots from the field. For her efforts, Thompson was named to the all-tournament team.
Davidson raced out to a 15-7 lead behind the strong play of Robinson. The junior forward closed out the contest with a career-high 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for her fourth career double-double. Her 11 rebounds helped Davidson for the second straight game haul in 50 or more boards as the Wildcats finished with 52. Robinson was also a key factor in helping Davidson net 32 of its 59 points in the paint, scoring all but three of her points down low.
Robinson scored on back-to-back buckets inside to give the Wildcats the eight-point advantage (15-7) as she scored an early eight points in the first nine minutes of play. She later added her first career three-ball from the top of the key to spark an 11-4 run to close out the half and finished the first stanza with 11 points to help Davidson to a 28-20 lead at the break.
The Wildcats defense was on full display as normal, holding GSU to just 8-of-33 shooting (24.2 percent) in the first half and just 23.5 percent for the game.
The Panthers came out in the second half with a 10-1 run to grab a one-point lead at 30-29, its only lead the whole game. Brittany Hudson scored nine of those points on her way to a team-high 13, but it wasn't enough.
The lead was short lived thanks to the outside shooting of seniors Danielle Hemerka (Blackwood, N.J.) and Honna Housley (Riceville, Tenn.), who each hit a three-pointer to spark an 18-4 run that turned the one-point deficit into a 47-34 Davidson lead with 8:35 left in the game that sealed GSU's fate.
Hemerka dished out a career-high seven assists to go along with eight points and eight rebounds in the winning effort.
The Wildcats would go on to push their lead out as many as 18 points in cruising to the 59-42 win.
Davidson finished the contest hitting 42.3 percent of its shots, and missed just one of its 12 attempts from the charity stripe.
Davidson takes a little break for the Thanksgiving holiday before it gears up for its annual cross-county rival game against the Charlotte 49ers on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Wildcats hold a 10-9 lead in the all-time series after taking a 75-69 decision at Belk Arena last year.
Furman 88, Jacksonville State 76
JACKSONVILLE ? Four Furman players scored in double figures Saturday night as the Lady Paladins defeated Jacksonville State, 88-76, at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
The Gamecocks (1-2) shot 44 percent from behind the arc while playing catch-up all night, but the Paladins (2-1) had an answer for every run and never let JSU put together a comeback.
“I felt like we never got into a rhythm the whole night,” JSU head coach Becky Geyer said. “We gave up way too many easy buckets by not having our help-side defense where we needed it. They are a good team and a veteran team, and I think you saw that tonight.”
Eren McMichael joined the freshman duo as the only three Gamecocks in double figures, thanks to a 5-for-11 effort from behind the 3-point line that accounted for all 15 of her points. Duhart fell a rebound shy of a double-double and rode a 7-for-10 effort from the floor to her career-high 17 points. Beneby got her career high in large part because of a 10-for-13 outing at the charity stripe.
Furman had four players score in double figures and were led by Chrissy Phelps, who recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. She knocked down 10 free throws in 11 attempts. The Paladins won the battle on the boards by outrebounding JSU, 39-34.
Furman took control of the game early, claiming a lead at the 16:47 mark that it wouldn’t relinquish. The Paladins would use an 8-0 run to build a seven-point advantage that the Gamecocks couldn’t cut to less than three, when they pulled to within 18-15 at the halfway point of the half.
Furman would build a 10-point advantage at the 4:00 mark in the opening half and never let the Gamecocks mount a serious threat.
“It didn’t seem like we could ever get closer than that eight-point deficit,” Geyer said of her team’s late efforts. “We would try to make a run, but they would always have an answer. We are just not a team that can allow 88 points and win. We have to be better defensively than that.”
Furman continues its road trip at UNC Asheville, Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m.