Chattanooga 61, Furman 51
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Senior forward Alex Anderson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) poured in a season-high 27 points on 11-of-20 shooting to lead Chattanooga (7-3, 1-0) to a 61-51 victory over Furman (3-6, 0-2) Thursday evening in Southern Conference women’s basketball action at The McKenzie Arena.
After recovering from an 11-point deficit in the first half to take a narrow 31-29 lead at the break, Chattanooga stepped up its play in the second half, opening with a 9-2 run and extending to a 40-31 advantage with 17:05 to play. The Paladins answered back with an 8-1 run of their own to close the gap to 41-39 at the 13:44 mark. That would be as close as they would get as the Lady Mocs put the game out of reach with an 11-2 run fueled by nine points from Anderson to push their lead to 52-41 with 8:54 to play.
From there, Chattanooga would not allow Furman any closer than seven points the rest of the way as they closed out the 61-51 victory.
In the first half, the Paladins jumped out to an early 12-1 lead with only 3:56 gone by. Trailing 18-7, the Lady Mocs responded with a 16-3 run behind eight points from junior forward Erin Ogan (Knoxville, Tenn.), including two three-pointers, to take the lead, 23-21, with 5:13 remaining in the half.
A brief rally by Furman knotted the score at 25-25 before Chattanooga closed out the half with a 31-29 lead.
In addition to her fifth 20-plus point game this season, Anderson added six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks to lead the way for Chattanooga while Ogan posted a career-high 13 points to go along with seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) added nine points and senior guard Laura Hall (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) finished with a game-high five assists.
Senior guard Chrissy Phelps led the way for the Paladins with a team-high 11 points and added seven rebounds while sophomore guard Kali Holtfreter rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points. Junior center Katie Johnson added eight points and a game-high eight rebounds.
The Lady Mocs return to action on Saturday, December 20 when they travel to Cullowhee, N.C., to take on the 2006-07 conference co-champs Western Carolina for a 7:00 p.m. contest. Furman visits Stetson at 7:00 p.m. Thursday in DeLand, Fla.
NOTES
With her six rebounds and two blocks Alex Anderson now has 175 career blocks and 802 career rebounds ... Anderson’s 27 points is a season-high and is the fifth time this season she has compiled 20 or more points ... with her five assists, Laura Hall has 354 assists for her career ... Ogan’s career-high 13 points surpasses her previous career mark of 12 points set against Davidson on February 6, 2006 and is her second double-digit scoring output this season. The Lady Mocs improve to 33-20 over the Paladins. Wes Moore now has 143 SoCon wins.
College of Charleston 79, South Carolina State 59
Orangeburg, S.C. - Four Cougars scored in double figures, including a career-high tying 20 points by Brooke Kotcella, as the College of Charleston women's basketball team defeated the South Carolina State Bulldogs, 79-59, in action tonight in front of 351 fans at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Arena in Orangeburg, S.C.
Charleston wins its third straight to go to 4-5 overall, while S.C. State falls to 3-6 on the year.
Following Kotcella and her 20 points for the Cougars was Erika Smith with 16. Tonia Gerty posted 14 points, 12 coming in a four-for-six effort from beyond the three-point line. Jill Furstenburg scored 12 in the effort. Nikki Williams tied her career-high for the second straight game, pulling down 11 rebounds to lead the Cougars. Ashley Scott paced the squad with a career-high tying seven assists.
Leading S.C. State was Sophilia Hipps with 17 points. Marie Reid followed with 14 and Kristin Johnson had 11. Reid led in rebounds with 10, for a double-double on the night.
Charleston shot 41.7 percent from the field in the game, including 55.9 in the second half. S.C. State shot 37.0 percent. CofC went 10-for-25 in three-pointers, while SCSU went five-for-15. Charleston edged the Bulldogs in rebounds, 40-38, and had a season-low 12 turnovers, compared to 26 for S.C. State.
Charleston travels to Wake Forest Wednesday, Dec. 19th for an 11:00 a.m. tip-off.
Western Carolina 74, Tennessee Tech 61
HONOLULU, Hi. ? Western Carolina women’s basketball (8-2) equaled its longest winning streak of the season, with three, but more importantly the 74-61 victory over Tennessee Tech (1-9) earned them the Paradise Classic Tournament title. The Lady Catamounts return home to host Chattanooga on Thursday at 7 p.m. to open Southern Conference play.
The Lady Catamounts lead by as much as 21 points in the second half, after taking a 32-24 advantage into the locker room, before Tennessee Tech tried to mount a come back late in the game. The Golden Eagles went on a 13-2 run in a four minute span to erode the 20 plus Western Carolina lead down to seven with 4:48 left to play.
A lay-up by Brooke Johnson pushed the Lady Catamount lead to 11 (67-56) with 3:52 remaining and Western Carolina never relinquished a double digit lead again. Western Carolina led by as much as 14 in the final three minutes of the game.
Western Carolina shot a season-high 53.8 percent from the field torching the Golden Eagles in the second half shooting 65.2 percent hitting 15-of-23 from the field. The Lady Cats also shot 44.4 percent from behind the three-point arch hitting 8-of-18 three pointers.
Junior Lauren Powell led Western Carolina with 14 points. She connected on a season-high four three-pointers and pulled down four rebounds.
Powell was one of four Lady Cats to score in double figures. Chevon Keith had 12 points, Monique Dawson 11 points and Brooke Johnson poured in 10 points. Keith also led the club with seven rebounds.
Dawson had a huge three-game tournament. She averaged 13.7 points per game and shot 48.1 percent from the field. Powell and Johnson also averaged double figures in the tournament with 12 points per game.
Lauren Powell and Brooke Johnson were named to the Paradise Classic All-Tournament team while Monique Dawson was selected as the Tournament MVP.
HEAD COACH KELLIE HARPER QUOTES:
“I am very proud of our players. To be able to come here amidst all the distractions Hawaii has to offer and be able to stay focused and win three basketball games ? that is a tribute to their maturity as a team.”
“I think Monique Dawson had some of her better games here in Hawaii we really need that type of play form her. I thought Lauren Powell shot the ball well. We are going to have production from several people and I am really happy to see that shots are finally falling Monique and Lauren.”
High Point 77, Elon 71 (OT)
HIGH POINT, N.C. - High Point shot 88.5% (12-of-14) from the free throw line in overtime to capture a 77-71 victory over the Elon women's basketball team Monday night in Millis Athletic Center. The Phoenix (5-6) came from behind to tie the game at 63 and force extra time, but the Panthers (5-5) outshot Elon 14-8 in OT to claim the win.
Down by eight with 4:27 remaining in regulation, the Phoenix went on a 10-2 tear to tie the game as the clock hit zero. Junior Kitara McMoore scored six points and pulled down three rebounds in the last three minutes of regular time to help Elon force an overtime situation.
"This was a really tough game to lose," said head coach Brenda Paul. "As well as our defense played at the end of the second half, I really thought we had a chance once we got them into overtime."
McMoore recorded her second-straight double-double, pouring in 20 points and grabbing 12 boards. Senior Tierra Bumbrey also posted double digits for Elon, netting 18 points, as did sophomore Amber Wall, who scored 14 of her 15 points in the first half.
Elon took a 33-30 lead to the locker room at halftime, going 13-of-29 (44.8%) from the floor in the first frame, but shot just 35.3% (12-of-34) in the second half. More importantly, the Panthers were 8-of-9 from the charity stripe in the second half.
"Free throws did us in," added Paul. "We can't make silly fouls and send teams to the line in close games like this one. We've got to get our heads back into the game and get focused on our game plan."
With the win, the Panthers take a 37-36 series lead over Elon, including having won the last four match-ups. The loss for the Phoenix snaps a four-game winning streak, the longest since 2003-04.
Elon wraps up its month-long road trip Thursday and Friday, traveling to Charlotte to play in the SpringHill Suites Holiday Classic. The Phoenix will face Texas-Arlington on Thursday and Charleston Southern on Friday with both games tipping off at 5 p.m.