Chattanooga 86, Western Carolina 81
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? Western Carolina women’s basketball had the recipe for success, against Chattanooga on Thursday, with four players in double figures and scoring over 80 points, but the Lady Catamounts couldn’t overcome the sharp-shooting of the Lady Mocs. Western Carolina (8-3, 0-1 SoCon) dropped its opening Southern Conference game of the season 86-81 to rival Chattanooga (8-3, 2-0 SoCon) in the Ramsey Center.
Laura Hall’s basket gave Chattanooga a 31-29 lead but Western Carolina quickly tied it thanks to a pair of free throws by Jessika Johnson, who had come into the game for the injured Brooke Johnson. The tie was short-lived as Chattanooga went on a 6-0 run, thanks in part to a pair of three-pointers, one of which was a buzzer beater by Brooke Hand, to close out the half.
Chattanooga built a 10-point lead to start the second half and Western Carolina looked as if Brooke Johnson’s injury had taken everything out of them. However, the Lady Cats fought back and went on a 16-5 run to take its first lead of the second half, 63-62. Western Carolina built a four point lead, thanks to a three-pointer by Monique Dawson, but the Lady Mocs battled back again.
Chattanooga tied the game, the seventh tie of the game, at 72 with 4:33 remaining and took the lead thanks to 1-of-2 free throws by LaCondra Mason. Western Carolina answered with 1-of-2 free throws by Ashley Pellom for the eighth tie of the game at 73.
A three-point basketball by Chattanooga’s Kristen Spann allowed Chattanooga to reclaim the lead and the Lady Mocs never trailed again. Western Carolina did cut it down to three twice, after Chattanooga led by as much as five, but could never get any closer.
Chattanooga shot 50 percent from the field and 45 percent from the three-point line, hitting nine three-pointers in the game. Western Carolina shot 48.5 percent from the field and just 33.3 percent from behind the three-point arch. Both teams connected on 13 free throws in the game.
Hall was efficient on the night, leading UTC with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting while adding four rebounds and three assists. Alex Anderson, the SoCon’s leading scorer, tallied 18 points and was joined in double figures by Hand (14) and Shanara Hollinquest (13).
Senior Monique Dawson scored a season-high 20 points for the Lady Catamounts, the first time this season she has posted 20 or more points. Junior Kendra Eaton bested her career-high of 15 points for the second time this season and also had one steal. Senior Chevon Keith tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds and fellow senior Ashley Pellom rounded out the double figure scoring with 11 points.
Western Carolina junior center Brooke Johnson left the game late in the first half with an injury and will have an MRI on Friday. Her status is questionable until the results are more conclusive.
Western Carolina will take a break for the holidays and return to action on December 30 as the club travels to Raleigh, N.C. to take on North Carolina State.
Head Coach Kellie Harper Quotes
“Chattanooga lives and dies on the three-pointer and tonight they live on it. They made them. We gave up too many easy baskets. I thought we didn’t play as intelligent defensively as we needed to.”
THE STATUS OF BROOKE JOHNSON:
“Brooke will have an MRI tomorrow and we will know more when those results come in. I saw her go down and it scared me. But no matter what this team will have to go on with or without here. I told Brooke no matter what happens we will get her through this. If it is what we fear, an ACL, I have been through it and so have several of her teammates and we will help her any way we can. We are worried most about her health right now and we want her to be okay and keep our fingers crossed. But at the same time we have to understand we have to have other people step up.”
Georgia Southern 66, Presbyterian 35
STATESBORO, Ga. - Four different Lady Eagles scored in double-figures as the Georgia Southern women’s basketball team rolled past Presbyterian, 66-35, and captured its fourth-consecutive victory at Hanner Fieldhouse, Thursday evening (Dec. 20).
With the non-conference win, Georgia Southern improves to 5-6 overall and extends its home win-streak to four games. Presbyterian drops its fourth-consecutive game and falls to 1-11 overall. The game was the first between the two schools.
Leading all scorers with a career-high 13 points was sophomore guard Nya Daley (Toronto, Ontario) making 5-of-10 of her attempts from the field, including a three-pointer. Seniors Tiffany Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) and Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) tallied 12 points, apiece, and were followed by junior Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) with 11 points. Sophomore forward J’Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
Presbyterian was led by Katlin Moore with 11 points going a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Sharie Hopkins pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.
Georgia Southern outshot Presbyterian 42.6 percent (26-61) to 17.0 percent (8-47) from the field. The Lady Eagles also led in the rebounds category, pulling down 47 compared to PC’s 37.
The Lady Eagles got a lot of help from the bench, outscoring the Lady Blue Hose 28-8.
Georgia Southern picked up the first two points of the game off the hands of Brown just under two minutes into the contest. Presbyterian tied up the game, 2-2, one minute later off a layup by Sharie Hopkins. Both teams struggled to hit their shots for the next 3:24 minutes before Atwood stopped the drought with the go-ahead bucket, 4-2 with 14:21 remaining in the first half.
The Lady Eagles never looked back as they produced a 34-16 advantage going into the half.
In second half action, Presbyterian managed to close the GSU lead to 13 points, 41-28, going on an 8-0 run capped by a pair of free-throws by Moore with 13:30 on the clock. But the Lady Eagles managed to hold the visitors to just seven more points for the remainder of the game to secure its flawless home schedule.
Georgia Southern will take a week off for Christmas and will return to action at the Virginia Commonwealth University Christmas Tournament in Richmond, Va., Thursday and Friday, Dec. 27, 28. The Lady Eagles will first clash with Boston University at 5 p.m. on Thursday. The next day, they will either take on tournament host VCU or Morgan State, Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Furman 64, Stetson 55
DeLAND, Fla. ? Furman started the game with an 11-0 lead and never looked back, defeating Stetson 64-55 in the Edmunds Center on Thursday.
Furman led by as many as 15 points in the first half, and headed into the break with a solid 35-22 lead, helped by good offensive efforts from senior Chrissy Phelps, junior Katie Johnson, and sophomore Kali Holtfreter.
The second half was much of the same for the Lady Paladins, who kept the lead for the remainder of the game, leading by as many as 16 points.
The Lady Hatters were led by Vlendy Roldan’s 12 points and nine rebounds, while Kellie Olson contributed 10 points.
Sophomore Holtfreter led three Lady Paladins in double-digit scoring with 17 points, including four 3-pointers. Junior Katie Johnson added 12 points and nine rebounds, while senior Phelps racked up 10 points. Freshman Kendra Berry added eight points and eight rebounds to the winning effort.
With the win, the Lady Paladins improve to 4-6 on the season, while Stetson falls to 1-9. After the holiday break, Furman will travel to Blacksburg, Va. to participate in the Virginia Tech Classic, facing the host Hokies on Saturday, Dec. 29.
Virginia 83, Davidson 68
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Sophomore Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.) scored a career-high 22 points, but it was not enough to off-set five Virginia players who scored in double figures and led a Cavalier attack that shot 52.4 percent for the game as the Davidson Wildcat women's basketball team dropped an 83-68 decision on Thursday, Dec. 20 at John Paul Jones Arena.
The Wildcats fell to 6-4 on the season in the program's first trip to Charlottesville, while Virginia ran it overall record to 7-4.
Robinson added a game-and career-high 13 rebounds to go along with the game-high 22 points for her fourth double-double of the season. The junior post player was 8-of-11 from the field, including tying a career-high with two shots from behind the arc, and hit all four of her free throws.
Matching Robinson in double figures was sophomore Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.), who dropped in 17 points off the bench. After missing her first shot, she finished 8-for-8 from the field and hit her only free throw. Paquette has now hit for double digits in five of her last six games.
All five Virginia starters scored in double figures, led by Monica Wright's 18 points. Virginia as a team came into the contest with four players averaging over 10 points.
Davidson grabbed a quick 6-5 lead on a Robinson layup off the right block, but that was the last lead the Wildcats would have in the evening as Virginia got hot from the field.
The Cavaliers turned a one-point deficit into a 24-11 lead by making 11 of their first 16 shots before a break in the action at the 11:22 mark. Lyndra Little, Aisha Mohammed and Wright provided the scoring burst by combining for 22 of the 24 points. Little finish with 12 points in the half.
Little and Mohammed capped off their nights with 17 and 16 points, respectively. The two post players combined to shoot 12-for-21 from the field and hauled in total of 11 rebounds. The majority of both players' points came in the paint as they led Virginia to a 52-22 advantage in points down on the blocks.
Davidson cut the lead down to seven, 26-19, at the 8:26 mark with an 8-2 run as Paquette scored six points during the run.
The 'Cats would score just seven more points the rest of the half though, and Virginia rode a 51.5 percent shooting performance in the first period into the locker room with a 42-26 advantage.
After hitting just 32.4 percent of their shots in the first half, the Wildcats did find their stroke in the second period from the field and three-point country. They hit 16-of-29 shots (55.2 percent) and drained 7-of-13 three-balls in the half to match their season-high with nine.
The hot-shooting and two runs in the second half kept Davidson close, but it was just never able to keep the momentum going. After falling behind by 24 (57-33) at the 16:09 mark, the Wildcats used a 19-5 run, fueled by a combined 16 points from Robinson and Paquette, to pull within 10 at 62-52 with 8:38 remaining.
Virginia pushed the lead back out to 17 on two free throws by Sharnee Zoll, who had 16 points and eight assists, but Davidson used back-to-back three-balls from sophomore Monica Laune (Ashland, Neb.) to cut the lead back to 13 at 74-61.
The Wildcats got no closer over the last four minutes as Virginia pushed the lead back out to as many as 18 on its way to the 83-68 win.
The Wildcats continue their four-game road trip after an eight-day Christmas break with a trip to Philadelphia, Pa. for its second in-season tournament with an appearance in the St. Joe's Hawk Classic on the campus of Saint Joseph's University. Davidson will open play against No. 16/16 Auburn on Friday, Dec. 28 at 4 p.m., before playing either St. Joseph's or New Jersey Institute of Technology on the 29th at 2/4 p.m.
Central Florida 76, UNC Greensboro 73
ORLANDO, Fla. ?The UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team dropped a 76-73 heartbreaker to Central Florida in the finale of the Central Florida Holiday Classic on Thursday night. Down by only three points with 8.2 seconds left, the Golden Knights sealed the victory with free throws down the stretch.
UNCG (1-10) had three players in double figures and was led by senior guard Kemena Brooks who tallied a season-high 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor. The Accokeek, MD native was in double figures for the second consecutive game. Brittany Frazier and Gini Grimsley were also in double figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
“I was proud of the way that our team stuck around tonight, “said head coach Lynne Agee. “We were able to match them run for run and picked up key buckets when we needed them. We were in the game with a chance to win late and that is a step in the right direction for us at this stage in our team’s development.”
The Spartans outrebounded Central Florida by a 47-41 margin and shot 36.9 percent from the game on 24-of-65 shooting from the field. UNCG’s bench also outscored UCF’s bench 28-10.
Central Florida (6-6) had four players in double digits with Tia Lewis leading the way with 17 points on7-of-14 shooting from the field. Chelsie Wiley was UCF’s next leading scorer with 16 points while Emma Cannon and Marshay White tallied 15 points each. Lewis and Cannon also had 10 and 13 rebounds, respectively.
UNCG started the second half much like it ended the first and was able to pull ahead 39-32 with only three minutes gone in the half but several UNCG miscues got the Golden Knights back into the game and put them ahead 43-43 at the 15:58 mark. The Spartans wouldn’t go away and forced the Knights into three quick turnovers which turned into seven UNCG points, giving the Spartans a 54-48 lead at the 11:48 mark.
The Golden Knight’s went on a 6-0 run before a bucket from Brittany Frazier but a three pointer from White coupled with several missed layups cut the lead to 60-59 at the 6:47 mark. The teams battled for the rest of the half with neither team taking more than a two-point lead late in the half.
The teams were quite evenly matched through the opening minutes of the game and an early steal from Monique Floyd gave UNCG an early 3-2 advantage. The teams traded buckets early and freshman Monique Floyd, who was extremely active under the bucket, scored five of UNCG’s first nine points.
The Central Florida went on a 7-2 run sparked by buckets from Wiley and a three-pointer from Jelisa Caldwell to break open a 16-9 lead at the 11: 50 mark of the half. The Spartans were able to force the Knights into several mistakes down the stretch but couldn’t convert on the other end as Central Florida pulled ahead 21-13 with just over seven minutes left in the half.
The Spartans kept going to the bucket and was able to UNCG hit five consecutive free throws to cap a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 25-23 at the
3:52 mark UNCG used a bucket from Floyd to take their first lead of the game at the 2:20 mark. The Spartans closed the half with a 9-3 run in the last two minutes to sparked by two big three-pointers from Kemena Brooks to take a 37-32 lead into the break.
The Spartans outrebounded the Knights by a 29-15 margin and shot 42.7 percent from the field on 11-of-26 shooting in the first half.
UNCG will take some time off for the holidays before jumping back into Southern Conference play against Furman on Feb. 2. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. in Timmons Arena.
La Salle 66, Appalachian State 62
ORLANDO, Fla. - A 13-point halftime lead slowly dissolved on Thursday evening, as the Appalachian State fell 66-62 against La Salle in the finale of the UCF Holiday Classic. Three Mountaineers scored in double figures but the team was unable to secure a second straight win.
The Mountaineers (2-8) maintained momentum from Wednesday night's win early on, as three field goals gave the team an early 6-1 lead. Appalachian then weathered a 15-6 run by the Explorers before countering with a 16-0 run spanning seven minutes to take a 28-16 lead with three minutes remaining before the intermission.
Whitney Randolph and GiGi Thomas each drained four buckets in the first half to lead the team with eight points each. ASU shot 55.2 percent from the floor in the opening period on 16-for-29 shooting. Defensively, the team held the opposition to just nine field goals and a season-low 23 points.
The Apps scored 13 points off of turnovers before the half, and held a 14-0 advantage in second-chance scoring. The 13-point halftime advantage all but disappeared early in the second half, as La Salle pulled within two at 46-44 with 11 minutes to play.
Carlene Hightower scored four straight points to give the Explorers their first lead of the second half with just over four minutes to play at 59-58. La Salle did not extend the second half lead to more than three points until the final four seconds when a pair of free throws gave the Explorers a 66-62 lead, which would hold. La Salle shot 62 percent from the floor after halftime.
Thomas finished with 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting along with a team-high four steals. Whitney Tossie posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards to go with her team-leading three assists.
The team cooled off offensively in the second period, shooting just 36.7 percent from the floor, including an 0-for-5 line from beyond the arc. Frances Hernandez knocked down the only Mountaineer trey of the evening as the team shot 1-for-12 deep. Hernandez recorded three rebounds and three points in the contest.
ASU won the battle on the boards, with a 33-24 advantage, and ended the night with 20 second chance points off of 14 offensive boards. Randolph was second on the team with seven rebounds to accompany her 10 points. The sophomore has averaged over 15 points in her last three games. Robin Colbert and Brittany Mixon each scored nine points in the contest and Mixon added five boards. Colbert tied for the team lead with four steals.
It was the first-ever meeting between the two teams. Tossie now stands 17th all-time in scoring with 1,019 points. The senior needs 18 more to move into a tie for 16th. Among 1,000-point scorers in ASU history, Tossie is just one of six with fewer than 100 games played. The senior has played 96 in her career.
Following a brief break for the holidays, ASU will compete in the Maggie Dixon Surf 'N Slam Tournament in San Diego, Calif. The team faces host San Diego on December 28 at 9 p.m.
Texas-Arlington 80, Elon 58
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Elon's near-perfect 90.5-percent free throw shooting was not enough to overpower the Texas-Arlington offence as the Mavericks ran their way to an 80-58 victory over the Phoenix Thursday night in game one of the SpringHill Suites Holiday Classic at Halton Arena.
The Phoenix (5-7) was 19-of-21 from the charity stripe, but only hit 18 shots from the floor in the contest.
Junior forward Kitara McMoore posted her third-straight double-double, pouring in a team-leading 14 points and grabbing a team-leading 10 boards. McMoore was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line, also dishing out a team-high three assists.
Senior guard Tierra Bumbrey finished with 10 points for Elon after being held scoreless in the first half.
UTA's Tamara Simmons netted a game-high 23 points, sinking all five of her three-point attempts.
Simmons netted 16 first-half points for the Mavs, leaving the Phoenix with a 47-24 deficit to overcome heading into the locker room. Elon held an early lead, 5-0 at just over a minute into the contest, but Texas-Arlington used a 16-2 run that took more than five minutes off of the clock to gain a lead they would not relinquish in the frame.
Senior post player Katie Whidden and McMoore powered Elon on the boards through the first stanza, grabbing five and four, respectively, with Whidden pulling four down off the offensive glass. McMoore had a team-leading eight points through the first half of play, followed by six from senior guard Shashonna Moore.
The Mavericks scored 20 of their first-half points off 14 Phoenix turnovers. Maryann Abanobi also reached double digits for UTA in the first frame, pouring in 13, including a perfect 4-of-4 from the line.
The Phoenix will return to action tomorrow, taking on Charleston Southern in game three of the SpringHill Suites Holiday Classic with tip-off set for 5 p.m.