UNC Greensboro 68, Chowan 37
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? The UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak with a 68-37 win over Chowan University at Fleming Gym on Friday afternoon.
UNCG (2-10) was led by senior guard Kemena Brooks who tallied 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field. Brooks, who was in double figures for the third consecutive game, was 3-of-7 from behind the three-point line. Meghan Chamberlain, who recorded her 500th career-point, had a team-high seven rebounds. Freshman TaShama Banner was a spark off the bench for the Spartans and in nine minutes of play tallied a career high eight points.
“It was nice to get a win but we still have many things that we need to work on as we head into conference action, “said head coach Lynne Agee. “We are a young team and are going through some growing pains right now but as we continue to work hard in practice we will become a better team.”
Chowan (2-10) was led by AJ O’Bannion who tallied a team-high 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor while teammate Jashonda Crawford added nine points in the loss. Najah Harris tallied a game-high nine rebounds.
The Spartans held a 42-37 rebounding advantage and shot 36.7 percent on 22-of-60 shooting from the floor. UNCG also had 15 and 13 assists.
The Hawks came out shooting well in the second half and had the first two points of the game but UNCG was able to create an inside presence with Meghan Chamberlain who had four consecutive points to extend the Spartans lead to 35-18 with just four minutes off the game clock.
Monique Floyd also added a scoring option with four quick second half points as UNCG pushed its lead to 44-23 at the 10:43 mark. Chowan never got closer than 15 points in the second half and 10-0 run to close the game gave UNCG the victory and their first home win of the season.
Chowan opened the game strong and went on a quick 5-0 run to open the game but back-to-back three-pointers from Brooks gave UNCG a 6-5 lead early. O’Bannion had the hot hand early and had six of the Hawk’s first nine points but UNCG used several defensive stops and took a 10-9 lead at the 11:33 mark.
UNCG got hot midway through the half and forced the Hawks into seven turnovers while going on a 14-2 run to take a 24-11 lead with just under five minutes remaining in the half. UNCG’s defense was active and managed to hold Chowan scoreless for nearly seven minutes before Demicka McMahon broke the drought with a layup at the 1:40 mark as the Spartans took a 31-13 lead into the lockeroom.
The Spartans are next in action on Jan. 2 when they head to Greenville, S.C. to take on Furman in a Southern Conference game. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. in Timmons Arena.
#15 Auburn 66, Davidson 59
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Wildcat women's hoops team placed eight players in the scorer's book, including three in double figures, and gave No. 15 Auburn all it could handle, before the Tigers pulled away with a 8-4 run in the last two minutes for a 66-59 win in the opening round of the St. Joe's Hawk Classic on Friday, Dec. 28 at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. Davidson fell to 6-5 on the year, while No. 15 Auburn earned its 12th win in the past 13 contests to improve to 12-1.
Senior Danielle Hemerka, from nearby Blackwood, N.J., pleased some of her hometown fans in the crowd with a team-best 13 points for Davidson. She finished 6-of-13 from the field and hauled in six rebounds.
Matching Hemerka in double digits was senior Honna Housley (Riceville,
Tenn.) and Mandy Halbersleben (Cincinnati, Ohio) with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Housley hit two of the 'Cats five three-pointers and Halbersleben, who had a stellar game off the bench, reached double figures for the first time this year, while adding four boards off the glass.
Auburn's Alli Smalley led all scorers with 15 points, eight of them in the second half when the Tigers started to pull away.
Davidson came out of the gates fast against No. 15 Auburn, shooting 46.9 percent in the first half (15-32). Of the Wildcats' first 32 points, they scored 18 of those in the paint despite the height advantage of the Tigers, who have six players taller than 6-2.
Seven different Wildcats in all scored in the opening half, with three of them hitting for five or more points to help the 'Cats take a 32-30 halftime lead.
Freshman Kelsey Cary (Anselmo, Calif.) got things rolling in the opening stages of the first period with two straight buckets in the paint to gave Davidson an early 13-9 lead with 13:30 left in the half.
Later, Halbersleben came off the bench to keep the Wildcat surge going on offense. The junior post player scored six consecutive points during a two-minute stretch to push the 'Cats lead out to 28-20 with 5:28 remaining on the clock.
Shortly there after, two three-balls by Auburn and a layup from Alli Smalley, who hit one of the three-pointers, brought the Tigers even with Davidson at 30-30. But, the Wildcats would take a two-point lead into halftime, 32-30, on a bucket by Hemerka, who had six first-half points.
The start of the second half saw the Tigers use a 12-9 run to take a 42-41 lead, its first since the opening tip.
Hemerka then knotted things up at 46-all with a shot from behind the arc and a putback with 9:01 left in the contest.
After a 30 second time out, Auburn gained the lead for good with an 10-1 run over the next three minutes to grab a 56-47 lead.
Davidson would get to within three points on three different occasions - 58-55, 60-57 and 62-59 - in the final three minutes thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from junior Kelly Gassie (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) and Housley, a layup by Housley and two free throws by junior Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.).
Auburn's Tamela McCorvey did not allow the Wildcats to get any closer though, sealing the win by making all four of her free throws in the closing 24 seconds for the 66-59 win. McCorvey was second on the team with 13 points and had a game-high six assists to go along with four steals.
Davidson cooled off a bit in the second half, shooting only 32.3 percent and closed out the game at a 39.7 percent clip. Auburn on the other hand turned its 30.8 first-half percentage shooting into 57.7 percent (15-26) in the second half to close out hitting over 40 percent of its shots.
The Tigers held only a 42-39 advantage in the rebounding department with DeWanna Bonner leading all players with 12 boards. The Tigers would score 38 points in the paint, 22 of them in the second half.
Davidson will wrap up the St. Joe's Hawk Classic with a 2 p.m. contest against New Jersey Institute of Technology tomorrow. NJIT (2-8) dropped a 68-59 decision to host St. Joseph's in the first game of the day.
Morgan State 64, Georgia Southern 58
RICHMOND, Va. ? Morgan State regained the lead with 1:54 remaining in the contest and sank its last five free throws to secure a 64-58 win over Georgia Southern, Friday night, (Dec. 28) in game two of the Virginia Commonwealth University Christmas tournament at the Siegel Center in Richmond, Va.
The Lady Eagles fall to 5-8 with the loss, dropping both games at the tournament. Morgan State improves to 6-3 overall with the win. It was the first meeting between the two teams.
Sophomore Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) scored a career-high 12 points on the night, hitting 4-of-10 from the field, including a three-pointer. Junior guard Ashley Rivens (Charlotte, N.C.) came off the bench and followed with nine points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field, both field goals coming from behind the three-point arc. Senior guard Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) tallied a team-high 10 rebounds and dropped seven points.
Morgan State had a pair of players scoring in double-figures in Corin Adams (18) and Aaries Reed (11), both combining for 13-of-16 from the free-throw line.
Morgan State quickly produced a 16-6 advantage in the first six minutes. But the Lady Eagles turned the momentum around and went on a 19-8 scoring run over the next 10 minutes sparked by an Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) layup and capped by a go-ahead three-pointer by Nya Daley (Toronto, Ont.). The triple secured a 25-24 Lady Eagles lead with 5:47 on the clock.
Georgia Southern continued to build onto the momentum and secured a 10-point lead, 32-26, to finish off the first half. The Lady Eagles scored the last six points before going into the locker room, capped by a pair of free-throws by senior forward Christa Waterman (Sugar Hill, Ga.).
“The bench came out and bailed us out again,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “My hat’s off to them for coming back the way they did and taking the lead.”
In second-half action, the Bears slowly chipped away at the 10-point GSU advantage and managed to take the lead back, 42-41, with 12:44 on the clock. But a go-ahead triple by Rivens gave the Lady Eagles a two point advantage, 44-42, just moments later.
Georgia Southern built up a six-point advantage, 52-46, capped by a pair of free throws by Geiger at the 8:29 mark.
Morgan State’s Adams buried a triple to tie up the contest 55-55 with 2:30 on the clock, and although Rivens sank one of a pair of free-throw attempts to take the lead, the Bears stole the advantage for good with a Tamara Rogers bucket with 1:54 on the clock.
“The last four or five minutes of the ball game was the difference in the game,” said Cram. “We missed free throws, they made theirs. Down the stretch they ended up shooting 25-of-30 from the free-throw line. You can’t win ballgames like that. Their heart was there, but I thought we just made poor decisions those last three or four minutes and put them on the line and turned the ball over. We didn’t knock them down when we got to the free throw line in the clutch.”
Morgan State’s outing at the free-throw line (83.3 %) bettered GSU’s performance on the line (59.1 %) going 13-of-22.
The Lady Eagles edged the Bears 47-46 in the rebounds category, but MSU scored 13 points off of 17 GSU miscues, compared to eight GSU points off of the Bears’ 14 turnovers.
“I thought the two people that jumped out for me for the whole tournament was Nya Daley and J’Lisia Ogburn,” said Cram. “I thought they turned a corner tonight.”
Ogburn tallied six points, making 4-of-4 of her free-throw attempts, and pulled down six rebounds. Daley scored five points, hitting both of her field goal attempts and grabbed three boards.
“We’ve got a week to get ready for the conference,” said Cram. “We’ll go home and work thweekend.”
Georgia Southern will return to action following the New Year holiday and restart Southern Conference play at UNC Greensboro, Saturday, January 5 at 12 p.m.
San Diego 79, Appalachian State 60
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - In the opener of the Maggie Dixon Surf N Slam Tournament, the Appalachian State women's basketball team was unable to overcome five players in double figures for San Diego, as the team fell 79-60 on Friday. Whitney Tossie recorded double-digit points for the third straight game in the loss.
The Toreros jumped out to a 17-11 lead early, but Tossie poured in eight of Appalachian's first 15 points to keep the Mountaineers close. Both teams battled foul trouble in the opening minutes of the game, and the Toreros took advantage by connecting on each of their first eight from the line. USD finished 25-for-32 from the charity stripe compared to Appalachian's 13-for-23 mark.
In the first half, the Mountaineers shot .281 from the floor, compared to .519 by San Diego. Tossie picked up three steals before the intermission and the Apps collected 10 of their 18 first-half rebounds on the offensive end of the floor, led by Brittany Mixon, with five.
Mixon would finish the game with 13 points and a team-high five rebounds. Coming out of the locker room trailing 41-25, Tossie took over the game, accounting for ten of the team's first 12 points. The senior shot 4-for-5 over the stretch with a pair of free throws, but the run would not allow the Mountaineers to come any closer than 14 points.
Complementing Mixon on the boards was Sam Ramirez with five of her own. Ramirez also drained three buckets for eight points with a pair of assists.
Tossie's 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting gives her an average of 17.7 over the last three contests. She also tied a season high with five steals, and contributed an assist and two rebounds.
USD led by as many as 27 points late in the second half, but Appalachian embarked on an 8-0 run over three and a half minutes and scored 12 of the final 14 points of the contest. ASU shooting improved dramatically in the second stanza, as the team connected on 48 percent of free throws to finish the game at 37.3 percent. The Toreros shot an even 50 percent on field goal attempts in the game.
Freshman guard Brittney Spencer came just two points short of a career high, as she shot 3-for-5 for six points. Spencer added two assists, a steal and a rebound in 15 minutes off the bench.
The Mountaineers will play No. 13 DePaul on Sunday at 9 p.m. eastern in San Diego. The game can be heard on 90.5 WASU-FM or online at WASURocks.com. San Diego advances to the 11 p.m. championship game to face No. 19 Texas.
ASU returns to the Holmes Center to resume Southern Conference play on January 5, as the Mountaineers host Chattanooga at 2 p.m.