Chattanooga 79, Weber State 46
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Brooke Hand led four Chattanooga players in double-figures with 14 points and became the 22nd member of the Lady Mocs’ 1,000 Point Club as UTC drilled Weber State 79-46 on day one of the UTSA Wells Fargo New Year’s Classic.
It was only fitting that Hand’s 1,001st point would come on a 3-point shot. The Southern Conference leader drained a trey from the left side then hit another two minutes later to move to 20th on Chattanooga’s all-time list. She had a game-high tying 14 points for UTC, making 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.
Weber State started the game with four points and last led 10-9 with 8:25 gone in the game. It would be 6:18 before the Wildcats would score again and the Lady Mocs opened their lead to 23-12 with 5:17 to play in the first half. Weber State scored just seven more points as Chattanooga opened its lead 20 points with a 39-19 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Lady Mocs continued to pour it in, outscoring the Wildcats 40-27 shooting 58.6 percent from the floor and went 51.7 percent overall. Chattanooga was 11-for-23 from the 3-point line and 31-of-60 from the floor. Free throw struggles continued for UTC who made just 6-of-13.
Laura Hall had 12 points for the Lady Mocs with a pair of 3-pointers and had four assists. Shanara Hollinquest also dished out four assists and tallied 10 points and seven rebounds while Erin Ogan, with a pair of treys, scored 10 points for Chattanooga and grabbed five boards.
Kristen Spann just missed a double-digit performance with nine points and Jenaya Wade-Fray had eight points. Amy Mohr had a team-high five assists for Chattanooga, while Alex Anderson, who was held to just six points, grabbed seven rebounds and four steals.
The Wildcats were led in scoring by Sara Tuomi with a game-high tying 14 points and six rebounds while Ahkiah Hunter scored nine points had seven rebounds and seven assists. Weber State went 20-for-57 (.351) from the floor with a trio of 3-pointers and were 3-for-9 from the free throw line.
Chattanooga won the rebounding battle 43-31 and scored 21 points off 17 Wildcat turnovers. The Lady Mocs outscored Weber State in the paint 36-20 and it’s bench scored 29 points to the Cats 15.
The Lady Mocs improve to 9-3 overall and will take on Miami (Ohio) Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. Weber State (6-5) will face host Texas-San Antonio in the nightcap. All games can be heard live on the flagship station of the Lady Mocs WDOD-AM 1310 or online around the world at www.GoMocs.com. Check the GameDay Central or click the link on the schedule.
Wofford 58, North Florida 44
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Wofford women's basketball team returned from a 10-day break to celebrate the holidays and came away with a 58-44 home victory Saturday afternoon against North Florida inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C. The win was the Terriers' fourth straight overall and second in a row against the Lady Ospreys, after earning a victory against them Dec. 19 in the final of the UNF Holiday Classic in Jacksonville, Fla.
Senior Kelsi Koenig returned to the Wofford (7-4) lineup for the first time in over a month after being sidelined with an injury. While she missed both of her field goal attempts, she did convert on all six free throws and added five rebounds and a steal in 13 minutes of action.
The game started with the Terriers taking a 4-0 lead, which they then pushed to 11-4 behind a 3-pointer by freshman Ashley Kroker and the first set of charity tosses from Koenig at 11:30. North Florida (4-7), however, would battle back as Jennifer Guldager hit a pair of free throws following a Wofford technical and then Shandrea Moore nailed a triple of her own on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to one, 12-11, with 9:27 left in the half.
The teams traded baskets and Moore's layup on a steal in the backcourt knotted the score at 15-15, marking the final time it would be tied. Terrier posts, sophomore Kathlyn Varno fed freshman Mahagony Williams for a go-ahead layup that would give Wofford a 17-15 edge at 7:25, a lead it would not relinquish the remainder of the contest. The bucket also kick-started a 15-8 run over the remainder of the half as the Terriers took a 30-23 advantage into the break.
Seven-straight Wofford points opened the second stanza, including a top-of-the-key 3-pointer by junior Liz Miller in between a pair of made shots from classmate Summer Nichols which enabled the Terriers to push its lead to 14, 37-23, at 15:11.
UNF trimmed the gap back to 11, 37-26, but then Wofford used a 14-2 spurt over the next four-and-a-half minutes to take its largest lead of 23, 51-28. A steal and fast break layup by sophomore Natalie Gramblin and her made free throw after being fouled on the play capped the run at 7:43.
The Lady Ospreys responded by netting the next six points, but Gramblin halted that streak with a trey of her own. Koenig gave the hosts their final tallies of the tilt at 3:16 as North Florida scored the final six points for the final margin. Juliemay Syquio, who was held scoreless on her first 11 attempts, made her final two shots, including one at the buzzer for UNF.
Miller finished with team-high scoring honors for the fourth-straight game, as she led all players with 14 points, including 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Nichols added 11 and Gramblin finished with eight. Varno pulled down a game-best seven boards.
Moore paced North Florida with 13 points with Dominique Barbosa chipping in seven and Guldager adding six. Moore also grabbed a team-high six caroms.
Wofford will return to action for its second of a three-game homestand when it hosts Bethune-Cookman at 2 p.m. Wednesday inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Davidson 55, New Jersey Tech 48
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- In her return trip back home, senior Danielle Hemerka (Blackwood, N.J.) tied three players with a game-best 11 points and Davidson, on a day when their shots were not falling, used a strong defensive effort in the second half to prevail over New Jersey Institute of Technology, 55-48, in the consolation game of the St. Joe's Hawk Classic on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.
Davidson improved to 7-5 overall and finished 1-1 at the classic, while NJIT fell to 2-9 on the season. The Wildcats' closed out their non-conference schedule, which included games against No. 8 Georgia and No. 15 Auburn as well as Virginia, at 6-5.
Hemerka, just across the state boarder in Blackwood, N.J, finished the two-day classic with 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds to go along with four assists. The senior along with sophomore Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) both hit for 11 points in the win, with Thompson scoring nine of her points from behind the arc when she hit three clutch three-pointers late in the second half.
After leading by as many as 11 points in the first half, Davidson found itself down 39-32 when the Highlanders used a 10-0 run to grab the seven-point advantage with 13:22 left in the second period. NJIT would lead the majority of the half before the Wildcats gained the lead for good with around four minutes to go.
Two big three-pointers by Thompson helped the Wildcats regain the lead briefly, 40-39, just four minutes later.
Then trailing 46-45, Thompson hit the last of her three treys to give the Wildcats the advantage for good at 48-46 with 3:51 remaining in the contest.
Sophomore Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) helped keep the Highlanders at a distance by going 3-for-4 from the charity stripe, while junior Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.) scored her lone second-half bucket on a putback with 42 seconds left. Hemerka then sealed the win with two free throws for the final score of 55-48.
Davidson held NJIT to 27.6 percent shooting in the second half and 32.7 percent for the game.
Neither team was very sharp in the first half, showcased by the Wildcats' 33.3 percent shooting (9-27) and the Highlanders' 19 turnovers.
Davidson finally got on track midway through the half and jumped out to an early 18-7 lead after a Robinson layup at the 7:50 mark. Then all the sudden the Wildcats went cold, missing their next nine shots until the scoring drought came to an end on a turn-around jumper from the right elbow by Paquette with 1:13 left in the period.
Paquette closed out the game with nine points and six rebounds to assist Davidson to a 39-37 advantage on the boards.
NJIT took advantage of the Wildcat shooting woes by going on a 13-0 run capped off by a three-pointer from Jill Dickinson in the corner to grab a 20-18 lead at the 3:08 mark. The Highlanders would ride that run and momentum into halftime up 23-22.
The Wildcats had another balanced attack, placing five players in the books with six or more points.
Sophomore Monica Laune (Ashland, Neb.) had a nice all-around game with six points and four rebounds as the Wildcat bench outscored the Highlanders 23-14. Laune also pocketed three of the Wildcats' 10 steals.
The Highlanders were led by Jessica Gerald and Adriana Johnson with 11 and 10 points each. Maya Al-Shingieti hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds.
Davidson will now dive back into conference play for the remainder of the season. Wrapping up its four-game road swing will be a trip to Charleston, S.C. to take on College of Charleston on Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. The Wildcats have won their last 11 meetings against the Cougars and lead the all-time series 18-4.
Virginia Tech 82, Furman 49
BLACKSBURG, Va. ? Junior Brittany Cook recorded her fifth 20-plus point game of the season and led three Lady Hokies in double-digits to lead Virginia Tech to a 82-49 victory over Furman.
The Lady Hokies jumped out to an early 11-2 lead, and finished the first half with a comfortable 39-24 edge, helped by the team’s 90.9 free throw percentage. Katie Johnson led the Lady Paladins in the first half with 10 points.
Virginia Tech out-scored Furman 43-25 in the second half to take the game 82-49.
The Lady Hokies were led by Cook’s 22 points, while freshman Andrea Barbour and sophomore Utahya Drye added 12 each. Virginia Tech outrebounded Furman 48 to 32.
Johnson led Furman with 16 total points and 6 rebounds, while junior Kali Holtfreter added 8 total points.
With the loss, Furman falls to 4-7 on the season, while Virginia Tech improves to 11-2. The Lady Paladins will face Georgetown in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.