Wofford 63, Appalachian State 52
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Junior Kelsi Koenig registered her third double-double of the season, second against Appalachian State, and senior Jennifer Weurding led the team in scoring and blocked eight shots on the defensive end as the Wofford women's basketball team garnered a 63-52 victory Monday night against the Mountaineers in Southern Conference action inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C.
Koenig, who poured in 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, also tied for game-high honors with three steals and was a force on the low block for the Terriers. Her scrappy play ignited the rest of her teammates, as Wofford (12-13, 6-9 SoCon) shot 52.4 percent from the field in the second half. She also paired with Weurding in an instrumental defensive effort against Appalachian's Jaime Bennett, who entered the contest averaging 9.3 ppg and 8.6 rpg but finished with zero points and one rebound. Her one board came with 3:23 to play before she fouled out with 1:11 remaining.
Weurding hit a career-best five 3-pointers, including four in the second half, which mostly came at crucial times. Her triple at 14:04 of the second half was part of a 13-0 Wofford spurt when the Terriers took control and opened the game wide open with a 38-24 advantage. The run followed a trey from Maria Grimes just after halftime at 19:08 to cut the Wofford edge to one, 25-24. However, the Mountaineers would be held off the scoreboard until 12:36 when Shante Williams converted a layup as part of her career night, which featured her first career double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Appalachian State (11-15, 5-10 SoCon) would chip away at the Terrier lead and another 3-pointer by Grimes would cut the margin to five, 42-37, with 8:55 to play before Weurding answered with a triple of her own a minute later, at 7:59, to push the lead back to eight. Wofford would see its advantage swell to as high as 11, 51-40, on a pair of free throws by Kelly Dwyer at the 5:50 mark, but an 8-0 streak by App State brought the visitors back within three, 51-48, at 4:11.
Wofford again relied on a 3-pointer by Weurding and she knocked one down forcing a Mountaineer timeout. As the teams went to the huddle, an Appalachian coach was whistled for a technical foul and Dwyer again calmly hit a pair of charity tosses as the Terrier lead became eight, 56-48. Following a pair of missed opportunities for both teams, Weurding again stepped outside the arc and nailed her final 3-pointer of the game at 1:50 to again give Wofford a double-digit advantage with an 11-point edge, 59-48.
In addition to her 5-of-7 night from behind the 3-point line, Weurding tied her own career best with eight blocked shots, one shy of tying Anita Cooper's school Division I era single-game mark. Weurding also increased her season tally to 67, surpassing the 62 she registered as a freshman in 2003-04 and setting a single-season Terrier record. Her school and Southern Conference career mark now stands at 239.
All 11 Wofford players who saw action recorded at least one rebound and 10-of-11 scored at least one point. Sophomore Liz Miller finished with four assists and three steals, equaling Koenig and senior K.C. Correll for the team high. Miller has leapfroged Stephanie Ripberger (2001-05) for 20th place on the school's all-time list with 159 assists, while also ranking 10th in school history with 145 steals.
Whitney Tossie added 12 points and Grimes finished with 11 as the Mountaineers placed a trio in double-figure scoring. Tossie, who is second nationally in steals per game with a 3.7 average, was limited to just two.
The Terriers will conclude their home slate with a 1 p.m. Saturday tip against Davidson. Prior to the contest, the program will recognize Correll, Susanna Paul, Weurding and Mary Jo Yee as part of "Senior Day" festivities. Appalachian returns to action at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday when it welcomes Georgia Southern to Boone, N.C.
UNC Greensboro 70, College of Charleston 61
GREENSBORO, NC - UNC Greensboro withstood a late 11 point Cougar rally sparked by back-to-back three pointers by Jade Hughes to defeat College of Charleston, 70-61 in women’s basketball action at Fleming Gymnasium on Monday evening. The win gives UNCG its fourth consecutive win and extends its current home win streak to two games.
The Spartans had four players in doubles-figures and was led by senior Jasmine Byrd who tallied 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. Irene Otamiri, Kristen Boone and Brittany Frazier were all in doubles figures for the second consecutive game and Frazier posted her second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Senior KaLeah Latham tallied a team-high 11 rebounds while Otamiri also tallied four steals. Sophomore Gini Grimsley dished out a career-high four assists in the victory.
“This was a pretty game in the first half,” head coach Lynne Agee said. “We came out and played very well in the first half, we were able to find each other and do the things that we needed to do to put ourselves ahead. I think we hit a bit of a wall in the second half but we did manage to regroup and buckle down when we needed to in order to pull out the win.”
College of Charleston (10-16, 5-10) was led by Jade Hughes who scored 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor. Hughes was also 3-of-6 from behind the arc and Sarah Moye pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds.
Charleston opened the second half by forcing three consecutive UNCG turnovers which led to six Charleston points cutting the UNCG lead to 35-24 at the 18:45 mark of the half. Otamiri provided the spark that UNCG needed to regain some momentum and on the next possession, she forced a College of Charleston turnover and hit a bucket in the paint to push the lead back to 13 points.
UNCG then went on a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to extend its lead to 47-26 at the 15:58 mark and a layup by Jasmine Dixon gave the Spartans their largest lead of the afternoon at 23 points. Charleston was able to find their offense midway through the half and the Cougars went on a 22-10 run over the next seven minutes to cut the lead to 11 points with less than six minutes to go.
The teams traded buckets on the next few possessions but the Spartans saw Charleston mount another run, this time sparked by back-to-back three-pointers by Hughes, which cut the lead to 62-57 with 1:26 left in the game. UNCG, who had missed five consecutive free throws late in the game, sealed the win from the line by hitting their last eight free throws en route to its fourth consecutive victory.
UNCG shot 45.6 percent from the field on 26-of-57 shooting and grabbed 43 rebounds, including 29 defensive boards.
The Spartans started the game quickly by jumping out to a 10-3 lead in the games first five minutes of play. Frazier got things started with a bucket in the paint on the first possession and her teammates responded with four unanswered buckets.
College of Charleston got their first field goal of the half at the 15:45 mark with a three-pointer by Nikki Williams but it was all UNCG the rest of the way as the Spartans went on a 13-5 run to push their lead to 27-5 at the 7:16 mark.
UNCG held College of Charleston’s leading scorer Jade Hughes to just two points in the games first 13 minutes, but College of Charleston found some offense late in the half and scored six points to cut the lead to 33-13 with just under three minutes left in the half. The Cougars went on a 5-2 run in the final two minutes of the half and were able to cut the Spartan’s halftime lead to 35-18.
UNCG shot 48.4 percent from the floor in the first half and shot 30.8 percent from behind the arc. Byrd was 4-of-10 from three-point range in the first half.
The Spartans hit the road next when they head to Elon, NC to take on backyard rival Elon February 17. Tip is scheduled for 2pm.
Chattanooga 64, Furman 48
Greenville, S.C. ? Despite a school-record seven blocks by Jessica Lange, the Furman women’s basketball team could not overcome the hot hands of the Chattanooga Lady Mocs, falling 64-48, in Southern Conference basketball action in Timmons Arena on Monday night. The Lady Mocs (19-7, 12-3) shot a blistering 49 percent from the field, 58 percent from three-point land, to earn their 12th consecutive victory against the Lady Paladins.
Lange racked up seven of Furman’s (9-17, 4-11) eight blocked shots on the evening, breaking the previous single-game record of six set by Rushia Brown against UNC Asheville on Nov. 28, 1990. Lange leads the team with 44 blocks this season and is currently in second place on Furman’s all-time list with 123. Brown holds the career record with 193.
Chattanooga was led by reigning SoCon Player-of-the-Week Alex Anderson’s
21 points, 16 of which came in the second half. Anderson also added eight rebounds and six steals. The Lady Paladins got a season-high 17 points from sophomore Sarah Baker, but no one else managed double figures.
After holding a 28-23 advantage at the break, the Lady Mocs scored the first seven points of the second stanza to take control of the game. A forced turnover by Furman’s Chrissy Phelps cut Chattanooga’s lead to eight, 39-31, with 14:05 to play, but that was as close as the Paladins would get. The Lady Mocs drained 14-of-26 (54 percent) from the field and led by as many as 20 points late in the game, before winning by the final of 64-48.
Furman played a solid first half of basketball, scoring seven points off 10 Chattanooga turnovers and feeding off a 5-of-7 shooting performance by Baker. The Lady Paladins held a six-point advantage in the early-goings, before a 9-0 run by the visitors gave Chattanooga a lead it would never relinquish.
For the game, Furman shot 39.6 percent from the floor, 28.6 percent from three-point territory. The Lady Mocs held a 32-25 advantage on the boards; Furman is 0-14 when being outrebounded this season.
The task doesn’t get any easier for the Lady Paladins as they head to Cullowhee, N.C., to challenge league-leading Western Carolina on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. Chattanooga will host College of Charleston on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Georgia Southern 83, Western Carolina 81 (OT)
Cullowhee, N.C. ? Western Carolina junior guard Chevon Keith beat the second half buzzer with a runner from three feet out to knot the game at 70 and force overtime. Georgia Southern used a 6-to-1 spurt in the extra session to pull ahead by five, but it was not until two WCU turnovers inside the final eight seconds sealed the deal in the Eagles’ 83-81 upset win over the top-ranked Lady Catamounts Monday night in the Ramsey Center.
Trailing by five with 37 seconds remaining in OT, junior Ashley Pellom sliced through the lane and laid one off the glass to cut the deficit to three, 82-79. After back-to-back free throw misses by GSU’s Ashley Rivens, who finished with 20 points on the day, Western junior Monique Dawson knocked down a pair from the charity stripe to close to within one, and then stole the inbounds pass to give WCU the ball with 11 ticks showing. Yet, a pass in the paint was stolen away by the Eagles’ Christa Waterman ending Western’s first chance.
GSU freshman Carolyn Whitney hit 1-of-2 from the foul line. On the ensuing possession, WCU pushed the ball quickly up the floor, but Waterman stepped in front of Pellom, who again cut through the lane, drawing the charge and icing the victory.
Western (18-8, 12-3 SoCon) saw its 10-game winning streak snapped and slide back into a two-way tie for first with Chattanooga, who downed Furman, 64-48, in Greenville. The loss also marked the first time this season that WCU had surpassed the 70-point plateau and not won (11-1).
Keith posted her fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds adding four steals and three assists. Sophomore Brooke Johnson posted Western’s team-high with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting and eight free throws. The Seymour, Tenn., native added seven boards and an assist and blocked shot. Rounding out Western’s double-digit scorers was sophomore Lauren Powell with 13, including 3-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc, with Dawson scoring 10 with five assists. Eaton finished with seven points and four boards.
Georgia Southern (10-16, 5-10 SoCon) put three in double figures with two eclipsing the 20-point plateau. Junior guard Tiffany Brown joined Rivens with 21 points on 9-of-20 shooting. Whitney finished with 11 points in the win with Chequilla Jessie leading GSU with 10 rebounds.
Slow out of the gates, Western fell behind early as GSU opened the game with a 20-to-6 run over the first eight minutes to surge ahead by 14. The Lady Catamounts recovered, however, and retaliated with 13-unanswered points to slice the deficit to one, 20-19, five minutes later. Western took just its second lead of the contest, 25-23, on a jumper by Keith with 3:12 to play before intermission and pulled out to a four-point advantage, 29-25, on a transition lay-up by Kendra Eaton from freshman Heather Swayne. Yet, the Eagles closed the opening 20 minutes with eight-straight points to lead by four, 33-29, at the break.
Neither team could assume control out of the halftime locker room as the lead swayed back-and-forth between and endured six ties over the opening 10 minutes of the second stanza. The Lady Catamounts were finally able to open some breathing room with a small 8-to-2 spurt, transforming a one-point, 53-52, lead into a seven-point advantage, 61-54. But Georgia Southern returned fire, outscoring WCU 13-to-6 to force the seventh tie of the half, 67-67, with 2:04 to play.
GSU’s Brown broke the game’s 10th tie, converting a Shawnda Atwood steal into a lay-up with four seconds to play to seemingly seal the deal for the Eagles. However, on the ensuing possession, Western hurled the ball up the court to mid-court where head coach Kellie Harper quickly called a timeout. After the stoppage, Western, in-bounding the ball from just inside the front court near the mid-court stripe, lobbed the ball towards the paint where Keith caught the pass and put up a runner that circled the cylinder as time expired, forcing overtime.
For one of the few occasions this season, Western was dominated on the boards by Georgia Southern as the Eagles held a commanding 52-to-37 edge, including 27 offensive rebounds.
Western returns to action this Saturday, Feb. 17, in the doubleheader fashion. The Lady Catamounts host Furman at 4:00 pm in the first of two games in the Ramsey Center, while the men entertain Davidson at 7:00 pm. WCU has taken five-straight ? and seven of the last eight ? from the Lady Paladins.
Both games on Saturday will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard across Western North Carolina on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Cullowhee. Fans can also access streaming audio and live Game Tracker, presented by WestCare, by visiting www.CatamountSports.com.