Furman 59, Elon 54
Greenville, S.C. ? Sophomore Katie Johnson posted career numbers with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Furman women’s basketball team to a 59-54 victory over the Elon Phoenix in Southern Conference action at the Bi-Lo Center on Monday night. A 6-of-8 shooting performance helped lead Johnson to her first career double-double.
Furman improved to 10-18 overall, 5-12 in the league, while the visiting Phoenix dropped to 10-18, 4-13 in the SoCon. Furman’s Chrissy Phelps also scored in double-digits with 11 points as well as a team-best five assists. Elon was led by Nicole Allison, who came off the bench to contribute a career-high 16 points. Tierra Bumbrey dumped in 10 points and
dished out nine assists in the loss.
After trailing 29-25 at the break, the Lady Paladins opened the final half on a 12-4 run to take a 37-33 lead at the 12:37 mark. A quick 4-0 Elon run gave the Phoenix a one-point advantage, but the lead would change hands seven times before the final buzzer.
With the game tied at 48 with just over four minutes to play, Johnson grabbed the lead with a second-chance lay-up. After a defensive stop by the Lady Paladins, Melissa Liebschwager completed an old-fashioned three-point play to give Furman the 53-48 advantage with 1:10 on the clock. The home team netted six free throws to seal the 59-54 victory.
This marked the fourth time this season Elon has held a lead at the break and failed to come up with the win. Furman has overcome halftime deficits on four occasions this year.
Furman made a living at the charity stripe in the contest, connecting on
21-of-28 free-throw attempts compared to Elon’s 3-of-4 performance from the line. The Lady Paladins also held a 39-34 advantage on the glass ? they are now 9-2 this season when out-rebounding their opponent. Furman shot 36 percent in the contest, while Elon knocked down 37 percent of its field-goal attempts.
The first half featured 12 lead changes and four ties, before the Phoenix outscored the Lady Paladins 6-1 over the final minute and a half to take a four-point halftime lead.
Furman will close its regular season against the Davidson Wildcats on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 3 p.m., in Timmons Arena. Elon hosts Appalachian State in its regular-season finale on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m.
Western Carolna 80, College of Charleston 59
Charleston, S.C. ? Three Catamounts scored in double-figures to lead Western Carolina to the 80-59 win over the College of Charleston women’s basketball team in front of 427 fans tonight at the John Kresse Arena.
Charleston drops its eighth straight to go to 10-18 overall and 5-12 in the Southern Conference. Western Carolina improves to 20-8 and 14-3 in the league. Charleston’s eight-game losing streak ties its longest since the 2003-04 season.
The Cougars struggled offensively to start the first half as the Catamounts seemed to be firing on all cylinders to lead by 16, 30-14, with 6:11 to go before intermission. However, Charleston found its shooting touch, outscoring Western Carolina 17-6 the rest of the half to go into the locker room only down by five, 36-31.
Charleston shot 44.4 percent from the field in the half, while Western Carolina shot 44.4 percent. The Cougars turned the ball over 12 times, resulting in 18 Catamount points. Charleston scored eight off WCU’s six turnovers. Both teams were two-for-five from beyond the three-point arc.
The Catamounts stormed out of the locker room in the second half, taking a five-point lead and increasing it to 19 with a 14-0 run to make the score 50-31 with 14:51 left in the game. Charleston cut the deficit to 13 at 54-41 with 10:42 to go but WCU out-scored CofC 36-18 down the stretch to take the 21-point 80-59 win.
Western Carolina shot well in the second half as well, posting 50.0 percent from the field, compared to 31.3 percent for the Cougars. The Catamounts finished the game with 48.2, while Charleston finished with 37.3. The Cougars out-rebounded the Catamounts 38-34, but had 23 turnovers, compared to 16 for WCU. The Catamounts took advantage, scoring 36 of their points off the CofC turnovers. Charleston was 11-for-16 from the free-throw line, while Western Carolina was19-for-25.
Brooke Johnson paced the Catamounts with 18 points, while Lauren Powell posted 16. Monique Dawson followed with 14. Heather Swayne led in rebounds with six. Jade Hughes led the Cougars with 16, while Deidra Jones had 10 and a team-leading seven rebounds.
Western Carolina hosts UNC Greensboro Saturday, Feb. 24th at 4:00 p.m. in its regular-season finale. The Cougars wrap up the regular-season as well, hosting Georgia Southern the same day, but at 2:00 p.m.
UNC Greensboro 71, Wofford 66 (OT)
GREENSBORO, NC ? UNCG went a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line and connected on two three-pointers in overtime to defeat Wofford, 71-66 in women’s basketball action at Fleming Gymnasium Monday night. The Spartans ran their unbeaten streak to six games and closed out the home schedule with three consecutive wins.
UNCG had four players in doubles figures and was led by junior Brittany Frazier, who had a career-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. KaLeah Latham added seven rebounds and Kristen Boone had a game-high four steals.
“This was a hard fought game,“ head coach Lynne Agee said. “We know that Wofford is a good shooting team and having just beaten Davidson in overtime on Saturday we knew that they had some momentum. I thought that we were sluggish at points but we were able to play scrappy enough get our hands on enough balls and come away with the win.”
Wofford was led by Jennifer Weurding who had 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting.
Kelly Dwyer and Kelsi Koening were also in doubles figures for the Terriers with 11 and 12 points, respectively.
UNCG (20-8, 13-4) was down 61-59 with thirty-five seconds left in regulation but a jumper by Boone from the left side tied the game and a missed Wofford three-pointer sent the game into overtime.
In overtime, Wofford (13-14, 7-10) took a one-point lead on a free-throw but a foul on the next possession sent Irene Otamiri to the free throw line where she converted the pair. Sophomore Gini Grimsley put UNCG up three points with a three-pointer but Wofford was able to cut it to two with free throws.
The Spartans got a three-pointer from Jasmine Byrd to push their lead to
69-64 with 1:13 left to play and a steal by Grimsley coupled with free throws from Frazier sealed the win.
UNCG started the game sluggish and allowed Wofford to take an early lead in the games opening minutes. Senior Jasmine Byrd was able to get UNCG back on track with a long two through the right side, although the teams traded buckets on the next several possessions, keeping the lead from becoming more than two-points either way.
The Spartans were able to get out to an 8-4 lead behind buckets from Byrd and Frazier and were able to extend their lead to 15-7 behind several key buckets from Frazier.
“I was extremely pleased with the way that Brittan Frazier played tonight,”
Agee said. “She really stepped up and hit some big shots for us. She was playing with confidence and it really showed tonight.”
Wofford was able to get back in the game when UNCG went cold midway through the half---going nearly four minutes without a field goal. Latham ended UNCG’s scoring drought with a bucket in the paint, but Wofford closed the half on a 10-7 run and went into the lockeroom with a 27-26 advantage.
The Spartans started the second half on a 9-4 run to take a 35-31 lead at the 17:21 mark but Wofford wouldn’t go away and tied the game at 35 with back-to-back buckets in the paint. The teams exchanged buckets for the better part of the half, which featured nine ties and eight lead changes, and it was Wofford with a one-point lead with a minute left to play.
The Terriers were able to hit one more bucket to extend their lead to two-points with thirty-five seconds left before Boone hit a jumper to force overtime.
The Spartans, who picked up their 20th win of the season, close out the regular-season February 24 when they head to Cullowhee to take on Western Carolina.
Chattanooga 65, Georgia Southern 52
STATESBORO, Ga. ?Tiffany Brown’s game-high 18 points and Shawnda Atwood’s double-double paced the Georgia Southern women’s basketball team, but co-league leader Chattanooga stopped a late Lady Eagle rally and held on for a 65-52 victory Monday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Georgia Southern (11-17, 6-11) rallied back from a 12-point deficit to close the match to just three points with 7:40 remaining in the game, but the Lady Eagles struggled from the field as a team, and went on a shooting drought over a six-minute span.
Chattanooga (21-7, 14-3) took advantage of the slump and produced a 13-point advantage with 1:38 remaining, before freshman forward J’Lisia Ogburn (Stone Mountain, Ga.) broke the drought with a jumper.
The Lady Mocs spent the remainder of the game on the line, making five free throws and sealing their third consecutive victory.
Tiffany Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) paced the Lady Eagles with 18 points, making 6-of-18 from the field, including four triples. Junior forward Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) tallied her season-first and third career double-double with 15 points and a season-high 13 rebounds.
The Lady Mocs were led by junior guard Brooke Hand who scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers while tallying four steals.
In first-half action Chequilla Jessie (Sanford, Fla.) scored the first field goal of the match for a GSU’s only lead of the game, 2-1. But Chattanooga’s 18-6 run over the next 7:51, was capped by Tagan Hatchett’s three-pointer, and the Lady Mocs held a 19-8 advantage with 10:33 on the clock.
Georgia Southern fought back with a 7-0 run over the next 1:47 to close the gap to a 19-15 Lady Moc lead.
Five of Chattanooga’s last made field goals of the first stanza were from three-point land, with a pair coming off the hands of Brooke Hand and the Lady Mocs built up a 10-point lead with 43 seconds remaining. Tiffany Brown closed the first half with a triple of her own, narrowing the gap to seven points, and Chattanooga led at the half 33-26.
Brown’s trio of three-pointers and a bucket gave her 11 first-half points to lead all scorers, while UTC’s Hand led the Lady Mocs with eight points. Georgia Southern was held to 30.3 percent first-half shooting, but UTC didn’t fare much better shooting 34.4 percent from the field.
The Lady Eagles were successful in holding league scoring leader Alex Anderson to her lowest score this season (10 points) without fouling out. But the junior forward still managed to produce her 15th double-double performance of the season with 15 rebounds, giving the Lady Mocs an option in the paint.
“I thought we guarded (Anderson) well enough,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “But we just broke down mentally, and we left three-point shooters open at crucial times when we were making runs.”
Georgia Southern led the rebound margin, 45-43 over UTC, and though both teams had 18 turnovers, the Lady Mocs converted GSU’s miscues into a 23-8 points-off-turnovers advantage.
Half of UTC’s successful field goals came behind the three-point arc, hitting 10-of-29 three point attempts, compared to Georgia Southern’s 5-of-20 three-point shooting.
Chattanooga led the field goal shooting margin, shooting 20-of-60 (.333) compared to GSU’s 19-of-67 (.284) shooting from the field.
The Lady Eagles conclude the regular season on the road, facing the College of Charleston, Saturday, February 24. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. at Kresse Arena. The Lady Mocs return home to conclude the regular season, clashing with Wofford, Saturday, February 24 at 5 p.m.