Georgia Southern 46, Elon 37
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern head coach Rusty Cram became the winningest coach at GSU women’s basketball, Saturday afternoon, after the Lady Eagles defeated Elon 46-37 in front of 1,028 fans at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Cram, carrying a 163-147 career record in his eleventh year, surpasses the mark set by his predecessor, Drema Greer, who tallied a 162-101 track record.
“The fans tonight were absolutely wonderful,” said Cram. “The tailgating, the gameday, the kids just had a blast. That’s what playing at home is all about. It makes the college life fun for these young ladies when they come into a pretty good house with the numbers out here, and get a “W”. My hat goes off to them. I’m proud of them.”
With its second consecutive win, Georgia Southern improves to 9-14 overall, and 4-8 in Southern Conference action.
Elon falls to 9-14 overall, and 3-9 in league play, dropping its third consecutive game.
Pacing the Lady Eagles was Chequilla Jessie (Sanford, Fla.) who was one rebound shy of a double-double, scoring a game-high 13 points and pulling down nine rebounds. Jessie made 5-of-7 field goal attempts and went 3-of-5 from the free-throw line.
Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) followed with 11 points and eight rebounds, shooting 5-of-11 from the field.
The Phoenix were led by Urysla Cotton with eight points and 10 rebounds. Teammate Tiffany Davis pulled down eight rebounds and tallied four assists and four steals.
In first half action, Jessie’s pair of free-throws put the Lady Eagles up on the scoreboard first, and after a missed Elon shot, Carolyn Whitney’s (Duluth, Ga.) layup at 17:54 put the home team up 4-0.
After Jessie’s short jumper in the low post, Elon’s Cotton broke a five-shot drought with a jumper that gave the Phoenix their first points of the game, and GSU held a 6-2 advantage with 16:42 on the clock.
Georgia Southern’s next two possessions saw Jessie hit a layup and a jumper at the top of the key for a 12-2 GSU advantage with 14:51 remaining.
Following a strong offensive performance capped by Atwood’s driving layup that put GSU up 14-4 with 14:17 on the clock, GSU missed their next 13 attempts from the field, a drought that lasted 11:27.
Meanwhile, Elon produced a 12-0 scoring run over a 5:36 span capped by Nicole Allison’s go-ahead triple with 4:24 remaining. It was Elon’s first lead of the contest with an 18-15 advantage. Rachel Hester drained another triple with 3:18 on the clock to extending to a 15-0 run before GSU’s Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) broke the 11-minute field-goal shooting drought with a layup.
Elon went into the locker room with a 22-17 advantage. First half numbers saw Cotton pacing the Phoenix with eight points, and GSU’s Jessie leading the Lady Eagles with eight points. The Phoenix produced 14 points off of GSU’s 11 first-half turnovers. But poor shooting plagued both teams as Elon made 9-of-32 (.281) attempts from the field, compared to the Lady Eagles’ 6-of-27 (.228).
Atwood’s free throw 34 seconds into the second half sparked a 14-4 GSU scoring drive over the next 6:13. Jessie muscled her way into the paint for a layup and was fouled. She made the free-throw to tie up the match at 26 apiece with 15:55 on the clock. Tiffany Brown’s (Waxhaw, N.C.) go-ahead layup the next time down the court gave Georgia Southern its first lead of the game since the 4:24 mark in the first half. She followed with another triple to give the Lady Eagles a 31-26 advantage with 13:13 on the clock.
Then Elon’s Shamica Spears’ layup just seconds later broke GSU’s streak of 13 unanswered points before Melson answered with a pair of made free throws, and Georgia Southern held a 33-28 advantage.
Georgia Southern was able to work up a nine-point, 44-35 lead with 2:09 remaining before Elon started increasing the defensive pressure. The Phoenix forced a pair of turnovers in the next minute and produced a bucket off the hands of Amber Wall, closing the gap to seven points.
But the Lady Eagles held off Elon’s pressure late in the game to garner the victory.
Elon led the rebounding margin, 45-41, but 25 percent shooting on 15-of-60 attempts hampered their offensive efforts. It is only the second time this season that the Phoenix have lost a game after leading at the half.
Georgia Southern also struggled to produce from the field, shooting 35.4 percent on 17-of-48 shooting. The Lady Eagles edged Elon in the turnover department, 18-22, but Elon produced 18 points off of GSU’s errors, compared to Georgia Southern’s 15 points.
Though both teams struggled from the free-throw line, Georgia Southern’s 11-of-21 matched Elon’s 4-of-9 from the charity stripe.
The Lady Eagles conclude their two-game homestand when they host UNC Greensboro, Monday, February 5 at 5 p.m.
Wofford 41, College of Charleston 39
After falling down early against Wofford, the College of Charleston women’s basketball team fought back to within two with just under a minute left but missed several opportunities to tie or take the lead and fell, 41-39, in front of 536 fans at the John Kresse Arena.
The loss is the Cougars’ fifth out of the last six games and puts CofC at 10-13 overall and 5-7 in the Southern Conference. The Terriers snap a four-game skid and improve to 10-12 and 4-8
In the first half, after College of Charleston took a 4-2 lead on an Erika Smith jumper, Wofford went on an 8-0 run to take a 10-4 lead at the 12-minute media timeout.
The Cougars clawed back into the game with three free throws and two baskets, one each by Deidra Jones and Nikki Williams, to cut the Terrier advantage to two, 15-13, with just under four minutes left in the half.
Wofford held its lead the rest of the half as six points kept the Cougars from taking the edge. Jennifer Weurding scored the Terriers’ final two buckets, which followed a layup from Kate Dempsey, as Wofford took a 21-18 advantage at the intermission.
In the second half Jill Furstenburg nailed one-of-two free throws with 1:39 left to trim the lead to three, 39-36. The Terriers scrambled to get a shot off before the shot clock on their next possession but a wild jumper from Mary Jo Yee went through the net as the buzzer went off to push the edge back to five, 41-36, with 1:10 to play.
Jade Hughes tallied her only three-pointer of the game for the game’s final points with 51 seconds remaining. She then stole the ball and raced downcourt before Yee forced a jump-ball with just over 30 seconds to go. A pair of Furstenburg jumpers rimmed out, which would have tied the game, as Wofford held on for the victory.
Furstenburg led the team with 11 points, while Nikki Williams’ eight rebounds paced the team defensively. Correll led the Terriers with 10 points and five rebounds.
Charleston shot just 27.5 percent for the game and its 39 total points was a season low. Wofford shot 43.6 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Cougars 34-33. Charleston had 24 turnovers, compared to 29 for the Terriers. The Cougars were only nine-for-17 from the free throw line, with Wofford just three-for-nine. Charleston out-shot Wofford 51-39.
Charleston hosts “Education Day” against Furman Feb. 5th at 10:30 a.m. at the John Kresse Arena. Over 800 students from Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester County schools will be in attendance. Wofford travels to Elon for a Feb. 6th tip at 7:00 p.m.
UNC Greensboro 65, Furman 58
Greenville, S.C. - Kaleah Latham scored 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as UNC Greensboro defeated Furman 65-58 on Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
Latham converted 7-of-9 field goals and 1-of-2 from the free throw line, and added three assists for the Spartans. Kristen Boone and Jasmine Byrd added 11 and 10, respectively.
Kali Holtfreter led Furman with 12 points, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Holtfreter, a freshman from Hendersonville, Tenn., has now reached double-figures in four straight games. Before this four-game streak, Holtfreter had never reached in double-figures in points.
After trailing by as many as 18 points in the second half, Furman used a 12-0 run to cut the lead to 50-44 with six minutes remaining. The Spartans quickly pushed the lead back to 12 points on the strength of three straight layups, and UNCG held on for the win.
Melissa Liebschwager also reached double-figures for the Lady Paladins with 10 points, including 1-of-2 on three-pointers and 3-of-5 from the line.
Maggie McKemie recorded team-highs with seven rebounds and three assists, and Chrissy Phelps recorded five steals.
Furman committed a season-low 14 turnovers, and forced the Spartans into 20 miscues. Furman held a 20-16 advantage in points off turnovers, but UNCG used 13 offensive rebounds to edge Furman 18-7 in second chance points.
With the win, UNCG improves to 15-8 on the season, 8-4 in the Southern Conference. The loss drops Furman to 7-16 overall, 2-10 in conference action. Furman returns to action on Monday morning as the Lady Paladins travel to face College of Charleston. Tip-off time for that game is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at John Kresse Arena.
Western Carolina 67, Davidson 56
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Davidson was held to 34.4 percent shooting as Western Carolina's Lauren Powell dropped in a game-high 21 points, 15 of them on threes, in leading the Catamounts to their eighth straight victory by the count of 67-56 over the Wildcats on Saturday even in Southern Conference women's basketball action. After winning a stretch of 14 of 15 games, Davidson dropped its second in the past three, falling to 18-5 overall and 9-3 in SoCon play. Western, who has not lost since the Wildcats beat them 75-60 in early January, improved to 16-7 overall and moved into a first-place tie with Chattanooga with a 10-2 league mark.
The Wildcats bid to make it two straight come-from-behind victories came up short as they tied a season-low with 21 field goals on 61 attempts. In their second go-around against SoCon opponents, the Wildcats twice have been held to under 35 percent shooting for the game. They came in leading the league with a 44.1 field goal percentage.
Powell led a Western Carolina attack from downtown, with the Catamounts netting seven of their 10 three-pointers in the first half and finished 10-of-25 from behind the arc for the game. Powell was 5-of-10 from the three-line. Monique Dawson was 3-of-5 from downtown to give the Catamounts two scorers in double figures with 13 points.
Senior Tia Washington (Charlotte, N.C.) gave Davidson an early 4-0 advantage on two free throws at the 17:41 mark. It would be the last lead Davidson would have as Chevon Keith and Powell dropped in back-to-back threes for a WCU lead of 6-4.
The Catamounts then went on to score 27 of the next 39 points combined between the two teams to push their lead out a 17-point advantage at 33-16 with 4:56 remaining in the half. They finished out the half leading in double figures as Davidson headed into halftime down by 15 points (41-26) for the second game in a row. The 41 first half points by Western was a season-best.
On Wednesday, the Wildcats used a 19-2 run at the start of the second half after trailing by 15 to College of Charleston on its way to a 72-63 win.
Tonight though, was a different story as Western answer every bucket the 'Cats had in the second stanza.
Kendra Eaton pushed the Catamount lead out to its biggest margin of the night at 51-29 on a free throw at the 13:30 mark. Eaton was one of six Catamounts to haul in four or more rebounds, leading WCU to a 45-38 advantage. Dawson and Keith had top game honors with nine boards apiece.
Davidson tried to make one last push midway through the last period. Trailing by 17 points (56-39) with 7:01 remaining in the game, the Wildcats rattled off nine straight points over the next three and a half minutes to cut the Western lead down to single digits at eight points, 56-48, with 3:30 on the clock.
Powell answered the Wildcat run with a three-ball on the next possession and later hit a layup on a putback to push the lead back out to double digits at 63-50. Davidson cut it to nine with 32 seconds left on a three-pointer from senior Jessica Mitchell (Wilkesboro, N.C.), but could claw no closer, falling 67-56.
Freshman Julia Paquette, in her first career start, responded with a team-best 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and a 2-for-2 performance at the line. She hauled in a career-best eight boards and came up with her eighth block of the season.
Junior Danielle Hemerka (Blackwood, N.J.) matched Paquette with 12 points and led Davidson in rebounding for the second straight game with nine boards. Mitchell broke out of her scoring slump by giving the Wildcats three players in double figures with 11 points, nine of them coming from downtown on 3-of-7 shooting.
Davidson will look to get back on the winning track with a trip to Chattanooga on Monday for a 7 p.m. tip-off against the Lady Mocs. The Wildcats are looking to stop their 15-game losing skid against the Mocs and bring them closer to first place in the SoCon.