Western Carolina 77, Appalachian State 68

BOONE, N.C. - Despite a career-high 16 points by senior Carleena Costner (Gastonia, N.C.), Appalachian State University women's basketball fell to league-leading Western Carolina, 77-68, Monday evening at the Holmes Center.

With the loss the Mountaineers fell to 11-13 overall and 5-8 in Southern Conference play and have lost five-straight to the Catamounts. Western Carolina remained in a tie for first place in the league at 11-2 in the conference and 17-7 on the season.

ASU struggled from the floor at 30 percent shooting on 20-of-67 from the field, but shot 40 percent (8-of-20) from beyond the three-point arc. The Mountaineers held their own against the conference’s top rebounding team in the Catamounts with 41 boards compared to 46 by the visitors. Nineteen of ASU’s rebounds came on the offensive end.

Trailing by 13 with 1:25 left in the game, the Mountaineers scored 10 points in the final minute, but had to foul on defense, resulting in six Catamount points.

Costner tied her career-high with three three-pointers on the night. Her classmate Jaime Bennett (Woodstock, Ga.) came one basket shy of a double-double with eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Juniors Maria Grimes (Birmingham, Ala.) and Whitney Tossie (Oviedo, Fla.) and freshman GiGi Thomas (Tallahassee, Fla.) added 12, 11 and 11 points, respectively. Tossie chipped in three steals and tied a game high with five assists.

Western Carolina’s Lauren Powell led all scorers with 19 points on 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the three-point arc. Monique Dawson and Brooke Johnson added 15 points apiece, each with nine free throws. Dawson led the team with nine rebounds, five assists and five steals. Chevon Keith added 12 points for the Catamounts.

After four-straight WCU points to open the second period, the Mountaineers outscored the Catamounts, 13-2 in the next three minutes to cut the lead to eight at 45-37 with 14 and a half to go. Western Carolina countered with a 9-0 run of its own to pull the lead back to 17 points at 54-37 with just under 11 minutes to play.

The Catamounts kept their lead at 17 points at 66-49 with five minutes to play, before the Mountaineers staged a comeback in the final five minutes to pull within nine points. WCU hit free throws down the stretch to hold on to a 77-68 victory.

After trailing 2-0 to start the game, the Mountaineers jumped out to a 5-3 lead with just a minute and a half off the clock. Western Carolina grabbed the lead back at 6-5 with just over 18 minutes to go and never let go of it. Leading 12-9, WCU used an 11-0 run to take a 23-9 lead with 10 minutes to go in the first half.

The two teams remained even at the point, exchanging baskets, as the Catamounts went into halftime with a 15-point, 39-24 lead.

The Mountaineers head into one of the toughest stretches of their season as they play three games in six days, beginning Saturday, February 10 at UNC Greensboro at 1 p.m.. Appalachian will then travel to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on Wofford at 7 p.m. on Monday, February 12 and end the stretch against Georgia Southern on Wednesday, February 14 at 4:30 p.m. in the opening game of a women’s-men’s doubleheader at the Holmes Center.

Furman 55, College of Charleston 53

Charleston, S.C. ? The Furman women's basketball team got back in the win column Monday morning, holding on for a 55-53 victory over College of Charleston in front of 1,126 kids and fans as part of "Education Day" at John Kresse Arena.

After leading by as many as seven with three minutes remaining in the game, Furman found its lead trimmed to only two, 55-53, with six seconds to go. With CofC looking to tie or take the lead, the Paladins forced a turnover on an in-bounds play and the Cougars were forced to foul. Despite a Paladin miss on the front end of a one-and-one, time ran out before CofC could get off a shot, giving Furman its third conference win of the season.

The win was Furman's first true road victory of the season, improving its record to 8-16 overall and 3-10 in the Southern Conference. CofC has dropped four straight games, falling to 10-14 on the year, 5-8 in the league.

Freshman Kali Holtfreter scored a team-best 14 points for the Paladins, marking her fifth consecutive game in double figures. Junior Jessica Lange had a solid performance coming off the bench, connecting on 4-of-7 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line for 13 points. Lange also posted a team-leading seven rebounds in the contest.

College of Charleston had three players in double figures, with forward Erika Smith's 14 tallies leading the way. Jade Hughes and Nikki Williams had 12 and 10, respectively.

Neither team could take a commanding lead in the first half. Furman led by five with 12:22 to go in the half, 11-6, before the Cougars used a small 8-0 run to take a 14-11 lead with 9:24 to go. Charleston held the slim lead the remainder of the half, going into the locker room ahead 24-21.

The Paladins hung with the Cougars to start the second half, keeping the margin under five until taking the lead for good at the 13:51 mark, 31-30, off a jumper by Courtney Opie. The margin stayed close for much of the remainder of the game, but Furman was eventually able to take the lead to seven, 53-46, with three minutes to play.

Charleston fought back with a 7-2 run over the remainder of the game to pull within two with just 27 ticks on the clock, but could get no further and fell to the eventual 55-53 score.

Furman shot 37 percent in the game and outrebounded the Cougars 39-34.

Charleston shot 38 percent from the field and had a season-high 10 blocks in the contest.

The Lady Paladins remain on the road to take on Wofford on Saturday, Feb. 10th at 6 p.m. Charleston travels to Elon the same day for a 7 p.m., tip with the Phoenix.

UNCG 68, Georgia Southern 60

STATESBORO, Ga. ? Carolyn Whitney’s 15 points, including a pair of three-pointers late in the game, were not enough as Georgia Southern suffered a 68-60 loss to UNC Greensboro, Monday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.

UNC Greensboro (16-8, 9-4) picks up its second consecutive road victory as a trio of Spartans scored in double-figures.  The Spartans were led by KaLeah Latham who produced a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double.  The Lady Eagles had trouble stopping Latham who went 8-of-12 from the field and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. Kristen Boone followed with 16 points while Jasmine Dixon tallied 11.

Georgia Southern (9-15, 4-9) had its two-game win-streak stopped with the loss.  The Lady Eagles were paced by Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) with a team-best 15 points and seven rebounds.  The freshman guard shot 5-of-13 from the field and went a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line.  Ashley Rivens (Charlotte, N.C.) followed with 11 points, shooting 4-of-9 from the field, including three triples.

“It was a golden opportunity for us to take and steal one here on our floor, and we let it get away from us...,” said head coach Rusty Cram.  “That would have won the ball game tonight if we would have played fundamental basketball.”

In the first half, the Spartans took an early 5-0 lead by way of a jumper by Latham and a three-point play by Boone.

But Ashley Rivens’ three-pointer and Shawnda Atwood’s (Pensacola, Fla.) jumper quickly tied up the match, 5-5 with 16:59 on the clock.

Over the next five minutes both teams battled back and forth with GSU tying up the match four more times.  Rivens ended the scoring see-saw and gave the Lady Eagles their first lead, 21-18, when she buried the go-ahead three-pointer with 7:01 on the clock.

The Spartans answered back when a Kemena Brooks jumper off the fastbreak sparked a 6-0 run over the next 2:27, and UNCG claimed a 24-21 advantage.

UNCG produced a 27-24 advantage over the Lady Eagles going into the half.  Latham paced the Spartans with 12 points and six rebounds.  Georgia Southern was led in scoring by Rivens with eight points while Whitney pulled down a team-high five rebounds.

In second-half action, the Spartans immediately built up a nine-point lead after an 8-2 run.  Meghan Chamberlain and Irene Otamiri highlighted the run making two three-point plays, apiece.

Whitney’s jumper with 13:51 remaining closed the gap to four points, with GSU trailing 37-33.

Georgia Southern got into foul trouble midway through the second stanza, and the Spartans went on an 11-3 run, including seven made free-throws.  UNCG produced a 15-point, 56-41 advantage with 6:43 on the clock, its largest lead of the game.

The Lady Eagles narrowed the deficit to eight points, thanks in part to the aggressive teamwork of Tiffany Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) and Carolyn Whitney.  Brown hit a cutting Whitney in the paint, and the freshman guard made the layup and was fouled.  She made the resulting free-throw and the Lady Eagles were down 59-51 with 2:54 remaining.

But despite a trio of triples within a 50-second span, the Spartans averted a late Lady Eagles’ comeback, hitting 7-of-8 free-throw attempts of their own in the remaining seconds, and UNCG claimed a 68-60 victory.

The Spartans dominated the paint, outscoring the Lady Eagles 34-14 in the key.  UNCG took advantage of GSU’s errors, converting 19 Georgia Southern turnovers into 23 points, compared to the Lady Eagles’ 17 points off of UNCG’s 17 turnovers.

 “I thought the first five or six minutes of the first half that we didn’t show up,” said Cram.  “We broke down in every area.  And the rebounds, we weren’t blocking out down here.  We put them on the free throw line.  We weren’t moving our feet.  We were slapping and reaching.  We totally lost our focus and then we were out of control on offense.”

UNCG won the rebound category, claiming a 40-35 advantage over the Lady Eagles.

“We had a game plan going in.  We stayed with it at times.  When we did, I felt like we were in the ballgame.  We got away from it, and lost our focus sometimes, and it cost us, and with a team like that, you pay for it.”

The Lady Eagles next face a tough, three-game road trip as they travel to the state of North Carolina, first facing Davidson, Saturday, February 10.  Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.  They later clash with Western Carolina (Feb. 12) at Cullowhee, N.C., then conclude the trip with Appalachian State (Feb. 14) at Boone, N.C.