Catamounts Rally to Defeat Eagles, 73-59
North Charleston, S.C. - Ashley Pellom came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points and lead the Western Carolina Lady Catamounts to a come-from-behind 73-59 victory over the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles at the 2007 Southern Conference Women's Basketball Tournament being held this week at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, S.C.
Western Carolina, 23-8, advances to the tournament finals for the third time in its history. The last time in the finals the Lady Catamounts won a thrilling 97-95 double overtime decision against the same Eagles in the 2005 tournament. They will face the winner of the #3 Davidson/#2 Chattanooga Semifinal game Saturday, Mar. 3rd at 2:00 p.m., for the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Western Carolina's bench combined for 42 of the Catamounts' 73 points this afternoon, compared to just four for the Lady Eagles.
Despite only shooting 29.3 percent from the field in the first half, the Lady Eagles (13-18) led by as many as nine points off a five-for-nine effort from the three-point line. The Lady Catamounts, while shooting 45 percent from the field, struggled from beyond the arc, missing on all six attempts in the half.
Western Carolina took its first lead of the game, 31-29, off two free throws by Brooke Johnsons with 33 second to go, but Georgia Southern responded with another three-pointer, this one by Tiffany Brown at the four second mark, to go into the locker room leading 32-31.
The Lady Catamounts' first three-pointer of the game came at 17:58 in the second half and cut the GSU lead to one at 39-38. The basket sparked a 10-2 run that let Western Carolina take a seven-point 48-41 lead with 13:55 to go.
The Lady Catamounts extended the lead to double-digits with their shooting percentage over 50 percent much of the final 20 minutes. Three-point shooting by the Lady Eagles cooled off as they connected on only two-of-12 in the second half. Georgia Southern ended with a seven-for-21 effort from beyond the arc, while the Lady Catamounts finished one-for-12.
After the Lady Eagles cut the Catamount lead to four, 58-54 with 7:34 left, Western Carolina responded by outscoring Georgia Southern 15-5 the rest of the game to take the 14-point 73-59 win.
For the Lady Catamounts., Pellom led all scorers, her nine free throws tying her career-high. Brooke Johnson, who followed with 16 points, posted a career-mark going 10-for-14 from the line. Chevon Keith fell just three rebounds shy of her career-high with her team-leading 12 boards.
Tiffany Brown led the Lady Eagles with 18 points, with Chequilla Jessie following with her 12 on the day. Brown also paced the team in rebounds with eight, just two shy of her career-high.
Western Carolina shot 48.3 percent from the field in the second half to end the game with 46.9. Georgia Southern finished with 29.9 percent. Western Carolina was 26-for-38 from the free-throw line, the 38 attempts a season high. Georgia Southern was six-for-11. The Lady Catamounts out-rebounded the Lady Eagles 48-44 and had one more turnover, 12-11.
Chattanooga Defeats Davidson, 80-68, from Long Range
North Charleston, S.C. - Chattanooga fired 11 three-pointers, just two shy of a Southern Conference Tournament record, to earn the 80-68 win over Davidson in the Quarterfinals of the 2007 SoCon Women's Basketball Tournament being held this week at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, S.C.
Chattanooga (24-7) wins its sixth game in a row and advances to the tournament finals for the fifth time in the last six years. The Mocs took the tournament title last season with the 91-79 win over UNC Greensboro. UTC will face Western Carolina, a 73-59 winner over Georgia Southern in the other semifinal game, in a 2:00 p.m. tip-off Sat. Mar. 3rd. Davidson ends its season at 23-8.
Davidson came out firing to start the game, outscoring Chattanooga 12-4 in the first 15 minutes to lead by eight. The Mocs responded with a 16-2 run over the next five-and-a-half minutes, to take the 20-14 lead with 10 minutes to go before intermission. The Wildcats used a 6-0 run to tie the game at 20 with 8:41 but it was all Mocs down the stretch, outscoring Davidson 25-9 to go into the locker room up 45-29. Alex Anderson led the Moc comeback with her 20 points in the first half.
Both teams shot well in the half, the Mocs firing 50 percent and the Wildcats, 45.2. Chattanooga was six-for-15 from beyond the arc and held Davidson to just one-for-eight. Davidson was successful inside with the 22-14 advantage in points in the paint.
Davidson pulled to within six, 54-48, with 12:49 to go in the second half off a three-pointer by Katie Hamilton, one of her three on the day, but Chattanooga responded with a small 5-0 run to go up by 11, 59-48, with 11:29 left. Davidson was unable to stage a comeback after that and was outscored 39-20 down the stretch to fall by the final 12-point 80-68 score.
Chattanooga shot 51.9 percent from the field for the game, while Davidson fired 46.0 percent. The Mocs held the 33-29 advantage in rebounds and had one more turnover, 15-14. Chattanooga was 15-for-22 from the charity stripe while the Wildcats were six-for-six.
Brooke Hand led Chattanooga with 23 points, while Alex Anderson closely followed with 22. Hand's six three-pointers was just one shy of her career-high. Shanara Hollinquest paced the team in rebounds with nine.
Brynn Kelly finished out her collegiate career leading Davidson with a career-high 18 points. Katie Hamilton and Tia Washington followed with 17 points each. Kelly also paced the team in rebounds with eight.