Georgia Southern 59, Furman 53
STATESBORO, Ga. -Tiffany Brown’s 1,000th-career point and Shawnda Atwood’s double-double performance highlighted Georgia Southern’s 59-53 victory over Furman, Monday evening (Jan. 14), at Hanner Fieldhouse, extending the team’s perfect home record to six games.
Coming into the game, Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) was one point shy of eclipsing the career milestone. She tallied the record mark on a free throw with 11:14 on the clock in the first half. The senior guard joins 16 other Lady Eagles to have accomplished such a feat.
The Lady Eagles improve to 9-8 overall and 5-1 in Southern Conference play. Georgia Southern maintains its second-place mark in the conference, sharing the spot with College of Charleston, behind Chattanooga (6-0). Furman falls to 5-12 overall and 0-6 in league play.
Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) notched her fifth-career double-double performance, her second on the season, dropping 17 points and matching a season-high 10 rebounds. She paced the team in points and rebounds, and dished out a team-high four steals on the night. Brown followed with 14 points.
Things looked good for the Lady Eagles to start off as they scored 14 unanswered points in the first six minutes of the game. Katie Agin scored Furman’s first bucket at the 14:13 mark to end the drought. The Lady Paladins were able to chip away at the 12-point deficit by halftime and tie it up, 26-26 at the break.
Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) and Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) both tallied six points to lead the team, while Furman’s Melissa Liebschwager also dropped a team-high six points in the first half.
Furman notched its first lead of the game on a pair of free throws at the 18:41 mark of the second half. Thanks to Kendra Berry, the Lady Paladins took a two-point lead, 28-26.
Georgia Southern responded with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes that was sparked by a steal and a fast-break layup by Brown, and capped by another fast-break layup, again by Brown.
A steal by Furman’s Sarah Baker and her ensuing fast-break layup capped an 11-2 scoring drive by the Lady Paladins, good enough to take a three-point lead - the team’s largest lead of the game at 12:28.
Brown’s triple with 11:56 remaining tied the game at 39-39, and the two teams battled back and forth to three more ties over the next seven minutes.
Brown again answered with her second three-pointer at the 4:32 mark to take the final lead of the game (52-49). Atwood scored GSU’s final seven points of the game to seal the victory and secure the team’s fourth-consecutive victory of the season.
Georgia Southern outrebounded Furman 37-32. But Furman shot better from both the field and the free-throw line, hitting 19-of-44 (.432) and 9-of-13 (.692), respectively, compared to GSU’s 21-of-56 (.375) field-goal and 11-of-16 (.688) free-throw shooting.
The four-game win streak is the team’s best since last season’s run from Nov. 25 to Dec. 13, 2006.
Georgia Southern will continue its four-game homestand as it hosts College of Charleston, Saturday (Jan. 19) at Hanner Fieldhouse. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. Furman hosts league-leading Chattanooga the same day at 2:30 p.m.
College of Charleston 59, Wofford 44
Charleston, S.C. ? Jill Furstenburg scored 18 points to lead the College of Charleston to the 59-44 win over the Wofford Terriers in women’s basketball action this evening in front of 237 fans at the John Kresse Arena.
The Cougars improve to 9-7 overall and 5-1 in the Southern Conference, winning their fourth game in a row for the first time since the 2004-05 season. Wofford falls to 9-7 and 2-3 in the league.
Both the College of Charleston and Wofford suffered through poor shooting performances in the first half, with CofC holding the 30.4 ? 20.6 shooting percentage advantage. The Cougars held an 11-point 22-11 lead with 6:27 to go before intermission but the Terriers ended the half with a 7-0 run to cut the margin to just four, 22-18, at the half.
Charleston and Wofford battled it out for the first nine minutes of the second half with the Terriers not letting the Cougars pull away. Leading 30-27 with 11:41 in the second half, Charleston went on a 13-3 run to take the 13-point, 43-30 lead with 7:42 left. Wofford would only get as close as 10 the remainder of the game and fell to the final 15-point, 59-44 win.
Wofford shot 21.9 in the second half to finish the game with 25.5 percent. It marked the third straight game the Cougars have held their opponent to under 30 percent and under 45 points. Charleston shot an impressive 47.6 percent in the second half to finish the game with 30.9. The Cougars were 20-for-24 from the free-throw line, while Wofford was 15-for-26. The Cougars held the 49-38 advantage in rebounds, which included 32 defensive boards. Charleston led in turnovers, 22-17.
Following Furstenburg’s team-leading 18 points was Tonia Gerty with her 13. Brooke Kotcella tied her career-high with 12 rebounds to lead the Cougars. Wofford’s Summer Nichols led in rebounds with 12. Kelsi Koenig paced the Terriers in points with 12 on the night.
Charleston travels to Georgia Southern Saturday, Jan. 19th for a 3:00 p.m. contest, while Wofford hosts Western Carolina the same day at 2:00 p.m.
Chattanooga 77, UNC Greensboro 50
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Chattanooga senior forward Alex Anderson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) scored a game-high 15 points despite playing just 11 minutes to lead the Lady Mocs (14-3, 6-0) to a 77-50 Southern Conference win over UNC Greensboro (3-14, 1-5) on Autograph Night at the McKenzie Arena. The win is Chattanooga’s ninth consecutive and 10 straight in the conference regular season play.
The Lady Mocs hit five 3-pointers to start the game and got off to a 24-4 run over the first 7:51 of the game. Chattanooga extended its lead to 39-15 with just less than five minutes to play and carried a 49-22 advantage into halftime. Anderson had seven points in the first half despite playing just four minutes after getting hit with two early fouls.
An offensive spurt and defensive stand at the beginning of the second half pulled the Spartans to within 52-28 in the first four minutes before Anderson took over, scoring eight straight points for the Lady Mocs to make the score 60-30 with 13:34 remaining in the game. After a brief rally by UNCG, Chattanooga did not allow the Spartans within 27 points the rest of the way as they closed out the 77-50 win for their ninth straight victory.
In addition to Anderson’s 15 points, Brooke Hand (Moulton, Ala.) contributed 11 points as the only other double-figure scorer for Chattanooga hitting three 3-pointers in the first half. Junior guard LaCondra Mason (Chattanooga, Tenn.), junior forward Erin Ogan (Knoxville, Tenn.) and sophomore forward Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) each added eight points and five rebounds.
Senior forward Kristen Spann (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) added seven points and a game-high seven rebounds while sophomore guard Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) contributed a solid all-around game with seven points, a game-high six assists and four rebounds to go along with two steals.
For the Spartans, junior forward Gini Grimsley led the way with 14 points on the night while sophomore guard Lakiah Hyson finished the evening with nine points. Freshman guard Monique Floyd added a team-high three assists.
The Lady Mocs will travel to Greenville for its second matchup with Furman. The game will tip at 2:30 p.m. and be aired Sunday, Jan. 20 at 12:30 on CSS in a tape-delayed broadcast. Larry Ward, the “Voice of the Lady Mocs” will have all the action live on the flagship station of the Lady Mocs, WDOD-AM 1310. The game can be heard live around the world on the official website of UTC athletics, GoMocs.com.
The Spartans return home for a Friday night matchup against Davidson. First tip is set for 7:00 p.m. in Fleming Gym.
Western Carolina 73, Elon 61
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? Lauren Powell scored a game-high 17 points and knocked down a season-high five three-pointers to help pace Western Carolina women’s basketball to a 73-61 win over visiting Elon Monday afternoon in the Ramsey Center. The Lady Catamounts improve to 12-5 on the season and 4-1 in the Southern Conference while Elon falls to 6-11 and 2-4 in the SoCon.
The victory is the Lady Cats’ fourth straight and bests its previous season-high streak of three consecutive wins. It is also the fourth straight Southern Conference win for Western Carolina.
Powell opened the game with a three-pointer to give Western Carolina the early lead but the Lady Catamounts struggled from the field early. The game was tied four times before Western Carolina took the lead for good at 13-11 with 9:58 left to play in the first half.
Western Carolina built a 12-point lead with 5:17 remaining thanks to a jumper from Kendra Carroll. Elon battled back and cut the Lady Cats’ lead to six (33-27) at the half when Amber Wall hit a lay-up with 26 seconds remaining in the half.
Elon went on a 15-12 run in the first nine minutes of the second half to pull within one point, 45-44, of Western Carolina. Powell hit a huge three pointer to give Western Carolina a four-point lead and Elon never got closer then three points the rest of the game.
Western Carolina shot 43.1 percent from the field but struggled at the free throw line hitting 10-of-16 for 62.5 percent. The Lady Catamounts also had seven three-pointers in the contest, the second most of the season.
Senior Monique Dawson was the only other Lady Catamount to score in double figures with 13 points. Fellow senior Chevon Keith pulled down 14 rebounds ? the ninth game this season she has double figure rebounds. Sophomore forward Kristen Feemster tied her career-high with eight points. For the second straight game all 10 Lady Catamounts played and scored in the contest.
Western Carolina hits the road again Saturday visiting Wofford. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. Elon entertains Appalachian State Saturday at 7:00 p.m.