Western Carolina 76, Wofford 55
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Visiting Western Carolina broke open a tie at halftime by shooting over 50.0 percent from the field in the second half for a 76-55 triumph over Wofford Saturday afternoon inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C.
The Lady Catamounts hit 19-of-36 (52.8 percent) field goals and 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) free throws in the second stanza to pull away after Wofford mounted a late first-half run to tie the game at 28-28 entering the intermission.
Senior Kelsi Koenig's 3-pointer answered an opening triple by Monique Dawson for a 3-3 score at 17:24, but then Western Carolina (13-5, 5-1 SoCon) rattled off the next nine points for a 12-3 advantage following a put-back layup by Emily Clarke at 14:27. Dawson connected on her second trey of the contest during the streak.
The Terriers then tallied the next six points on layups by post players Kate Dempsey and Kathlyn Varno to pull within three, 12-9, before Dawson registered an old-fashioned three-point play at 9:03 to push the lead back to eight, 19-11. A layup by junior Liz Miller capped another 6-0 Wofford surge, cutting the deficit to two, 19-17.
A pair of Kelsi Koenig free throws at 4:21 kept the Terriers at a one-possession game before Western pushed its lead back to five on two occassions, the last at 2:01 on a Dawson layup for a 26-21 Lady Catamount edge. Wofford, however, did not quit over the final two minutes and would outscore the visitors 8-2, including treys by Miller and freshman Ashley Kroker, to knot the halftime score at 28-28. Kroker's corner 3-pointer at 1:04 gave Wofford its first lead, 28-27.
The Terriers would continue their momentum early in the second half, netting six of the first eight points through the first minute and a half for a 34-30 lead. Western Carolina then rebounded for a 22-5 surge, including holding Wofford (9-8, 2-4 SoCon) to one point over a near-seven minute period, to claim a 52-39 lead following back-to-back jumpers by Heather Swayne with the last coming at 10:31.
Varno begun a 9-2 Terrier run, trimming the margin to six, 54-48, on a three-point play by Miller with 8:11 remaining in the contest. The Lady Catamounts then used another strong second half surge, a 16-2 streak, to open the scoring to a 20-point game, 70-50, with 3:43 to play. Five different Western Carolina players scored during the surge.
The closest the Terriers would get the remainder of the game would be 17, 72-55, on a 3-pointer by Miller at 2:08.
Dawson led the Lady Catamounts with 17 points, one higher than teammate Lauren Powell's 16. Chevon Keith paced the squad with eight rebounds, while Kristen Feemster grabbed seven boards.
Miller finished as Wofford's top scorer with 17 points. She was the only Terrier in double figures with Koenig's nine next on the list. Freshman Mahagony Williams hauled in a team-best six caroms.
Wofford will return to action at 6 p.m. Monday when it hosts preseason league favorite Chattanooga inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena. Western Carolina will travel to Greenville, S.C., for a 7 p.m. Monday tilt at Furman.
Chattanooga 87, Furman 64
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Despite a strong run late in the first half, the Lady Paladins were unable to hold Chattanooga, with the Lady Mocs earning an 87-64 win over Furman in Southern Conference basketball action.
The Lady Paladins made a strong 8-0 run late in the first half to bring the score within four points, but the Lady Mocs answered with a 13-0 run to begin the second half and never allowed Furman back into the game.
Chattanooga was led by senior Alex Anderson, who recorded 20 points, while sophomore Shanara Hollinquest added 19 points and seven rebounds to the winning effort.
Furman’s Lee Stephens led all players with 22 points, recording her third 20-plus point game of the season, all of which have occurred within the last two weeks. Senior guard Chrissy Phelps added 12 points and four assists, and also led the Lady Paladins with five rebounds.
With the win, Chattanooga improves to 15-3 and 7-0 in the Southern Conference, while Furman falls to 5-13 and 0-7 in the league.
The Lady Paladins will return to action Monday, Jan. 21 with a matchup against Western Carolina. The game will be played in Timmons Arena with a tip-off time of 7:00 p.m. Chattanooga concludes its road trip Monday night at Wofford with a 6:00 p.m. tip against the Terriers.
Georgia Southern 64, College of Charleston 47
STATESBORO, Ga. - Three Lady Eagles scored in double-digits, combining for 35 points, leading Georgia Southern to a 64-47 Southern Conference victory over College of Charleston, Saturday afternoon (Jan. 19), at Hanner Fieldhouse. With the win, Georgia Southern remains unbeaten at home (7-0) and extends its win-streak to five games.
Georgia Southern improves to 10-8 overall and 6-1 in conference play and claims sole possession of the second spot in the SoCon rankings, behind only Chattanooga (7-0). Charleston’s loss brings a four-game win-streak to an end as the Cougars fall to 9-8 overall and 5-2 in league play.
Senior guard Tiffany Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) came off the bench to lead all scorers with 14 points, hitting each of her field-goals from three-point land (3-of-5), and going 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Prior to tip-off, she was recognized for her 1,000-point career milestone that was achieved just Monday (Jan. 14) in the win vs. Furman.
Solid performances by senior guard Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) and sophomore forward Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) added 10 and 11 points, respectively. Geiger went 4-of-6 from the field and tallied four rebounds and three blocked shots, while Atwood hit a pair of three-pointers and pulled down five rebounds.
Sophomore forward J’Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) paced the team with six rebounds.
CofC was led by Nikki Williams with 13 points, going 7-of-9 from the charity stripe, and pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds on the day. She was followed by Erika Smith with 11 points and Deidra Jones with 10 points.
The Cougars jumped out to an early 7-0 lead within the first two minutes of the game, capped by a three-pointer by Brooke Kotcella at the 18:37 mark.
Atwood’s triple on the next possession broke the GSU scoring drought and sparked an 18-0 run over the next seven minutes, claiming an 18-7 advantage with 11:14 remaining in the first half.
During that window, Charleston missed 10-consecutive shots before Erika Smith stopped the scoring drought on a jumper, closing the GSU lead to nine points, 18-9.
But Georgia Southern continued to widen the gap and ultimately pushed the lead to 15 points thanks to Geiger’s triple at the 5:22 mark.
Charleston fought back to close the gap to five points and trailed Georgia Southern 28-23 going into the break.
Georgia Southern held CofC to 21.4 percent (6-of-28) from the field in the first half, thanks in part to a sturdy GSU defense that blocked six shots. The Lady Eagles shined from the field, hitting 12-of-28 (.429) of their field goal attempts before the break.
Geiger paced the team with 10 points at the half, hitting all four field-goal attempts, while CofC’s Nikki Williams dropped 10 points to lead her team.
In second-half action, Charleston managed to close the gap to just three points (32-29) after Ashley Scott hit 1-of-2 of her free-throw attempts with 16:47 on the clock, and later on Sarah Moye’s jumper at the 10:08 mark again brought the Cougars to within three points (41-38).
But Georgia Southern never relinquished its first half lead, getting big three-pointers off the hands of Brown and sophomore guard Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.). Brown scored all of her 14 points in the second half, which combined with Whitney’s seven, and the Lady Eagles held on for the key victory over the Cougars.
Although the Cougars won the rebounds margin 47-38, Georgia Southern finished the game going 21-of-51 (.412) from the field, compared to CofC’s 13-of-57 (.228) outing.
Georgia Southern’s bench outscored the Cougars 23-16, while CofC tallied a 14-8 advantage in points in the paint. GSU scored 25 points off of CofC’s 19 miscues, compared to 13 Cougar points off of 13 GSU turnovers.
The Lady Eagles will take a week off before concluding their four-game homestand, hosting Western Carolina, Saturday, January 26, at Hanner Fieldhouse. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. College of Charleston visits league-leading Chattanooga Saturday at 5 p.m.
Appalachian State 58, Elon 56 (OT)
ELON, N.C. - Forty minutes was not quite enough to decide Saturday's battle against Elon, as the Appalachian State women's basketball team picked up its first conference win of the season in overtime, 58-56. Whitney Tossie led the way with 13 points.
Elon (6-12, 2-5) jumped out front to start the game, but four points from GiGi Thomas tied the game at 6-6, five minutes in. ASU took its first lead of the contest just past the 10-minute mark as Sam Ramirez drained a three to put the Mountaineers up 11-9.
The suffocating App defense forced two early shot-clock violations, as well as a five-minute scoreless stretch. The offense flourished through the latter minutes of the first half, with an 8-0 run to extend the lead to as many as ten points, at 21-11. ASU forced five total 30-second infractions in the contest.
Amber Wall posted five points for Elon to keep the score close heading into the intermission, but Thomas hit a jumper, her fourth in five attempts, as the clock ran down to give Appalachian a 25-18 advantage at the half.
In the opening 20 minutes, the Mountaineers (4-13, 1-5) shot 52 percent from the floor, 12-of-23, while the Phoenix were held to just 23 percent, 7-of-30. The 18 points against ASU in the first half was the fewest allowed all season. ASU finished the game with a 43 percent mark, 23-of-53 from the field. Elon was held to just 32 percent from the floor.
Despite forcing a third shot-clock violation early in the second half, Elon opened with a 6-2 run to cut the lead to three points. The Phoenix erased the deficit and the teams traded one-point leads through much of the early part of the second half.
Elon's offensive fortunes changed late, as a 13-4 run gave the home squad a 52-44 advantage with three minutes to play. The final nine points in regulation belonged to ASU, however, as the team pulled within two points with a minute and a half to play. ASU then tied it up with 29.1 left on the clock when Tossie drove to the lane and fired up the tying layup in traffic.
The defense held once more as Elon's final shot of regulation rimmed out and was boarded by Brittany Mixon. Mixon swatted two shots and scored four in the first half, and finished the game with 12 points, seven rebounds, two steals and four fouls.
Tossie collected three steals in the first half and played a vital role in the overtime success. The senior grabbed four steals in the game to go along with 13 points and five boards.
The first overtime period of the season for ASU started as well as it could, as Brittney Spencer knocked down a jumper and Mixon hit a pair of free throws as ASU took a 57-53 lead just one minute in. Tossie was knocked to the ground on a layup attempt but play continued as Elon used the 5-on-4 advantage to drain a three-pointer to pull within a point as two minutes remained in the period.
Trailing by one in the waning seconds of overtime, Elon missed a jumper in the paint, and Sam Ramirez fought for the rebound with six seconds remaining and was awarded the jump ball. Robin Colbert extended the lead to 58-56 with a free throw with six ticks left, before Elon's final attempt rimmed out at the buzzer to give Appalachian the win.
Courtney Cunningham started her second-straight game and turned in a solid performance, totaling three steals, four blocks, six rebounds and five points.
ASU finishes the quick road trip at UNC Greensboro on Monday, January 21 at 3 p.m. while Elon hosts Davidson at 7 p.m.