UNC Greensboro 56, Appalachian State 54
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? UNC Greensboro junior guard Gini Grimsley hit a layup with 12.8 seconds remaining to seal a 56-54 win over Appalachian State for the UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team on Monday afternoon in Fleming Gym.
UNCG (4-15, 2-6 SoCon) had two players in double figures with Jasmine Dixon and Kemena Brooks each recording 12 points. Dixon finished the game 5-of-8 from the floor and contributed eight rebounds. Brittany Frazier led the way on the glass with a team-high nine rebounds while Ashley Ling tied a career-high with six assists.
“This was a hard fought, gritty win,” said head coach Lynne Agee. “We didn’t do well on the boards in the first half but we came back in the second half and really made a statement by out-rebounding them, 26-16. We did struggle offensively in the second half at times it was almost as if we couldn’t find our focus offensively but we did enough in the final seconds to come out with the win.”
The Spartans shot 40.4 percent on the afternoon on 21-of-42 shooting from the floor. UNCG held a 44-35 rebounding edge and held a 28-12 advantage in the paint.
Appalachian State (4-14, 1-6 SoCon) was led by GiGi Thomas who had 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor. Whitney Tossie, who was held to four points in the first half, finished the game with 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting. The senior guard was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line and had a team-high seven rebounds in the loss.
With Appalachian State leading 54-52 Monique Floyd got fouled and converted two free throws to tie the game at 54-54 at the 1:28 mark and with under a minute left to play UNCG’s Grimsley got free under the basket for a layup to give the Spartans a 56-54 lead with 21 seconds remaining. Appalachian State had a chance late with Whitney Randolph on the line but Randolph missed both and the Spartans defense held giving UNCG their first SoCon home win of the season.
The Mountaineers came out of the break and promptly went on a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the game with only four minutes off the game clock to being the second half. Monique Floyd provided a bit of a spark in the second half, the Fairmont, NC native picked up a key bucket early in the half and was stellar on the glass recording some critical offensive rebounds.
UNCG had a 37-33 lead at the 13:20 mark of the half but Appalachian made things interesting by forcing a turnover and converting at the line to cut the lead 41-40. Midway through the half, with the Spartans leading 45-42, two free throws from GiGi Thomas cut the lead to one point but a foul on the other end kept the lead with UNCG.
Appalachian State’s Whitney Tossie came to life in the second half, after being held to only four points in the first half, tallied 11 second half points and put the Mountaineers ahead, 49-47 with just over five minutes remaining.
UNCG jumped out to a 5-0 lead to open the game before Whitney Tossie converted twice at the free throw line to make the lead 5-2 early. Kemena Brooks had the hot hand for the Spartans and had seven of their first nine points. Appalachian State cut the lead to 7-6 but a Brooks three-pointer and a bucket from Brittany Frazier gave UNCG a 12-6 lead at the 15:23 mark.
The Mountaineers managed to cut the lead to 12-10 by forcing UNCG into several hurried shots but the Spartans responded with a 6-2 run keeping their lead at 20-14 midway through the half. Sloppy play characterized the final minutes of the half for both squads but despite that UNCG went into the break ahead, 29-25.
UNCG’s Brooks and Appalachian State’s GiGi Thomas led all scorers with 12 points each while the Spartans as a team shot 42.6 percent on 12-of-28 shooting from the floor. UNCG also held a 10-2 advantage in the paint.
The Spartans conclude their three-game homestand when they welcome backyard rival, Elon to Fleming Gym for a 3:00 p.m. matchup on Saturday. During halftime of Saturday’s game UNCG will honor the jersey of former Spartan women’s basketball player, Rita Wiggs as part of UNCG’s 2008 Women’s Weekend festivities.
Appalachian State returns to the hardwood Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. when it hosts Furman at the Holmes Center.
Chattanooga 74, Wofford 49
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? Chattanooga’s Alex Anderson recorded her fifth double-double of the season to lead the Lady Mocs to a 74-49 win over Wofford Monday evening inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C.
Anderson, the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Year and four-time Player of the Week during this season, tallied game-high totals of 24 points and a season-high 16 rebounds in leading the Lady Mocs to the win.
Senior Kelsi Koenig and junior Liz Miller paced the Terriers with 12 points apiece, while Koenig's seven boards were one shy of freshman Mahagony Williams' team-high eight. Seven of the eight caroms came on the defensive glass for Williams.
The Lady Mocs placed two others in double figures, including 14 points from Jenaya Wade-Fray behind three 3-pointers and 12 points via Shanara Hollinquest. Chattanooga (16-3, 8-0 SoCon) shot 42.9 percent as a team to extend their overall winning streak to 12 games and 11 straight in league contests, dating back to last season.
Wofford battled hard throughout the entire game, despite falling behind early 7-2 on a 7-0 run. The Lady Moc lead grew to as high as 13, 29-16, in the first half on a jumper by Anderson at 2:13 but the Terriers outscored Chattanooga 5-2 over the remainder of the stanza to close within 10, 31-21, at the intermission.
A Brooke Hand 3-pointer on the Lady Mocs' opening possession of the second half pushed the margin back to 13 at 34-21. Over the next six minutes, Wofford clawed its way back on a pair of layups from Koenig, another by junior Laura Depko and triples via Miller and sophomore Natalie Gramblin to trim the deficit to eight, 44-36, with 13:23 remaining.
Chattanooga then turned up its defensive intensity and virtually shutdown the Wofford offense by mounting a 30-13 spurt to close the game. The final 13 points were scored by Miller, with eight, and Varno with five.
Anderson moves into fourth place on the school's all-time list for rebounds and fifth for scoring with her effort tonight.
Wofford will return to action at 2 p.m. Saturday when it travels to Davidson, N.C., to face the Davidson Wildcats. Chattanooga will return home and welcome College of Charleston for a 5 p.m. Saturday tip.
Western Carolina 77, Furman 62
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? With the help of a 13-0 run early in the first half, the Western Carolina Catamounts defeated the Furman Lady Paladins 77-62 in SoCon basketball action Monday.
After a tied score at 5-5, the Lady Catamounts went on a 13-0 run, helping them to a 42-26 lead at the half. Junior Kendra Eaton recorded 11 points in the first half, while the team shot 43.9% from the field, compared to the Lady Paladins’ 35.7%. Furman’s Lee Stephens racked up 10 points for Furman in the first half.
After the break, Western Carolina led by as much as 21 points. Although the Lady Paladins were able to narrow the lead to 10, the Catamounts surged ahead again in the final three minutes to take the 77-62 win.
Western Carolina was led by junior forward Kendra Eaton’s 17 points, while senior Chevon Keith added 11 points and six rebounds to the winning effort.
Sophomore Lee Stephens led three Lady Paladins in double-digit scoring with 15 points, while junior Sarah Baker added 11 points and six rebounds and senior Chrissy Phelps recorded 10 total points and seven assists.
With the win, Western Carolina improves to 14-5 on the season and 6-1 in the Southern Conference, while Furman falls to 5-14 overall and 0-8 in league play.
The Lady Paladins will hit the road Saturday, with a trip to Appalachian State to take on the Mountaineers, before traveling to Davidson on Monday, Jan. 28. Western Carolina plays its third-consecutive road game Saturday at Georgia Southern, beginning with a 5:00 p.m. tip.
Davidson 50, Elon 40
ELON, N.C. ? Danielle Hemerka pumped in a season-high and contest-best 20 points ? including her 1,000th career marker ? as Davidson pounded out a 50-40 Southern Conference women’s basketball triumph over Elon Monday night at Alumni Gym.
The Wildcats (11-7 overall, 5-2 SoCon) sprinted to a 20-8 advantage on a free throw by Julia Paquette with 7:14 remaining in the first half. The Phoenix (6-13, 2-6) used a 6-2 spurt to inch within 22-14 on a freebie by Kitara McMoore with 3:52 to go before the intermission.
Early in the second stanza, Elon went on an 11-2 surge to trim a 29-18 deficit down to 31-29 on a three-point field goal by Tierra Bumbrey with 13:11 left to play. Davidson answered with a 15-3 run to extend its edge to 46-32 on a jumper by Paquette with 4:37 remaining.
“This was a game of character,” Phoenix coach Brenda Paul said. “We came back from a tough overtime loss on Saturday to play a very physical, hard-nosed ball game against a very good club tonight. Once we get the kinks out, we are looking forward to our second time around in the league with everybody. We are not going to lose our focus because we can still make a bang in this league.”
Hemerka canned nine of her 13 attempts from the field and hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds while Mandy Halbersleben grabbed seven boards and Alex Thompson dished out four assists for the Wildcats.
McMoore sank five of her six shots from the floor on her way to posting a team-high 14 points and six caroms. Elon’s Amber Wall pulled down six rebounds and snatched a game-high and season-best five steals.
Davidson out-rebounded the Phoenix 37-31, but surrendered 21 turnovers to 14 by Elon. The Wildcats shot 43.5 percent (20 of 46) from the field while the Phoenix fired 26.4 percent (14 of 53). Davidson outscored Elon 22-18 in the paint, 17-10 off second chances and 12-8 off the bench.
On Saturday, Davidson hosts Wofford at 2 p.m. and Elon visits UNC Greensboro at 3 p.m.