Chattanooga 64, Georgia Southern 50
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Senior forward Alex Anderson tallied her third consecutive double-double and senior guard Brooke Hand drained four three-pointers to lead Chattanooga to a key Southern Conference win over Georgia Southern, 64-50, Monday night at the McKenzie Arena.
Hand, who was 0-for-2 from beyond the arc in the first half, opened play in the second with a long range bomb to push the Lady Mocs’ lead to 27-19. The Eagles cut the lead to four on back-to-back layups, but that would be as close as they would get as Chattanooga (18-3, 10-0) responded with a 7-2 run, pushing the lead to 36-27.
Georgia Southern (11-9, 7-2) got as close as six points before the Lady Mocs put the game out of reach on an 18-7 run fueled by six points each from Anderson and sophomore Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.). That put the game seemingly out of reach with just 3:10 remaining. Chattanooga withstood a late rally by the Eagles before closing out for its 13th consecutive win, the second longest active winning streak in the nation behind Connecticut’s 19.
In the first half Chattanooga battled out to an 8-6 lead with only 4:27 gone by before a 6-0 run gave the Lady Eagles a 12-8 advantage with 13:28 to play. At that point, the Lady Mocs offense came to life and the defense clamped down as Chattanooga put together a 15-5 run, the first eight points unanswered, to take a 23-17 lead with 4:04 to play in the half. The Lady Mocs would allow only two points the rest of the way as they took a 24-19 lead into the break.
UTC would extend its lead to 29-21 at the start of the second half before back-to-back layups by the Lady Eagles narrowed the margin to 29-25 with 16:21 to play. That would be as close as they would get, however, as Chattanooga quickly responded with a 7-2 run to push its lead to 36-27. GSU would narrow the gap to six points before the Lady Mocs pushed the lead back up to eight points at 44-36, setting the stage for their 18-7 run.
Sophomore forward J’Lisia Ogburn led the way for the Lady Eagles as she collected a double-double with team-highs of 12 points and 10 rebounds while senior guard Shawanda Atwood and junior guard Ashley Melson contributed solid all-around games with seven points, five rebounds and six points and four rebounds, respectively, as well as three assists each.
As a team, Georgia Southern dominated the points in the paint, 32-12, but missed all 12 of their three-point attempts.
In addition to her 14 points and 14 rebounds, Anderson added a season-high six blocks and three assists for the Lady Mocs while Hand’s 15 points led all scorers. Wade-Fray rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points while sophomore forward Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) added eight points and five rebounds. Junior forward Erin Ogan (Knoxville, Tenn.) finished the evening with seven points and four rebounds.
The Lady Mocs return to action this Saturday, February 2 when they host Appalachian State at The McKenzie Arena in the first game of a double-header at 5:00 p.m. Georgia Southern will return to Statesboro, Saturday (Feb. 2) to play host to UNC Greensboro at Hanner Fieldhouse. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. It is the first of a two-game homestand.
NOTES
? 13th consecutive win is tied for fourth best in school history. Longest win streak is 27 games (2003-04); 26 games (2005-06); 15 games (1999-2000); 13 games (2004-05).
? Second longest active winning streak in country. UConn has 19 consecutive wins (19-0)
? Seventh double-double for Anderson, third straight.
? Anderson missed her own school record for blocked shots in a single game by one.
? Anderson became just the fourth player in school history to tally 900 career rebounds (907)
? Anderson’s six blocks gives her a career mark of 202.
? Hand now has 285 career 3-pointers.
? Best conference start in school history since 2005-06 (18-0 in SoCon)
Western Carolina 60, College of Charleston 49
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? Western Carolina women’s basketball pulled down a season-high 59 boards to help the Lady Catamounts rebound to a 60-49 victory over College of Charleston (9-10, 5-4 SoCon) Monday in the Ramsey Center. With the win, the club improves to 15-6 on the season and 7-2 in the Southern Conference. The Lady Catamounts move back into a tie for second place in the SoCon race after Georgia Southern suffered a 64-50 loss at Chattanooga.
Charleston’s Jill Furstenburg led all scorers with 16 on the night, while Deidra Jones pulled down a team-leading 11 rebounds for the Cougars.
Senior forward Jessika Johnson hit the first two field goals of the game and accounted for the only buckets for Western Carolina in the first five plus minutes of the game. The Lady Catamounts warmed up from the field and built as much as a seven point lead in the first half and ended the first 20 minutes leading by five, 25-20.
The Lady Catamounts had a better second half shooting 38.9 percent but was surprisingly 0-of-7 from the three-point line. The club ended the contest with just one made three-pointer. Western Carolina ended the game shooting 32.9 percent from the field and was 60 percent from the free throw line.
Senior Chevon Keith had a strong showing on the glass, pulling down 13 rebounds. It is the second consecutive game she has tallied double figure rebounds and the 11th double figure rebounding performance this season. She also moved into fifth place in the Lady Catamount record books with 847 career rebounds.
Johnson and junior Lauren Powell each had 11 points in the game. Johnson also had two blocks which gives her 61 in her career and moves her into a tie for ninth place in the Lady Catamount record books. Sophomore Kristen Feemster pulled down a season-high nine rebounds and Pellom and Dawson each had nine points.
The win not only put Western Carolina back on the winning track it was also a milestone for Harper. With her 66th victory at the helm of the Lady Catamount program, she now has the second-most wins in school history.
Charleston hosts Elon Sat., Feb. 2nd at 2:00 p.m., while Western Carolina hosts Davidson the same day at 4:00 p.m.
Appalachian State 92, Wofford 79
BOONE, N.C. - Five Mountaineers scored in double figures and all eight players scored at least four points as the Appalachian State women's basketball team defeated Wofford, 92-79, Monday at the Holmes Center. The 92 points scored were the most scored by any Southern Conference team this season, ahead of ASU's 91 against N.C. Central in November.
GiGi Thomas kept up her hot shooting from Saturday with eight of the team's first 15 points. Two layups were off of steals and a third was a put-back in the paint. The teams traded scoring runs as Wofford took a lead as large as eight points in the opening 20 minutes.
Thomas scored 13 points in the first on 6-of-7 shooting with four rebounds. The sophomore guard finished with 17 points on 8-for-11 shooting before fouling out of the game.
Frances Hernandez helped cut the lead down with a trio of treys from the corner before Brittany Mixon scored four-straight to give Appalachian (5-15, 2-7) the lead at 35-34 with just over two to play before the half.
Mixon scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds in the opening period while Hernandez also added nine before the intermission. ASU shot .405 compared to Wofford's .387 in the first, leading to a 39-36 advantage for the home team.
The junior forward hauled in a career-high 16 rebounds in addition to matching a career high with 18 points for her second-career double-double.
Hernandez added 16 points on 5-for-16 shooting as ASU shot .427 in the game. The freshman added a pair of assists and two steals.
Liz Miller and Kelsi Koenig tied for team-high scoring honors for the Terriers with 18 points. Koenig grabbed 10 rebounds for her seventh career double-double and third straight against the Mountaineers. The 18 points match a season-high for the senior, equaling her total set Nov. 20 at Southeastern Louisiana.
Kristin Bradley’s 12 points set a career best, while Mahagony Williams poured in 10 to give the Terriers four players in double figures. Williams also matched a career high with five blocked shots as Wofford held a 7-to-1 edge in the category.
The Terriers also converted 30 of a season-high 37 free throws for an 81.1 percentage.
Both squads came out strong to open the second half, and Whitney Tossie hit her first three shots of the half to keep the Mountaineers ahead, 47-45, early on. A pair of Whitney Randolph free throws extended the lead to 54-47, the largest of the game for ASU.
Tossie scored 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting with three assists and four steals. Randolph sank 8-of-10 free throws in the game to go along with four rebounds and four assists.
Thomas fed Mixon down low for a layup and drove for a layup of her own to extend the Appalachian advantage to nine points at 58-49 with 13 minutes to play and break the game open. A pair of three-pointers from Sam Ramirez extended the Mountaineer run to ten-straight points.
Wofford (9-11, 2-7) cut the lead to nine points with five minutes remaining and again with under a minute to play, but the Mountaineers knocked down 22-of-28 free throws in the game to hold the lead in the 92-79 triumph. The Terriers sank 30-of-37 from the charity stripe.
Wofford will conclude its three-game road trip with a 3 p.m. Saturday matchup against Upstate rival Furman in Greenville, S.C. The Terriers defeated the Lady Paladins, 78-71, earlier this season inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena. Appalachian will hit the road for a two-game stretch beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday in Chattanooga, Tenn., against league leader Chattanooga.