Furman 82, Clemson 68
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Junior Lee Stephens led all players with a career-high 34 points to help the Paladins to an 82-68 upset over ACC foe Clemson in women's basketball action on Friday night.
Although the Lady Tigers scored the first two points of the game, Furman took the lead with a three-pointer from Kali Holtfreter at the 19 minute mark and would not trail again for the remainder of the game. The Paladins led by as many as 10 in the first half, taking a 32-22 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the half, and leading 34-25 heading into the break. Furman was led by Melissa Liebschwager's 12 total points and four rebounds in the first half.
Furman came out on fire in the second half, with Stephens going on a seven point run to put the Paladins up by 12. Clemson threatened to even the score at the seven-minute mark, coming within three points, but Furman turned up the defense and went on to take the game 82-68.
Clemson was led by junior Lele Hardy's 19 total points, while sophomore Kirstyn Wright added 12 and sophomore Sthefany Thomas added 11.
Stephens led the Paladins with a career-high 34 points, only three shy of the Furman single-game record of 37. Stephens' performance was also the first 30 plus point performance for the Paladins since Jackie Smith scored 32 points against Georgia Southern in January of 1999. Stephens shot 10-14 from the field, including 3-4 from beyond the arc and 11-12 from the charity stripe.
Two other Paladins also recorded double-digit points, with Melissa Liebschwager contributing 17 points and Kali Holtfreter adding 10. Senior Katie Johnson led the team in rebounds with 10. As a team, the Paladins outrebounded the Lady Tigers 42-39. Furman recorded a 42 percent field goal percentage and a 57.1 three-point field goal percentage to earn its first win over Clemson since the 2002-03 season.
With the win, Furman improves to 1-0 on the season, while Clemson falls to 0-1. The Paladins will host UNC Asheville on Tuesday, November 18. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. on the Carolina First Court in Timmons Arena.
Elon 62, Winston-Salem State 59
ELON, N.C. ? Head coach Karen Barefoot grabbed her first regular-season win at the helm of the Elon women’s basketball program with a 62-59 win over Winston-Salem State in the second game of the 2008 ISES Tip-Off Classic. With the win, Elon is 1-0 this season while Winston-Salem State drops to 0-1.
Freshman Tiara Gause poured in a game-high 18 points, 15 of which came in the first half, connecting on five of her ten attempts from the floor. She has recorded three three-point shots. As a team, the Phoenix had four double-digit scorers Aiesha Harper (17), Tiffany Davis (13) and Urysla Cotton (11). The Phoenix outrebounded WSSU 40-37 with Amber Wall and Cotton leading the way with 10 rebounds each. Cotton’s 10 boards and 11 points gave her the team’s first double-double of the season.
The Phoenix trailed 2-11 early in the game, but key plays by Gause and Cotton brought the game within three at 10-13. The Rams increased their lead to nine at the 22-13 mark on a jumper by Vontisha Woods. Trailing by 12, Elon began to control the tempo of the game and brought the game within three at the 26-29 mark. The Lady Rams answered with a layup, but Elon pulled within three at the close of the half.
Free throws proved to be crucial in the second half of the game as the teams combined for 35 personal fouls in the second half. The Phoenix came up strong at the charity stripe, going 26-for-36 at the line. Davis led the team with nine free throws in the second half, followed closely by Harper with eight.
With momentum on its side, Elon scored the opening 10 points of the half to take a seven-point lead, which it would hold for the remainder of the game, at 38-31. Rene Rector and Talnesha Kee combined for five free throws to bring the score back within three at 41-38. Corbin Bradford sank two free throws to tie the game at 42.
Harper scored the next five points of the game for Elon, giving Elon some breathing room with a five-point lead at 48-43. WSSU’s Bradford sank a jumper at the 4:55 mark to make it a one-point game. Six free throws later, Elon pulled out to an eight-point lead at 56-48.
WSSU battled hard as Kee drained a three-pointer with 37-seconds left to play to make it a two-point game at 59-57. Davis made both of her free throws that allowed Elon to gain a four-point lead at 61-57. Gause sank her final free throw attempt with 10-seconds left to seal Elon’s 62-59 win.
In the first game of the tournament, UNCW defeated Longwood 71-50. UNCW’s Greta Luksyte led all scorers with 16 points.
Elon returns to the court tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. when they take on Longwood University in the final game of the 2008 ISES Cancer Awareness Tip-off. Winston-Salem State and UNC Wilmington will play in the 5 p.m. game. Live stats will be available for both games, with video streaming provided for Elon’s game.
Samford 68, Jacksonville State 55
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - A strong defensive effort led the Samford women's basketball team to a 68-55 season-opening win at Jacksonville State Friday night.
"I was very pleased with our defensive effort, pretty much the entire night," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We played 35 to 36 minutes of good defensive basketball and that is what it takes to win on the road."
Samford forced Jacksonville State into 21 turnovers, while committing just 12.
Offensively for Samford, Monica Maxwell led Samford with 16 points and five rebounds. Karmen Smith scored 12 points and Chika Okoli and Savannah Hill added 11 points each.
Jacksonville State was led by Charlease Williams with 19 points and Jolie Efezokhae added 17 points and eight rebounds.
Jacksonville State jumped out to an early 7-4 lead with 17:20 to play in the first half after a basket by Efezokhae. Samford came back to take the lead at 10-9 with 13:40 to go in the first half after a layup by Hill. The Bulldogs pushed their lead to four at 15-11 with 11:05 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Smith.
JSU scored the next five in a row to retake the lead at 16-15 with 9:41 to go in the half after a basket by Williams. With Samford leading, 19-16, JSU closed the half with a 7-2 run as the Gamecocks took a 23-21 lead into halftime.
With JSU leading, 27-22 early in the second half, Samford went on a 14-5 run to take a 36-32 lead with 13:38 to go after a three-pointer by Maxwell. Samford pushed its lead out to seven at 42-35 with 10:16 to play after a free throw by Okoli.
With Samford leading, 46-41, the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to push their lead to 54-41 with 4:40 to go after a jumper by J'Quita Babineaux. JSU cut the Samford lead to six at 60-54, but the Gamecocks could get no closer as Samford came away with the 68-55 win.
The win was Samford's seventh in the last eight meetings with JSU. It was Samford's first season-opening win since the 2004-05 season.
Samford will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 18, when the Bulldogs play at Alabama. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 6 p.m. from Coleman Coliseum.
Virginia Tech 59, UNC Greensboro 53
BLACKSBURG, VA ? UNC Greensboro’s women’s basketball team put three players in double figures and erased nearly all of an 18-point halftime deficit, but couldn’t quite finish the comeback in falling to Virginia Tech 59-53 to open the 2008-09 campaign.
Lakiah Hyson and Amanda Leigh had 11 points each for the Spartans (0-1), while Gini Grimsley added 10. Agne Girstautaite finished with a career-high nine rebounds to share game-high honors.
Virginia Tech (1-0) was led by Utahya Drye’s15 points. Lindsay Biggs had 14 and Lakeisha Logan had 12.
Coming out of the locker room for the second half facing a 37-19 deficit, the Spartans rattled off a quick 7-0 run to force a Virginia Tech timeout. Grimsley had a jumper and a 3 in the spurt.
The Hokies recovered to restore their lead, even expanding it 19 at 47-28.That’s when the Spartans took over, with Leigh and Grimsley hitting back-to-back 3s before a Hyson steal and breakaway layup to make it an 11-point game. A Brittany Gordon free throw pushed the Hokies’ lead back to 12, but a Girstautaite layup and three points from Monique Floyd got the deficit down to seven.
Virginia Tech got a free throw and a jumper to make the score 51-41, but that was the last time the lead would be in double digits. The Spartans ran off another 7-0 run, with Floyd and Hyson both successfully converting one-and-one free throw chances to cut the lead to three.
The comeback stalled there, as Drye hit a pair of free throws and Biggs hit a layup to stretch the lead back to seven. UNCG got it back to five on another pair of Hyson free throws, but that was as close as it would get.
Floyd finished with nine points and eight rebounds, while Leigh had an impressive debut for the Spartans. The redshirt sophomore, who transferred from Winthrop last year, had seven rebounds and a pair of assists in addition to her 11 points. Hyson had four assists and a pair of steals to go with her 11. Girstautaite had three blocks to match her career high, while Grimsley had two.
The Spartans outscored the Hokies in the second half 34-22. The rebounding battle was even in the second half at 22 apiece. For the game, Virginia Tech had the rebounding edge, 49-29.
UNCG outshot Virginia Tech, 33.3 percent to 32.9.
With the loss, UNCG falls to 1-7 all-time against the Hokies. Six of eight games have been decided by nine points or fewer.
The road gets no easier for the Spartans as they face another ACC foe when they take on Wake Forest at 7 p.m. Monday in Winston-Salem, NC.
No. 4 North Carolina 90, Western Carolina 56
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? Western Carolina women’s basketball (0-1) lost in the first round of the Preseason WNIT 90-56 to No. 4 North Carolina (1-0) Friday in the Smith Center. The Lady Catamounts fall into the consolation bracket of the tournament and will find out their opponent and competition site late Saturday.
A pair of Western Carolina seniors led the Lady Catamounts in scoring ? Brooke Johnson paced the team with 13 points and Lauren Powell followed with 12. Johnson also had two blocks and two assists in the game but the telling stat was just two rebounds, as she didn’t get her first board until two minutes into the second half.
North Carolina used quickness and long-range shooting to put Western Carolina on its heels early in the game and then never looked back. The Tarheels scored the first eight points of the game before sophomore guard Emily Clarke hit the first Lady Catamount basket of the game almost three minutes into the game.
The Tarheels then reeled off 15 unanswered points to balloon their lead to 23-2 before the Lady Catamounts could answer again with just their second basket of the game as junior Heather Swayne came off the bench to drain a three after the first media timeout. It was back-to-back threes for Western Carolina as Powell followed with a trey of her own.
However, Western Carolina couldn’t stop North Carolina from hitting three pointers of its own as the Tarheels hit 10 three-pointers in the game. The fleet of foot UNC players also had 19 steals in the game and scored 34 points off turnovers ? the margin of victory in the game.
Up by 22 with six minutes to go in the half, Western Carolina did make a mini run as the Lady Catamounts went on a 10-0 spurt to cut the Tarheel lead to 15, 43-28. Powell had a three, Swayne a bucket and Clarke hit a pair of field goals in the run. North Carolina went on a 14-4 run to close out the half and build the lead back up to 25 at the half.
Overall North Carolina shot 50 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from the three-point line. Western Carolina shot 41.2 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from the three. The Lady Catamounts had 32 turnovers in the game and forced 22 out of North Carolina. However, the Tarheels won the rebounding battle with a 46 to 43 advantage.
Swayne had a solid outing with nine points, six rebounds and three assists. Clarke got her first official start as a Lady Catamount and ended the contest with six points and six rebounds.
Marshall 67, Appalachian State 65
BOONE, N.C. - Freshman Sad? Means announced her presence with authority in her collegiate debut, leading the Mountaineers with 17 points in a 67-65 setback against Marshall in the season opener on Friday night.
Appalachian shot a decent 44 percent from the field and 53 percent from downtown but was unable to overcome 20 offensive boards by Marshall.
Catherine Williams scored the first points for the season to give the Mountaineers (0-1) a 2-0 lead 90 seconds into the game. Sophomore Brittney Spencer handled a majority of the ASU scoring over the next seven minutes with nine points. The guard helped spark a 9-0 run as ASU overcame a 14-9 deficit to take an 18-14 lead 12 minutes into the half.
Spencer finished the night with a career-high nine points and added two rebounds and an assist. Williams battled foul trouble early on in her debut and finished the game with four points on 2-of-2 shooting and a rebound in nine minutes on the court.
The teams went back and forth for the remainder of the half as ASU led by as many as eight points in the half after Means knocked down her second trey of the game to make it 31-23. The Mountaineers took a 31-25 advantage into the locker room.
In addition to her 17 points, Means pulled down six rebounds and added a block and an assist to go along with 7-for-10 shooting on the night. She sank all three attempts from beyond the arc.
Frances Hernandez came on strong out of the intermission with a three-pointer with an assist from Sam Ramirez. Marshall (1-0) pulled within two points at 38-36 but Means responded with seven of Appalachian's next 13 poins to help establish a six-point advantage at 47-41 seven points into the second half.
Hernandez sank four of her seven attempts from downtown and dished out a pair of assists and closed out the night with 13 points. Ramirez handed out a career high 10 assists to go along with four points and four boards. Her 10 assists were the most by a Mountaineer since Whitney Tossie had 10 against Georgetown in November 2006.
The Thundering Herd methodically crept back within one point at 60-59 as three minutes remained in regulation and tied the game with 1:05 to play, 64-64. The visitors then stole the ball back and took a lead on a free throw with 30 seconds to play.
Means had a shot blocked with 10 seconds to go and Canesha Edwards leapt the highest out of the pile to grab the offensive rebound but was called for traveling as she came down with the ball.
Edwards led the team with 10 rebounds in the game. The freshman completed the double-double with 11 points, five of which came from the free throw line. She also led the team with five of ASU's nine steals in the game.
After the Herd cushioned the lead with a pair of free throws as the clock struck :05, Ramirez got the ball up to Hernandez in the corner for a last chance trey to tie. Hernandez was fouled on her attempt and was awarded three shots from the foul line with just four-tenths of a second remaining.
The first shot rimmed out before the sophomore sank the second to pull within 67-65. Hernandez intentionally missed the third shot but the deflection fell towards the baseline as time expired.
The win pulled Marshall within one game of .500 in the all-time series as ASU's lead shrinks to 20-19 in the first meeting between the former SoCon foes since the 1996-97 season.
The Apps face another Conference USA foe on Tuesday as coach Darcie Vincent's squad travels to Greenville to face East Carolina at 7 p.m.