Georgia Southern 83, Florida Atlantic 67
BOCA RATON, Fla. ? Georgia Southern scored 11 unanswered during a key first half run, and cruised to an 83-67 win at Florida Atlantic Monday night (Nov. 17). The Lady Eagles improved to 2-0 overall while FAU dropped to 0-2.
Four starters scored in double-figures, led by Ashley Melson’s 23 points ? one shy of her career-high.
Holding onto a 23-20 lead midway through the first half, the Eagles staged an 11-0 run to pull away and the Owls never got within single-digits again. Georgia Southern eventually took a 43-27 lead into the locker room.
The Eagles shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half, compared to FAU’s 30.6 percent. GS also hit five from 3-point range and converted 8-of-10 at the free throw line while FAU hit both attempts from the charity stripe.
Ashley Rivens scored 11 of her 14 points during the second half as the Eagles shot 61 percent during the final 20 minutes. The lead grew to as many as 23 when Carolyn Whitney drained a 3-pointer, three of her 12 points, then later when Melson hit a pair of free throws.
J'Lisia Ogburn set a career-high netting 14 points. Jessica Geiger cleared away a team-leading eight rebounds.
Georgia Southern finished 20-of-28 at the free throw line, holding a +14 edge. Despite the Owls grabbing 11 more offensive rebounds (18-7), GS held a 38-33 edge overall.
“Any win on the road is a major win. I thought we played exceptionally well for 30 minutes or so. We tried to work in some of the young players to get them some playing time. I thought Samantha (Williams) came in and played well,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “We executed our game plan almost to perfection and I felt like our motion offense got to them. We held our composure the majority of the time. With the offense we run we don’t know who is going to be scoring from night to night, this is a very unselfish ball club and it could be anyone.”
The Eagles end a three-game in five-day stretch on Wednesday night (Nov. 19), playing host to 20th-ranked Auburn. Tip-off at Hanner Fieldhouse is scheduled for 7 p.m.
College of Charleston 76, Charleston Southern 62
Charleston, S.C. - Sarah Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds as the College of Charleston women's basketball team eclipsed its NCAA Division I Record with 61 rebounds in a 76-62 victory over Charleston Southern in the Cougars' season-opening game at CSU Field House in Charleston, S.C.
Three other Cougars had double-figure rebounding games with Nikki Williams (North, S.C.) posting 12, Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, N.C.) 11 and Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C.) 10, to help the team break its seven-year record by two rebounds. Charleston had 59 rebounds against Limestone in 2001.
The Cougars and Bucs traded baskets for the entire first half, and went into the locker room tied at 39-39. Kotcella led the team with 13 points in the half as Charleston held a 28-18 advantage in rebounds, including a 13-4 edge in offensive rebounds. CofC shot 36.1 percent from the field, while CSU shot 43.3 percent.
Charleston opened the second half with a 14-0 run to take a 53-39 lead with 12:51 remaining. The Cougars built a 20-point lead with just under nine minutes remaining and kept the lead in double-digits to hold on to the 14-point win.
Three Cougars had double-doubles on the night. Moye had 11 points to add to her 16 rebounds for her third career double-double. Williams, who led in scoring with 14 along with Kotcella, had her seventh double-double. Kotcella had the second of her career. Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) also scored in double-figures, with 12.
Charleston Southern shot 30.3 percent from the field for the game after being held to just 19.4 percent in the second half. Charleston remained consistent and shot 38.2 on the night. The Bucs pulled down just 38 rebounds, compared to the 61 by the Cougars. The Cougars took advantage of the rebounding edge, posting a 25-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Katie Tull led the Bucs with 19 points, while Pam Tolbert added 15.
The Cougars are next in action when they travel to Florida State Thursday, Nov. 20th for a 6:00 p.m. contest.
Chattanooga 77, East Tennessee State 71
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga women’s basketball team overcame a 14-point second half deficit to defeat East Tennessee State 77-71 in the Lady Mocs season opener Monday night at the McKenzie Arena.
After trailing 41-30 at the half, the Lady Mocs, 1-0, fell further behind as TaRonda Wiles added four points to her game-high 27 to give the visiting Lady Bucs, 0-2, a 48-33 lead at the 18:45 mark of the second half. From there Chattanooga started chipping away at ETSU’s lead with a 25-10 run to tie the game 58-58 with 8:10 to play.
Tagan Hatchett drained a 3-pointer at the 7:23 mark to give UTC a 61-60 lead and the Lady Mocs would never trail again. Tenisha Townsend backed that up with a “3” to spread the lead to four and Hatchett buried another followed by a Shanara Hollinquest layup to give Chattanooga it’s biggest lead of the game, 69-61, with 5:49 to play.
The nail-biter wasn’t over as the Bucs cut the lead to 70-69 with 1:19 to play. The Lady Mocs got a lay-in from Jenaya Wade-Fray and went 5-for-6 from the free throw line down the stretch to get the win.
Hollinquest recorded her seventh career double-double, leading the Lady Mocs with 18 points and 15 boards. She was one of five Chattanooga players in double-figures that included Erin Ogan’s 11 points and eight rebounds, Wade-Fray’s 14 and 10 each from LaCondra Mason and Tagan Hatchett.
Chattanooga outrebounded the Bucs 47-42 and had 19 assists to ETSU’s 12.
Wiles led all scorers with 27 points and was two rebounds shy of a double-double with eight. Siarre Evans added 13 points and eight rebounds while Latisha Belcher had 12 points and nine boards.
The Lady Mocs shot just 37.5 percent from the field in the first half, but had a much better second stanza making 16-of-33 for a 48.5 percent effort in the second. ETSU’s performance in the second half did not match its first-half performance going from a 42.5 percent showing in the first to 36.8 percent in the second.
The Lady Mocs will remain at home to host the two-time defending national champion Lady Vols Friday, Nov. 21 at 6:30. The game will tip of at 6:30 to accommodate a television broadcast. Call the McKenzie Arena box office at 423-266-MOCS (6627) to get tickets today as the Lady Mocs try to “Pack the House”.
Wake Forest 62, UNC Greensboro 27
WINSTON-SALEM, NC ? Stymied by an offense that never got in gear, UNC Greensboro’s women’s basketball team fell to 0-2 on the young season and set several dubious school records with a 62-27 loss at Wake Forest on Monday.
The 27 points scored were the fewest in program history, as were the squad’s four assists. UNCG’s nine field goals and 19.1-percent shooting for the game (9-for-47) were the lowest totals in school history.
The Spartans were led by Agne Girstautaite’s eight points and seven rebounds, both team highs. Amanda Leigh was second on the squad with six points.
Alex Tchangoue and Camille Collier scored 12 each to lead the Demon Deacons (1-0), while Corinne Groves was also in double figures with 10 points. Secily Ray pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
The first half featured 16 UNCG turnovers and a scoreless drought of nine minutes, 18 seconds that allowed Wake Forest to extend its lead from four points to 20.
A Monique Floyd baseline jumper made it a 13-9 contest with 11:29 to play in the opening half, but that was the last time UNCG would score until a fast break jumper from Lakiah Hyson with 2:11 left before the break. By that time, the Demon Deacons had rattled off a 16-0 run to set the tone.
The Spartans held a brief lead early in the first half, as Leigh’s 3-pointer from the wing made it 5-4 just under four minutes in. Wake Forest quickly answered with an Tchangoue jumper to regain the lead and never trailed again.
UNCG shot just 16.7 percent (5-for-30) from the field in the first half.
The second half was more of the same, as the Spartans opened with turnovers on each of their first four possessions. A Leigh 3-pointer at the 12:26 mark accounted for UNCG’s first points of the half, and ended a drought of 8:44, stretching back to the first half.
For the game, Wake Forest scored 35 points off UNCG turnovers and had 17 fast-break points. UNCG had 36 turnovers in the game (20 in the second half), while Wake Forest set a school record with 28 steals. Every Spartan that saw playing time picked up at least one turnover, save freshman Jazz Weaver, who picked up a pair of rebounds and a steal ? but no turnovers ? in six minutes of work.
The Spartans forced 25 turnovers on 18 steals of their own, but it was nowhere near enough as the Deacons led by as many as 38 in the second half. TaShama Banner doubled her career high with four steals, while Floyd and freshman Agneta Morkunaite had three each.
Girstautaite had six of her eight points in an 8-0 run late in the second half.
UNCG opened with a pair of ACC opponents for the first time in school history, as it opened the season with a six-point loss at Virginia Tech on Friday.
The Spartans will try for their first win at noon Thursday when they take on UNC Wilmington in Wilmington, NC.