College of Charleston 72, Coastal Carolina 58
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Junior guard Ericka Williams (Blackville, S.C.) delivered career-highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds for her first career double-double as the College of Charleston women’s basketball team (3-1) handed Coastal Carolina (4-1) its first loss of the season with an impressive 72-58 victory Tuesday evening in Charleston, S.C.
Trailing 32-31 at the half, Charleston gave up a quick Chanticleers basket coming out of the break to make it 34-31. From there, it was all Cougars as they took complete control of the game with a dominating 19-0 run over a span of 5:44 and pulled ahead 50-34 with 13:41 to play.
A three-pointer by sophomore guard Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) ignited the rally and Williams fanned the flames as she proceeded to score 14 of the Cougars 19 points, including the last 11. Coastal Carolina would eventually close to within 62-51 but Charleston would maintain a double-digit lead the rest of the way as they closed out the game for a 72-58 victory.
In the first half, it was a much closer affair as the Chanticleers controlled the first six minutes of play and pulled out to a 15-10 advantage with 14:06 remaining. A 7-1 run keyed by a pair of free throws and a layup by Williams gave the Cougars their first lead of the game at 17-16 with 10:26 left in the half.
The teams would continue to battle back-and-forth as consecutive buckets gave Coastal the lead back at 20-17 before CofC responded with a tying three-pointer by senior forward Nikki Williams (North, S.C.) at the 7:02 mark. With CCU leading 25-22, the Cougars used a 7-0 run to claw back ahead at 29-26 with 1:16 to play in the half before sophomore forward Jessica Noll sparked a 6-2 run to close out the half and give Coastal Carolina a 32-31 lead heading into the break.
Sophomore guard Kate Jasinski lead the Chanticleers with a game-high 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting and added five rebounds and four steals while sophomore forward Sydnei Moss finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Amanda Stull was the only player to reach double-figures in points for Coastal with 11.
For Charleston, Ericka Williams posted career-highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds for her first career double-double while Nikki Williams also reached double-figures in both categories with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Junior guard Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) totaled 13 points and added a game-high six assists while Tonia Gerty added a solid all-around performance with seven points, five rebounds and four assists.
The Cougars return to action on Saturday, November 29 when they host Georgia State at 2:00 p.m. at Carolina First Arena.
Middle Tennessee 73, Chattanooga 65
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. --- Middle Tennessee held off a late second half rally to defeat Chattanooga 73-65 in women’s basketball action Tuesday night at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Despite a 53.6 percent second half performance by the Lady Mocs (1-2), Middle Tennessee’s (3-1) defense proved to be too much as they scored 31 points on 23 turnovers. Alysha Clark led all scorers with 25 points and was 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the second half.
Chattanooga got on the board first with a jumper from junior Shanara Hollinquest nearly 1:30 into the game. The Blue Raiders responded with a 3-pointer from Brandi Brown to take the lead and Hollinquest would tie it up on a free throw just 30 seconds later. After MTSU built up a four-point lead Hollinquest would cut the score to two on a jumper at the 13:04 mark of the first half and junior Tagan Hatchett connected on a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Lady Mocs their final lead of the game at 11-10 with 12:35 to play in the first half.
Middle Tennessee mounted a 16-2 run for their largest lead of the half at 26-13 with 5:43 to go in the opening stanza. Chattanooga cut the lead, however, outscoring MTSU 15-9 over the remainder of the half to go into the locker room at halftime down by 35-28.
The second half started with the Raiders building its lead to 19 points on an 18-6 run. The Lady Mocs battled back to cut the lead to 55-46 on a 12-2 run. Chattanooga would only get as close as six on a 3-pointer from Erin Ogan down the stretch as Middle continued to press.
Ogan led the Lady Mocs with 15 points and eight rebounds while Hollinquest just missed her third consecutive double-double with 13 points and eight boards. Junior Jenaya Wade-Fray was the third UTC player in double digits with 10 points while senior LaCondra Mason, who made her first trip back to the mid-state since transferring from MTSU, had seven points eight rebounds and a team-high four assists.
The Lady Mocs outrebounded Middle Tennessee 42-33 and had 20 second chance points on 17 offensive boards. Chattanooga’s bench, which contributed 31 points against Tennessee last week, had just 13 points tonight.
Chattanooga will return home to host Akron, Troy and Richmond in the DoubleTree Classic beginning Friday, Nov. 28. Troy and Richmond will play in the opener at 5 p.m. while the Lady Mocs will take on the Zips in the nightcap. Call the McKenzie Arena box office at 266-MOCS (6627) or go online to the official website of Chattanooga athletics, GoMocs.com for ticket information.
Rice 66, Furman 62
HOUSTON, Texas ? Despite a 37-33 lead at halftime, the Paladin women’s basketball team fell to Conference USA opponent Rice by a score of 66-62 in Houston on Tuesday.
Rice scored the first few points of the game, and led for much of the first half, until a three-pointer from Melissa Liebschwager put Furman up 16-13 at the 12-minute mark. The Paladins led by as many as five points in the first half before heading into the break with a 37-33 lead.
Furman built its lead in the second half, going up by six at the 18-minute mark. The Paladins maintained their lead until 11:33, when a three-pointer from Brianna Hypolite tied the score at 46. The Owls then went on a 13-4 scoring run to take a 59-50 lead. Despite narrowing the deficit, Furman was unable to reclaim the lead and fell 62-66 to the Owls.
Rice freshmen D’Frantz Smart and Brianna Hypolite both scored a career-high 17 points to lead the Owls. Maudess Fulton added 13 points for the Owls.
Senior Katie Johnson led the Paladins with a career-high 23 points. Johnson shot 8-15 from the field and 7-7 from the free-throw line. She also added three blocks. Junior Kali Holtfreter and senior Melissa Liebschwager added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Liebschwager also led the team with seven rebounds.
With the loss, the Paladins fall to 3-2 on the season, while Rice improves to 3-1. The Paladins will begin the Southern Conference schedule on Tuesday, December 2 with a trip to Davidson. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
No. 12 Tennessee 83, Western Carolina 56
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ? Three Western Carolina players scored in double figures but it just wasn’t enough to stop No. 9/12 Tennessee as the Lady Catamounts dropped a 83-56 decision to the Lady Vols Tuesday in Thompson Boling Arena. Western Carolina falls to 2-2 on the season and Tennessee improves to 4-1.
The Lady Catamounts enjoyed two brief leads in the first 10 minutes of the contest. The first was thanks to a three-pointer from the left side by freshman Kalai’Shea Menendez to give WCU a 17-16 advantage. Tennessee quickly re-took the lead, 18-17, but Western Carolina answered when Emily Clarke dropped in a bucket to make it 19-18 with 9:23 left in the first half. Tennessee, however, quickly answered with a three pointer by Sydney Smallbone which began a 21-7 run by Tennessee and all but took the Lady Catamounts out of their game. In that nine plus minute span, Western Carolina hit just two field goals, a two-pointer by Clarke and a three-pointer by Brooke Johnson, and also a pair of free throws by Johnson.
Senior Lauren Powell gave a bit of a spark to the Lady Catamounts scoring 12 points in the second half after sitting out the last 15 minutes of the first half with two quick fouls. Powell led the club with 14 points.
Western Carolina just couldn’t recover after Tennessee went on its big run in the first half. The Lady Vols were also scorching 23-of-27 from the free throw line and also shot nearly 50 percent from the field with 47.5 percent.
After allowing Tennessee to score 49 points in the first half, Western Carolina did hold Tennessee to 34 points in the second half and put up 30 points. Tennessee out-rebounded the Lady Catamounts 41 to 34 and the Lady Vols also forced 25 Lady Catamount turnovers.
The Lady Catamounts did cut the Lady Vol lead below 20 three times in the game but every time Tennessee had an answer.
Johnson was second on the team in scoring with 12 points and also had a season-high four blocks. The senior forward was perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line and also had five rebounds and a steal.
Clarke has now scored in double figures in her last three games collecting 11 points against Tennessee. She also had three assists and four rebounds.
Western Carolina returns to action Saturday at Montana State. Tip time is set for 9 p.m.
No. 10 Notre Dame 85, Georgia Southern 36
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Notre Dame pulled away with a 15-0 run in the first half to win 85-36 over Georgia Southern Tuesday night at the Joyce Center in South Bend, Ind.
The Lady Eagles won the tip and jumped out to a 4-2 lead on J'Lisia Ogburn’s (Dublin, Ga.) fast break layup. The junior forward led the team in the first half with six points while pulling down three rebounds.
Notre Dame proceeded on an 8-2 run to lead 10-4 at the first media timeout and quickly separated themselves from the Lady Eagles with a 15-0 run which started on a Melissa Lechlitner jumper with 13:52 remaining. The junior guard led all scorers in the first period with seven. The Fighting Irish lead 37-17 at the half.
Georgia Southern had some good looks in the first half but was unable to get the shots to fall and made 21 percent of its field goals in the first half. The Lady Eagles did win the rebounding battle with 18 boards in the first half.
Notre Dame continued their hot shooting in the beginning of the second half and extended their lead to 30 points at the first media timeout of the half.
The Fighting Irish took control of the boards in the second half and led 15-2 at the second media timeout.
The Lady Eagles continued to battle and pulled off a 15-6 run to finish the game. The run started on an Ogburn jumper with 7:01 remaining in the second half.
Ashley McKenzie (Loganville, Ga.) scored her first points of her career at the 2:27 mark in the second half.
Notre Dame forced 24 turnovers in the game and scored 37 points off of them.
The Lady Eagles return to action December 1st in Hanner Fieldhouse against Appalachian State in the conference opener at 7 p.m.
No. 2 North Carolina 96, Wofford 42
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.- The Wofford women's basketball team fell to the second ranked North Carolina Tar Heels on Tuesday night in the Dean E. Smith center in Chapel Hill, N.C. 96-42. With the loss, the Terriers are now 0-2 on the season while the Tar Heels improve to 6-0.
North Carolina jumped out to a 16-0 lead before two made free throws by Liz Miller and Kathlyn Varno cut the deficit to 16-4. Mahagony Williams, reining Southern Conference Player of the Year, was then sidelined with 9:45 to go on the clock and did not return in the first half after picking up three fouls. Wofford would get its first field goal in the game at the 8:20 mark on a jumper by Natalie Gramblin.
North Carolina would continue to pressure as Kathlyn Varno and Summer Nichols both found the basket for the Terriers to cut the Tar Heel lead to 33-12 with 5:38 left in the half. Varno made the score 42-14 with 1:58 remaining after converting two free throws. North Carolina would end the half with an 8-0 run to take a 50-14 lead into the halftime break. Wofford shot ten percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, zero percent from behind the arc, and 57.1 percent from the foul line. North Carolina shot 45.7 percent from the floor, 42.9 percent from three, and 88.2 from the charity stripe.
The Terriers continued to play hard and played significantly better in the second twenty minutes. After a small run by North Carolina to start the second half, Wofford went back and forth with the Heels scoring in spurts. Wofford went on a 9-2 run in the middle of the second period led by Gramblin who knocked down back-to-back treys to go along with a three by Maddie Helms. A five point run by Kelly Dwyer was the final points on the board for the Terriers at the 1:22 mark.
For the game the Terriers shot 20 percent from the floor, 23.1 percent from behind the three point line and 57.1 percent from the foul line. The Tar Heels shot only 38.3 percent from the floor, 26.7 behind the arc and 78.9 percent from the line. Wofford forced 17 North Carolina turnovers while the Tar Heels forced 32 by the Terriers.
The Terriers were led by Gramblin who reached double figures with ten points while Liz Miller had seven and Varno added six . Kate Dempsey led the team in rebounds with eight while Miller added seven. North Carolina was paced by Cetera DeGraffenreid who tallied 15 points and Chay Shegog who chipped in 12 points to go along with 11 rebounds.
Tonight's game was a homecoming for two members of the Wofford coaching staff. Head coach Edgar Farmer was the team manager for the 1994 UNC women's basketball national champion team, while assistant coach Ed Geth was a member of the UNC men's team that won the national championship in 1993.
Wofford will hit the road for the Thanksgiving holidays as they travel to Florida to take on Bethune-Cookman and North Florida.