College of Charleston 51, Georgia State 49
Charleston, S.C. ? Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C.) posted her third career double-double, with 10 rebounds and 15 points, including two clutch free throws with 30 seconds remaining that gave the Cougars a four-point lead after a Panther rally tied the game with just under two minutes remaining, to lead the College of Charleston women’s basketball team to the 51-49 victory over Georgia State in action this afternoon at the Carolina First Arena.
Charleston won its second game in a row to improve to 4-1, its best start since going 4-0 to open the 2001-02 season. The Panthers drop to 1-2 on the year.
Danyiell McKeller led the Panthers with 15 points, with Crystal Johnson following with 10 on the afternoon. Jylisa Williams pulled down a team-leading nine rebounds.
Charleston used five three-pointers, three by Kotcella, to build a 25-11 lead with 7:31 in the first half. Georgia State cut the margin to eight, 25-17 with 4::37 to go, off a small 6-0 run before ending the half down by 12, 31-19.
The Panthers were held to just 25.7 percent from the field in the half, compared to 44.0 for the Cougars. Charleston was six-for-17 from beyond the three-point line, with Georgia State just one-for-11.
Down by 15, 38-23, with 14:40 remaining in the game, Georgia State pressed the Cougars, forcing 13 turnovers en route to a 24-9 run over the next 12 minutes to tie the game at 47-47 with 1:59 to go. A Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C.) jumper gave the lead to the Cougars for good at 1:31, with Kotcella’s free throws sealing the win after a Johnson basket cut the lead back to two with 11 seconds to go. Charleston turned the ball over to give the Panthers one last shot but Williams’ 15-foot jumper with two seconds to go, rimmed off.
Following Kotcella in points for the Cougars was Nikki Williams (North, S.C.) with her 13.
Charleston out-rebounded the Panthers 45-42 and had eight more turnovers, 26-18. The Cougars finished the game six-for-17 from the three-point arc. Charleston went 35.8 percent from the field in the game, while Georgia State was 29.2. The Cougars are now 23-0 when holding opponents to under 30 percent shooting since joining the Southern Conference in 1998-99.
The Cougars host S.C. State Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 7:00 p.m. Georgia State returns home to face Presbyterian Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 6:00 p.m.
Weber State 85, Elon 80 (2 OT)
PITTSBURGH, PA. ? Urysla Cotton poured in a career-best 25 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, also a career-high, in her second double-double game of the season as Elon fell to Weber State 85-80 in a double-overtime thriller in the third game of the Pitt Thanksgiving Tournament in Pittsburgh, Pa. The team also recorded 27 assists, a Petersen Event Center record for a visiting team.
Julie Taylor also scored a career-high with 11 points. Amber Wall was the final Phoenix player in double-digits with 14, two shy of her season-best of 16 that was set against N.C. A&T. Cotton’s efforts landed her on the all-tournament team.
With the loss, Elon falls to 1-5 on the season heading into conference play. Weber State is now 3-2.
Cotton grabbed the first four points for the Phoenix after hitting a jumper followed by two from the charity stripe that allowed Elon an early 4-0 lead. WSU battled back to take a 5-4 lead. The Wildcats would not hold the advantage for long as Elon’s Sharwil Bell scored on the next possession,
A three-pointer by Taylor put the Phoenix up by four with 14:37 remaining in the half. A trio of threes by the Wildcats, including a pair by Ali Thorderson put Weber State up by five. A pair of baskets by Erica Keto highlighted a Phoenix 6-0 run that brought the game within one at 15-14 with 11:42 remaining in the half.
The teams battled until Weber State put up its largest lead of the half at five with under six minutes to play at 19-24. Elon answered with five of its own to tie the game for the third time of the half at 26. The teams would tie for a final time at 28, but a layup by Caitlin Anderson allowed the Wildcats to enter the half with a two-point lead at 30-28.
The Wildcats jumped out of the gate early in the second half, gaining a 14-point lead with 13 minutes to play. Elon answered with a 12-0 run, including back-to-back threes by Tiffany Davis and Taylor, that put the game back within two at the eight-minute mark. A layup by Wall with five minutes left in regulation regained the lead for Elon.
Elon was up by three thanks to a jump shot by Cotton, but a shot from behind the arc by Andersen allowed Weber State to knot the score at 62 to send the game into its first overtime.
With momentum on its side, Elon scored the opening three baskets of the first overtime, including three points by Cotton. A three-pointer by Taylor put Elon up by six at 70-64 but Weber State posted consecutive threes to tie the score at 70. Tonya Schnibbe scored on a layup with 13 seconds left to send the game into its second overtime.
Wall put up the first points of the second overtime to give Elon a 76-74 lead. The Wildcats put up five to take a 83-78 advantage. Wall brought the game within three at the 80-83 mark with less than a minute to play, but a foul by Taylor sent Anderson to the free throw line where she sank both shots with 23-seconds left that sealed the game 85-80 for the Wildcats.
Elon returns to action Tuesday evening when it ends its four-game road stretch as UNC Greensboro comes to Alumni Gym in the conference opener. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. tip. Live stats and video streaming will be available for the game.
St. Joseph’s 78, Davidson 68
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Senior forward Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.) and junior guard Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) hit for career highs of 24 and19 points, respectively, but the Wildcats were not able to counter the clutch three-point shooting by the St. Joseph's Hawks in falling 78-68 in the consolation game of the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
Robinson provided the 'Cats (1-5) with an inside punch, finishing a season-best 7-of-17 from the field, including two three-pointers, and added eight free throws for her game-high 24 points. She was just two boards off of her third double-double of the season, closing with eight. Behind her 34 points and 14 rebounds combined during the two-game weekend, Robinson was named to the all-tournament team, the second time this year she has garnered all-tournament team honors.
Lax took care of the outside scoring, hitting a career-best seven field goals, three of them from downtown, for her 19 points. Davidson as a team drained a season-high seven three-balls (7-of-14), and shot 40 percent overall behind a season-best 24 made field goals.
The duo did their best to bring the Davidson women's basketball team back from a 44-25 halftime deficit in the second half, scoring a combined 28 of their 43 points in the half.
Robinson started an 8-2 run to open the new half with a bucket inside that brought Davidson within 13 at 46-33. But the Hawks responded with back-to-back clutch threes a few minutes later to push the lead back out to 55-38.
Davidson countered later with seven straight points from Robinson to bring the 'Cats right back to within 12 at 60-48 with 10:15 remaining.
Then after St. Joe's (3-3) pushed the lead back out to 20 again, the Wildcats geared up for one last push, going on a 14-4 spurt in a five-minute stretch, capped off by a Lax jumper, that brought the score to 74-64 with under three minutes left in the game. Lax scored five points in the run.
Another three-pointer by Lax at the 1:57 mark brought the score to 78-68, but Davidson was not able to come up with another bucket in the last two minutes to end the final score right there.
St. Joe's used the hot-shooting hands of Mariame Djouara and Jenna Loschiavo in first half to grab the 19-point halftime lead. The duo combined to hit for 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including draining four of their five shots from behind the arc.
Loschiavo's third three of the half doubled up the Wildcats at 20-10 with 10:06 left in the period. She finished the half with 12 points and score 17 for the game, getting 15 of those points from downtown (5-of-8).
Later, the lead grew to 35-19 when Katie Kuester came off the bench and nailed St. Joe's fifth and sixth three-pointers of the half with back-to-back treys. The Hawks hit 10 treys in all for the game (10-for-21) with Kuester going 3-for-4 from behind the arc.
Joining Loschiavo in double figures was Djouara and Michelle Baker with 18 and 10 points, respectively.
Besides its excellent shooting in the second half (51.9 percent), Davidson also did a nice job of protecting the ball with a season-low 14 turnovers. For the third time in the past four games, and fourth time overall, the Wildcats won the battle on the glass with a 41-34 advantage. Senior Mandy Halbersleben (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the way with a new personal-best 10 boards to go along with her five points.
Davidson returns home for the first time this year as it has its home and conference opener when the Wildcats play host to Furman, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.
Bowling Green 71, UNC Greensboro 53
GREENSBORO, NC ? Junior guard Lakiah Hyson paced three UNC Greensboro players in double figures, but Bowling Green blew open a close game in the second half to take a 71-53 win in the final game of the UNCG Marriott Classic on Saturday afternoon.
Hyson scored 16 points to lead the Spartans (1-5), while Agne Girstautaite and Amanda Leigh scored 10 each. Bowling Green’s Lauren Prochaska scored a game-high 20 points to go with eight rebounds, while tournament MVP Niki McCoy scored 16.
The Spartans (1-5) trailed by just four at halftime, and Ashley Mullins opened the second period with a jumper from the wing to make it a one-possession game. After a defensive stop on the other end, Girstautaite dropped in a layup to tie the score at 30, making it a brand new ballgame just under a minute into the second frame.
Bowling Green (4-2) snatched the lead back immediately, as a Tara Breske layup on the Falcons’ next possession put them back ahead to stay. Lindsey Goldsberry’s 3-pointer pushed the advantage to five points at 35-30 before consecutive baskets from Hyson pulled the Spartans back within one.
Niki McCoy drained a pair of free throws to ignite a 24-10 run, and the Falcons never looked back. Prochaska had eight points in the spurt.
The Spartans had fewer turnovers and more rebounds than the Falcons at the halftime break, but BGSU held a four-point edge, 30-26.
UNCG won the battle of the boards for the first time this season, holding a 44-37 rebounding advantage. The Spartans also had just 17 turnovers to the Falcons’ 18 for the game.
The Spartans couldn’t get much going from the field, however, shooting just 30.4 percent for the game (21-for-69), including a woeful 2-for-20 mark (10.0 percent) from 3-point range.
UNCG was also playing without yet another point guard. Sophomore Monique Floyd suffered a head injury in Friday’s contest against Florida Gulf Coast and did not play against the Falcons. The Spartans are already without seniors Kristen Boone, who is out for the season with a torn ACL, and Ashley Ling, who injured her knee in the preseason and has yet to play.
Hyson went 7-for-15 from the field and hit both of her free throw attempts. She had a game-high four steals.
“Lakiah Hyson had an outstanding week for us in back-to-back games, particularly not having a lot of relief at the point position,” UNCG coach Lynne Agee said. “She was quite an offensive boost for us.
“I thought we played a little better today than yesterday,” she said. “The challenge for us now is to keep our heads up and go with what we’ve got, based on all the injuries. I don’t think there’s ?give-up’ in this team, we’re just all frustrated. Having played through this weekend, we’re in a completely different realm. We’re entering Southern Conference play now, and it’s a different motivation. We can study and be more familiar with who we’re playing and their tendencies. We have two days to prepare for Elon, and that’s going to be our challenge.”
Hyson earned a spot on the UNCG Marriott Classic All-Tournament Team, as did Prochaska, Winston-Salem State’s Keoshia Worthy and Florida Gulf Coast’s Adrianne McNally and Kelsey Jacobson.
The Spartans have a couple of days off before opening SoCon play at Elon on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
UNCG Marriott Classic All-Tournament Team
Keoshia Worthy, Winston-Salem State
Lakiah Hyson, UNC Greensboro
Adrianne McNally, Florida Gulf Coast
Kelsey Jacobson, Florida Gulf Coast
Lauren Prochaska, Bowling Green
MVP: Niki McCoy, Bowling Green
Evansville 58, Samford 54 (2 OT)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team fought back from a double-digit second-half deficit to take the lead, but eventually fell, 58-54 in double-overtime to Evansville Saturday afternoon on the final day of the Samford/UAB Thanksgiving Classic at the Pete Hanna Center.
"We got beat by a very good team tonight," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "They're a well-coached team and a physical team. I thought our team battled and played hard. I think we are doing a lot of good things, but one of the things we have to improve on is shooting the ball."
As a team, Samford shot 30 percent for the game, including a 16-percent effort from three-point range.
For Samford (5-1) individually, Emily London scored 21 points. Savannah Hill, who was named to the All-Tournament team, scored 15 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Chika Okoli added 10 points for the Bulldogs.
Evansville (4-1) was led by Shannon Novosel with 15 points. Robyn Jennings, who was named MVP of the classic, scored 13 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Amy Gallagher added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Purple Aces.
Samford held a 47-44 lead with one second left, but Evansville's Jennings hit three free throws to tie the score at 47-47 to send the game into overtime.
In the first overtime period, Samford held a 54-52 lead with 1:29 to go after Jazmine Powers made one-of-two free throws. The score remained 54-52 until Novosel hit a layup with six seconds to go to force a second overtime.
Samford was held scoreless in the second overtime. Evansville's Gallagher hit a layup with 4:56 to go and a jumper with 2:29 left to account for the only points of the period.
In the two overtime periods, Samford was a combined 3-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Evansville jumped out to an early 11-2 lead with 15:25 to go in the first half. Samford fought back to cut the lead to two at 15-13 with 3:42 to go in the half after a free throw by Karmen Smith. Evansville took a 19-17 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Evansville pushed its lead out to 11 points at 34-23 with 15:10 to go in the second half. Samford answered with a 14-0 run to take a 37-34 lead with 8:26 to go after a layup by London.
Samford pushed its lead out to six at 42-36 with 6:16 to go following a layup by London. Evansville answered with an 8-1 run to take a 44-43 lead with 1:08 left in the second half. Samford scored the next four points to take a 47-44 lead and set the stage for Jennings' free throws to force overtime.
Samford will now play at Chattanooga for the program's first-ever Southern Conference contest on Monday.
"It's a huge challenge," Morris said of playing the preseason Southern Conference favorite Lady Mocs. "This is a disappointing loss, but we have a quick turnaround. This is how league play will be, you lose a tough one and you have one day of preparation to get ready to play the best team in the league."
Samford and Chattanooga will meet on Monday, Dec. 1, and the game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. Central start from Chattanooga, Tenn. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.
SAMFORD/UAB THANKSGIVING CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Robyn Jennings, Evansville (MVP)
Savannah Hill, Samford
Shannon Novosel, Evansville
Britney Jones, UAB
Ashlyn Baggett, McNeese State
Richmond 64, Chattanooga 46
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga women’s basketball team fell 64-46 to Richmond Saturday evening at the McKenzie Arena in the championship game of the DoubleTree Classic.
Richmond remains undefeated with a perfect 6-0 mark while the Lady Mocs drop back below .500 at 2-3 on the year.
After the Spiders jumped out to a 4-0 start, the Lady Mocs tied it 8-8 with 14:25 to play, but Richmond retook the lead and never looked back getting ahead by as much as 24 points in the second half.
Richmond shot 50 percent in the first half, making 15-of-30 for a 37-19 lead, the lowest point total for Chattanooga in the first half this season. The Spiders never let up in the game making nearly 41 percent of their shots in the second half to expand their lead.
Richmond’s Brittani Shells led all scorers with 22 points making 9-of-19 from the field including a pair of 3-pointers. Danielle Bell added 14 points for the Spiders, going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. She had four assists in the game and four steals.
The Lady Mocs hit a drought getting outscored 23-3 starting with 10:08 to play in the first half and run through the first minute of the second half and included a 13-0 run broken up only by a free throw at the 3:55 mark of the opening stanza.
Chattanooga was led in scoring by junior Shanara Hollinquest with 15 points making 3-of-5 that included a career-high two 3-pointers. Freshman point guard Andrea Neil had seven points making 3-of-4 attempts including one from beyond the arc. Junior Jenaya Wade-Fray had a pair of 3-pointers for six points while LaCondra Mason and Erin Ogan each chipped in five each.
Hollinquest led UTC with six rebounds and Mason had five as the Lady Mocs outrebounded the Spiders 32-30. Richmond scored 16 points off 19 Chattanooga turnovers and got 22 points from the bench.
The Lady Mocs will continue their celebration of “Moore in McKenzie, a Decade of Dominance” as they host Southern Conference newcomer Samford in the Bulldogs league debut Monday night at the McKenzie Arena. The game will tip at 7 p.m.
Montana State 90, Western Carolina 82
BOZEMAN, Mont. ? Sophomore guard Kendra Carroll poured in a career-high 17 points and was one of four Lady Catamounts in double figures but it wasn’t enough to stop a second-half push by Montana State, as the Bobcats defeated Western Carolina 90-82 Saturday in Worthington Arena. Western Carolina falls to 2-3 on the season, and is still looking for its first road win of the year, while Montana State improves to 3-2.
Carroll had already bested her career-high of 10 points with 11 points in the first half and ended the game 7-of-12 from the field and 1-of-3 from the three point line. She was closely followed by senior Kendra Eaton who had 15 points in the game, with 13 coming in the first half; however Eaton could only produce two points in the second half.
The stat stuffing continued for the Lady Catamounts with sophomore Emily Clarke’s first double-double of her career with 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. She also continued her streak having scored in double figures in her last four games. Senior Lauren Powell had 13 points in the contest.
For all the points and milestones, it doesn’t erase the fact that Western Carolina built a 14 point lead twice in the first three minutes of the second half, leading 42-33 after the first 20 minutes, and watched it erode when Montana State went on a 13-0 run to tie the game at 51 with 15:36 left to go in the game. The Bobcats scored 56 points in the second half.
Western Carolina retook the lead off a three-pointer by Powell and twice had a seven point advantage on the Bobcats but Montana State tied the game for the fourth time of the game on a three point bucket by Jenny Heringer with 7:54 left. Herringer would turn around and scored a lay-up and give MSU the lead for good with 6:42 remaining.
Montana State would build as much as a 10-point lead in the final six minutes of the game and Western Carolina would get as close as three points twice but could never answer with a game-tying bucket to gain an advantage on the Bobcats. Also, in the final two minutes of the game, was Western Carolina was fouling to stay in the game, Montana State was a scorching 9-of-10 from the free throw line to maintain their advantage.
Western Carolina had 20 turnovers in the game and Montana scored 30 points off those turnovers. And although Western Carolina won the rebounding 46-43, only 16 were on the offensive end.
Western Carolina completes its three-game road swing Tuesday when the club travels to Asheville to take on rival UNC Asheville. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.