Chattanooga 55, Samford 54
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Junior Shanara Hollinquest outscored Samford 6-0 in the final 3:33 of the game to give the Lady Mocs their 23rd consecutive Southern Conference win as they welcomed Samford to the league Monday night at the Roundhouse.
With the Lady Mocs trailing by five with 3:33 to play, Hollinquest put in three layups to give Chattanooga a 55-54 win. Samford moves to 5-2 overall and 0-1 in league action while the Lady Mocs even their record at 3-3 and are 1-0 in the SoCon.
Hollinquest scored a season-high 26 points with 18 coming in the first half alone. She went 10-for-18 on the night and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Junior Jenaya Wade-Fray tallied her first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. She matched her season-high for points and her career-best for rebounds while dishing out a career-high seven assists.
In the first half, the Lady Mocs seemed to have control of the game shooting 51.9 percent and leading 37-27 at the break. However, the second half was a polar opposite to the first with Samford outscoring Chattanooga 27-18 and the Lady Mocs mustering just 7-of-25 shots for a dismal 28 percent from the floor.
After Chattanooga notched its largest lead of the game at 42-29, the Bulldogs went on a 23-5 run that was bookended by Emily London’s pair of free throws at the 18:07 mark and a 3-pointer with 4:19 to play. Samford led 52-47 with 4:19 to play, but the Lady Mocs got back into the game and held off the Bulldogs to win the league opener.
Samford had three players in double figures with Monica Maxwell leading the charge with 13 points and five boards. London and Savannah Hill each chipped in 10 points while Karmen Smith had nine points, all from the first half.
Chattanooga junior Tagan Hatchett, starting at point guard for the first time this year, had a career-best six rebounds. The Lady Mocs did not get any production out of its bench this game with all scoring coming from just the five starters.
The Lady Mocs will host Alabama A&M Saturday, Dec. 6 at the McKenzie Arena. The game will tip at 7 p.m. Samford will travel to Spartanburg, S.C., to take on Wofford at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4.
Georgia Southern 69, Appalachian State 53
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Senior Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) scored a game-high 20 points as Georgia Southern defeated Appalachian State 69-53 in the Southern Conference opener for both teams Monday night (Dec. 1) at Hanner Fieldhouse. The Lady Eagles improved to 4-2 overall while the Mountaineers fell to 1-5.
“She (Ashley) is our team leader and is one of the most experience players on the team. She has been a great leader and has responded well on the court,” said head coach Rusty Cram.
The Mountaineers jumped out to an 8-3 lead within the first four minutes but from there Georgia Southern went on a 19-6 run and never looked back. A lay-up by Ashley Rivens (Charlotte, N.C.) put the Lady Eagles ahead 31-20 with 2:40 left in the first half and led by double-digits the rest of the way.
In the first half, GS shot 39 percent from the field and was 4-of-5 at the free throw line compared to ASU’s 32.3 percent without a free throw attempt.
Melson erupted for 16 of her game-high 20 points in the second half. She opened the second half with a 3-pointer and lay-up to extend the lead to 40-25. Over the final 20 minutes she hit 7-of-8 from the line. In fact the Lady Eagles were 21-of-26 for the game while ASU went 5-for-10.
Georgia Southern also held a 42-34 edge on the glass and forced 20 Appalachian State turnovers. Overall the Lady Eagles shot 39 percent from the field and held ASU to 35.6 percent.
“If you saw the Auburn game we lost the last 3 minutes of the first half. They took a six point lead and turned it into double-figures right before half so we’ve been using that as a key point in our players getting better,” said Cram.
Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) scored 11 points with six boards while J’Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
Frances Hernandes led the Mountaineers with 19 points off the bench, including four of the team’s six 3-pointers. Sade Means chipped in 12 points and five rebounds. Georgia Southern’s starters out-scored ASU 55-20.
Georgia Southern continues a stretch of three games in six days, traveling to High Point for a non-conference game Wednesday night (Dec. 3). The Mountaineers return home to host Davidson Saturday at 5 p.m.