Chattanooga 82, Wofford 61
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? Kori Penland led three Lady Mocs in double-digit points as Chattanooga downed the Wofford women’s basketball team 82-61 on Saturday.
Shooting 41.4 percent in the first half and 63.0 in the second, Chattanooga’s offense overpowered the Terrier defense to keep the Lady Mocs undefeated in the conference with a 3-0 record.
Chattanooga’s Shanara Hollinquest scored the first basket of the game, and the Lady Mocs did not give up the lead for the remainder of the game. Wofford’s Summer Nichols put the Terriers on the board with a pair of free throw shots at the 17:15 mark, and a pair of Terrier baskets pulled Wofford within two in the first five minutes of the game. A 20-5 scoring run by the Lady Mocs gave Chattanooga a 17-point advantage halfway through the first period, an advantage which they took into the break, leading 38-23.
In the second half, the Terriers turned up the offense, but could not match the Lady Mocs’ 63.0 percent shooting from the field. Although Mahagony Williams and Kelly Dwyer both recorded double-digit points in the second half alone, Chattanooga outscored the Terriers 44-38 in the second to take the game by a final score of 82-61.
Chattanooga was led by freshman Kori Penland’s 15 total points, nine of which came from three-point range. Senior Erin Ogan added 14 points and 11 rebounds, while freshman Tenisha Townsend contributed 10 points in the win. Senior LaCondra Mason added 11 rebounds for the Lady Mocs.
Junior Kelly Dwyer led the Terriers with 12 total points, 10 of which were scored in the second half. Sophomore Mahagony Williams and junior Natalie Gramblin each added 11 points, while Williams grabbed six rebounds and Gramblin led the team with four assists.
With the win, Chattanooga improves to 6-3 overall and 3-0 in the Southern Conference, while Wofford falls to 1-7 on the season and 0-2 in league play. The Terriers will host Western Carolina on Tuesday, December 16 at 6:00 p.m. while Chattanooga visits Clemson Monday night at 7:00 p.m.
UNC Greensboro 50, Fordham 39
GREENSBORO, NC ? UNC Greensboro surrendered nearly all of an 18-point second-half lead, but made big plays late to hold off Fordham and run its win streak to three games Saturday, 50-39.
Senior Gini Grimsley scored a team-high 16 points for the Spartans (4-5), who led wire to wire. Lakiah Hyson, TaShama Banner and Kendra Smith all pulled down seven rebounds each for UNCG. Becky Peters scored a game-high 17 points for Fordham (4-6), while Kristina Bell had a game-high eight rebounds for the Rams.
The Spartans led 32-14 less than a minute into the second half, but saw the Rams slowly creep back into the game. Nursing just a three-point lead at 42-39 with 2:25 left to play, UNCG finally got the plays it needed to put the game away.
Grimsley got things started by hitting both ends of a one-and-one to push the lead back to five with just over two minutes to play. Less than 20 seconds later, Monique Floyd was at the line with a one-and-one opportunity of her own. Floyd missed the front end, but Banner came up with a huge offensive rebound on the low block and UNCG was able to get the ball to a wide-open Smith at the top of the key.
Smith, who entered the game with just one 3-point make on the season, drained the triple to stretch the lead to eight points at 47-39 with a minute and a half to go. After a Peters miss on the other end, Smith grabbed the rebound and was fouled, sending her to the line with a one-and-one. She sank both freebies to put the lead back in double digits and secure the win. Grimsley added a free throw with 17 seconds left for the final margin.
The Spartans came out firing to open the second half, with Floyd hitting a quick jumper just 13 seconds in and Amanda Leigh knocking down a 3 to expand the lead to 32-14, but the offense was about to dry up, and Fordham started chipping away.
A Grimsley jumper made it 38-23 with 14:39 to play, but UNCG would not get another field goal until Agne Girstautaite’s layup with 10:31 on the clock, a span of 4:08. Fordham, meanwhile, got only a Peters 3-pointer in that span, but the Rams were about to make their move.
Peters turned consecutive UNCG turnovers into back-to-back baskets, and Annie Zopf and Takita Earl hit layups to draw Fordham within four at 40-36. Girstautaite again stopped the bleeding for the Spartans, dropping in a stickback for the first UNCG points in nearly seven minutes.
A Zopf free throw and a Tiffany Stokes layup capped a 16-4 run and pulled the Rams within three before the Spartans took over down the stretch.
“At first, it was frustrating, because we couldn’t grab the ball,” Grimsley said of the second half. “But we got a couple of subs in and we were able to gain control. It was ugly, and everyone was getting frustrated, but we were able to pull it back together. I’m just glad we got the win.”
The Spartans held a huge advantage on the glass, nearly doubling the Rams in rebounds, 48-25. Neither team shot over 37 percent from the field on the day, and UNCG had 24 turnovers to Fordham’s 21.
The game got off to a slow start, but after a sloppy opening three minutes that saw the squads combine for six turnovers, Grimsley hit a 3-pointer to ignite a 7-0 UNCG run. The Rams recovered to pull within three at 11-8, but the Spartans rattled off an 11-0 run over the next 4:30 ? including an off-balance shot-clock beater from Grimsley ? to make it a 22-8 UNCG lead.
“We had a real strong first half,” UNCG coach Lynne Agee said. “We were solid on both ends, offensively and defensively. We had a lot of energy. In the second half, they picked it up. They got real aggressive off the dribble, and we kind of got lost on our assignments some. We had to adjust to their second-half pace, but we closed it out well and hit a couple of big shots.”
The Spartans return to Southern Conference play on Wednesday, when they will put their 2-0 league mark on the line against Georgia Southern, who also enters the game atop the SoCon standings at 2-0. The game is set for 7 p.m. at Fleming Gym.
Furman 77, Berry 45
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Katie Johnson scored 16 points and claimed a game high eight rebounds to lead Furman to a 77-45 win over Berry College in women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
The victory snapped a five-game losing skid for Furman (4-5) and modest two-game winning streak for NAIA member Berry (2-7), which elected to play Saturday’s contest as an exhibition contest on its schedule.
Johnson scored 12 of her 16 points in the first half to help the Paladins race to a 50-18 halftime lead. The junior center from Dallas, Texas, finished the game connecting on 7-of-10 field goal attempts and 2-of-3 free throws. Susan Troutman tallied 12 points and Melissa Liebschwager and Lee Stephens chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Furman.
Berry’s Lakisha Bryant led all scorers with 20 points.
Holding an 8-7 advantage less than four minutes into the game, Furman used three baskets by Johnson to key a 16-0 run over a seven-minute span to take control of the contest following Kendra Berry’s layup with 9:54 for a 26-7 lead.
After a Bryant 3-pointer cut Furman’s lead to 26-10, the Paladins outscored the Lady Vikings 24-11 over the remainder of the first half.
Furman shot 44.1 percent from the field, connecting on 26-of-59 shots. The Paladins also converted 22-of-28 free throw attempts (78.6 percent).
Berry, meanwhile, struggled from the field, finding the mark on just 18-of-65 shots (27.7 percent). The Lady Vikings did not attempt a free throw in the game.
Furman claimed a modest 45-38 advantage on the boards.
The Paladins will take a break for final exams before returning to action on Dec. 20 when they return to Southern Conference play against Appalachian State at Timmons Arena. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m.
Samford at No. 9 Baylor
WACO, Texas - The Samford women's basketball team trailed by as much as 23 points in the second half, but fought back to cut the lead to five before eventually falling at ninth-ranked Baylor, 63-51, Saturday night at the Ferrell Center.
"Baylor is a very good team," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I was pleased with our team. I'm disappointed with the loss, but I was pleased with the way we fought back in the second half. Hopefully, this is something we can build on."
Samford was led in scoring by Emily London and Karmen Smith with 14 points each. Monica Maxwell added 13 points and six rebounds.
For Baylor, Danielle Wilson scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Jhasmin Player had 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Rachel Allison added 13 points for the Lady Bears.
After Samford took an early 3-0 lead on a three-pointer by London, Baylor went on a 10-2 run to take a 10-5 lead with 15:09 to play in the first half. Samford fought back to cut the lead to two at 12-10 with 13:27 left in the first half after a three-pointer by Smith.
With Baylor leading, 14-12, the Lady Bears went on a 9-0 run to push its lead to 23-12 with 9:14 to go in the first half. After Samford cut the lead to eight at 23-15 after a three-pointer by Maxwell, Baylor closed the half with a 12-2 run to take a 35-17 lead into halftime.
Baylor pushed its lead out to 23 at 43-20 with 13:15 to go in the game after a jumper by Wilson. With Baylor leading, 46-23, Samford went o an 11-0 run to cut the lead to 12 at 46-34. With Baylor leading, 51-40, back-to-back three-pointers by Alex Crow and Smith cut the lead to five at 51-46 with 3:38 to go in the game.
Baylor scored the next eight points in a row, mostly on free throws, to take a 59-46 lead with 43 seconds to go. Samford cut the lead back to 10 at 61-51 with nine seconds to go and a pair of free throws by Baylor's Kelli Griffin made the final score 63-51.
For the game, Samford shot 36.5 percent from the floor, but the Bulldogs made 46.2 percent of their shots in the second half. Baylor made 38.2 percent of its shots, but Samford held the Lady Bears to just 26.7 percent in the second half.
Samford will return to action on Friday, Dec. 19, when the Bulldogs play host to Elon. The game, which will be the first Southern Conference basketball game held in the Pet e Hanna Center, is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.