Western Carolina 80, College of Charleston 68
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? Western Carolina women’s basketball rallied back from a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat College of Charleston 80-68 Friday in the Ramsey Center. The Lady Catamounts reach the .500 mark for the first time this season evening their record to 5-5 and also improving to 2-1 in the Southern Conference while the College of Charleston falls to 6-3 and 1-2 in the SoCon.
The Cougars of College of Charleston had Western Carolina on its heels in the first 20 minutes of the game quickly building a 10-point lead, 13-10, in the first five minutes of the contest and held a double digit lead for most of the first half. The Cougars also burnt the Lady Catamounts for six three-pointers and shot 47.1 percent from the field.
Trailing 42-29 at the half, Western Carolina came out in the second half and went on a 7-0 run to cut the College of Charleston lead to six, 42-36, in a two minute span. The Lady Catamounts kept chipping away and took the lead for the first time in the game, 51-50, when senior Lauren Powell drained a three-pointer from the left corner with 13:44 left in the game.
Western Carolina and College of Charleston traded baskets for the next seven minutes but the Lady Catamounts never relinquished the lead. The Cougars did tie the game at 63 with 6:02 remaining but senior Brooke Johnson answered with a lay-up, which would spur a 10-0 run by WCU and give the club its first double digit lead of the game.
The Lady Catamounts built its largest lead of the game, and ironically matched College of Charleston’s lead at the break, of 13 with 1:28 off a pair of free throws by Jessica Jackson. Johnson closed out the game when she was fouled by the Cougars with an eighth of a second left on the clock, draining the free throws to end the game.
Though it is clich?, it truly was a tale of two halves for Western Carolina. In the first half, the Lady Catamounts shot an anemic 39.3 percent from the field but in the second half the club was a scorching 53.6 percent. Both teams ended with eight made three-pointers but the telling stat was that the Cougars had six of their treys in the first half and the Lady Catamounts held College of Charleston to just two in the final 20 minutes.
Western Carolina scored 51 points in the second half and held College of Charleston to just 26 points. Also, after being beat on the boards 19-18 in the first half, the Lady Catamounts won the rebounding battle in the end with a 40 to 31 advantage.
Western Carolina had four players score in double figures and was led by junior Emily Clarke who led all scorers with 21 points. She had just seven points in the first half and rallied to score 14 of her points in the second half. She was also 5-of-6 from the free throw line and 2-of-5 from the three-point line.
Johnson made the most of her shooting attempts as she was 4-of-5 from the field, 1-of-1 from the three-point line and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe for 13 points. Jackson scored a career-high 12 points draining a pair of three-pointers and was 6-of-7 from the free throw line. For the second straight game, senior Powell came off the bench to score in double figures with 11 points.
Western Carolina returns to action Sunday to host Georgia Southern. Tip time is set for 4 p.m. in the Ramsey Center. College of Charleston returns to the Lowcountry to host Furman Monday night at 7 p.m. in the Carolina First Arena.
Samford 67, Elon 55
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team placed four players in double figures as the Bulldogs defeated Elon, 67-55, in the first Southern Conference basketball game played in the Pete Hanna Center.
"I was pleased with our team," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We had some lapses at times, but I thought our team had a good effort and this was a good, solid win."
Monica Maxwell led Samford in scoring with 15 points, making 5-of-5 shots from the floor, including 4-of-4 from three-point range. Emily London scored 14 points, Chika Okoli scored 13 points and Savannah Hill added 12 points.
For Elon, Tiara Gause scored 17 points. Urysla Cotton scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Phoenix.
Samford jumped out to an early 7-2 lead with 18:18 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Maxwell. Elon then cut the lead to two at 7-5. With Samford leading, 10-7, the Bulldogs went on a 13-4 run to push its lead to 12 at 23-11 with 12:36 to go in the half following a three-pointer by London.
Samford pushed its lead out to as much as 18 in the first half at 35-17 with 6:40 to go in the half. With Samford leading, 37-22, Elon closed the half with an 11-4 run to cut Samford's lead to 41-33 at halftime.
Samford pushed its lead back out to 16 at 53-37 with 14:03 to go in the game after a pair of free throws by Megan Wilderotter. Samford led, 55-39, with 12:21 to go, but Elon went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 10 at 55-45 with 9:00 left in the game after a jumper by Gause.
The Phoenix cut the lead to eight at 61-53 with 1:26 to go, but they could get no closer as Samford came away with the 67-55 win.
With the win, Samford improves to 7-3 overall and 2-1 in SoCon play. Elon drops to 1-10 overall and 0-5 in league play.
For the game, Samford shot 42.4 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from three-point range. Elon made 47.2 percent of its shots and 36.4 percent of its three-pointers. Samford forced Elon into 21 turnovers, while the Bulldogs committed just nine turnovers in the game.
Samford will next play on Dec. 29, when the Bulldogs play host to UNC Greensboro. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center, and it can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Elon takes a nine-day break before hosting Austin Peay at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 28.
Chattanooga 75, San Francisco 52
CANCUN, MEXICO --- The Chattanooga women’s basketball team played its fourth game in a week and came away with a 75-52 win over San Francisco Friday afternoon at the Caribbean Classic at the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico.
The Lady Mocs improve to 8-4 overall while the Dons fall to 3-8 on the year.
Junior Jenaya Wade-Fray scored a season-high 16 points, had four steals and three assists to lead Chattanooga to its eighth win on the season. She was one of three players in double figures as the Lady Mocs spread out the offense and saw every player score for the first time this season.
“We had a lot of people contribute today,” Lady Mocs head coach Wes Moore said. “Jenaya came out with a lot of energy. When she brings her energy, we’re a lot better team. Of course, it helps when we shoot the ball the way we did.”
After San Francisco got out to a four-point lead to start the game, the Lady Mocs replied with an 8-2 run to take an 8-6 lead with 15:40 to go in the first half and never trailed again. Chattanooga shot 50.9 percent in the game, making 60 percent of its shots in the second half.
The Dons put a crimp in Shanara Hollinquest and the Lady Mcos’ inside game early, so Chattanooga took to the perimeter draining six 3-pointers in the first half and spread out the offense getting five or more points from six different players in the half.
“They were committed to keeping Shanara from doing a whole lot of scoring down there on the block,” Moore said. “There were a whole lot of double and triple teams. What really rescued us was hitting nine out of 19 3’s. If we can do that we’re a pretty good team.”
After leading 40-25 at the break, Chattanooga continued to pound away throughout the second half building its lead to as much as 28 points twice. The bench saw plenty of action and Moore was able to rest his starters through most of the second half.
Hollinquest and Erin Ogan each had 10 points and five rebounds while Hollinquest tied here career-high for assists with four. Mason had nine points in the game and pulled down a game-high seven rebounds and dished out four assists.
San Francisco’s Necolia Simmons started out the second half with all eight of the Don’s points and ended the game with a team-best 14 points and six boards. Shay Rollins, the school’s top 3-point shooter of all-time, was held in check Friday getting just two from the perimeter. She along with Katy Keating, who had three treys, each tossed in 11 points.
The Lady Mocs are back in action for their fifth game in eight days and fourth on the road in that same time on Saturday. UTC will take on Missouri State at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time for the conclusion of the Caribbean Classic.
Xavier 84, Davidson 60
Cincinnati, Ohio -- Ta'Shia Phillips led four Musketeers in double figures with a double-double, and Xavier used a 16-5 run to start the second half in opening up a 20-point lead that Davidson could not overcome as the Wildcats dropped an 84-60 road decision Friday afternoon in women's basketball action at the Cintas Center.
Xavier, just 1-of-6 from behind the arc in the first half, came out after the intermission and proceeded to drain four of its first six second-half shots from the three-line on its way to scoring 16 of the first 21 points of the half to grab a 50-30 lead with 15:58 to go.
Jerri Taylor led the charge for Xavier to start the half, draining the first and last three-pointers during the spurt on her way to 10 second-half points. She finished the game with 12 points and three assists.
Davidson had cut the eight-point halftime deficit to four on an Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) trey and a bucket in the paint from Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) to open the new half.
Thompson picked up her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-best 10 assists. She became the first Wildcat to dish out 10 assists in a game since Tia Washington accomplished the feat on Jan. 14, 2006 versus Georgia Southern.
Xavier continued to pour it on and lead by as many as 36 points in the second half thanks to an 18-of-30 shooting performance in the period that included hitting six shots from behind the arc, and earned the 84-60 win.
Pacing the Wildcats on the afternoon was sophomore Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) with yet another career-high game. The shooting guard finished a personal-best 8-of-20 from the field, including knocking down a career-high six three-pointers on her way to setting a new personal-high with 24 points.
Lax caught fire in the last minute-and-half when she scored the Wildcats' final 12 points, nailing four three-balls. Davidson as a team was 9-of-25 from behind the arc, marking the sixth straight game it has knocked down at least seven three-pointers in a game.
Phillips' double-double was the sixth of the year as she lead all scorers with 25 points and helped Xavier to a 45-32 advantage on the glass with a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Wildcats fell to 4-7 overall on the year. Xavier, which had been ranked as high as 21st in the polls before falling out a couple of weeks ago, picked up its seventh win in the past eight games to improve to 9-3 overall.
In the first-ever meeting between the two schools, Xavier used the inside presence of Phillips to grab an early 16-7 lead at the 12:43 mark of the first half. The 6-6 center hit four the Musketeers' first eight shots on her way to netting nine points.
She capped off the scoring by netting Xavier's last six points of the half, including a buzzer-beating layup to give XU a 34-25 advantage at the intermission. Phillips scored 17 first-half points in all, and hauled in nine of her 11 rebounds in the half.
Inbetween Phillips' scoring, Davidson kept things close behind the sharp-shooting of Lax. The sophomore guard brought the 'Cats to within six (26-20) with 7:03 remaining in the half when she knocked down eight straight points, including draining two long distance three-pointers.
Davidson wraps up its trip to Ohio with a 2 p.m. contest at Cincinnati on Sunday, before then taking a nine-day break for Christmas.
Bucknell 74, Wofford 66
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? Morgan Wrightson led three players in double-digit scoring as the Bucknell Bison defeated the Terrier women’s basketball team 74-66 to earn the team’s first home win of the season.
Wrightson started the game with a three-point shot, and from there, the Bison steadily built their lead until they gained their largest advantage of the half, a 17-point lead at the four-minute mark. The Terriers then went on a 9-3 scoring run to cut the Bison’s lead to 11 before the half.
In the second half, two quick baskets from Wofford’s Kate Dempsey put the Terriers within seven, but a 6-0 run by Bucknell put the Bison’s lead back in the double digits. Wofford managed to cut the lead to six at both the eight and seven minute marks, but was unable to get any closer as the Bison claimed the game by a score of 74-66.
Bucknell was led by Wrightson’s 20 points, while Amanda Brown added 19 and Joyce Novacek contributed 12. Brown also added seven assists in the win.
Kelly Dwyer led the Terriers with 16 points, setting a season high and matching her career high, while senior Natalie Gramblin recorded 12 points and Maddie Helms and Mahagony Williams each added 11 points. Williams notched a double-double, grabbing a season-high 13 rebounds.
With the win, Bucknell improves to 4-4 on the season while Wofford falls to 1-9. The Terriers will travel to Davidson on Tuesday, December 30 at 7:00 p.m.