College of Charleston 64, Furman 55
Charleston, S.C. ? Five Cougars scored in double figures as the College of Charleston women’s basketball team overcame poor shooting in the first half to take the 64-55 victory over Furman in action tonight in front of 376 fans at the Carolina First Arena.
Charleston improves to 7-3 overall and 2-2 in the Southern Conference, while Furman falls to 5-6 and 1-3 in the league. The Cougars’ 4-0 home record is the best start for the team since beginning the 2004-05, 4-0 at home.
The Cougars shot just 28.6 percent in the first half but a 5-for-10 effort from beyond the three-point line kept them in the game and only trailed by two, 30-28, at the half.
In the second half, Charleston broke open a 34-34 tie with 16:04 remaining, by going on a 13-3 run over the next eight minutes to take a 47-37 lead with 8:05 left. Furman responded with a 10-2 run to cut the margin to two at 49-47 with 5:40 to go. That would be as close as the Paladins would get as the Cougars outscored Furman 15-8 down the stretch to take the nine-point 64-55 win.
Charleston shot 56.0 percent in the second half to finish the game with 40.0 percent. Furman shot 34.8 percent for the game. The Cougars out-rebounded the Paladins 36-34 and had six less turnovers, 15-21. The Paladins were 18-for-19 from the free throw line, compared to just eight-for-13 for the Cougars.
Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) led the scoring for the Cougars with 13. Nikki Williams (North, S.C.) and Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) each scored 12 apiece, while Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, N.C.) and Sarah Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) added 11 each. Kotcella led the Cougars in rebounds with nine.
Melissa Liebschwager led Furman with 12 points. Katie Johnson followed with 11. Kali Holtfreter paced the team in rebounds with six.
Charleston hosts USC Aiken Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 1:00 p.m. Furman travels up the road to face Charleston Southern Monday, Dec. 29 at 5:30 p.m.
Illinois State 95, UNC Greensboro 51
IRVINE, CA ? UNC Greensboro ran into a buzzsaw in the championship game of the Orange County Clash on Monday, falling 95-51 to Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite Illinois State, which shot a blistering 55.8 percent from the field for the game to take the tournament title.
UNCG’s Gini Grimsley was the only Spartan in double figures, as she scored 11 points to reach double digits for the sixth time in as many games. Grimsley earned a spot on the Orange County Clash All-Tournament Team.
Freshman Agneta Morkunaite scored a career-best nine points for UNCG (6-6) in a career-high 17 minutes of action.
Tournament MVP Kristi Cirone scored a game-high 21 points for the Redbirds, while Maggie Krick had 16, Ashleen Bracey 14 and Shala Jackson 13. Krick and Jackson also earned spots on the all-tournament team.
The Redbirds (8-3) wasted little time bolting out to a big lead, hitting six of their first seven shots to hold a commanding 15-3 advantage just 4:05 into the game. ISU would stretch the lead to 19-3 before UNCG could get its second field goal, an Amanda Leigh 3-pointer that made it 19-6.
A Shala Jackson layup made it 21-6 before a Gini Grimsley jumper and another Leigh 3 made it a 10-point game at 21-11 with 10:35 to play in the opening half. That was as close as the Spartans would make it, however, as the Redbirds continued to shoot the lights out in cruising to a 47-22 halftime lead.
The second half was more of the same, with Illinois State opening on a 16-2 run to push its lead to 63-24.
The Spartans showed some signs of life late, rattling off an 11-2 run in the second half after the Redbirds opened up their biggest lead of the game at 80-35. Grimsley had a pair of buckets in the run, while Morkunaite hit a layup and a trio of free throws in the spurt.
With several Spartans battling foul trouble ? freshman Sarah Folwell fouled out and Morukanite, Lakiah Hyson, Monique Floyd and Dee Corbett all finished with four ? and the score out of hand, UNCG was able to get a lot of minutes for its inexperienced roster. In addition to Morkunaite’s career-long effort, Corbett played a career-high 11 minutes and freshman Jazz Weaver got in for five, one off her career-best mark.
Every player that dressed for UNCG got into the game, and nine players played at least 10 minutes. Folwell and TaShama Banner just missed with nine each.
Morkunaite also pulled down a career-high three rebounds, all of them on the offensive end of the floor.
“Some of the younger kids got a chance to get out there, and a couple of them held their own,” UNCG coach Lynne Agee said. “Agneta did a real good job. We had some young ones get some minutes, and hopefully that will help us. We’ve got to move on.”
The Spartans shot just 30.5 percent from the floor for the game, going 18-for-59. ISU, meanwhile, hit 29 of their 52 shots, including an 8-for-19 effort from 3-point range.
The Redbirds also held a massive advantage at the free throw line, attempting nearly twice as many foul shots as UNCG. ISU went 29-for-40 at the stripe, while the Spartans were 12-for-21.
UNCG turned the ball over just 15 times, including just twice in the second half, but Illinois State turned those turnovers into 23 points.
The 95 points allowed were the most given up by UNCG since a 103-48 loss to North Carolina, which was ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time, on Nov. 30, 2006.
The Spartans also saw their five-game win streak go by the wayside. UNCG is still 3-0 in the Southern Conference, however, and returns to league play on Dec. 29 at Samford. The game is set for an 8 p.m. Eastern tip in Birmingham, AL. After that, the Spartans will take on Chattanooga at 3 p.m. in Chattanooga, TN, on Dec. 31.
“Obviously, we’re greatly disappointed in our performance today,” Agee said. “We didn’t come ready, we weren’t focused. You can attribute some of that to the mental part of yesterday and the physical part of an overtime game and pushing ourselves to try our best to win that one, but I was really disappointed in how we looked today.
“We’d been on a five-game win streak and we were feeling pretty good about ourselves, and then we met somebody that was a little greater challenge, and now we don’t feel so good. We’re leaving on a downer, so I’m going to try to flip that around when we hit the road to take on Samford and Chattanooga.”
Orange County Clash All-Tournament Team
Gini Grimsley, UNCG
Rebecca Maessen, UC Irvine
Sara Vest, Western Michigan
Shala Jackson, Illinois State
Maggie Krick, Illinois State
Kristi Cirone, Illinois State (MVP)