Davidson 83, Wofford 68
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Behind sophomore Ashley Lax's (Little Rock, Ark.) career-high tying 24 points and double doubles by junior Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) and senior Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.), the Davidson women's basketball team picked up its fourth straight Southern Conference win with a convincing 83-68 triumph over visiting Wofford on Tuesday evening at John M. Belk Arena.
The Wildcats matched the 2006-07 team as the only squads in program history to start league play a perfect 4-0, while they ran their overall mark to 5-8. The win was also the 'Cats 14th in their past 15 meetings against the Terriers, and their fourth win in a row in the series.
Wofford fell to 0-4 in SoCon action and 1-10 overall, dropping its fifth straight game.
The 15-point win was an overall team effort as several 'Cats hit for season and career highs in the game, which was highlighted by the double doubles and four players who scored in double figures.
Robinson tallied 12 points and 12 rebounds for her second double-double in a row, sixth of the season and 23rd of her career. She scored all 12 of her points in the first half, teaming up with Lax for 24 of the Wildcats' season-high 49 first-half points.
Lax matched her career-best by going 8-of-16 from field, including draining half of her field goals from downtown, and swished home all four of her free throw attempts.
After seeing six ties and seven lead changes in the first 11 minutes of the contest, the sophomore shooting guard helped spark a 29-11 run to close out the first half when she canned back-to-back three-pointers to turn a 22-20 deficit into a 26-24 Wildcat lead that grew to a halftime score of 49-33.
Davidson would lead by as many as 23 points in the second half when senior Mandy Halbersleben (Cincinnati, Ohio) hit a 15-footer for a 77-54 lead at the 6:38 mark, and the 'Cats went on to pick up the 83-68 win. Halbersleben had a solid all-around game with seven points, eight boards and a career-high four assists.
Paquette gave the Wildcats' their second game this year when two players have gone for double doubles by hauling in 11 rebounds to go along with a season-best 14 points.
Rounding out the quartet of players in double figures was junior Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) with 13 points. She also dished out a game-high seven assists, pushing her SoCon-best total to 62.
Thompson teamed up with Lax to hit seven of the Wildcats' nine treys as Davidson finished 9-of-17 from behind the arc. It marked the seventh time in the past eight contests Davidson has hit at least seven three-balls in a game.
Wofford was led by Mahagony William's fourth double-double of the year on 11 points and 10 rebounds. Kathlyn Varno and Summer Nichols gave the Terriers three players in double digits with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Davidson remains at home and looks for its fifth straight league win when it hosts Elon on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Terriers visit Furman Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Western Carolina 73, UNC Wilmington 63
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? Sophomore Emily Clarke scored 19 points and Brooke Johnson recorded her first double-double of the season to push Western Carolina women’s basketball to the .500 mark, 6-6, and close out 2008 with a victory, defeating UNC Wilmington (6-4) 73-63 Tuesday in the Ramsey Center.
Clarke was on fire in the first half completing the first 20 minutes of the game with 13 points and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and also 3-for-3 from behind the three point line. She carried over her perfection to start the second half, hitting a three-pointer to start the second 20 minutes, going 6-for-6 before missing a three-pointer from the left side. Clarke ended the game 6-of-7 from the field, 4-of-5 from the three-point mark and 3-of-4 from the free throw line.
Johnson, as stated above, notched her first double-double of the season with 12 points and a season-high 13 rebounds; it is the fifth double-double of her career. She also had three blocks, just one shy of her season-high. She now has 20 blocks on the season and needs just 11 blocks to move into second place in the Lady Catamount record books for blocks in a career.
Western Carolina also came out showing little ill effects from its loss last week to Georgia Southern and the seven days off from playing thanks to the Christmas holidays. The Lady Catamounts quickly built a 13 point lead in the first six minutes of the game capped off by a by a jumper by Kalia’Shea Menendez.
UNC Wilmington soared back, however, as the Seahawks went on an 18-2 run in a seven minutes span to take their first lead of the game. Western Carolina battled and finally tied the game twice before taking the lead with 1:05 left in the half from a jumper by Menendez who was also fouled and hit a free throw to complete the three-point play. After a UNCW turnover with 12 seconds left, Johnson got free for an open look under the basket to score a lay-up with eight seconds left on the clock.
The Lady Catamounts built back a double-digit lead off a jumper by Kendra Carroll with 15:03 left in the game. UNC Wilmington continued to battle and kept the Western Carolina lead below double digits until Kendra Eaton hit a lay-up with 10:39 left to push the WCU lead back to 10, 57-47. Western Carolina would hold a double digit lead the rest of the game.
UNC Wilmington won the rebounding battle pulling down 40 boards to Western Carolina’s 39. The Lady Catamounts made it count in the field shooting 48.2 percent and was also 11-17 from the free throw line. UNC Wilmington struggled at the free throw line, as the club who normally shoots 75 percent from the charity stripe shot just 50 percent; 15-of-30.
After failing to post a double digit scorer in its last game, Western Carolina had three against UNC Wilmington. Clarke of course paced the club with 19 points and was followed by Johnson with 12. Heather Swayne rounded out the double figure scoring coming off the bench to score in double figures for the third time this season with 10 points against the Seahawks.
Western Carolina returns to Southern Conference action Saturday traveling to Boone, N.C. to take on Appalachian State. Tip time is set for 2 p.m.
Marist 60, Georgia Southern 45
MIAMI, FL - An early run in the second half was not enough for the Georgia Southern women’s basketball team as they fell, 60-45, to Marist in the championship game of the FIU Sun & Fun Classic Tuesday night (Dec. 30) at the US Century Bank Arena. Seniors Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) and Ashley Rivens (Charlotte, N.C.) were named to the All-Tournament team as they led the Eagles in scoring for the tournament. Melson poured in a total 28 points, while Rivens added 24. The Lady Eagles dropped to 8-5, while the Red Foxes improved to 11-1 with the win.
“It was a great setting for our seniors,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “It was the first trophy they’ve won for our team. I’m extremely proud of them. They’ve earned it all season.”
Marist jumped out strong and took an early double digit lead over Georgia Southern in the first nine minutes of action. By the first media timeout, the Red Foxes had hit 7-9 from the floor, 2-3 from beyond the three point arc, and led 18-4.
A field goal by Melson at the 10:54 mark ended a five minute scoring drought by the Lady Eagles, but Georgia Southern could not hold on as Marist continued to widen its lead thereafter.
The Red Foxes held the Eagles to hitting 8 of 28 from the floor, five of six came from the free throw line, in the first half as Georgia Southern trailed 40-21 going into the break. Marist shot 55.2 percent from the field compared to Georgia Southern’s 28.6 percent.
In the opening stanza, Melson led the Eagles with eight points while Rachele Fitz tossed in 16 for the Red Foxes. Jamie Navarro (Naples, FL) held the rebounding edge for the Eagles, as she cleared away five to Fitz’s six in the opening half.
The Eagles turned a new leaf after the break and used an 18-9 run to start the final twenty minutes of the game. Georgia Southern cut the lead to ten and trailed 49-39 at the 10:50 mark. Marist connected on three of 13 attempts from the floor in those first nine minutes of the game, while Georgia Southern went 6 of 10.
But that would be the closet Georgia Southern would get as Marist continued to hold its lead for the remainder of the game.
“The first 8-9 minutes were the difference of the game,” said Cram. “They shot the lights out of us, hit almost 80 percent. We did a good job in the second half, but they came out hot and we were cold.”
Georgia Southern shot 30.8 percent from the field and was led by Melson in scoring, who chipped in 12 for the Eagles. J'Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) won the rebounding battle for the Eagles, as she cleared away seven rebounds.
Georgia Southern got a handle on the nation’s eighth-leading scorer, Fitz, in the second half. The Eagles held her to only three points in the final twenty minutes; she finished the game with a team-high 19 points. Fitz and Maria Laterza led the team in rebounding, each clearing away 10.
“I’m very proud of our kids tonight,” Cram said. “They played hard for the whole tournament.”
Georgia Southern returns home for the first time since Dec. 1 on Jan. 3. The Eagles host UT Chattanooga in a conference show down on a Saturday double header. The Lady Eagles face off with UT at 3 pm and the Georgia Southern men’s basketball team takes on Chattanooga at 5:30 pm on Dollar Night at Hanner Fieldhouse.
George Mason 65, Appalachian State 57
FAIRFAX, VA.- Appalachian State University women's basketball made a solid rally in the second half, and outscored the Patriots 36-32, but it wasn't quite enough as George Mason was able to pull out the win in a hotly contested battle, 65-57.
ASU (1-10) got off to a somewhat sluggish start as the Mountaineers were behind early on due to George Mason going on a 4-0 run to start the game. Appalachian's first points of the night came at 16:45 when Charmene Means hit two free throws to make the score 4-2. The Patriots then reeled off seven straight points to go up 11 to 2. Those were Means lone two points of the night.
Brittany Mixon got the Apps going offensively as she scored eight of Appalachian's first ten points to cut the deficit to 13-10. George Mason responded with an offensive attack of its own, as the Patriots scored seven more straight points to take a 20 to 10 advantage. Mixon finished the evening with 14 points, 10 rebounds and one block leading ASU in both scoring and rebounding. The Florida native recorded her second double-double of the season and sixth of her career.
The Apps were able to pull within six at the 3:37 mark, as Brittney Spencer nailed a trey, but those would be the last points of the first for ASU as GMU closed out the half on a 3-0 run to take a 33-21 advantage into the break.
Appalachian struggled early in the second as the Patriots went up 40-23 six minutes into action, spreading around their offensive wealth as Eugenia Broadus, Whiteny Ward and Brittany Eley all contributed to GMU'S scoring effort. Broadus scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to pace the Patriots.
The Mountaineers made a strong comeback going on a two minute 5-0 run off of two Sam Ramirez made free throws and Haley Hackett's top of the key jumper and free throw to pull within 12. Ramirez scored eight points and hauled in six rebounds, while Hackett had four points and three boards.
Ramirez kept Appalachian's offensive attack going as she nailed a trey, while Catherine Williams and Mixon both hit layups to cut the lead to just seven under the nine minute mark. Williams had four points and five rebounds on the evening.
A little over three minute scoring drought hindered the Mountaineers, but the squad was able to get back on track when Edward's hit a layup and Ramirez drained another three to keep GMU's lead under double digits with five minutes remaining.
Edwards' continued her strong play as she pulled the Apps within six, hitting a layup and nailing her ensuing free throw. Broadus came down the floor for a layup but Spencer responded with a three to give the Patriots their smallest lead of the half at 5.
George Mason would keep its lead for the remainder of the game.
Foul trouble hindered ASU as four Mountaineers fouled out of the contest.
Appalachian returns home for the first time since December 6, as the Apps welcome SoCon foe Western Carolina to the Holmes Center, Saturday January 3rd with the contested slated to begin at 2 p.m.