Davidson 95, Appalachian State 75
BOONE, N.C. - Brittany Mixon scored a career-high 24 points while two guards matched their career bests, but it was not enough as Appalachian State fell to Davidson 95-75 on Saturday night in the home SoCon opener.
Davidson’s Alex Thompson scored a career high 35 points and broke a Southern Conference record with nine three-pointers as the Wildcats sank 13 threes in the game. The 13 treys allowed ties the most in a game by an ASU opponent.
Brittany Spencer scored Appalachian's (1-6, 0-2 SoCon) first six points of the game as the teams found themselves knotted up 6-6 after five minutes. The 'Cats missed their first five shots of the game and shot just 35 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
Spencer went on to tie her career best with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and came just two assists shy of a double-double. The sophomore point guard added five rebounds and two steals as she became the first Mountaineer to play all 40 minutes in a game this season.
The teams stayed nearly even throughout most of the first half, until Davidson (3-5, 2-0) created some separation with a 6-0 run to earn a 29-22 lead. ASU battled back to get within two points at 31-29 and 35-33 but DC's Alex Thompson drained a long three-pointer as the buzzer expired to give the visitors a 38-33 edge at the break.
The Apps shot 48 percent from the floor in the first half, led by 5-of-7 shooting from Spencer. A by-product of the high shooting percentage was that ASU boarded just three offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes, but held a 21-20 advantage in overall rebounds.
In the second half, the Wildcats struck first with another trey before Spencer sank a jumper one minute in. DC then opened up the game to 48-37 before Sam Ramirez sank her second field goal of the game. ASU pulled back within 48-41 with a Mixon putback four minutes into the period.
Ramirez tied a career high of her own in points with 19 on 8-of-15 shooting with a pair of treys. She added four assists and three rebounds off the bench.
ASU shot 44 percent from the floor in the game hit just 2-of-11 from downtown in the game. ASU converted 9-of-14 from the charity stripe, compared to 24-of-33 for the Willdcats. Davidson collected 13 of its 29 field goals from beyond the arc and finished the game at 47 percent.
The Wildcats then took advantage of offensive opportunities over the next several minutes to push the lead to 61-47. Mixon took over the game for Appalachian at that point with six-straight points to close the gap to 65-53.
That was the most the Mountaineers challenged for the remainder of the afternoon, as Davidson pulled ahead by as many as 24 before ASU fired back to make the final margin 20 points at 95-75.
Canesha Edwards posted nine points and nine rebounds as the starting small forward while junior Karina Mill made her first career start and scored five points with two blocks in 29 minutes.
The Mountaineers have a quick turnaround as the squad heads to Kansas to square off with Wichita State on Monday at 8 p.m. EST.
Georgia Southern 67, Elon 58
ELON, N.C. ? Ashley Melson dropped 15 points and Jamie Navarro tallied 11 points as Georgia Southern held off Elon for a 67-58 Southern Conference women’s basketball triumph Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gym.
The Phoenix (1-7 overall, 0-2 SoCon) seized an early 3-0 edge with 18:59 left to play in the first half, following a jumper by Urysla Cotton and a free throw by Amber Wall. The Eagles (6-2, 2-0) retaliated with a 21-7 run to pull ahead 21-10 on a basket by Melson with 5:32 to go in the opening period.
Elon rallied back with a 19-6 run of its own to draw to within 27-26 on a pair of charity shots by Tiara Gause at the two-minute mark of the first half. After Georgia Southern’s Krista Tate knocked down a shot, Julie Taylor answered for the Phoenix with a layup. Ashley Rivens drained a three-point bomb as time expired to increase the Eagles’ advantage to 32-28 at halftime.
Gause scored in the paint for the second stanza’s first points as Elon inched to within 32-30 with 18:17 remaining in the contest. Georgia Southern responded with a 23-9 surge to stretch its lead to 55-39 on a pair of freebies by Melson with 5:46 left. The Phoenix fought back with an 18-9 spurt to pull to within 64-57 on a pair of charity shots by Tiffany Davis with 1:07 to go, but could inch no closer the rest of the way.
“I thought Elon controlled the tempo,” Georgia Southern coach Rusty Cram said. “We didn’t play poised and we got caught up in their tempo and started breaking down on the things that we were supposed to be doing. Now whether that’s mental fatigue or Elon forced us into that, I don’t know. But my hat’s off to Elon. I thought they worked extremely hard.”
Davis netted 10 points in the final 5:41 on her way to registering a season-best 15 markers to go with her team-high four assists and season-high four steals. Aiesha Harper chipped in 12 points and a career-high four steals as Elon tied a season high with nine steals. Led by Amber Wall (a contest-best 13 rebounds) and Courtney Medley (a career-high eight caroms), the Phoenix won the battle of the boards by a 42-34 margin.
“I thought our players gave everything they could,” Elon coach Karen Barefoot said. “The harder you work, the luckier you get, so eventually our time will come. I really believe that we played extremely hard against a team that’s very good, athletic and experienced. I think that we outplayed them, outhustled them and had more passion than they had. I think we need to work on us as far as knocking down shots and taking care of the ball, but that’s expected when you have a young team.”
Tate and J’Lisia Ogburn each logged 10 points as Georgia Southern outscored Elon 24-18 in the paint, 23-18 and 29-16 off the bench while shooting 47.3 percent (26 of 55) from the field ? 41.7 percent (5 of 12) from beyond the arc ? and 50.0 percent (10 of 20) from the line. The Phoenix fired 30.2 percent (16 of 53) from the floor ? 15.4 percent (2 of 13) from three-point land ? and 72.7 percent (24 of 33) from the stripe. Elon committed 24 turnovers to 21 by the Eagles.
UNC Greensboro 70, College of Charleston 55
GREENSBORO, NC ? Senior Gini Grimsley erupted for a career-high 24 points and UNC Greensboro shot a scorching 61.3 percent in the second half as the Spartans downed College of Charleston, 70-55, on Saturday to move to 2-0 in the Southern Conference.
Grimsley had an incredible shooting day, going 10-for-13 overall (76.9 percent) and a perfect 4-for-4 on 3-point tries. She also pulled down seven rebounds.
Sophomore TaShama Banner also turned in a new career high, scoring 10 points off the bench for the Spartans (3-5, 2-0 SoCon).
Brooke Kotcella led the Cougars (5-2, 0-1 SoCon) with 11 points, while Tonia Gerty and Jade Hughes had 10 each.
The Spartans held the Cougars to just 16.1-percent shooting in the first half, as College of Charleston went 5-of-31 in the opening frame. Even with the Cougars ice cold from the field, UNCG led just 23-21 at the half after a pair of free throws each from Sarah Moye and Hughes closed the gap from six with less than a minute to play.
UNCG came out on fire in the second half, starting on a 12-3 run. Monique Floyd got the scoring started with a layup to push the lead to four. Kotcella countered with a 3-pointer, but Floyd answered with another layup to make it a three-point game.
Grimsley then converted consecutive Cougar turnovers into back-to-back 3-pointers just 18 seconds apart to push the UNCG lead to nine at 33-24.
Floyd grabbed the rebound on the Cougars’ next possession and raced to the other end for a fastbreak layup to push the UNCG lead into double figures at 35-24 and cap the run.
Nikki Williams’ jumper pulled CofC back within nine, but Floyd continued her second-half layup assault, converting an offensive rebound into another quick two points to put the in double digits to stay. All eight of Floyd’s points on the day came in the first six minutes of the second half.
UNCG stretched its lead to 16 at 45-29 before Deidra Jones hit a jumper and Williams knocked down a 3-pointer to bring it back to 11 at 45-34 with 8:34 to play.
The Spartans answered, with Kendra Smith hitting a turnaround jumper and Grimsley hitting a jump shot of her own to get it back to a 15-point bulge.
Grimsley would add another pair of 3s ? sandwiched around buckets from College of Charleston ? to put UNCG up 16 with 5:50 to play. The Spartans’ lead swelled to 19 at 65-46 on yet another bucket from Grimsley with 2:12 left to play.
UNCG finished the second half 19-of-31 from the field, with Grimsley going 7-for-8 after intermission.
“I was just glad I could finally knock down some shots,” Grimsley said. “The last couple of games, I’ve been struggling, and today I was just about to find the basket. It started in the first half, I got some rebounds and that led to some stickbacks around the basket. And then, the second half, I don’t know what happened. Everything was going in.”
UNCG forced 21 CofC turnovers on the afternoon, converting them into 31 points. The Spartans also dominated the paint ? holding a 34-12 advantage there ? despite being outrebounded by the Cougars, 38-33, and grabbing only 12 offensive boards.
The Cougars’ frustration was evident late in the game as Banner grabbed a steal after a fastbreak layup and was going up for another when Hughes was whistled for an intentional foul after sending Banner crashing hard to the ground. Banner knocked down both free throws to match her career high, then added another layup less than a minute later to secure her personal-best point total.
The day belonged to Grimsley, however, who followed up her first career double-double on Tuesday by more than doubling her previous season high of 10 points. Her four 3-pointers give her 83 for her career, moving her from ninth into a tie for seventh on UNCG’s career list.
“Gini had a terrific day, no question about it,” UNCG coach Lynne Agee said. “We’re really playing fairly well together. We need to keep learning, but today was just an outstanding performance all the way around.”
The win moved UNCG to 2-0 in the SoCon for the first time since the 2001-02 season, when the Spartans opened league play with three straight wins, over Appalachian State, Furman and Wofford.
UNCG will have a week off from competition for final exams before taking a break from conference play to host Fordham on Dec. 13. Opening tip is set for 1 p.m. in Fleming Gym.
Chattanooga 87, Alabama A&M 29
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Chattanooga’s Shanara Hollinquest led five players in double-figures as the Lady Mocs defeated Alabama A&M 87-29 at the Roundhouse in non-conference action Saturday night.
Chattanooga improved to 4-3 on the year while the Bulldogs fall to 2-3 overall.
After shooting 40.6 percent in the first half, the Lady Mocs lit up the boards to start the second and made 17-of-26 for a scorching 65.4 percent in the stanza.
The Bulldogs’ last shot in the first half came at the 3:26 mark on a layup from Katrich Williams. Their next would not come until the 11:59 mark of the second half. In that time, the Lady Mocs posted a 34-0 run to take a commanding 62-18 lead.
Hollinquest made her fourth 3-pointer of the year in her own nine-point run in the first half. She closed out the game with 16 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes. Kori Penland saw plenty of playing time and took advantage of all 18 of her minutes on the floor. She went 4-for-5 with two 3-pointers for her first double digit scoring game of her career at 11 points.
Jenaya Wade Fray had 12 points, a game-high seven rebounds and four steals while LaCondra Mason and Andrea Neil each tossed in 10 points for the Lady Mocs. Neil went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and dished out a career-best four assists.
Freshman Capriee Tucker just missed the double digit mark with a career-high nine points. Chattanooga tied its season high with nine 3-pointers and held the Bulldogs to just one in 13 attempts.
The Lady Mocs scored 41 points off 31 turnovers and had 20 second chance points on 16 rebounds. After not scoring a single point in the season opener against Samford, the bench produced 38 points.
Alabama A&M was led in scoring by former Tyner High School standout Katrich Williams with nine points. Whitquitta Tobar had six points and three boards for A&M while Nesfayia Watkins and Dominisha Johnson each tossed in four. The Bulldogs were held to just two assists in the game with four blocked shots and 10 steals. They were 13-of-56 from the floor on the night and were held to just 11 points in the second half.
The Lady Mocs will embark upon a three-game road stretch that begins Tuesday at Southern Conference foe Furman. The Lady Paladins are 3-4 on the year. After starting the season with three straight wins, Furman is on a four-game losing skid. The game will tip at 7 p.m.
Kentucky 74, Furman 35
LEXINGTON, Ky. ? Amani Franklin led four Wildcats in double-digit scoring as Kentucky earned a 74-35 victory over Furman in women’s basketball action Saturday.
The Wildcats jumped on the Paladins right out of the gate, using a 20-2 run midway through the first half to build a 21-point lead heading into halftime. Kenctucky’s defense held Furman to just 35 points and 23.1 percent shooting (13 of 50) from the field.
Franklin led Kentucky with 15 points and eight rebounds while sophomore Victoria Dunlap added 14 points and eight rebounds. Senior Eleia Roddy and sophomore Carly Morrow followed with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Furman was led by junior Lee Stephens with 10 points and six rebounds.
Senior Sarah Baker added seven points and six rebounds in the loss.
With the win, Kentucky improves to 5-3 on the season, while Furman falls to 3-4. The Paladins return home to face conference foe Chattanooga on Tuesday, December 9. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
Fordham 55, Wofford 53
BRONX, N.Y. - Playing their third game in five days the Wofford women’s basketball team was defeated by the Fordham Rams 55-53 on Saturday afternoon in Bronx, N.Y. With the loss the Terriers fall to 2-5, 0-1 while the Rams improve to 4-4, 0-0.
Wofford and Fordham opened the first half both struggling to shoot the basketball early on. With less than 15 minutes left in the half, the score was knotted at four apiece. The Terriers opened the game shooting 2-8 (25 percent) while Fordham was under that opening 2-10 (20 percent) from the floor. Both teams continued to have problems scoring the basketball as the score was a one point game at the 9:28 mark with Wofford in front 14-13.
Leading 16-14, the Terriers went on an eight point run keyed by six straight points from senior point guard Liz Miller to take a 24-16 advantage. Wofford would continue to keep an eight point lead with less than four minutes remaining in the half. However, the Rams put together a 13-4 run over the final three minutes to take a 29-28 lead into the halftime break. Wofford shot only 34.6 percent from the floor bettering the percentage of Fordham who shot 32.3 percent. The Terriers were paced by Mahagony Williams in the first half as she had eight points and four rebounds.
As in the first half neither team could get their offense going to start the second half as the two teams combined for only 11 points through seven minutes of play. Tied at 34, a Kelly Dwyer three pointer gave the Terriers the lead with less than 13 minutes left play. Both teams would continue to battle over the next ten minutes with neither team able to create an advantage by more than four points.
With under five minutes left in regulation the score remained a stalemate at 50-48 as neither team could find the hoop. At the 2:01 mark Fordham took a 52-48 lead, but the Terriers would not be denied as they battled back to tie the game at 53 with 26 seconds remaining. Coming out of a Rams timeout, Randall Hurst made a layup with seven seconds left to play to give Fordham a two point lead and the eventual win as a last second three point attempt by Dwyer was no good.
For the game the Terriers shot 38.5 percent from the floor, 30 percent from three, and 62.5 percent from the foul line. The home team shot 32.3 percent from the field, 11.1 percent from three and 72.2 percent from the charity stripe.
The Terriers were led by Williams who tallied 14 points and six rebounds as well as Dwyer who came off the bench to drop in 11 points. Fordham was paced by Hurst who recorded a game high 27 points and Takita Earl who pulled down a game high 13 rebounds.
Wofford will return to action on Saturday as they play host to the Mocs of Chattanooga at 3 p.m. inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena.