Western Carolina 102, Elon 101 (4 OT)
ELON, N.C. ? Ashley Pellom tallied a team-high 19 points as Western Carolina overcame Elon in four overtime periods ? the longest women’s basketball game ever for both programs ? for a 102-101 Southern Conference triumph Monday evening at Alumni Gym.
The Lady Catamounts (19-6 overall, 11-2 SoCon) survived a career-high 36-point outburst by the Phoenix’s Tierra Bumbrey, who finished 13-for-25 from the field ? 8-for-14 from three-point land ? and collected six assists and three steals in a career-high 57 minutes as Elon (7-18, 2-11) went into more than two overtime periods for the first time ever.
On Feb. 22, 2007 ? nearly a full year ago ? Drexel beat Northeastern 98-90 in five overtimes for the longest game in NCAA women’s basketball history. Prior to that, the previous record of four overtimes had occurred on 11 occasions.
Bumbrey’s performance ranks her third in Elon history in two single-game categories ? the most points scored and the most three-point field goals made. Only Vanessa Corbett (43 points versus Richmond on Jan. 26, 1980) ? the program’s all-time leading scorer ? and Nuggie Dixon (37 versus North Carolina A&T on Jan. 3, 1980) have scored more.
Western Carolina and Elon battled to 15 ties and 23 lead changes. Kristen Feemster canned a jumper to put Western Carolina up 25-20 with 5:20 to go in the opening period, but the Phoenix used a 12-4 spurt to stake a 32-29 edge on an old-fashioned three-point play by Kitara McMoore with 2:18 left before the break.
Western Carolina answered with a 14-3 run to go ahead 43-35 on a jumper by Jessika Johnson with 16:25 remaining in the second half. The Lady Catamounts maintained an advantage of three to eight points, leading to a 60-52 edge after Monique Dawson netted a free throw with 6:21 left in regulation.
Elon went on to reel off 11 consecutive points to claim a 63-60 lead on a three-point field goal by Bumbrey with 2:08 remaining, but Western Carolina posted six straight markers to go up 66-63 on a charity shot by Chevon Keith with 12 seconds left.
Bumbrey knocked down a three-point basket to knot the score at 66-66 with two seconds to play, sending the contest into its first overtime period.
McMoore’s lay-up with 25 ticks left in the first overtime gave the Phoenix a 76-75 edge, but Kendra Eaton converted the second of her two free throw attempts with 11 seconds remaining to force a second overtime.
Bumbrey’s basket with 38 seconds to play in the second overtime awarded Elon an 82-80 lead, but Johnson sank a jumper with nine ticks left to invite a third extra segment.
A pair of charity shots by Pellom led to a 93-90 Western Carolina advantage with 12 seconds remaining in the third overtime, but Nicole Allison canned a three-pointer with two ticks to go to send the game into a fourth bonus period.
Bumbrey gave the Phoenix a 99-98 edge on a trey with 2:00 left in the fourth overtime but back-to-back pairs of free throws by Pellom and Lauren Powell granted the Lady Catamounts a 102-99 advantage with 10 seconds on the clock.
Bumbrey missed a three-point field goal attempt in the final seconds to force a fifth overtime and Katie Whidden’s putback as time expired determined the game’s final score.
Eaton (career-high 18 points, career-high 13 rebounds), Powell (16 points), Dawson (15 points, three assists, three steals), Heather Swayne (career-high 14 points, career-high seven rebounds, two blocked shots) and Keith (nine rebounds and five assists) all turned in key performances for the Lady Catamounts.
McMoore (16 points, 12 rebounds, career-high-tying six assists), Allison (season-high 15 points) and Whidden (career-high 12 points, career-high 10 rebounds, two blocked shots) led the Phoenix.
Elon earned edges in rebounding (64-62) and points in the paint (46-38). Western Carolina fashioned advantages in turnovers (17-23), points off turnovers (28-16) and bench points (43-20).
The Lady Catamounts shot 38.7 percent (36 of 93) from the field and 69.4 percent (25 of 36) from the free throw line. The Phoenix fired 39.0 percent (39 of 100) from the floor and 57.9 percent (11 of 19) from the stripe.
On Saturday, Elon visits Appalachian State at 2 p.m. and Western Carolina hosts Wofford at 4 p.m.
Chattanooga 64, UNC Greensboro 52
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Chattanooga’s Alex Anderson posted her eighth double-double of the season and Chattanooga extended their win streak to 17 games with a 64-52 win over the UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team in Southern Conference action in Fleming Gym on Monday night.
UNCG (5-19, 3-10 SoCon) was led by sophomore Lakiah Hyson who was 3-of-5 from the floor for a team-high nine points. Brittany Frazier led the way on the glass with a team-high five rebounds. UNCG shot 32.7 percent from the field on 18-of-55 shooting. The Spartans had 33 rebounds and their bench outscored the Lady Mocs, 22-10.
“Chattanooga is a good team and they demonstrated it tonight,” head coach Lynne Agee said. “Things didn’t go the way that we wanted but I give credit to our kids, they played hard and our bench really came in and gave us a lift. We did a good job on Brooke Hand and Jenaya Wade-Fray tonight and as we keep working we’ll keep improving.”
Chattanooga (22-3, 14-0 SoCon) had two players in double figures and was led by Anderson’s 18 points and 10 rebounds. Laura Hall contributed 15 points in the win and was 3-of-3 from behind the arc. The Lady Mocs shot 46.2 percent from the field on 24-of-52 shooting and pulled down 40 rebounds in the win.
The Lady Mocs opened the second half with a 7-2 run sparked by a three-pointer from Laura Hall which extended their lead to 41-24 at the 17:30 mark. After starting the half 1-for-4, UNCG was able to pick up a little momentum with a basket in the paint from Jasmine Dixon but a foul on the other end kept the Lady Mocs lead at 45-27.
UNCG was able to get the UTC lead to less than 20 points with just under 13 minutes remaining but a three-pointer from the right side from Hand put the momentum with the Lady Mocs. UNCG was able to use an 8-0 run late to cut the lead to 50-64 but Chattanooga was able to extend the nation’s longest win streak to 17 games with the victory.
Sloppy play characterized the first half as the teams opened the game 1-for-10 through the games first three minutes. UNCG got the first bucket with a three-pointer from Kemena Brooks but Jenaya Wade-Fray quickly gave Chattanooga their first bucket on the next possession as UNCG held the 3-2 lead.
Chattanooga went on a 9-0 run to jump ahead 12-3 but a triple from Lakiah Hyson ended the five minute UNCG drought. The Spartans were able to force the Lady Mocs into four turnovers and Brooks was able to cut the lead to 14-9 at the 8:51 mark with her second three-pointer of the game.
UNCG got the lead to four points with a 4-0 run but UTC’s Alex Anderson responded with a bucket in the paint to keep the lead at 21-17 at the 4:56 mark. Hand, who started the game cold from behind the arc, got things going late with a three and Laura Hall added another three-ball to quickly push the Chattanooga lead to 27-17. Chattanooga used a 7-1 run over the final
1:16 of the half to pull ahead 34-20 at the break.
The Spartans begin a three-game road swing beginning Friday when they take on Davidson. The Spartans and Wildcats tip it off from Belk Arena at 7 p.m. The game will be part of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Associations “Think Pink” week. Chattanooga takes a week off, hosting Wofford next Monday night at 7 p.m.
College of Charleston 60, Wofford 53
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- College of Charleston overcame a hot shooting first half by host Wofford to grind out a 60-53 hard-fought victory Monday night in Southern Conference women's basketball action inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C. The Terriers opened the contest by connecting on seven of their first nine attempts from the field before finishing the first stanza 11-of-19 (57.9 percent).
The strong beginning of the game by Wofford enabled the Terriers to claim a six-point advantage three times, the last making the score 15-9 and coming on a Kate Dempsey jumper at 12:51. The Cougars then clawed their way back in, led by two free throws from Nikki Williams on a three-shot foul and a jumper from Sarah Moye to cut the deficit to two, 15-13, with 11:44 left in the session.
Moye then rattled off three straight points for Charleston but a Mahagony Williams jumper at 6:50 kept the margin at three, 21-18. Nikki Williams knotted the scoring for the first time at 21-21 on the back-end of two free throws. The score was tied three more times before the half concluded with junior Liz Miller hitting a free throw with 1:27 left for a 29-29 deadlock. Tonia Gerty hit a pair of left-side jumpers before the intermission to put the Cougars ahead, 33-29, after 20 minutes.
College of Charleston (12-11, 8-5 SoCon) expanded its lead to seven at 14:53 of the second half on a 3-pointer from Brooke Kotcella. Sophomore Kelly Dwyer and Dempsey each hit baskets for the Terriers to trim the margin to three, 40-37, with 12:38 to play.
Neither team scored for the next three-and-a-half minutes before Nikki Williams hit 1-of-2 free throws. Two more charity tosses apiece from Kotcella and Ashley Scott pushed the Cougar advantage to eight, 45-37, at 8:05. It was the largest lead for either team.
Dempsey then began a 7-0 spurt by Wofford (9-14, 2-10 SoCon) to cut the gap to one, 45-44, with 6:13 remaining. With 4:27 showing on the clock, sophomore Kristin Bradley tallied a corner triple, the fifth-straight game in which she has scored, to tie things up for one last time at 49-49.
Six-straight free throws gave Charleston a 55-49 lead before Mahagony Williams stopped the surge with a put-back jumper in the lane with :30 seconds to play. Natalie Gramblin's layup with :19 seconds to go proved to be the final Terrier points on the evening.
Nikki Williams tallied a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds in leading the Cougars. Erika Smith paced CofC with 12 points, while Moye finished just short of a double-double herself with nine points and eight rebounds.
Gramblin was Wofford's leading scorer for the second-straight game. She finished with 14 points, one shy of her career-best 15 which she set Saturday against Georgia Southern. Dempsey poured in 11 points off the bench.
Kathlyn Varno hauled in a team-high 10 boards, while Mahagony Williams led all players with five blocked shots.
The Terriers will return to action at 4 p.m. Saturday when they travel to Cullowhee, N.C., to face Western Carolina. The Cougars welcome Georgia Southern to Charleston, S.C., for a 2 p.m. Saturday tip.
Georgia Southern 59, Furman 54
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Junior Sarah Baker recorded a career-high 23 points as the Lady Paladins fell to Georgia Southern 59-54 in Southern Conference action.
The Lady Paladins jumped to an early 6-1 lead, but the Lady Eagles rallied to lead by as many as eight points with five minutes remaining in the half. Furman persisted, and a tenacious defense forced six turnovers, which the Lady Paladins used to narrow Georgia Southern’s lead to three heading into the half.
In a second half that featured four ties and six lead changes, the two teams traded points until the one-thirty mark, when the Lady Eagles took a seven point lead, the largest of the half, and held on to take the 59-54 victory.
Georgia Southern was led by guard Carolyn Whitney, with 12 total points, while Ashley Melson added 11 to the winning effort. Ashley Rivens led the team with seven points.
Baker led the Lady Paladins with her career-high 23 points, while junior Melissa Liebschwager added 12 points to the effort. Baker and junior Katie Johnson led the team with five rebounds each.
With the win, Georgia Southern improves to 15-9 overall and 11-2 in the Southern Conference, while Furman falls to 8-16 and 3-10 in league play.
The Lady Paladins will host Appalachian State Wednesday in Timmons Arena with a starting time of approximately 7:00 p.m. Georgia Southern heads to the Low Country where it will face College of Charleston Saturday at 2:00 p.m.