Davidson 68, Elon 54
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Mercedes Robinson registered her 11th double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds to go along with personal-high six assists to lead Davidson to a 68-54 Southern Conference women's basketball victory over Elon Monday night at Belk Arena. The win was Davidson's ninth straight in the all-time series against Elon as it improved to 10-3 in the series.
Alex Thompson tallied 18 points, two off her career-high, and six assists for Davidson (16-9, 10-4 SoCon), and Julia Paquette scored 13 points. Both Thompson (14) and Robinson (11) scored a combined 25 of the 'Cats 33 first-half points on 9-of-11 shooting.
In addition to winning its ninth straight against Elon, Davidson also ran its home winning streak to a season-best five straight.
Tiffany Davis led Elon (8-19, 3-12 SoCon) with 16 points, and Kitara McMoore scored nine.
For the second straight game, Davidson used efficient offensive output to pick apart its opponent. The Wildcats shot 46.3 percent from the floor, including 5-for-13 from 3-point range, and went 13-for-17 from the free-throw line.
Trailing 8-5, Davidson scored nine straight points to open a 14-8 cushion midway through the first half. Paquette ignited the run with two straight buckets, and Thompson added a pair of jumpers.
A Thompson trey made the score 19-14 before Elon went on a mini 7-2 run and tied the game at 21-all on a turnaround jumper by Urysla Cotton. The 'Cats outscored the Phoenix 12-3 for the remainder of the period to go into the locker room with a 33-24 lead. Thompson netted seven points during the stretch.
Leading 42-32 in the second half, the Wildcats scored eight straight points, capped by a pair of free throws from Thompson, to open a 48-32 lead. Elon whittled the margin down to 12 on two occasions, but layups by Kelly Gassie, Paquette and Robinson helped the 'Cats retake control and open a 63-46 advantage. The lead would grow to as many as 18 following a pair of Paquette free throws with 2:13 remaining and Davidson would go on for the 68-54 win.
For the 10th time the Wildcat defense held its opponent to under 60 points, with nine of those contests Davidson holding the opposition to under 40 percent shooting for the game.
The Wildcats embark on a three-game road swing, beginning with a 2 p.m. contest at Wofford Saturday, Feb. 23. Davidson plays its home finale Saturday, March 1, at noon in Belk Arena against College of Charleston. Elon hosts Triad rival UNC Greensboro Saturday at 2 p.m.
Game Notes: Davidson has won eight of its last 10 games... The Wildcats improved to 9-2 at Belk Arena this season. It was Robinson's 14th career double-double. The 'Cats had three scorers in double figures for the 15th time this year. Davidson ran its streak of consecutive games with a 3-point basket to 214. The Wildcats are shooting 45.6 percent from the floor in their last two games, including 36 percent from three-land.
Western Carolina 93, Furman 84 (2 OT)
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? Western Carolina escaped Furman’s upset bid, 93-84, in two overtimes Monday in the Ramsey Center. The Lady Catamounts improve to 21-6 overall and 13-2 in the Southern Conference while Furman falls to 8-18 and 3-12 in conference play.
Lauren Powell’s heroics in the first overtime made sure Western Carolina had extra life to head into the second overtime. Trailing by two the Lady Catamounts got a lift when Furman’s Chrissy Phelps missed both her free throws with 12 seconds remaining. Powell not only pulled down the rebound after Phelps’ second miss but she also launched a shot just as the clock wound down to zero, about two feet inside the three-point line, and drained the basket as the buzzer sounded to send the game into a second extra frame.
Western Carolina built what seemed like a comfortable 19-point lead in the second half of regulation after leading by nine, 33-24, at the half. The Lady Catamounts went on a 15-5 run in the first five minutes of the second half to lead the Paladins 48-29.
It was after that the Lady Catamounts grew frigid from the field and Furman began to heat up. In the ensuing 12 minutes of the game, the Paladins went on a 33-15 run to trail by just one, 63-62 with 3:30 remaining.
The game got very interesting when Phelps hit a jumper with 2:48 left to give Furman its first lead of the game, 64-63. Senior Jessika Johnson answered with a lay-up to help Western Carolina reclaim the lead, 65-64, with 1:13 left. Furman built a two-point lead when Lee Stephens hit a driving lay-up and was fouled. Stephens hit the free throw with five seconds left in regulation.
After in bounding the ball and calling timeout, Western Carolina had one play. Senior guard Ashley Pellom attempted to put the ball back in play but as the ball sailed in Chevon Keith’s direction she was fouled by Furman. Keith went to the line and nailed both free throws to send the game into overtime.
After Powell’s huge shot to send the game into the second overtime, Western Carolina took control in the second OT. Senior Monique Dawson hit a lay-up to start the second overtime to give the Lady Catamounts a 79-77 lead. The Paladins would tie the game at 81 but freshman Emily Clarke quickly hit a jumper to give Western Carolina the lead. The Lady Catamounts would never trail in the second overtime.
Lee Stephens led the Lady Paladins with 20 total points and six assists on the night. Senior Chrissy Phelps recorded 18 points, 16 of which were scored in the second half and overtime periods. Junior Melissa Liebschwager also added 18 points for the Lady Paladins, while junior Katie Johnson led the team with 12 rebounds.
Western Carolina has played a total of six overtime frames in two of its last three games. The Lady Catamounts are now 2-1 in overtime games this season and a perfect 8-0 in games played on Monday. The club also won its seventh consecutive overall game, a season-high, and also it’s seventh straight at home.
Five Lady Catamounts scored in double figures against Furman. Keith, Powell and Johnson each lead the team with 13 points. Kendra Eaton tallied her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Kristen Feemster scored a career-high 11 points. Pellom dished out a season-high eight assists.
The Lady Paladins will return home on Feb. 25 to host Davidson in their final home match of the season. Furman will recognize its two seniors, Chrissy Phelps and Adrienne Gilmore, and their contributions to the Lady Paladin basketball program. Western Carolina returns to action Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. when it hosts Georgia Southern in a showdown that will be televised by SportSouth.
Chattanooga 85, Wofford 63
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Sophomore forward Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) led all scorers with a career-high 23 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the Chattanooga Lady Mocs (23-3, 15-0) downed Wofford (9-16, 2-12) 85-63 in Southern Conference action Monday night at the McKenzie Arena in front of 1,823 fans.
Hollinquest, with 16 first-half points, tallied her third double-double of the season, making 10-of-15 from the field. She scored the first five points of the game before senior Brooke Hand (Moulton, Ala.) drained a 3-pointer from the wing to become the first player ? male or female ? in Southern Conference history to drain 300 career treys. She passed Wofford’s Ian Chadwick (1997-01) who holds the men’s record with 299.
Early in the first half, neither team was able to pull away as the two battled out to a 12-12 tie at the 14:14 mark. Chattanooga used a three-pointer by Hand and a layup from junior Erin Ogan (Knoxville, Tenn.) to take a 17-12 lead with 12:37 to play.
The Terriers mounted an 8-2 run that put them up front 20-19, at the 9:35 mark before the Lady Mocs answered back with a 6-0 run over the next 2:28 to reclaim the lead at 25-20. A pair of free throws and a three-pointer from Wofford’s Kristin Bradley then knotted the score at 25-25 with 5:58 left in the half.
At that point, Chattanooga took control of the game scoring 11 straight points as part of a 20-5 run to close out the half and take a 45-30 lead into the break. During that stretch, Hollinquest poured in nine of her 23 points.
At the start of the second half, Wofford closed to within 13 points at 49-36 before back-to-back three pointers by sophomore Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) and Hand made it 55-36 with 16:30 to play. A 10-2 run, fueled by six points from the Terriers’ Mahagony Williams, narrowed the gap to 57-46 before Chattanooga pushed its lead to 64-46 with seven unanswered points.
From there, the Lady Mocs never looked back as they closed out the 85-63 victory to extend their NCAA-leading win streak to 18 games. Wade-Fray had a pair of 3-pointers to close out the game with 13 points and senior Alex Anderson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) just missed a double-double scoring 12 points and grabbing eight boardsand Hand finished with a trio of 3-pointers for 302 over her four-year career. . Junior LaCondra Mason (Chattanooga) scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds while senior Laura Hall dished out seven assists.
Williams led the way for the Terriers, posting a career-high 16 points and pulling down seven rebounds while sophomore guard Natalie Gramblin rounded out the double-figure scorers with 13 points. Sophomore forward Kathlyn Varno added eight points and six rebounds while junior guard Liz Miller posted six points, five rebounds and a team-high six assists. Junior guard Laura Depko finished with four points, four rebounds and four assists.
The Lady Mocs outrebounded the Terriers with a season-high 50 rebounds to Wofford’s 32 and dominated second chance points to the tune of 20-8. Wofford finished the night shooting 90.9 percent from the foul line while the Lady Mocs hit for 81 percent.
The Lady Mocs begin their last road trip of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 23 when they travel to the College of Charleston for a 2:00 p.m. contest at Kresse Arena.