Chattanooga 79, Georgia Southern 60
STATESBORO, Ga. - Behind Shanara Hollinquest’s career-high 31 points, a sharpshooting Chattanooga claimed sole ownership of its ninth-straight Southern Conference regular season title after defeating host Georgia Southern, Monday (Feb. 25) by a 79-60 decision at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Lady Eagles fall to 16-11 overall and 12-4 in SoCon play, dropping its first contest at home this season after a perfect 10-0 start.
Chattanooga secured the series win over the Lady Eagles and improves to 25-3 overall and remains unbeaten in SoCon action, 17-0.
The Lady Eagles were led in points by junior guard Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) and sophomore forward Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) with 12 points, apiece. Melson hit 6-of-13 from the field and pulled down a team-high tying six rebounds on the day, while Geiger went 4-of-6 from the field, including a three-pointer. Sophomore forward J’Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) followed with 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field.
Chattanooga was pace by Hollinquest’s career-high night, making 12-of-19 from the field and hitting 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. She was followed by Alex Anderson with 14 points, and Laura Hall with 12, while Erin Ogan pulled down a game-high nine rebounds on the night.
Georgia Southern and Chattanooga battled back and forth during the first eight minutes of the first half, which saw three ties. During that span, the Lady Eagles kept it close but couldn’t move past deadlock, while Chattanooga’s largest lead, up to the 12:15 mark, was five points, 16-11.
The Lady Mocs slowly pulled away over the next five minutes and reached a double digit lead, 24-13 at the 8:16 mark. A triple by Tiffany Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) closed the gap to just eight points, but a pair of made free-throws by Hollinquest gave UTC a double-digit lead that it would keep the remainder of the game.
Hollinquest scored just over half of the team’s first-half points, 21, which helped give the visitors a 15 point lead going into the break, 40-25.
The Lady Eagles improved their field goal shooting in the second half from 33.3 percent (10-of-30) to 44.8 percent (13-of-29). But Chattanooga didn’t let up, hitting 65.2 percent (15-of-23) from the field as part of its 54.5 percent shooting total effort for the game.
Georgia Southern couldn’t close the gap to less than 11 points for the remainder of the contest while Chattanooga surged its largest lead to 29 points with 3:50 remaining in the game.
“Chattanooga is just well-coached,” said Rusty Cram. “They’re just a good, solid basketball team. They’re very good at all positions and they were clicking on all cylinders. Their post game inside the first half just killed us and we didn’t have an answer for it.”
Chattanooga outscored the Lady Eagles 30-26 in points in the paint, while netting 17 points off of GSU’s 12 turnovers. Georgia Southern still won the rebounds margin, 36-33, giving them a 17-5 advantage in second-chance points.
“(Ashley) Melson is giving us great, quality minutes,” said Cram. “J’Lisia (Ogburn) is playing pretty good basketball. But we’ve just got to find more people, especially upperclassmen, this time of year that have to lead. You can’t rely on freshmen and sophomores this time of year to carry you through a conference run and going into a tournament. And that’s what we’ve got to keep pushing. We’ve got to get one or two of those seniors to start stepping up.”
Georgia Southern sits in third place, just ahead of Davidson, which holds an 11-5 record in the league. Davidson defeated the Lady Eagles on their court earlier this season, so Georgia Southern will have a chance at evening up the season series, Thursday (Feb. 28) at Hanner Fieldhouse. Tip-off with the Wildcats is slated for 7 p.m. Chattanooga closes its regular season campaign against second place Western Carolina, Thursday at 7 p.m. in the McKenzie Arena.
Appalachian State 74, Wofford 69
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Visiting Appalachian State overcame a 10-point second half deficit to earn a 74-69 Southern Conference victory over Wofford Monday evening inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C. The game was marred by 47 combined fouls and 50 total turnovers.
The Mountaineers built a four-point, 30-26, halftime cushion before the Terriers scored the first six points of the second half for a 32-30 lead at 18:32. A pair of Robin Colbert free throws at 17:57 gave ASU a slim, 33-32 advantage.
Wofford (9-18, 2-14 SoCon) then rattled off the next 11 points, including six from freshman Mahagony Williams for a 43-33 lead at the 14:59 mark. Williams' final four points in the surge came from second-chance points as she grabbed missed opportunities and hit the put-backs in the lane.
The lead remained as high as six when Williams added another put-back with 11:37 to play to put the Terriers on top, 48-42. Appalachian State (8-19, 5-11 SoCon) then scored eight of the next nine points for its first lead in over nine minutes as Gigi Thomas put the Apps ahead, 50-49, at 9:32.
Both teams kept the score close and Williams hit another jumper at 6:24 to give Wofford its final lead of the game, 57-56. The Mountaineers built their advantage to as high as seven on two instances over the next four minutes, the last coming on a pair of Brittany Mixon free throws with 2:21 to play for a 70-63 lead.
Senior Kelsi Koenig, playing in her final Benjamin Johnson Arena contest, and Williams helped trim the gap to three, 70-67, with 1:25 remaining. After the Terriers forced the ball to go out of bounds with two seconds on the shot clock, Mixon hit a turnaround 3-pointer as the shot clock expired near her bench to lift Appalachian to a six-point lead with :52 seconds left in the game.
The first half featured a turnover fest with Wofford committing 21 to ASU's 12. The Terriers were able to limit the total to seven in the second half as they shot 42.1 percent from the field (16-of-38) in the final 20 minutes. The Mountaineers also had a strong shooting run in the second stanza, knocking down 16-of-33 (48.5 percent) following a 9-of-39 (23.1 percent) opening frame.
Both teams remained competitive throughout the first half with neither gaining more than a three-point edge through the fourth tie, 13-13, on a set of Natalie Gramblin free throws at 11:47. Her makes were the second and third straight points from the line for Wofford as the Terriers used a 11-0 run in over five minutes to take a 21-13 advantage with 7:30 showing on the clock following Koenig's layup.
Appalachian, however, did not quit and would register a 13-0 surge of its own for a 26-21 lead on a Sam Ramirez jumper with 3:23 to play in the half. A 3-pointer from freshman Maddie Helms stopped the run and helped force one more tie at 26-26 before the Mountaineers tallied the final four points of the half.
Williams finished with a career and game-high 20 points on 9-of-9 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws. She also grabbed nine rebounds, including five offensively, to finish just shy of a double-double. She only played one minute in the first half due to foul trouble but still put up the numbers after playing 18 minutes following intermission.
Koenig rounded out her home career with 13 points and surpassed the 900-point barrier in the process. She now has 908 career points, ranking 13th in the program history.
Sophomore Kelly Dwyer also hauled in nine boards, tying a career best. Miller swiped a game-high seven steals, tying her own single-game school record.
Ramirez paced Appalachian with 16 points on 7-of-14 field goals. Thomas and Whitney Tossie each added 14 points, while Frances Hernandez contributed 10 despite not playing in the second half. Thomas was the visitors' top rebounder with nine caroms.
Wofford will close the regular season with a pair of road games, beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday when it travels to Greensboro, N.C., to battle UNC Greensboro. Appalachian State returns home to entertain College of Charleston Thursday at 7 p.m.
Furman 70, Davidson 66
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? The Furman women’s basketball team upset the fourth place Davidson Wildcats 70-66 Monday night as the Paladins celebrated senior night at the team’s final home game of the 2007-08 season.
Furman allowed Davidson to take an early 8-0 lead, but fought back behind solid three-point shooting to take a 15-14 lead at the 12-minute mark. The Paladins then went on a 13-2 run in less than five minutes, helped by two 3-pointers from Melissa Liebschwager, and one from Chrissy Phelps. The Paladins headed into the break with a 36-28 lead over the Wildcats.
Furman jumped out to a strong start in the second half, widening their lead to as many as 14 points. However, the Wildcats regrouped and were able to narrow the lead to within one point (63-62) at the two-minute mark. Two good free throws from Lee Stephens put the Paladins up by three, but a free throw from Danielle Hemerka brought the Wildcats within two again. The remainder of the Paladins’ points were scored from the charity stripe, giving Furman the 70-66 win.
The Wildcats were led by sophomore Alex Thompson’s 13 total points, while Julia Paquette added 12 and Danielle Hemerka recorded 11 points and led the team with 8 rebounds.
Phelps and Liebschwager led the Paladins with 14 points apiece, while junior Katie Johnson contributed 11 to the winning effort. Liebschwager also led the team with 7 total rebounds. As a team, the Paladins shot 10-20 from beyond the arc, and 18-22 from the free throw line.
With the win, the Paladins improve to 9-18 on the season and 4-12 in the Southern Conference, while Davidson falls to 17-10 overall and 11-5 in league play. Furman will embark on its last road trip of the regular season with a trip to Elon on Thursday and UNC Greensboro on Saturday. Davidson visits Georgia Southern Thursday at 7 p.m.
Western Carolina 56, College of Charleston 51
Charleston, S.C. ? The College of Charleston women’s basketball team fought back from a 12-point deficit with just under three minutes to go to cut the margin to three but could not get any closer as the Cougars fell, 56-51 to the Western Carolina Lady Catamounts in front of 514 fans in the final women’s basketball game at the John Kresse Arena.
Charleston dropped to 12-14 overall and 8-8 in the Southern Conference. Western Carolina improved to 23-6 and 15-2 in the league. The game marked the final time the women’s team will play in the current John Kresse Arena. Beginning with the 2008-09 season, Charleston will be in the “new” John Kresse Arena located in the Carolina First Center being built adjacent to the current gym. Charleston played its 443rd game there tonight and will leave the facility with a 209-134 record.
It was senior night as Erika Smith and Jill Furstenburg were honored in pre-game ceremonies. They both posted double-doubles with Furstenburg leading the way with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Smith had 14 points and 10 rebounds as well. It was Furstenburg’s first career double-double and Smith’s fourth.
The Catamounts opened the second half with an 8-2 run to extend their four-point halftime lead to 12, 40-28, with 16:52 remaining. Western Carolina held the 12 point advantage again at the 2:50 mark before the Cougars went on a 9-0 run to cut the margin to just three, 54-51, with 44 seconds to go. Charleston had several opportunities to cut into that but after a turnover and couple of missed three-pointers, Western Carolina nailed two free throws with four second to go to seal the 56-51 win.
Charleston shot 33.3 percent from the field in the game, while Western Carolina shot 34.9. The Cougars were five-for-18 from beyond the three-point arc, compared to just a one-for-nine effort for the Catamounts. WCU edged CofC in rebounds, 45-44, and had four less turnovers, 20-16. The catamounts won the battle inside, scoring 32 points in the paint, compared to just 16 for the Cougars.
Furstenburg and Smith were the only Cougars in double-figures tonight, and both led the team in rebounds. Kendra Eaton led the Catamounts with 12 points. Ashley Pellom followed with 11. Chevon Keith paced the team in rebounds with eight.
Charleston next travels to Appalachian State, Thursday, Feb. 28th for a 7:00 p.m. game. Western Carolina heads to Chattanooga to face the regular season champions Thursday night at 7 p.m.