Furman 63, College of Charleston 55
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Senior Chrissy Phelps scored 16 total points, while scoring her 1,000th career point to lead Furman to a 63-55 victory over the College of Charleston on “Think Pink” day.
Despite holding an early 5-0 lead, the Cougars were unable to keep up with the Lady Paladins, with Furman holding a steady lead for the majority of the first half, led by Kali Holtfreter’s nine points before the break.
The Lady Paladins continued to push in the second half, extending their lead to 11 points in the first five minutes. A strong run by the College of Charleston narrowed the lead to two points at the nine-minute mark, but Furman used aggressive defense and solid shooting to take the game with a final score of 63-55.
The Lady Cougars were led by freshman Tonia Gerty’s 17 total points and junior Sarah Moye’s 11 rebounds.
Senior Phelps led the Lady Paladins with 16 total points and four assists, while sophomore Kali Holtfreter added 12 points and led the team with 7 rebounds.
With the win, the Lady Paladins improve to 8-15 on the season and 3-9 in the Southern Conference, while the College of Charleston falls to 11-11 overall and 7-5 in league play. Furman will take the court again Monday in a 7:00 match-up against Georgia Southern in Timmons Arena. Charleston visits Wofford Monday at 6:00 p.m.
Davidson 67, Appalachian State 66
BOONE, N.C. - It took all 40 minutes to decide the outcome of Saturday's game, but a Mercedes Robinson basket with 2.8 seconds remaining gave Davidson a 67-66 win against the Appalachian State women's basketball team.
The Mountaineers jumped out to an early 10-2 lead and held the eight-point advantage through the first five minutes of play.A pair of Whitney Tossie free throws helped to increase ASU's lead to 16-6. Tossie picked up nine points in the first, as did GiGi Thomas, to lead the team.
Tossie posted her third 20-point game of the season with 22. She was 7-for-15 from the floor and hit 7-of-9 from the charity stripe.
Sam Ramirez knocked down a pair of early three-pointers to help push the lead to as many as 14 points late in the first half, at 31-17. A 9-2 run followed for the Mountaineers, as the lead ws extended to 40-19 with five minutes to play before the break.
Davidson cut the lead to 40-29 at the end of the half, thanks in part to a 10-0 Wildcat run spanning the final five minutes. The 40 first-half points were the most since the team scored 42 against DePaul on December 30.
Appalachian shot 44.1 percent from the floor compared to 36.7 for DC, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
A Tossie three-point play helped the Mountaineers open the second half on a 5-0 run before DC responded with seven-straight. A put-back basket from Brittany Mixon halted the run and gave ASU a 47-36 advantage.
Mixon posted her third double-double in four games with 11 points and 11 rebounds on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor. She was one of five players to end the game with four fouls, as no Mountaineers fouled out.
Kelly Gassie and Julia Paquette each tallied 13 points to lead four Wildcats in double-figures. Danielle Hemerka recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards while Alex Thompson notched 10 markers.
The Wildcats cut the lead to two points at 49-47 before Robin Colbert converted a three-point play to help the team to an 8-1 run and a 57-48 lead with eight minutes to play.
The ASU lead was again cut to two points, at the five minute mark, before the Wildcats pulled even at 59-59 with four minutes left in regulation.
Tossie knocked down a jumper with 1:36 on the clock to stretch the lead to four points. DC hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 65 with just over 30 seconds left and Tossie was fouled on a drive with 10 seconds left.
Tossie knocked down a foul shot before found the bottom of the net with 2.8 second remaining for the Wildcats' first lead of the contest, at 67-66. ASU advanced the ball to midcourt before Ramirez launched a long three at the buzzer for her first miss of the day.
The Mountaineers return to action on Wednesday at Furman. The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. Davidson will host UNC Greensboro Friday at 7 p.m.
Western Carolina 63, UNC Greensboro 55
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? The UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team received career performances from Monique Floyd, Kemena Brooks and Ashley Mullins but it wasn’t enough as Western Carolina defeated UNCG, 63-55 in Southern Conference women’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon.
UNCG (5-18, 3-9 SoCon) had a season-high four players in double figures led by freshman Monique Floyd who tallied her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Brittany Frazier, Gini Grimsley and Ashley Mullins were also in double figures for UNCG. Mullins tallied a career-high 10 points while Kemena Brooks recorded a career-high eight rebounds on the afternoon.
“We missed too many easy buckets around the basket and our poor free throw shooting really cost us today,” said head coach Lynne Agee. “We have been working on sustaining our intensity and pressure for 40 minutes and while we did that in spots today, we didn’t do it the entire game which hurt us down the stretch.”
The Spartans shot 34.3 percent on 27-of-70 shooting and pulled down a season-high 45 rebounds. Western Carolina shot 40.6 percent for the game on 26-of-64 shooting from the floor and had 50 rebounds in the win.
Western Carolina (18-6, 10-2 SoCon) was led by Ashley Pellom and Emily Clarke who both had 13 points. Kristen Feemster led the way on the glass with a team-high eight rebounds.
For the second time in three games the Spartans made things interesting late. With 3:42 left on the clock, UNCG stole the inbounds pass and Gini Grimsley was able to hit a bucket underneath while getting fouled. The Fairmont, N.C. native completed the three-point play which took the WCU lead to 53-50 with 3:21 remaining.
Western Carolina went on a 5-1 run to pull ahead 58-51 but UNCG cut the lead to five points with just over a minute left with a bucket from Floyd but the Lady Catamounts sealed the win from the line, ending UNCG’s two-game home win streak.
The Lady Catamounts opened the second half with a 4-0 run to extend their lead to 30-25 with only 25 seconds gone on the second half game clock but after a UNCG timeout the Spartans forced several turnovers before a bucket from Brooks cut the WCU lead to 32-31 at the 15:46 mark of the second stanza.
A free throw from Jasmine Dixon tied the game and from that point on the teams traded buckets with neither team taking more than a two point advantage for the next three minutes but Western Carolina forced several UNCG turnovers and went ahead 43-38.
With the Lady Catamounts leading 51-43, the largest lead of the game for either team, UNCG was able to pick up a bucket and but couldn’t’ convert at the free throw line and Western kept the lead, 53-45 with 4:33 remaining.
The Spartans started the game ice cold from the floor going 0-for-5 through the games first four minutes allowing Western Carolina to jump ahead to a 4-0 lead before a bucket from Monique Floyd ended the drought. UNCG was able to collect a crucial rebound and then tied the game with a bucket from Kemena Brooks.
Brittany Frazier provided a spark off the bench and was 2-of-2 to keep the game tied at 8-8 at the 12:25 mark. Western Carolina took a two-point lead on a bucket from Kristen Feemster but the Spartans picked up a little momentum with a steal under the basket from Ashley Ling but it was a steal on the other end by Western Carolina that gave them a 14-10 lead.
A three-pointer from Kendra Carroll capped a WCU 7-2 run but a thee-pointer from Grimsley cut the lead to 17-15 with just under eight minutes remaining in the half. Grimsley provided a spark off the bench and tied the game with long jumper and a layup from Floyd gave UNCG their first lead of the game since the 13:12 mark of the half.
With the game tied at 19-19 UNCG’s Ashley Mullins tallied back-to-back three pointers to spark an 6-0 run and pulled UNCG ahead 25-19 but Western Carolina’s Emily Clark hit a three-pointer with 00.01 seconds left to send the Lady Catamounts into the lockerrom with a 26-25 lead.
Clark led all-scorers with nine points and was 4-of-5 from the field. Grimsley was the next leading scorer with seven points on 3-of-8 shooting from the floor while Monique Floyd pulled down five rebounds. UNCG was also able to hold Western Carolina’s Monique Dawson to no points in the first half.
UNCG welcomes SoCon rival Chattanooga to Fleming Gym on Monday night. First tip is set for 7 p.m. Western Carolina stays in the Triad to face Elon at 5 p.m. on Monday.
Georgia Southern 62, Wofford 56
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Georgia Southern jumped out to a 10-2 start and maintained the lead for the remainder of the game in defeating host Wofford, 62-56, Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference women's basketball action inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C., as part of Think Pink Day.
The Lady Eagles would never relinquish the lead despite numerous attempts by the Terriers to take it. Wofford (9-13, 2-9 SoCon) would outscore Georgia Southern 8-1 after the early advantage, capped by a pair of free throws from sophomore Natalie Gramblin at 9:22, to trim the deficit to one, 11-10.
However, the visitors would then knock down the next eight tallies to build a nine-point cushion, 19-10 with 6:46 to play in the first half. Freshman Ashley Kroker nailed a 3-pointer at 5:00 to slice the lead to five, 21-16. Gramblin converted her own backcourt steal into a coast-to-coast layup at 2:11 to pull the Terriers within four, 25-21, the closest of the opening stanza.
Georgia Southern (14-9, 10-2 SoCon) built a six-point halftime edge, but two buckets by freshman Mahagony Williams brought Wofford again within four, 29-25, with 18:27 remaining. GSU then turned to its leading scorer on the day, Shawnda Atwood, for half of its next eight points in building a 10-point, 37-27, advantage at the 15:12 mark.
Wofford continued to chip away at the lead and junior Liz Miller connected on a conventional three-point play with 11:52 left as the Terriers again pulled within five, 39-34. The Lady Eagle lead grew to 10 once more, 48-38, at 8:46 on a pair of Tiffany Brown charity tosses. However, consecutive 3-pointers from sophomore Kristin Bradley saw the lead drop to four, 48-44.
Brown then scored four more points and Jessica Geiger hit a trey of her own at 4:42 as Georgia Southern used a 7-2 run to push the gap back to nine, 55-46, at 4:42. Miller scored on her only 3-pointer of the game with :38 seconds left to equal the score from the previous meeting between the two schools this season, 60-54. Gramblin tallied the Terriers final points on a layup with :08 seconds to play.
Atwood paced the Lady Eagles with 14 points and eight rebounds. Brown, a preseason All-Southern Conference pick, added nine and seven, respectively.
Gramblin was Wofford's top scorer with a career-best 15 points, including a 7-of-8 effort from the foul line. Williams and sophomore Kelly Dwyer, who returned to action for the first time in four games, grabbed team-high tying six boards.
The Terriers will return to action with their second-straight home game, a 6 p.m. Monday affair against College of Charleston. Georgia Southern stays in the Upstate to battle Furman at 7 p.m. Monday in Greenville, S.C.
Chattanooga 65, Elon 43
ELON, N.C. ? Sophomore Shanara Hollinquest led three Chattanooga players in double-figures as Chattanooga (21-3, 13-0) extended its win streak to 16 games, the longest in the nation, with a 65-43 win over Elon Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gym.
Hollinquest went 7-for-8 from the free throw line and tied her career high scoring 19 points against the Phoenix. Alex Anderson tipped in 16 points, 12 in the first half, to go over the 1600-point career mark while Brooke Hand nailed five 3-pointers for 15 points in the Chattanooga win.
The Lady Mocs spotted Elon seven points to start the game before going on a 16-0 run and never looked back. Hand and Wade-Fray started the charge with back-to-back 3-pointers and Anderson scored six points in the run. Hand hit a 3-pointer at the 9:47 mark of the opening half to give Chattanooga its first double-digit lead at 21-11.
Elon would only get as close at five points the remainder of the half and the Lady Mocs closed out the first half on a 7-0 run to lead 37-22 at the break.
In the second half Chattanooga stretched its lead into the 20s behind Anderson, Hollinquest and Hand who combined for UTC’s first 13 points of the latter stanza. The Phoenix scored just seven free throws over a 10:12 span that included a five minute scoring drought and Chattanooga took advantage pushing its lead to nearly 30 at 62-34 with 6:11 to play.
The Lady Mocs will face UNC Greensboro Monday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. in Greensboro, N.C. Elon hosts Western Carolina Monday at 5 p.m.