Appalachian State 77, Davidson 57
DAVIDSON, N.C. Frances Hernandez scored 27 points, including 19 in the first half, to lead Appalachian State to a 77-57 Southern Conference women?s basketball victory over Davidson Saturday afternoon at Belk Arena.
Ashley Lax led the Wildcats (8-12, 7-4 SoCon) with 16 points, while Mercedes Robinson collected 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Brittney Spencer netted 13 points for the Mountaineers (4-14, 3-7 SoCon), and Brittany Mixon scored 10. Hernandez was 8-of-11 from the field and 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
The Mountaineers used a full-court, trapping defense to bother Davidson all game long. Appalachian forced 25 turnovers, recording 12 steals.
The Mountaineers also executed on the offensive end and finished the game shooting 54.7 percent from the floor and 42.9 from long distance. Davidson shot 31 percent from the field, including 3-of-15 from 3-point land.
Appalachian State stretched an early three-point lead into a 26-12 cushion with a 17-6 run, capped by a Hernandez trey, midway through the half. The Wildcats used a 10-4 spurt to pull within 30-22 on a Robinson free throw with 4:35 to go, but the Mountaineers closed the frame with a 12-2 stretch to make the margin 42-24 at the break.
Davidson tried to fight back in the second half by using some full-court pressure of its own but could not get the lead below 18 points. The margin grew to as many as 26 on a Canesha Edwards layup with 4:18 remaining.
The Wildcats return to action at Western Carolina Monday, Jan. 26. Tipoff is set for noon. ASU steps out of league play to entertain Gardner-Webb Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
College of Charleston 68, Elon 42
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Sophomore guard Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) scored a team-high 14 points and dished out a game-high six assists as the College of Charleston (14-5, 7-4) handed Elon (1-18, 0-11) a 68-42 defeat Saturday afternoon in a Southern Conference women’s basketball game at the Carolina First Arena. The victory is the sixth straight for the Cougars, dating back to a 64-53 decision over Appalachian State on January 10.
After battling out to an 8-6 lead with 15:28 to go in the first half, the Cougars exploded for a 20-2 run over the next 8:47 to push their lead to 28-8 by the 6:41 mark. Junior forward Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C.) fueled the run as she scored eight of her 10 points during the stretch, draining both of her three-pointers in the process. From there, Charleston coasted into the half with a 36-12 advantage.
Elon came out of the gate strong at the start of the second half, scoring the first six points on three straight jumpers, before CofC extended back to a 46-19 lead with 12:41 to play. Trailing 52-25 at the 10:28 mark, the Phoenix used a 14-5 run over the next 5:01 to close to within 57-39. That would be as close as they would get, however, as the Cougars closed out the game with an 11-3 run to secure the 68-42 victory.
Freshman guard Tiara Gause led the way for Elon with a game-high 15 points while freshman forward Erica Keto pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with five points. Junior forward Urysla Cotton scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds and sophomore guard Julie Taylor added eight points. Freshman guard Aiesha Harper posted a solid all-around game with four points, four rebounds and a game-high four assists.
For Charleston, Gerty’s 14 points led all scorers while Kotcella added 10 points, all in the first half, as the only other double-figure scorer. Senior forward Nikki Williams (North, S.C.) scored nine points and added five rebounds and a team-high three steals while senior forward Sarah Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) scored seven points and hauled in a team-high eight rebounds. Junior guard Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) finished with five points, five rebounds and four assists and freshman forward Ariel Hatcher (Monroe, Mich.) notched a career-high eight points, all in the second half.
As a team, Charleston shot 45.9 percent from the field and limited the Phoenix to 28.1 percent from the field.
The Cougars return to the court on Monday, January 26 when they host UNC Greensboro in a 7 p.m. affair at the Carolina First Arena. Elon continues its road trip Monday night with a 7 p.m. game at Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga.
Samford 62, Furman 40
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team placed three players in double figures as the Bulldogs defeated the Furman Paladins, 62-40, Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center. The win marks Samford's 10th-straight Southern Conference win and ninth-straight win overall.
Samford made 52.2 percent of its shots, including a 47.6 percent effort from three-point range. Furman made 28.8 percent of its shots overall and 18.2 percent from three-point range.
"I thought our defense set the tone in the first half," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "That is what we try to do and we had another great effort defensively. I think their height bothered us initially, but I thought we were able to set the tone with our defense."
Samford was led in scoring by sophomore forward Savannah Hill with 20 points. Sophomore guard Emily London had 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Megan Wilderotter contributed 11 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals.
For Furman, Katie Johnson led the Paladins with 14 points and eight rebounds. Kendra Berry added eight points and seven rebounds for Furman.
Samford's 10-game SoCon win streak and nine-game overall win streak are both program bests. The Bulldogs improve to 15-3 overall and 10-1 in SoCon play with the win, while Furman drops to 10-10 overall and 4-7 in league play.
Samford shot a blistering 65.2 percent from the floor and 75.0 percent from three-point range in the first half to build a 37-18 lead heading into halftime. The Bulldogs used a 17-3 run to break the game open at 27-9 with 7:44 to go in the half.
In the second half, Samford led by as much as 27 points at 49-22 with 16:00 to go. Furman cut the lead to 19 at 49-30, but could get no closer the rest of the way as Samford came away with the 62-40 win.
Samford, the national leader in fewest turnovers per game, committed 11 turnovers in the first half, but just four in the second half. The Bulldogs forced Furman into 14 turnovers on the day.
Samford will wrap up its four-game homestand on Monday when the Bulldogs play host to Wofford at 5:30 p.m. CT at the Pete Hanna Center. Furman continues its difficult road trip by visiting the other SoCon league leader, Chattanooga, at 7 p.m. ET.
Georgia Southern 53, UNC Greensboro 45
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) scored a career-high 17 points Saturday (Jan. 24) in Hanner Fieldhouse as the Georgia Southern women’s basketball team handed UNC Greensboro a 53-45 defeat. The Lady Eagles shot 80 percent from the free throw line, going 20 of 25, in the win that improved them to 12-8 overall and 7-4 in Southern Conference play. The Spartans never led in the loss that dropped them to 7-13, 4-7.
“On an emotional night, we came out focused and played hard,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “We keep our focus and poise down the stretch.”
The Lady Eagles shot 26 percent in the opening half and led by as many as 16 points twice as they dominated the playing field from tip-off. Georgia Southern was able to take a 10 point lead by the second official timeout as the Eagles held the Spartans scoreless through over six minutes of action. Lakiah Hyson scored UNCG’s first field goal at the 13:15 mark as the Spartans trailed 9-2.
But the Spartans used an 11-0 run in four minutes to narrow the Eagles’ lead to two points, 18-16, with 4:34 left in the opening half. A free throw from Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fl.) and jumper by Geiger allowed Georgia Southern to close out the opening half with a 21-18 lead. Geiger led the Eagles at half, contributing eight points, while Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) cleared away seven rebounds.
Georgia Southern shot 26 percent in the first half to UNCG’s 25 percent. Hyson led the Spartans in the opening 20 minutes with seven points. It was a three-way tie for leading rebounder as Gini Grimsley, Amanda Leigh and Ashley Mullins each pulled down three boards.
The Lady Eagles opened the second half with a 17-6 run over eight minutes of play and led by 14 points, 38-24, by the second media timeout. Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.) hit two free throws in the next minute before the Spartans went on a 15-0 run as Georgia Southern found themselves leading by one, 40-39, with 7:38 remaining in the game. Georgia Southern held the Spartans to six points for the remainder of the game following a three-pointer by Navarro with 5:53 left that sparked the Eagles to chip in five more points to round out a 53-45 win.
Georgia Southern won the edge on glass over the Spartans, 42-30, and visited the charity stripe 25 times, connecting on 20, to UNCG’s 8 of 14. Geiger paced the Eagles in scoring with a career-high 17 points off one turnover and three steals, while J'Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) cleared away a team-high nine rebounds. Monique Floyd scored a team-high 11 points for the Spartans who were led by Hyson in rebounding, with five boards. The Lady Eagles led the entire game off 30 percent shooting from the floor to the Spartans 36 percent.
“I thought we did a great job in the post game today,” said Cram. “Jessica [Geiger] does 99 percent of the things right. She’s just the type of girl you love to have on your team.”
Georgia Southern returns to conference action on Monday, January 26, when they host Elon. Tip-off in Hanner Fieldhouse is set for 7 p.m.
Chattanooga 57, Wofford 46
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga women’s basketball team (14-6, 9-1 SoCon) extended its win streak to five Saturday night thanks to a 57-46 win over Wofford (3-15, 1-9 SoCon).
Chattanooga overcame a season-high 27 turnovers to beat the scrappy Terrier team as the Lady Mocs remain in a first place tie with Samford following the Bulldogs win over Furman. Chattanooga also had a season-high 50 rebounds, its highest total since the team had 50 against Wofford last season.
In the contest the Lady Mocs were led by LaCondra Mason and Shanara Hollinquist with 13 points as the team shot 35.8 percent from the field (19-of-53). Mason grabbed nine boards and was 5-for-7 from the charity stripe.
Erin Ogan finished with 12 points and eight rebounds in the game and recorded a career-high five steals as the team had 12 on the evening, a season-high. Jenaya Wade-Fray ended with one point and one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 9 points and 9 boards.
Both teams were ineffective from behind the three-point line as the two squads were a combined 7-for-35 (20 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Terriers were led by Natalie Gramblin with a game-high 15 points as Wofford shot only 28.4 percent (19-of-67). The Terrier defense kept Wofford in the game with 17 steals, the highest for a UTC opponent all season.
Chattanooga would lead at the half 26-19, behind the tandem of Hollinquist and Ogan with eight points apiece. As a team, Chattanooga went 10-of-32 from the field (31.3 percent), while holding the Terriers to a meager 22.2 percent (8-of-36). The Lady Mocs were also able to record seven steals in the half, four of which were by Ogan.
In the second half the Lady Mocs slowly built its lead to 15, 44-29 with 9:13 left in the contest, but Wofford would storm back with a 15-4 run to put the Terriers within four, 48-44, with only 4:09 to play. After both teams exchanged buckets UTC closed out the contest, scoring the game’s final seven points for the 57-46 win.
Chattanooga outrebounded Wofford 50-43, but the Terriers won the turnover battle forcing 27 and giving up 20 of their own. Wofford grabbed 17 steals and notched four blocked shots.
The Lady Mocs will return to action on Monday, Jan. 26 as the team wraps up a four-game homestand with Furman. The contest is slated to tip at 7 p.m. at the Roundhouse. Wofford visits Samford Monday at 6:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. CT).