Furman 58, Winston-Salem State 45
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Lee Stephens scored a game high 19 points to propel Furman to its first win of the season with a 58-45 victory over Winston-Salem State in women's basketball action Wednesday evening at the Gaines Center.
Stephens, who had struggled to find the mark Furman's first four games - all losses - found the mark against Winston-Salem State, converting 5-of-10 field goal attempts, including 4-of-6 3-pointers, and 5-of-7 free throws for her 19 points. The senior guard from Cincinnati also contributed five steals in 38 minutes in helping Furman (1-4).
Kali Holtfreter rang up 12 points and claimed a game high eight rebounds, and Katilin Murphy contributed 11 points for
Freshman Kaitlin Murphy rang up 12 points for the Paladins, who took advantage of strong 3-point shooting (8-of-15, 53.3 percent) and 20 Winston-Salem State turnovers to earn the victory.
Vontisha Woods and Talnesha Kee led Winston-Salem State (2-4) with 11 points, and Rene Rector contributed 10 points for the Rams.
A Mollie Peterson layup nine minutes into the game gave Furman an 11-9 lead and put the Paladins ahead for good. Lee Stephens followed with back-to-back 3-pointers over the next two minutes to extend the advantage to 17-9.
Winston-Salem State twice cut Furman's lead to two points in the first half, but a Kali Holtfreter trey with one second left before intermission gave the Paladins a 29-22 lead at intermission.
A layup by Elizabeth Mass six minutes into the second half pulled the Rams to within four points at 34-30. Furman answered, however, with a 7-0 burst on baskets by Stephens, Kendra Berry, and Kelly O'Connor, which stretched the Paladin lead to 41-30 with 8:03 to go.
The Rams twice trimmed the Furman lead to nine points, but could get no closer the rest of the way.
No. 3 Ohio State 89, UNC Greensboro 56
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Redshirt junior Amanda Leigh matched her career high with five 3-pointers to finish with a team-high 15 points, but that was not nearly enough as UNC Greensboro fell to No. 3 Ohio State on Wednesday, 89-56.
All-American Jantel Lavender scored a game-high 27 points for Ohio State (6-0), which also got 13 points and 11 assists from Samantha Prahalis and 11 points from Sarah Schulze. Agne Girstautaite was also in double figures with 10 points for the Spartans (1-3).
UNCG's solid 3-point shooting kept it close early, as the Spartans hit five of their first seven attempts from long range. Leigh did most of the damage, going 4-for-5 from beyond the arc in the opening stanza.
The Buckeyes led by just one at the first media timeout, as a Schulze 3-pointer gave OSU an 8-7 lead. But Ohio State came out of the timeout on a 6-0 run, with Schulze hitting a jumper and Lavender dropping in consecutive layups to push the score to 14-7.
Leigh and Kendra Smith sandwiched 3s around a Prahalis jumper to get UNCG's deficit back down to three points at 16-13 with 13:20 to play in the first half, but Ohio State answered with an 8-0 run to get its lead into double digits for the first time.
Another Leigh triple got the margin back to eight points, but an Alison Jackson layup on the Buckeyes' ensuing possession put the lead in double figures to stay.
The Spartans would get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way, with Monique Floyd's steal and layup making it 34-23 with 3:49 left in the first half.
The Buckeyes would push their lead to as many as 18 before the break, and Prahalis banked in a turnaround jumper at the horn to give OSU a 43-25 advantage.
Ohio State continued to build its lead after the half, and UNCG went more than four minutes without scoring in the early going. After Lakiah Hyson's jumper at the 16:19 mark, the Spartans did not score again until freshman Dayshaun Richbow rebounded her own miss and dropped in a layup with 11:59 left in the game.
Jackson's conventional three-point play gave Ohio State a 33-point bulge at 66-33 with 11:26 to play, but the Spartans played the Buckeyes straight up the rest of the way.
OSU stretched its lead to as many as 43 on a pair of Amber Stokes free throws with just over eight minutes to go, but UNCG closed the contest on a 21-11 run. Sophomore Sarah Folwell hit a pair of 3s in the final two minutes, and classmate Jazz Weaver hit a baseline jumper shortly after checking in for her first action of the season.
The Spartans were playing their first ranked opponent in more than two years. UNCG had not faced a top-25 team since taking on then-No. 10 Duke on Nov. 18, 2007.
UNCG finished 8-for-16 from 3-point range, but shot just 37 percent (23-f0r-61) from the floor for the game. The Spartans went to the free throw line for just two shots, with freshman Sidnei Harmon knocking down both.
The Buckeyes shot 52.9 percent from the floor (36-for-68) and was 12-for-16 (75 percent) from the free throw line. OSU hit five of its 11 3-point tries (45.5 percent).
Ohio State held a 43-29 rebounding edge.
UNCG held Ohio State two points below its season average of 91 per game. The Spartans also kept OSU starters Tayler Hill and Brittany Johnson from reaching double figures. The Buckeyes entered the contest with all five starters averaging at least 10 points per game.
"Ohio State is an outstanding team, with such balance," UNCG coach Lynne Agee said. "Prahalis at the point is just tremendous. I watched her play for years in AAU. Lavender is, my goodness, a guard in that body. She's just so agile and so strong and has such great touch. I feel certain that they'll have a tremendous year, and we're back to the drawing board. We move on Friday to Bowling Green."
The Spartans will face Bowling Green at 7 p.m. Friday. The game will feature sisters on opposing benches in UNCG's Amy Clapper and Bowling Green's Sarah Clapper.
Coastal Carolina 72, Western Carolina 64
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Western Carolina women's basketball (1-4) dropped the consolation game of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout 72-64 to Coastal Carolina (3-2) Wednesday.
The Catamounts were led by sophomore guard Kaila'Shea Menendez with a career-high 21 points who also sank all 10 of her charity shots. Catamounts guard Jessica Jackson dished a game-high nine assists in the loss.
The Chanticleers took a 41-34 lead at halftime thanks to a 12-0 run late in the first half. With 8:27 remaining in the game, Ahaus nailed a jump shot to give her team its largest lead at 59-46.
The Catamounts, of the Southern Conference, scrapped within 63-58 on Brittany Ferguson's free throw with 3:45 left, and sliced it to a one-possession game on Menendez's layup at the 1:02 mark, making it 67-64.
But Amanda Stull answered with a pair of free throws and WCU's Emily Clarke missed a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to end the late rally.
Western Carolina hit just three field goals in the final nine minutes of the second half, scoring 13 of its final 16 points at the free throw line. Overall, the Catamounts were 19-of-27 from the charity strip and hit just one of nine three-pointers.
Junior guard Katie Ahaus scored 10 of her 14 points in the first half Wednesday to lead Coastal Carolina to a 72-64 victory over Western Carolina for third place in the women's Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout at Sullivan Arena.
Coastal also got 17 points and eight rebounds from junior guard Sydnei Moss, while senior guard Stull scored all 11 of her points from the free-throw line.
Western Carolina returns home on Sunday to host James Madison University. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. in the Ramsey Center.