Samford 67, North Texas 53
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team opened the UAB Thanksgiving Classic with a 67-53 win over North Texas Friday afternoon at Bartow Arena.
"I thought we had a good effort, particularly defensively," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I am very proud of our team for the way we bounced back after a tough loss to Maryland. I thought we did a good job of playing the way we want to play, and I am very pleased with this win."
With the win, Samford improves to 4-1 on the season. North Texas falls to 2-4 with the loss.
Samford was led by Emily London with 17 points, making 12-of-13 free-throw attempts. Paige Anderson and J'Quita Babineaux scored 10 points each for the Bulldogs. Monica Maxwell, Hannah Dawson and Savannah Hill added eight points apiece.
For North Texas, Denetra Kellum scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Niq'ky Hughes scored 12 points and Jasmine Godbolt added 11 points for the Mean Green.
In the first half, Samford built an early five-point lead at 9-4 with 15:17 to go in the period after a layup by Dawson. The Bulldogs pushed their lead out to eight at 17-9 with 11:05 left after a basket by Hill.
Samford pushed its lead out to as much as 15 in the first half at 28-13 with 2:26 left in the half after a layup by Babineaux. North Texas closed the half with a 7-2 run to cut Samford's lead to 10 at halftime, 30-20.
North Texas opened the second half with an 8-2 run to cut the Samford lead to four at 32-28 with 15:36 to play. Samford scored the next five points to push its lead back out to nine at 37-28 with 13:08 to go after a pair of free throws by Anderson.
Samford pushed its lead out to 18 at 61-43 with 4:13 to play after a jumper by Babineaux. North Texas could get no closer than 14 the rest of the way as Samford came away with the 67-53 win.
As a team, Samford shot 43.2 percent from the floor, including a 36.4 percent effort from three-point range. Samford out-rebounded North Texas, 35-29.
Samford will wrap up play in the UAB Thanksgiving Classic by taking on Norfolk State Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.al.com/wvsu.
College of Charleston 54, Northwestern 50
EVANSTON, Ill. - Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) scored 15 points, including the last three baskets, to lead the College of Charleston women's basketball team to the come-from-behind 54-50 win over Northwestern in front of 659 fans at the Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill., as part of the Doubletree White Invitational.
The Cougars won their fourth straight to go to 4-1, while Northwestern dropped its first of the season and went to 4-1.
Trailing 41-27 with 14:57 remaining, the Cougars used a 21-0 run to take the lead at 9:27 off a jumper by Ericka Williams (Blackville, S.C.). Charleston increased its lead to 48-41 off six straight from Hughes. Kristin Cartwright ended the Northwestern drought at 4:39 with a jumper and free throw to decrease the margin to four. Amy Jaeschke cut the margin to two with a jumper at 4:01 and trailed 48-46.
Northwestern tied the game off two free throws at 3:28 and re-took the lead when Cartwright connected on two more free throws at 1:15 to go up 50-48. Hughes scored her third straight basket, a three-pointer, to give the Cougars the lead again, 51-50, with 51.8 seconds to go.
Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) connected on two free throws at the 16 second mark, and Williams nailed one of two to give the Cougars a 54-50 lead with 6.2 seconds to go. Northwestern was unable to get a final shot off and Charleston came away with the 54-50 win.
The Cougars rebounded from poor shooting in the first half and went 46.4 percent from the field in the second, while the Wildcats shot 23.1.
Northwestern led 11-5 early in the first half before the Cougars cut the margin to two off a layup by Ariel Hatcher (Monroe, Mich.) that made the score 14-12, in favor of the Wildcats with 8:58 to go before intermission.
Five straight points from Kristin Carwright brought the NU lead to seven before a three-pointer by Megan King (Fort Wayne, Ind.) at 7:15 brought the margin to four, 21-17. The Cougars went cold after that, only connecting on one field goal and a free throw the remainder of the half as Northwestern took a 10-3 run down the stretch to go into the locker room with the 31-20 lead.
For the half Charleston played well defensively and held Northwestern to 35.3 percent from the field, but was just 21.6 percent and 18.2 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
Charleston shot 32.2 percent for the game, compared to 30.0 percent for Northwestern. After going just two-for-11 in three-pointers in the first half, the Cougars went four-for-nine in the second. The Wildcats were two-of-23. Northwestern held the 49-43 edge in rebounds, but had three more turnovers, 11-8.
Following Hughes and her 15 points was Gerty with 12 and Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C.) with 10 points to add to her team-leading eight rebounds. Jaeschke led the Wildcats with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cougars face #24 Iowa State Saturday, Nov. 28, at 3 pm EST in their final game of the Doubletree White Invitational.
Chattanooga 76, Kennesaw State 61
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team posted a strong 76-61 win against regional rival Kennesaw State Friday night in the second game of the DoubleTree Classic at the McKenzie Arena. The Lady Mocs dominated the inside and overcame a hot-shooting first half by the Owls to improve to 2-3 on the season while Kennesaw State dropped to 2-3.
Senior Shanara Holinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) recorded her fourth double-double of the year and the 19th of her career by logging season-highs with 26 points and 12 rebounds. KSU had no answer for the Preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year as Hollinquest controlled the paint by shooting 11-of-15 from the field and grabbing five offensive boards.
Freshman Michelle Davis, a 6-2 forward from Cleveland, Tenn., also had a strong game inside. She scored a season-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, 1-for-2 from 3-point range and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. She also tied her season-high with eight boards on the night.
The first half showed off two contrasting styles between the two teams. Chattanooga pounded KSU inside, outscoring the Owls 20-6 in the paint. Kennesaw State kept it close by going 6-10 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes. Four different Owls hit from long range in the first period.
The Lady Mocs ran out to a 15-7 lead after the first four minutes of the game. Kennesaw State answered with a pair of three's from Angie Smith and Kayla Weaver to pull to 17-13 at the 13:25 mark.
Chattanooga went on a 7-0 spurt over the next two minutes to grab an 11-point lead at 24-13. However, five straight points by Weaver cut the lead to 24-18.
UTC went inside to spark an 8-0 run behind four points each from Hollinquest and Davis. Davis's layup underneath gave the Lady Mocs a 14-point advantage at 32-18 with just over seven minutes left in the half. It was Chattanooga's largest lead of the half.
The Owls closed on a 13-5 run led by consecutive three pointers from Brandi Jones and Ashley Holiday. A layup by Montinique Nixon cut UTC's lead to 37-31 at the break.
The teams traded baskets for the first six minutes of the second half. KSU pulled to 44-40 on a layup by Lisa Capellan, but that set off a decisive 20-1 run by UTC over the next six minutes to take control of the game. Chattanooga scored 10 more points inside during that span, capped by a layup from freshman Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) to give the Mocs a 64-41 lead with 7:06 left to play.
For the game UTC shot 47.5% from the field and were 54.5% (24-of-44) from inside the 3-point line. The Lady Mocs held KSU to just 31.3% from the field, a season-low for a UTC opponent through five games.
The Owls outside shooting cooled off in the second half, going just 5-for-19 in the final 20 minutes. However, Chattanooga continued to dominate the inside outscoring KSU 22-10 in the paint in the second half.
Senior Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) had a solid game for UTC. She scored 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, 1-for-2 from 3-point range and 4-for-5 from the charity stripe. Freshman Erin Helton (Cookeville, Tenn.) had season-highs with nine rebounds and four blocks off the bench for the Lady Mocs.
Villanova defeated Evansville 56-49 in the first game of the DoubleTree Classic. The Wildcats were led by Laura Sweeney who had a game-high 14 points off the bench. She went 7-of-11 from the field to help Villanova improve to 3-1 on the season. Maria Getty added 13 points and five assists while Heather Scanlon came off the bench to grab a game-high 12 rebounds. Eva Benson had 11 points off the bench to lead the Purple Aces who fell to 0-4 on the season.
The Lady Mocs will take on Villanova tomorrow in the Championship Game of the DoubleTree Classic at 5:00 p.m. (E.S.T.). The game can be heard on 95.3 FM, The Pulse, in Chattanooga or online through Chattanooga All-Access on GoMocs.com. Larry Ward will provide the play-by-play from courtside at the McKenzie Arena. Kennesaw State and Evansville will start the action on Saturday in the consolation game that begins at 3:00 p.m.
No. 20 Pittsburgh 63, Appalachian State 56
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Appalachian State University women's basketball had a 56-53 lead with 3:04 to go in the game against the No.20 team in the country, but a 9-0 Pittsburgh run to close out the contest, gave the Panthers the thrilling 63-56 victory Friday afternoon at the Petersen Events center. With the loss, ASU drops to 1-3 on the season and 1-2 on the road, while Pittsburgh improves to a stout 4-0 on the season with all four victories coming on their home floor.
Pittsburgh acted like the veteran squad in the early goings of the contest as they grabbed a 6-0 advantage, with Shayla Scott draining a three pointer to contribute to the Panthers lead. However, the Mountaineers quickly responded as freshman Ashlen Dewart (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) stepped up her game, hitting three straight layups along with Sam Ramirez (Fayetteville, N.C./Southview) drilling two treys to give ASU the 12-8 lead.
Dewart finished the contest with a career-high 16 points and hauled in nine boards.
The score was then tied at the 12 all mark, but the Apps pushed ahead 18-12 thanks in part to five Catherine Williams (Chattanooga, Tenn./Howard) points.
Pittsburgh came storming back going on an 11-1 run to earn a 27-23 lead with a little over two minutes left to play in the half. It was all Jania Sims on the offensive front for the Panthers, scoring seven points during PU's streak.
Appalachian answered, going a 7-2 run of their own with Kelsey Sharkey (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula) hitting a three and a layup in the waning seconds of the half to give the Apps a 30-29 advantage headed into the break. It was the third time in four games that the Black and Gold headed into intermission with the lead.
The second half was hotly contested as it was tied on four different occasions, before Dewart got hot from behind the arc and hit a three pointer with 7:31 play to put the Mountaineers up 50-47. Two Williams free throws increased the Apps lead to five points at the 52-47 mark, but back-to-back Pittsburgh layups put the Panthers back into the contest.
Williams was also impressive for ASU offensively, scoring 14 points to go along with four rebounds. The Mountaineers were strong in the paint, outscoring the Panthers 26-20 under the basket. The Apps also posted a season-best 19 assists to go along with a season-low 19 turnovers.
Despite Pittsburgh chipping away, Appalachian maintained its advantage and was up 56-53 off a Williams layup with 3:04 to play. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers that would be the last bucket of the contest as the Panthers came alive in the final minutes of the contest and were able to eek out the 63-56 victory, with Sims scoring seven in the Panthers nine point run.
Sims finished the game with 16 points, while Shayla Scott led all-scorers with 17.
ASU also dominated the Panthers on the boards outrebounding Pittsburgh 41-36 and tallying four blocks, with freshman Anna Freeman (Thomasville, N.C./East Davidson) leading Appalachian in both categories, grabbing a team-high 10 boards and swatting the ball three times.
Despite losing by seven points, the Mountaineers absolutely dominated Big East foe Pittsburgh, as the Panthers led just three times throughout the contest for no more than two minutes.
The Mountaineers now look to rebound from the tough loss, as they take on the loser of the Miami (Ohio)/Marshall contest with the game slated to begin at 4 p.m. Saturday November 28 in the Petersen Events Center.
Duquesne 74, Davidson 71
WILMINGTON, N.C. - Davidson overcame a 20-point deficit in the second half to force overtime, but the Duquesne Dukes netted four-of-six free throws in the last minute to seal the extra period win, 74-71, over the Wildcats in the first game of the UNCW Hampton Inn Invitational on the campus of UNC Wilmington in women¹s basketball action on Friday.
Down 58-38 with 10:22 left in regulation, Davidson called a timeout to regroup. Out of the timeout, the Wildcats turned up the defensive intensity and found their stroke, going on a 24-4 run to close out the second half and send the game into overtime tied up at 62-all.
The OCats forced eight Duke turnovers in that stretch, using a half-court trapping defense to get themselves right back in the game. For the game, they caused the Dukes to cough up the ball 32 times, scoring 31 points off those turnovers.
The extra period saw Duquesne¹s Alex Gensler, who netted a game-high 20 points but was held scoreless after hitting a Duke bucket at the 10:24 mark, go off for five straight points to give her team a 67-62 lead with 3:40 on the clock.
Davidson came right back, getting a jumper from Kristen Johnsen (Wayne, Pa.) and a layup from Alex Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) on its next two possessions to cut the lead to one, 67-66.
Then after another Gensler two-pointer, freshman Jasmine Calin (Miami, Fla.) drained two free throws at the 2:44 mark and would give the Wildcats a one-point lead later on an and-one play at the 1:16 mark. She finished off the three-point play with the free throw and Davidson was up 71-70 as Duquesne called a timeout.
The Wildcats were called for a foul coming out of the break, resulting in two Vanessa Abel free throws for the Dukes, who regained the lead at 72-71. Davidson then called a timeout to set up a play with under a minute left in overtime.
Freshman Barbara Sitton (Richmond, Va.) got an open look, just missing the shot, but the 'Cats got the offensive rebound to then see it get turned over. A Gensler free throw on the other end after another Davidson foul pushed the lead out to 73-71 with 29 ticks left.
Davidson again got off another shot on their next possession, but saw the Dukes race down the missed shot forcing the Wildcats to foul. Another free throw by Duquesne gave it a three-point lead, 74-71, with one last chance for Davidson to tie the game and just 10 seconds left on the clock.
Sitton drove down the court and fired off a three-ball that glanced off the rim for the final score of 74-71. The freshman point guard filled the box score with seven points, six rebounds (career-high), five assists and four steals (matched career-high).
Pacing the Wildcats (0-5) in scoring was Lax with a team- and season-best 19 points in 42 minutes of action.
Sophia Aleksandravicius (Ridge Pound, N.Y.) and Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) followed with eight points each. Thompson saw her eight-game streak of scoring in double figures dating back to last season come to an end.
The Dukes (5-1) placed three in double figures in points with Samantha Pollino and Keri Pryor netting 15 and 13 points, respectively, to join Gensler.
The beginning of the game was a back-and-forth affair as their where five lead changes and two ties. Davidson had brief three point leads at 15-12 and 19-16 after getting two three-balls from Chloe Woodington (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Lax. Davidson as a team drained five of its nine first-half field goals from three-land and finished a season-best 8-of-25 from behind the arc.
Bowling Green 80, UNC Greensboro 51
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green turned in a 19-3 second-half run and shot an impressive 53.8 percent from the field to down UNC Greensboro on Friday, 80-51.
Kendra Smith scored 12 points to lead the Spartans (1-4), who cut Bowling Green's lead to 10 points early in the second half before the Falcons (3-2) used the big spurt to quell any thoughts of a comeback.
Lauren Prochaska scored a game-high 20 points to lead Bowling Green, while Tamika Nurse was also in double figures with 16.
UNCG's Agne Girstautaite pulled down a season- and game-high nine rebounds.
The Falcons bolted out to a 13-point lead in the first half, hitting nine of their first 12 shots to build a 24-11 advantage. The Spartans would answer with a 7-0 run to get it back to six, however, with freshman Brey Dorsett banking in a 3-pointer then getting a steal and a fastbreak layup before Girstautaite capped the run with a layup of her own to make it 24-18 with 7:58 to play in the opening frame.
That was as close as UNCG would get on the evening, as Bowling Green stretched its lead to as many as 14 twice in the first half before Amanda Leigh's buzzer-beating 3-pointer made the score 37-26 going into halftime.
UNCG held Bowling Green scoreless for a span of 4:39 late in the first half, but failed to take advantage on the offensive end of the floor, managing just a 3-pointer during the stretch that made it 34-23 with less than four minutes until the break.
BGSU shot 56 percent from the floor in the first half (14-for-25), while UNCG shot just 33 percent (11-for-33).
A pair of Lakiah Hyson free throws with 15:07 left in the game drew the Spartans within 10 at 46-36, but that was when Bowling Green took over. Nurse and Prochaska hit 3s on consecutive possessions to quickly get the Falcons up by 16, and a Sarah Clapper 3 with 11:02 to play made it 60-39 to put the lead over 20 points for the first time on the day.
UNCG shot just 29.6 percent from the field in the second half, going 8-for-27. The Falcons' hot shooting carried over into the second half, as they hit 14 of their 27 attempts (51.9 percent).
Leigh tied her career high with five assists on the evening, four of which came on UNCG's first four buckets of the game. She also finished with nine points on three 3-pointers.
Girstautaite had seven points to go with her nine boards, while Hyson had eight points.
UNCG's Amy Clapper, Sarah Clapper's sister, finished with two points, a rebound and a steal for the Spartans. Sarah Clapper had three points for the Falcons.
Friday's contest wrapped up a four-game road swing for UNCG, which saw the Spartans face four straight teams picked to win their respective leagues.
UNCG returns home to host Charleston Southern on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Davidson held a 22-21 advantage until it saw the Dukes go on a 7-0 run to regain the lead at 28-22 and 5:21 left in the half. After a quick Wildcat time, the OCats got themselves within two, 28-26, after buckets by freshman Sara Davis (St. Clair, Mich.) and Aleksandravicius, but Duquesne went on another 7-0 run to go into halftime up 35-26.
Davidson finishes out the tournament with a game against either UNC Wilmington or Monmouth tomorrow at 1 p.m in the consolation bracket.
Game Notes: This is the 14th in-season tournament the Wildcats have played during head coach Annette Watts' nine-year tenure ... they are 14-16 in those tournaments ... Calin's six points were a new season-best for the freshman ... Aleksandravicius' two blocks in the game was the third time she has had multiple blocks in a contest ... Davidson hit the 15-offensive board mark for the second straight game ... The 'Cats' 18 steals were a season-high and the most since they pocketed 20 vs. Georgia Southern on Jan. 13, 2007.
Colorado 62, Georgia Southern 50
BOULDER, Colo. - Carolyn Whitney led Georgia Southern with 11 points including three 3-pointers, but Colorado outscored Georgia Southern, 41-30, in the second half to hold on for a 62-50 win Friday night (November 27) in the Coors Events Center. Jamie Navarro went a perfect
8-of-8 from the free throw line to set a career-high in free throws made on day one of the Omni Hotels Classic. The loss dropped the Lady Eagles to 1-3 this season, while the Buffaloes improved to 3-1.
Georgia Southern won the tip, but Colorado won the early lead, taking advantage of three Lady Eagle turnovers in the opening four minutes for a 10-0 lead. Off the bench, Candice Ivy (Roswell, Ga.) put the Lady Eagles on the board with a lay-up at the 15:28 marker. A made free throw from Janay Wilson (Warner Robins, Ga.) would be the only Georgia Southern point through the second media timeout as Colorado held a 12-3 advantage before senior Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) sparked a 10-0 Georgia Southern run that would bring the Lady Eagles to within one point at 14-13. Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) nailed two three-pointers within the run that also saw a bucket from Ivy over five minutes of play.
A trip to the free throw line at 7:59 with two made attempts from freshman Kayla Dayton (Monroe, N.C.) gave the Eagles their first lead, 15-14. A steal by Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) returned possession to Georgia Southern as Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) was fouled by Meagan Malcolm-Peck sending Navarro to the line. Navarro, a perfect two from the line, gave the Lady Eagles a 17-14 lead. Scoreless since the 11:26 marker, Colorado returned to the scoreboard with a bucket from Malcolm-Peck. A knotted score at 17-all was erased with Whitney's third trey of the half as Georgia Southern held a 20-17 lead with 3:53 remaining in the opening frame. But Colorado closed out the opening half with Brittany Spears and Whitney Houston baskets to hold a narrow one point lead, 21-20.
Coming out of the break, Navarro quickly returned control back to Georgia Southern connecting on two from the charity stripe. But the Buffaloes regained command with a 3-pointer from Bianca Smith before Houston scored five unanswered for a Colorado 32-26 lead. While J'Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) picked up her first two baskets of the game, a 10-4 Colorado run left a 7-point game in favor of the Buffs before Meredyth Frye (Fredericksburg, Va.) connected on a 3-pointer for a 37-33 margin.
Colorado took a double-digit lead with a lay-up from Alyssa Fressle, but Whitney and Ivy cut the lead to seven, 44-37, with consecutive field goals. Colorado extended its lead to 53-39 with Spears' third trey of the second half and fourth overall. Georgia Southern closed out the game on a 5-0 run for a final score of 62-50.
Senior Whitney led Georgia Southern with 11 points, hitting 3-of-5 from three-point land, and eight rebounds. The Lady Eagles improved on their free-throw shooting, going 15-of-23 from the line for an 65.2 shooting efficiency. Navarro set a career-high in free throws made, going a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. Ivy finished with seven points off the bench.
Recording 14 steals and eight blocks in the game, Colorado posted three players in double figures. The Buffs were led by Spears who picked up 20 points, three blocks and three steals. Malcolm-Peck and Jeffery followed with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Malcolm-Peck and Spears tied for a team-high seven boards. Jeffery led with a game-high five steals.
In earlier action of day one of the Omni Hotels Classic, Harvard defeated New Orleans, 60-57. Georgia Southern will face New Orleans in the consolation final, Saturday, November 28 at 4:30 p.m. (MST), while Harvard will take on Colorado in the championship game at 7 p.m. (MST).