Davidson 81, Furman 78
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The duo of freshman Sophia Aleksandravicius (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) and senior Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) combined for 40 points, including 14 during a game-changing 22-11 run to start the second half, and Davidson scored its first win with an 81-78 victory over Furman on Monday evening in both teams Southern Conference opener in women¹s basketball.
Davidson (1-6, 1-0 SoCon) held off a late Paladin rally in the closing minutes to secure its first win of the year and improve to 8-9 in SoCon openers since joining the league in 1993-94.
Leading 73-63 with 4:20 left, the Wildcats saw Furman (1-6, 0-1 SoCon) use a 13-4 run to cut the lead down to one, 77-76, with just 51 seconds left. But, Thompson and Jasmine Calin (Miami, Fla.) each hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to seal the win for Davidson.
Just six games into her collegiate career, Aleksandravicius showed why she was nationally ranked as one of the best players at her position by pouring in 28 points and pulling down 13 boards for the OCats¹ second double-double of the season. The freshman was 9-of-15 from the field, including draining her first career three-ball, and went 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. Of her 13 boards, six of them were on the offensive glass. The freshman also swatted away two shots and pocketed a couple of steals.
Thompson took care of the scoring on the perimeter, hitting 4-of-7 shots from behind the arc and draining 7-of-12 overall from the field. She was also 4-for-5 from the 15-foot line for 22 points, clipping the 20-point mark for the sixth time in her career.
The duo were instrumental in turning a 36-30 halftime deficit into a 52-47 lead behind a 22-11 run to open the second half. Davidson scored on 10 of its first 11 possessions to start the half, getting eight from Thompson and six from Aleksandravicius during the spurt.
Davidson went on to shoot 62 percent (18-29) in the second half and finished the contest at an even 50 percent. The OCats also were effective from behind the arc, canning 6-of-15 for a 40-percent clip.
The Wildcats later pushed their lead out to 11 points on a Aleksandravicius layup (73-62) with around five minutes to play, before Furman's Stephens nearly gave her team the lead back. The shooting guard, who netted a game-high 30 points, would score six straight after Aleksandravicius¹ layup, and poured in 15 points overall during the last five minutes. Stephen¹s netted the Paladins' last five points with under a minute, but her last-second attempt from behind the arc was off center giving the Wildcats the three-point win.
Stephens hit 7-of-16 shots and was nearly perfect from the charity stripe with a 14-of-16 showing. She also dished out seven assists and registered six rebounds. Kali Holtfreter scored 14 points to give the Paladins to players in double figures.
Junior Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) gave the Wildcats three scores in double figures with a nice all-around game of 11 points (5-of-9) two rebounds and three assists.
Davidson found itself in a hole to start things off as Furman raced out to a 15-4 lead and later pushed it out to 21-11 after Stephen's completed a three-point play. The Paladin guard had 10 first half points.
The Wildcats then got things rolling on the offensive side led by the strong inside play of Aleksandravicius. The freshman scored nine of the 'Cats next 11 points to bring the score to 30-22, and Thompson;s three-point play later made it 30-25 with 3:44 left in the half.
Aleksandravicius set a season-best in points in the first half alone, pouring in 13. She helped the Wildcats to a 36-18 advantage in points in the paint for the game, while leading the bench to 37 total points compared to Furman's 19.
Davidson wraps up a season-long eight-game road trip with a stop at Western Carolina, Dec. 5, at 2 p.m.
Game Notes: The last time the Wildcats clipped the 50 percent mark for a game was at Furman last year in the regular-season finale ... Davidson has now won 12 of the last 14 meetings with Furman, including the last thee ...
Tonight¹s game was the sixth time both teams have faced each other in league openers ... The 'Cats netted 26 points off of 19 Paladin turnovers ... the 51 second half points scored by Davidson was the most since it netted 57 at Appalachian State last year (12/6).
Samford 74, Chattanooga 52
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team opened Southern Conference play with a 74-52 win over defending conference champion and preseason favorite Chattanooga Monday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.
"That was as good a 40 minutes as we have played probably since I've been head coach," Samford coach Mike Morris, who is in his eighth season as head coach, said. "It was a great effort, and we beat a very good team. We shot the ball well, but I thought the effort on both ends of the floor was the biggest thing. I was really pleased with the way we responded against a very good team."
Samford senior guard Monica Maxwell scored a career-high 22 points and pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Bulldogs in the win. Emily London scored 12 points, while Savannah Hill added 11 points and five assists. Hannah Dawson shared the team lead in rebounding with Maxwell, grabbing seven boards to go along with her seven points.
For Chattanooga, 2009 SoCon Player of the Year Shanara Hollinquest led the way with 17 points. Erin Helton followed Hollinquest with seven points and Michelle Davis added six points for the Lady Mocs.
The win was just the second in nine tries for Samford over Chattanooga. The Bulldogs' only other win over the Lady Mocs came on Jan. 20, 1999, a 77-59 Samford win in Birmingham.
Samford shot 51.0 percent from the floor, including a 45.5 percent effort from three-point range. The Bulldogs held Chattanooga to just 30.5 percent overall and 22.2 percent from three-point range. Samford had 33 rebounds, while Chattanooga grabbed 34 boards.
The game was tight through most of the first half. With Samford leading, 9-8, the Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run to push its lead to 17-10 with 12:24 to go in the first half after a layup by Maxwell. Chattanooga scored eight of the next 10 points to cut the lead back to one at 19-18 with 9:40 to go in the half.
Samford then went on an 8-0 run to make the score 27-18 with 5:37 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Jazmine Powers. Samford pushed its lead out to 12 at 36-24 with 1:53 to go after a three-pointer by Maxwell. After a layup by Hollinquest cut the lead to 10, Samford scored the final four points of the half to take a 40-26 lead into halftime.
Samford opened the second half with a 13-4 run to push its lead out to 23 at 53-30 with 15:13 to go in the game after a three-pointer by London. Samford led by as much as 24 in the second half at 58-34 with 13:42 to go.
Chattanooga fought back to cut the lead to 16 at 62-46 with 8:21 to go in the game. The Lady Mocs, however could get no closer as Samford came away with the 74-52 win.
Samford improves to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in SoCon play with the win. Chattanooga falls to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in league play.
Samford will return to action on Thursday, Dec. 3, when the Bulldogs play host to the Furman Paladins. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. from the Pete Hanna Center, and the game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.