Manhattan 83, Elon 67
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Manhattan's Abby Wentworth led all scorers with 24 points as the Jaspers handed Elon an 83-62 loss in women's basketball action on Tuesday evening in Riverdale, N.Y. With the loss, Elon falls to 2-3 on the season, while Manhattan improves to 3-3.
Elon's Ali Ford scored 19 points, 15 of which came from behind the arc, and dished five assists to lead the Phoenix. Courtney Medley finished with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Kelsey Evans led the team defensively with 10 rebounds, three coming on the offensive glass. The freshman also tallied two blocks and one assist.
Nadia Peters (17), Lindsey Loutsenhizer (13) and Michelle Pacheco (10) also scored in double figures for the Jaspers. Peters added 11 rebounds for a double-double, four blocks and two assists. Pecheco posted nine assists to lead the team.
The teams tied twice before a three-pointer by Manhattan's Alyssa Herrington put the Jaspers up by three at 10-7 with 14:22 left in the first half. Elon answered with a pair of baskets by Lei Lei Hairston that allowed the team to take an 11-10 lead. The Jaspers took a five-point lead with 7:39 on the clock on a layup by Loutsenhizer. A pair of free throws by Amber Wall sparked a 7-2 run that was highlighted by a three from Ford that put the Phoenix to within three at 35-32 with just over a minute remaining. Ford drained her second three-pointer of the half with 22 seconds on the clock to send Elon into the half trailing, 36-35.
Medley opened the second half with a three that gave the Phoenix a 38-36 lead. The Jaspers answered with a 6-0 run that made it a 42-38 game. A free throw by Wall put the Phoenix up by one at 47-46. With 2:29 on the clock, Peters drained a free throw that gave the Jaspers a 10-point lead at 72-62. A three by Ford brought the Phoenix to within five at 72-67, but Manhattan finished on a 11-0 run that sealed the game 83-67.
Neither team was able to take care of the ball, combining for 56 turnovers. Manhattan took advantage of the Phoenix miscues, scoring 29 points off of 34 turnovers. Manhattan also held the edge in the paint, scoring 38 of its points in the paint.
Elon opens up Southern Conference play on Saturday, December 5 at 3 p.m., as it faces Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga. The Phoenix handed GSU a 57-54 loss in the opening round of the 2009 Southern Conference tournament.
Gardner-Webb 78, Wofford 55
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Courtney Epps and Monique Hudson each recorded 18 points as they led Gardner-Webb to a 78-55 victory over the Wofford women's basketball team Tuesday.
The game began with neither team scoring for the first minute and a half of play. Gardner-Webb was the first to break the dry spell, knocking down a free throw to take a 1-0 lead. The free throw sparked a 6-0 run for the Lady Bulldogs, who would not trail for the remainder of the contest.
The Terriers got on the board with a layup from Mahagony Williams at the 15:23 mark, but the Bulldogs had an answer in the form of a three-pointer from Courtney Epps. Wofford was able to narrow the gap to only three points after Ashley Kroker downed two free throws, bringing the score to 8-11, but two three-pointers from Gardner-Webb's Courtney Epps pushed the lead to 17-8.
Wofford refused to give in, going on an eight-point run with 10 minutes remaining in the half to climb within four points. However, the Bulldogs turned up the defense, keeping the Terriers scoreless for almost five minutes until a three-pointer from freshman Kelly Blake broke the dry spell. Capitalizing on the Terriers' shooting troubles, Gardner-Webb went on an 11-0 run to head into halftime with a 35-22 lead.
In the second half, Monique Hudson led the attack for the Bulldogs, draining three straight treys and lifting Gardner-Webb to a 50-28 lead in the first five minutes. Wofford could not contain the Bulldogs in the second half, and despite a seven-point run keyed by another three-pointer from Kelly Blake, Gardner-Webb claimed the 78-55 win.
Epps and Hudson led the Bulldogs with 18 points apiece, with junior Monique Hudson adding 12. Epps, Breynna Winkler and Sandra Vaitkute each grabbed five rebounds.
Junior Mahagony Williams led the Terriers with 12 points. A trio of freshmen performed well for Wofford, with Lindsay Cowher adding nine points and three rebounds, Kelly Blake scoring six points and grabbing three rebounds and Rachel Brittenham leading the team with six boards. Wofford out-rebounded the Bulldogs 42-37.
With the win, Gardner-Webb improves to 7-1 on the season and extends its winning streak to seven games. The Terriers fall to 1-5 overall, and will travel to Birmingham, Ala. Saturday to take on another set of Bulldogs at Samford.
Charleston Southern 56, UNC Greensboro 54
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Kendra Smith and Lakiah Hyson hit 3-pointers just seven seconds apart in a frenetic final minute to pull UNC Greensboro to within two points, but the Spartans' last-second shot went begging as Charleston Southern hung on for a 56-54 win Tuesday.
With UNCG (1-5) trailing 56-48 with less than a minute to go, Smith drained a 3 to cut CSU's lead to five points with 47 seconds to play. Smith then stole the ball on the ensuing in-bounds play and kicked the ball out to freshman Brey Dorsett, who found Hyson alone in front of UNCG's bench. The senior captain calmly drained her third triple of the night to make it a one-possession game with 40 ticks left on the clock.
After Charleston Southern (4-3) called a timeout, the Buccaneers' Helen Terry - a Greensboro native - was called for a travel with 10.8 seconds left in the game.
The Spartans called a timeout of their own, and Hyson brought the ball up-court with the game in the balance. Hyson got the ball to Dorsett on the wing, but Dorsett's shot went off the back of the rim just before the buzzer sounded.
The entertaining finish was in stark contrast to the rest of the second half, which saw UNCG shoot just 22.6 percent (7-for-31) and CSU shoot 32 percent (8-for-25). The Bucs opened the second half on a 16-0 run to turn a six-point halftime deficit into a 10-point second-half lead, and nearly 11 minutes had passed before Amanda Leigh's jumper provided UNCG with its first points of the second frame.
Charleston Southern's Katie Tull got the big run started with back-to-back 3s out of the locker room to quickly tie the game at 36 with 19:20 to play.
The Bucs would twice get their lead up to 11 before the Spartans started to chip away. After a pair of Lydia Johnson free throws made it a 53-42 game with 3:47 to play, Dorsett drained a 3-pointer to get the deficit back to single digits.
After Dorsett drew an offensive foul to get the ball back for UNCG, Monique Floyd followed with a layup to make it a 53-47 contest with 2:42 left. Dorsett hit the second of two free throw attempts to cut it to five, but Ali Schwagmeyer's layup pushed CSU back ahead by seven at 55-48 to set up the exciting final minute of play.
The Spartans turned in an impressive first half, shooting 51.9 percent (14-for-27) from the floor to build their six-point lead. A Terry triple gave the visitors a 29-25 advantage with 3:21 to play before intermission, but Hyson answered with a jumper and a pair of 3s and Floyd hit three out of four free throw attempts in an 11-0 run that put the Spartans on top. LeChell Rush hit the back end of a two-shot foul just before halftime as UNCG took a 36-30 lead into the locker room.
Tull finished with a game-high 22 points for the Bucs, while Hyson had a season-high 13 to lead UNCG.
UNCG forced 26 turnovers on the evening, including five in the final 3:33 of the game.
The win was CSU's first against the Spartans in 15 tries. UNCG had been 14-0 in the series, which dates back to the 1989-90 season.
The Spartans will look to snap their five-game losing streak on Saturday, when they open Southern Conference play at College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. Opening tip is set for 6 p.m.