UNC Greensboro 69, Fordham 63
BRONX, N.Y. - Senior guard Lakiah Hyson scored a career-high 21 points, including a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game with 21.8 seconds left, as UNC Greensboro rallied past Fordham on Saturday, 69-63, to snap a six-game losing streak.
With UNCG (2-6) nursing a two-point lead, Hyson stepped to the line and sank both attempts on a two-shot foul to make it 67-63 and eclipse her previous career best of 20 points, set last season. After a defensive stop on the other end, redshirt freshman Amy Clapper was fouled on the rebound. She hit both of her attempts with 1.3 seconds left for the final margin.
Monique Floyd and Amanda Leigh finished with 10 points each for the Spartans, while Fordham (6-4) was led by Randall Hurst's 18 points. Tiffany Stokes (13), Becky Peters (12) and Katie Vican (11) also finished in double figures for the Rams.
The Spartans trailed 50-42 with just over 11 minutes left in the game, but used an aggressive full-court press to rattle off a 15-4 run over the next five minutes to take the lead for the first time in the second half. Hyson had back-to-back buckets off Fordham turnovers to put UNCG back in front, and Agne Girstautaite capped the run with a layup, again off a Fordham turnover.
A Vican 3-pointer tied things up at 57, but Hyson answered with a 3 of her own to put the Spartans back on top for good, 60-57 with 3:27 remaining.
UNCG would stretch its lead to as many as six in the final minutes. Kendra Smith hit the front end of a one-and-one with just under three minutes to go, and 5-foot, 4-inch freshman Dayshaun Richbow snuck into the lane for the offensive rebound, getting a layup to fall to push the score to 63-57.
A Vican layup and a pair of free throws from Kristina Bell got the Rams back within a possession at 63-61, but Richbow answered with another layup to make it a four-point game with just over a minute left.
Fordham was forced to foul to stop the clock, and UNCG made the strategy work by twice missing the front end of one-and-one opportunities.
Hyson fouled Peters off her own miss with 22.3 seconds left, sending Peters to the line for a one-and-one. The sophomore made both shots, but Hyson sealed the game at the other end.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair featuring eight lead changes and seven ties. Neither team led by more than five at any point in the opening stanza, but Peters' jumper from the free throw line as time expired gave the Rams a 32-30 lead going into the break.
The first half also saw UNCG get into early foul trouble in the post, with Clapper picking up a pair of fouls just over two minutes into the game. Girstautaite came on in relief and picked up three fouls of her own in the next four minutes, while a third post player, Dee Corbett, picked up three in eight minutes after coming in for Girstautaite.
UNCG shot 54.2 percent (13-for-24) from the floor in the second half, and 46.2 percent (24-for-52) for the game.
Hyson finished 7-for-11 from the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range.
The Spartans' bench provided a big boost, outscoring Fordham's 20-2. Richbow and Girstautaite netted six points each for UNCG off the bench.
"We closed the game well," UNCG coach Lynne Agee said. "We got the lead late and held on and made some defensive stops. We played well down the stretch and hit our free throws and closed out like we needed to. Hyson stepped up big for us today, and we got clutch baskets from Dayshaun late."
Stokes had a game-high nine rebounds to lead the Rams, while Smith and Leigh had six each for the Spartans.
UNCG returns home to host North Carolina Central on Wednesday. Opening tip is set for 7 p.m. at Fleming Gym.
Chattanooga 69, Clemson 56
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team picked up a big 69-56 non-conference win against Clemson Saturday night. Senior Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) scored a career-high 27 points to help the Lady Mocs even their season record at 5-5. Clemson falls to 6-4 on the year.
The Lady Mocs jumped out to a 15-6 lead on a lay-up by senior Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacuaga, Ala.) at the 15 minute mark. UTC hit six of their first nine attempts from the floor, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Chattanooga would only make four of their next 23 attempts from the field in the first half.
For the second straight game, Hollinquest had to deal with first half foul trouble. She went to the bench with her second foul at the 7:39 mark and UTC leading 21-13. With the team's leading scorer out, Chattanooga only managed one more field goal the rest of the first half.
Clemson used a 7-0 spurt, capped by Kirstyn Wright's layup with 4:51 left, to cut the deficit to 21-20. UTC's strong defense kept them in the lead. The Lady Mocs held Clemson to just 30.8% from the field and forced 10 turnovers in the first to take a 24-20 advantage at the break.
Clemson tried to chip away at the lead in the opening minutes of the second half. Wade-Fray kept UTC on top with aggressively driving to the basket. She made three layups in the half-court set and sank two free throws to give the Lady Mocs a 34-29 lead with 13:36 left in the game.
Wade-Fray sparked another run with a step-back 3-pointer to put UTC up 42-31 at the 10:32 mark. She hit another one a minute later to give the Lady Mocs a 45-33 advantage. Freshman Michelle Davis (Cleveland, Tenn.) made it three-in-a-row from deep to extend the lead to 48-34 with nine minutes left.
Every time Clemson made a run, Wade-Fray hit a big shot for the Lady Mocs. The Tigers' Bryelle Smith cut the lead to eight 48-40 at 7:14 with a 3-pointer from the corner. Wade-Fray answered with a 3-pointer of her own to put UTC back up 51-40 with just under seven minutes left.
Smith again cut the lead to six 51-45 on another three with five minute left in the game. Wade-Fray came right back and got the shooter's roll from the corner to give the Lady Mocs a 54-45 lead with 4:45 left.
Chattanooga was able to ice the game from the foul line, hitting 13 of 14 from the charity stripe in the last four minutes of the game.
Wade-Fray, with just five first-half points, shot 9-of-18 from the floor, 5-of-11 from 3-point range and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line. She now has 173 career 3-point field goals, passing Miranda Warfield (2000-04) for third place on UTC's all-time list. Hollinquest had her fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Clemson was led by Shaniqua Pauldo's 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Kirstyn Wright chipped in with 10 points.
Chattanooga hits the road for a four-game swing beginning at Elon on Dec. 17. UTC's next home game is after the new year on Jan. 2 against the College of Charleston at 7:00 p.m. (E.S.T.). Be sure to catch all of the road action on ESPN Radio 105.1 FM or 95.3 The Pulse, with Larry Ward, the "Voice of the Lady Mocs," providing the play-by-play. Fans can also listen online at the official website of Chattanooga athletics, GoMocs.com.
Western Kentucky 61, Western Carolina 41
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Western Carolina women's basketball (2-8) fell to Western Kentucky 61-41 (5-4) Saturday in E.A. Diddle Arena. Jessica Jackson scored a career-high 15 points, all in the second half, in the loss.
The Catamounts scored a season-low 16 points in the first half, only hitting seven field goals, shooting just 28 percent, in the opening 20 minutes. Western Carolina's 41 points for the game was also a season-low.
Western Carolina had spurts of four and three minute scoring dry spells that allowed Western Kentucky to build a 24-16 lead at the half. The Hilltoppers could have ballooned the score even more, but was just 3-of-10 from the free line.
Western Kentucky scored 13 unanswered points in the first seven minutes of the second half to build a lead Western Carolina couldn't come back from. The Catamounts scored its first point of the second half when sophomore TT Belcher hit one of two free throws at the 13:32 minute mark.
Western Carolina didn't hit a field goal in the second frame until Jackson hit a jumper with 10:42 left in the game. Jackson scored 15 of the Catamounts 27 points of the second half.
The Catamounts shot just 30.4 percent from the field and hit just two three-pointers in the game.
Western Carolina will take seven days off, for finals, before playing at Georgia Southern on Saturday, December 19, in game three of its five-game road swing. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.