Georgia Southern 56, UNC Asheville 38
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Georgia Southern led by 13 points at halftime and picked up another 22 in the second half, defeating UNC Asheville, 56-38 Wednesday night (December 16) in the Justice Center. The win pushed Georgia Southern to 5-4 overall and Asheville drops to 3-6. The win closed out a road swing for the Lady Eagles who return home to begin a four-game homestand starting Saturday, December 19.
Senior Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) led the Eagles' offense at the half with 10 points. Fellow classmate J'Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) picked up seven points in the second half to take the team-lead with 16 points on the night. Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.) led on the boards for the Lady Eagles with eight and Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) followed pulling down seven rebounds.
Georgia Southern forced 18 Asheville turnovers allowing 24 Lady Eagle points. Led by Navarro's six assists, GS recorded 18 assists on the evening to Asheville's eight.
Scoreless from three-point land on nine attempts at intermission, Asheville finished 1-of-19 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, GS, 50.0% at the half, added two more treys from three-point land, to outscore the Bulldogs, 21-3 from three-point range.
Georgia Southern shot 38.6 percent from the floor while holding Asheville to 26.4 percent shooting. The Bulldogs were paced in scoring by Lindsey Montgomery who scored 11 points in the second frame to finish with 14. Montgomery posted her second consecutive double-double with 10 rebounds.
"I'm certainly thankful for the win," said head coach Rusty Cram. "I thought Jamie [Navarro] and Samantha [Williams] both played solid all night for us and I thought our bench came off and posted big minutes for us again."
The producer of an old-fashioned three-point play, junior Navarro (Naples, Fla.) extended Georgia Southern's lead to 39-23 in the second half within the opening three minutes. Samantha Williams' (Kingsport, Tenn.) second three-pointer of the evening pushed the Lady Eagles in front, 46-31, at the 10:25 mark. Held to only three points in the opening frame, Montgomery lit up the floor for the Bulldogs in the second half, collecting nine points including a '3' that pulled the score to 46-34 at the third media timeout. Down the stretch, Georgia Southern saw buckets from Candice Ivy (Roswell, Ga.) and Williams to close out the 56-38 non-conference win.
Georgia Southern opened with a quick 11-4 lead before the first media timeout, with treys from Whitney and Navarro helping the Lady Eagles' offense. UNCA cut the lead to three points with a 4-0 run midway through the half, but GS built its lead back to eight points, 20-12, with Whitney hitting her second trey and buckets from Ogburn and Ivy.
Asheville chipped away at its deficit pulling to within five points twice, but the Lady Eagles maintained control, holding onto a 13 point lead, 34-21, at the break.
"We were all pleased with the win and are looking forward to getting back home," said Cram. "It is always tough playing during the holidays, but even harder playing on the road. So I know the team is looking forward to the next four games in Hanner."
The trip to Asheville closed out the two-game road trip and the Lady Eagles return to the comforts of home on Saturday, December 19 welcoming Western Carolina. The return to Southern Conference action marks the first of four straight home games for Georgia Southern. Tip is set for 3 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.
UNC Greensboro 70, North Carolina Central 57
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNC Greensboro put three student-athletes in double figures and turned in back-to-back wins for the first time this season, downing North Carolina Central on Wednesday, 70-57.
Amy Clapper and senior Lakiah Hyson scored 11 points each for UNCG (3-6), which also got 10 points from Brey Dorsett. Clapper scored all 11 of her points after halftime, while Dorsett scored all 10 of hers in the opening stanza. Both players' totals were career highs.
Freshman Joanna Miller scored a game- and career-high 25 points to lead the Lady Eagles (0-8). J'Mia Pollock was also in double figures with 10 points.
UNCG led by as many as 30 in the second half before N.C. Central made a late push.
The Spartans held NCCU to just 30.8 percent shooting (8-for-26) in the first half in building a 38-18 halftime lead. UNCG broke the game open with a 15-2 run that turned a two-point deficit into an 18-7 lead with 11:04 left in the opening half.
Spartans coach Lynne Agee replaced all five starters less than four minutes into the contest, putting Dorsett, Dayshaun Richbow, Agne Girstautaite, Sarah Folwell and TaShama Banner in with 16:13 to play.
That group, as well as Sidnei Harmon, who came in for Folwell a couple of minutes later, sparked the big run. The starters returned after the under-12 media timeout and capped the run, with Monique Floyd, Kendra Smith and Hyson netting the final six points.
Dorsett had seven of her points in the stretch, surpassing her previous career high of six in a span of less than four minutes.
The freshman from Winston-Salem, N.C., was on fire in the first half, going 4-for-4 from the floor and 2-for-2 from 3-point range. She hit a jumper just seconds after entering the game, then hit another jumper and a 3-pointer 45 seconds apart to give her a new career high. She added another 3 later in the frame to give her a game-high 10 at the break.
The Spartans' bench was crucial in the opening frame, scoring 20 of UNCG's 38 first-half points. NCCU's bench contributed just two points in the first 20 minutes.
NCCU held UNCG without a field goal for the first 4:19 of the second half, but the Spartans actually increased their lead from the free throw line. Girstautaite had three points and Clapper and Folwell added one each as UNCG pushed its lead to 43-20 before Hyson's layup with 15:41 to play.
Clapper then scored the Spartans' next nine points, converting passes from three different players into easy layups.
UNCG twice pushed its lead to 30 points - the first on a Floyd free throw that made it 67-37 with 4:49 to play - before the Lady Eagles finished the game on a 20-3 run.
Miller took over for NCCU in the run, as she scored 10 points in the final 3:02 of play.
UNCG forced 35 turnovers by the Lady Eagles. Miller had a dubious double-double with 11 turnovers to go with her 25 points.
The Spartans got contributions from all over its bench, and all 14 players that suited up Wednesday played at least 5 minutes. Banner blocked a career-best two shots, while Richbow had a career-high five steals. Smith had seven points and a season-best eight rebounds.
The win was UNCG's second in a row. The Spartans topped Fordham on Saturday, 69-63, to snap a six-game losing streak.
UNCG returns to action Saturday when it hosts Southern Conference power Chattanooga at 3 p.m.