Elon 74, Chattanooga 66
ELON, N.C - Freshman Ali Ford displayed her scoring prowess, dropping a game-high 22 points to lead the Elon women's basketball team to a 74-66 win over the Chattanooga Lady Mocs. The win was Elon's first-ever over the 10-time Southern Conference champions. The Phoenix also picked up its first SoCon win of the season to improve to 1-2 in the conference and 4-6 overall. Chattanooga drops to 5-6 on the season and 2-2 in league play.
"I am proud for this team and proud for Elon," head coach Karen Barefoot said. "The team bought into the game plan tonight and came away with a huge win."
In addition to leading the team in scoring, Ford dished four assists and tied teammate Kelsey Evans with a team-best five rebounds. Urysla Cotton was one of four Elon scorers in double figures, connecting on 5-of-6 from the floor for 11 points. Tiara Gause drained 9-of-11 from the charity stripe and was 1-of-2 from the field to finish with 13 points. Evans added 10 points in the win.
The Phoenix used stellar guard play and a dominating defense to force Chattanooga to turn the ball over 25 times, as Elon scored 24 points off of the errors. Senior Tiffany Davis dished seven assists and grabbed four steals.
Elon opened the game on a 13-2 run that included three buckets by Cotton. Chattanooga used a 15-2 run to take its first lead of the game at 16-15 at the 5:30 mark. The Phoenix retook the lead at 20-18 and would not trail again for the duration of the game. Elon opened up a 26-20 lead on an 11-2 streak with just over three minutes remaining in the first half. Chattanooga cut the lead to two, 26-24, with 1:34 on the clock, but a Cotton free throw and a jump shot to send the Phoenix into the half holding a 29-24 lead.
The teams traded buckets in the opening minutes of the final half of play. Lei Lei Hairston connected on a jumper that sparked a 9-0 Phoenix run and put Elon up 45-36 with 13:12 left in the game. Over the next three minutes, the teams combined for four shots from downtown, resulting in an eight-point Elon lead at 50-42.
Elon tied its largest lead of the night at 13, 61-48, on a Davis bucket with 3:15 on the clock. Chattanooga cut the Phoenix lead to eight with a 5-0 run that made it a 61-53 game. With 17 seconds left in the game, UTC's Kayla Christopher brought the score to 70-66 before a pair of free throws by Ford and Gause sealed the game for the Phoenix.
For the second straight game, the Phoenix eclipsed the 70-point mark. Elon is now 4-0 on the season when it scores at least 70 tallies.
"When you think of women's basketball in the Southern Conference, you think about Chattanooga," Ford commented. "You don't need motivation. Playing the best in the league is all you need to get hyped. Nights like tonight is why we play the game. We had nothing to lose and everything to gain."
The Phoenix is back in action on Saturday afternoon when it hosts the Samford Bulldogs at 2 p.m., in Alumni Gym. It will be just the third meeting between the SoCon North Division foes, with Samford taking both contests.
Appalachian State 92, East Tennessee State 87
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball found itself down by as many as nine points in the second-half thanks in part to a 15-0 East Tennessee State run, but the Mountaineers staged a thrilling comeback and were able to capture a five point victory over their former SoCon rival, winning 92-87 Thursday evening at the Holmes Center. The victory gives the Apps their first home win of the 2009-10 season and improves ASU to an even 4-4 on the season, while the loss drops the Lady Bucs to 3-4 overall.
After leading at the break by two points, ETSU came out on fire in second half action, as the Lady Bucs scored fifteen straight un-answered points to go ahead 64-57 with a little under 12 minutes to play in the contest. Gwen Washington and TaRonda Wiles paced ETSU's deadly offensive assault, accounting for 13 of the points during the run.
Wiles finished the game with a season-high 27 points and 10 rebounds.
However, Appalachian would not back down as Sade' Means (Atlanta, Ga./B.E. Mays) drilled her first trey of the season to give the Black and Gold some life and pull within six points. Teammates Courtney Freeman (Carlton, Ga./Madison County) and Chakeitha Weldon (Atlanta, Ga./Kansas) followed suit chipping away at ETSU's lead, as a Freeman layup cut ASU's deficit to three.
The spark helped the Mountaineers get hot late, as the Apps posted a 15-3 run to close out the game, which proved to be the difference-maker in the contest. Freshman Ashlen Dewart (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) was unstoppable and came up big for the Apps during the run, scoring nine points, including seven in a row.
The Spartanburg, S.C. native was yet again dominate, totaling a game and career-high 30 points against the Lady Bucs, along with hauling in a game-best 14 boards. The performance marked Dewart's third double-double of her career and was the sixth time this season she finished a game in double-figures scoring.
The first half was hotly contested as a the two teams traded buckets, with junior Sam Ramirez (Fayetteville, N.C./Southview) scoring the first seven points of the game for the Mountaineers. A 6-0 ETSU run put the Lady Bucs up 21-17, but Appalachian continued to battle with Ramirez draining yet another trey to put Appalachian back on top by two.
Ramirez was impressive on the night as well, pouring in all 21 of her points in the first half, going 4-7 from behind the arc. She also dished out six assists and had five steals.
Ramirez tallied 11 more points in the half, while a Dewart layup gave ASU the 47-45 advantage heading into the break.
After falling behind by nine in the second, ASU rallied a comeback and free throws proved to be crucial for the Mountaineers down the stretch with Dewart, Kelsey Sharkey (Cincinatti, Ohio/St. Ursula) and Courtney Freeman sinking six to ensure the victory.
Appalachian looks to continue its strong play, as the Apps return to conference action Monday December 21 to take on familiar foe Furman. The tip is set for 5 p.m. at the Holmes Center.
Notes: ASU's 2-1 record in December gives the Apps their best start to the month since the 2006-07 season ... Appalachian swatted a total of 11 blocks as a team, setting a new single season team block record set back in 2005 ... the win gives a Darcie Vincent coached team its first over a squad that earned a postseason berth a season ago and first over ETSU ... Dewart's 30 points were the most scored by an Appalachian player, since Maria Grimes had 33 against Georgia Southern on January 20, 2007 ... the 92 points were Appalachian's most of the season, and most since scoring 92 against Wofford back in 2008.