Georgia Southern 73, Appalachian State 68

BOONE, N.C. - Only a three-point game with 16.9 seconds remaining, a jump ball kept possession to Georgia Southern, as the Lady Eagles held on for a 73-68 win over Southern Conference foe Appalachian State Wednesday night (December 2). The Lady Eagles, 21-of-25 from the charity stripe, picked up their first road win of the year and opened league play with a strong showing in the Holmes Center. Georgia Southern improved to 2-4 overall, 1-0 in SoCon play for the season, while Appalachian State dropped to 2-4, 0-1.

"It was a very physical, hard-fought contest tonight. A lot of people came out ready to play," said head coach Rusty Cram. "Our pre-season schedule had as much to do with tonight as anything. We played hard, aggressive and answered their runs. Overall, I thought Carolyn [Whitney], J'Lisia [Ogburn] and Krista [Tate] stood out from all those that played well tonight."

An offensive combination from J'Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) and Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) put the Lady Eagles up 6-4 at the first media timeout in the first half. ASU's offense up to then came solely from the hands of Sam Ramirez who drained a 3-pointer and connected on one free throw. Kelsey Sharkey pushed the Mountaineers in the lead, 9-6, draining one from beyond the arc, but Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) responded with a 3-pointer, knotting the score at 9-all.  ASU took a 5-point lead off an old-fashioned three-point play by Courtney Freeman with 8:10 remaining in the opening stanza.  An 8-2 Georgia Southern run returned control to the Lady Eagles, 23-22, at the 4:30 marker - a lead GS never relinquished thereafter.

 The run continued as Ogburn drained a couple buckets and Briana Scott (Dumfries, Va.), assisted by Ogburn, finished out the half with a lay-up in the paint. Closing out the opening frame on a 14-2 run, the Lady Eagles held a seven point lead, 29-22, at intermission.

Junior Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) improved to a perfect 19-of-19 from the charity stripe this season, hitting two late in the first half, helping GSU to a 6-of-9 effort from the line. Meanwhile, ASU went a dismal 2-of-6 from the line. At the conclusion of the opening frame, Georgia Southern was led by Ogburn with seven points and five boards. ASU's Ramirez led the offense with seven points, while Freeman and Ashlen Dewart led on the glass, each pulling down five rebounds.

Shooting 40.0 percent from the floor in the first half, the Mountaineers were held to 26.7 percent shooting.

Georgia Southern continued to push its strong offense in the second half opening as the Lady Eagles held ASU to one field goal while widening its lead to 15 points, 39-24, within the first three minutes. The Mountaineers put together a 7-0 run to come within eight, 39-31, before Geiger hit a basket for a 10-point lead at the first media timeout. Ogburn returned a 10-point lead to Georgia Southern after ASU pulled to within six, producing a three-point play as Dewart fouled out for the Mountaineers with just over eight minutes of play remaining.

ASU pulled to within five points, 55-50, with a field goal and 3-pointer from Anna Freeman, but Georgia Southern held strong, re-opening a nine point lead on consecutive buckets from Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.) and Candice Ivy (Roswell, Ga.) with four minutes and change remaining. Anna Freeman hit her third trey of the game to pull ASU to within four points, 67-63. With 47.8 seconds left, the Mountaineers made it a one possession game as Chakeitha Weldon nailed a three-pointer, making the score 71-68. Whitney visited the charity stripe for the fifth time, connecting on both for a 73-68 final score.

Georgia Southern shot 48.3 percent in the second half, 44.4 percent overall, and 93.8 percent from the free throw line going 6-of-7 down tstretch in the second frame. The Lady Eagles went 21-of-25 from the free throw line, helped by Whitney's 9-of-10 effort, while ASU was 8-of-21.

Whitney and Ogburn tied for the game-high in scoring, each contributing 16 points and eight boards. Tate tallied double figures in scoring with 10 points and six rebounds.

ASU posted three players in double digits, led by Dewart and Ramirez, each with 14. Anna Freeman added 13. Dewart paced the Mountaineers on the glass, pulling down 10 rebounds. Overall, ASU won the edge on glass, 42-to-39, and recorded 15 steals.

Georgia Southern returns home for the first time since the season-opening game on November 13 on Saturday, December 5 with Elon. Tip between the conference schools is slated for 3 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Western Carolina 62, UNC Asheville 51

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina women's basketball halted a three-game losing skid with a 62-51 victory over mountain rival UNC Asheville Wednesday in the Ramsey Center. The Catamounts improve to 2-5 on the year while the Bulldogs fall to 2-4.

Junior guard Kendra Carroll led all scorers with 15 points and was followed by Kristen Feemster who had 11 points and Kaila'Shea Menendez added 10 points. Feemster also led the team pulling down eight rebounds.

The contest was knotted at 25 at the half. Western Carolina was down by as much as seven points, 18-11, with 9:55 left in the half. The Catamounts went on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 20 with 5:51 left. A pair of field goals by both teams tied it again at 20 before the Bulldogs Kendall Shepard hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to give UNCA a 25-22 advantage. The Catamounts had an answer in the form of senior guard Heather Swayne, who hit one of her two three-pointers in the game, with 20 seconds left, to tie the game at 25 heading into the locker room.

Western Carolina hit six three pointers in the first half and ended the game with a season high nine treys as a team. The Catamounts also won the rebounding advantage 39-35.

Coming out of the locker room, Western Carolina took a 27-25 lead when Feemster hit a lay-up off an assist from Jessica Jackson. WCU went on a 13-2 run in the first eight minutes of the second half to build an 11 point advantage, 28-27, capped off by a jumper by Emily Clarke.

UNC Asheville continued to battle and shaved the Catamount lead to just two points, 46-44, with 5:47 remaining when Swayne drained a three-pointer. The Bulldogs' Lindsey Montgomery answered with a lay-up to cut it back to three, 49-46, when Carroll nailed a three-pointer to push the Catamount lead back to six. It was the start of three straight treys for WCU as Clarke hit a three-pointer of her own to balloon the Catamount lead to nine, 55-46, with 3:56 left.

Western Carolina built its largest lead of the game of 14, 61-47, after Feemster hit a lay-up with 1:15 left in the game. The Catamounts shot 42.1 percent for the game while the Bulldogs were held to 33.9 percent from the field. WCU also got 20 points off 15 UNCA turnovers.

Western Carolina completes its three-game home stand on Saturday hosting Southern Conference foe Davidson. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. in the Ramsey Center.

Coastal Carolina 57, College of Charleston 53

Coastal Carolina went eight for nine from the free throw line the last  five minutes of the game to survive a furious College of Charleston  rally and take the 57-53 win over the Cougar women's basketball team in action tonight in front of 352 fans at Kimbel Arena in Conway, S.C.

Charleston dropped to 4-3 while the Chanticleers improved to 5-2 on the year.

After the College of Charleston tied the game at the 13:40 mark in the second half, 33-33, Coastal Carolina outscored the Cougars 12-3 over the next five minutes to take the nine-point, 45-36 lead with 9:02 remaining.  Charleston answered with a 9-2 run off back-to-back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to two, 45-47, with 5:26 remaining.

The Chanticleers only had one basket the last 6:39 of the game but went eight-of-nine from the free throw line to keep the Cougars from getting any closer and came away with the 57-53 win.

The Cougars built an early lead in the first half off eight straight points from Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C.) and led 8-3 with 14:30 
remaining in the first half, but could not sustain it as the Chanticleers rattled off five unanswered to tie the game, 8-8, with 10:44 to go.

Trailing by three, 22-19, with 3:39 to go, Charleston retook the lead, 23-22, with two straight baskets by Ericka Williams (Blackville, S.C.) and NeShonda McLaurin (McColl, S.C.).  The Chanticleers would head into the locker room with the lead as Katie Ahaus nailed a jumper with just over a minute to go to give them the 24-23 halftime lead.

Coastal Carolina shot 47.5 pecent from the field after going 10-of-16 in the second half for 62.5 percent.  Charleston shot 45.1 percent.  

The Cougars were outrebounded 31-25 but outscored the Chanticleers 22-14 inside the paint.

Leading the Cougars was Kotcella with 15 points.  Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C.) and Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) followed with 10 apiece.  Jones led the team in rebounds with seven.

Amanda Stull led the Chanticleers with 18 points, while Olivia Irick paced the team in rebounds with six.

The Cougars return home Dec. 5 an open Southern Conference play as they host UNC Greensboro.  Tip-off is set for 6 pm.  For ticket information visit www.cofcsports.com or call 843.953.CofC (2632).