Charlotte 64, Western Carolina 62
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Western Carolina women's basketball (2-7) dropped a nail-biter with Charlotte (4-5) 64-62 Tuesday in Halton Arena.
The Catamounts had a chance to tie the game, with 10.8 seconds left when Charlotte's Kendria Holmes missed both of her free throws. Emily Clarke ripped down the rebound and passed it off to Jessica Jackson. Clarke had the ball as the final seconds ticked down but she was trapped in the back court and lofted up a desperation shot as time expired.
Western Carolina proved to be road warriors against the 49ers even though the score didn't reflect a win. The Catamounts were down by 11, 33-22, at the half and had just three made field goals in the final 10 minutes of the first 20 minutes.
Charlotte reached its largest lead of the game, 13 points, twice and was up 37-24 with 17:55 left in the second half. Western Carolina exploded, going on a 21-5 run, in a seven minute span that gave WCU its first lead of the second half, 43-42 with 10:55 remaining.
From there it was a nip-tuck game. Tied at 47, with 9:46 left, Western Carolina took a three-point advantage off a three-pointer by Clarke - it was the largest lead of the half for WCU. Western Carolina's final lead of the game was one point off a jumper by Kaila'Shea Menendez to make it 56-55.
With 2:48 left, Charlotte's Ashley Spriggs hit a bucket to give the 49ers the lead for good. With 56 seconds remaining, Charlotte was up by five when Jessica Jackson maneuvered around the defenders for a lay-up, to cut it to two points. Shannon McCallum hit one of two free throws, with 32 seconds left, push the lead back to four for Charlotte.
Clarke led all scorers with 19 points. Kendra Carroll and Menendez followed with 15 points a piece. Western Carolina was near perfection at the free throw line, hitting 12-off-14.
No. 19 Virginia 74, Furman 43
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. - Monica Wright scored 30 points to power Virginia to a 74-43 win over Furman in women’s basketball action Tuesday evening at John Paul Jones Arena.
Wright’s 30-point performance, which came in just 27 minutes of action, included 10-of-16 shooting from the field and 8-of-10 work at the free throw line. It was also spiced with eight rebounds, nine steals, and seven assists,
Whitny Edwards joined Wright in double figures with 17 points to go along with nine rebounds, and Simone Egwu claimed a game high 12 boards for the Cavaliers (7-2).
Furman (2-8) was paced by Raegan Thompson’s nine points.
WIth the score tied 8-8 three minutes into the contest, Virginia went on a 22-0 run, holding Furman scoreless over a 12-minute span, on the way to a 30-8 advantage following a layup by Wright with 4:47 left in the first half.
A Kali Holtfreter 3-pointer at the 4:35 mark halted the Paladin scoring drought, but the Cavaliers took a 38-15 lead into intermission.
Virginia maintained its comfortable margin, outscoring Furman 36-28 over the game’s final 20 minutes.
The Cavaliers shot 45.0 percent from the field (27-for-60) and limited Furman to just 16-of-49 field goal attempts (32.7 percent).
Virginia recorded a commanding 47-28 rebounding advantage and forced 26 Furman turnovers.
The Paladins take a break for exams before returning to action on Sunday, when they entertain Stetson in a 1:30 p.m. game.