Western Carolina 56, Chattanooga 52
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Lady Mocs (20-8, 16-3) comeback effort was thwarted by Western Carolina (16-11, 12-6) Saturday afternoon at the McKenzie Arena as Chattanooga bid farewell to its two seniors. Western Carolina prevailed 56-52 to snap UTC’s 24-game Southern Conference home win streak.
With the Lady Mocs trailing 49-37 with 7:34 to play in the game, junior Shanara Hollinquest hit a layup to spark a 13-3 run over the next 5:18 to draw Chattanooga to within 52-50 with 2:16 to play. Senior LaCondra Mason, playing in her last regular season home game with Chattanooga, exploded for seven points in the run to close out the game with 12 points.
Kaila’Shea Menendez hit a pair of free throws to put the Catamounts back up by two with less than two minutes to play and Jenaya Wade-Fray, with 13 points on the day, hit a pair from the charity stripe to cut it back to two with 1:29 to go.
After a 30 second time out, a foul by UTC’s Tagan Hatchett sent Kendra Carroll to the line. On the miss, Mason grabbed the rebound and went coast-to-coast but was fouled on the layup attempt that wouldn’t fall.
Mason’s free throws wouldn’t fall and Heather Swayne connected on a pair to put the Catamounts up 56-52 for the final score.
Western Carolina out rebounded the Lady Mocs 46-33 with 16 offensive boards. Chattanooga had just 11 turnovers in the game and scored 16 points off 18 Catamount errors. The Lady Mocs struggled from the outside making a season-low two from the 3-point line in 18 attempts and shot 34.6 percent for the game, 42.3 percent in the second half.
Swayne led the Lady Cats with 13 points and Brooke Johnson had 10 points and six boards while Menendez had 10 points as well.
Hatchett had a season-high five assists and Wade-Fray made three steals in the game and Mason had a pair of swipes.
The Lady Mocs fall a half game behind Samford for the SoCon lead and will face the Bulldogs next Saturday in Birmingham, Ala., at 3 p.m. ET.
Western Carolina will also face Samford in its next game, taking on the Bulldogs at 8 p.m. ET Monday night, looking to keep alive its hopes for the third seed in the upcoming Southern Conference Championship.
College of Charleston 57, Appalachian State 55
Charleston, S.C. ? Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) scored the game-winning three-pointer with 14 seconds remaining to hold off a furious Appalachian State rally and lead the College of Charleston women’s basketball team to the 57-55 victory this afternoon in front of 626 fans at the Carolina First Arena.
Charleston improves to 20-7 overall and 13-6 in the Southern Conference. It is the first 20-win season for the Cougars in their NCAA history and first since going 28-4 in the 1988-89, their last year in the NAIA. The 13 league wins is also the most for the team ever in conference play. Appalachian State falls to 7-20 and 6-12.
The Cougars seemed in control and led 53-43 with 4:13 remaining before the Mountaineers rattled off 12 unanswered points to take the 55-53 lead with 28 seconds to go. Leading the Mountaineer charge was Sam Ramirez, who scored eight of her 19 points during that stretch. On the next possession Hughes nailed the go-ahead three and Charleston was able to hold on for the 57-55 win.
The first half was a close affair for the first two minutes as the Cougars held a 15-13 lead with 10:16 to go before intermission. Charleston then outscored the Mountaineers 17-3 over the next nine minutes and held it largest lead of the game with 46 seconds to go, 32-16. ASU ended the half with two straight baskets to cut the margin to 12 heading into the locker room, 32-20.
Appalachian State improved its first half shooting percentage of 32.1 to hit 55.2 percent in the second half for 43.9 for the game. Charleston shot 42.9 percent from the field for the game. The Cougars were nine-for-11 from the charity stripe, compared to just two-for-nine for ASU. Charleston out-rebounded Appalachian State, 38-29 and had five more turnovers, 23-18. CofC was six-for-15 from the beyond the three-point arc, including a three-for-six effort by Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C.). ASU was three-for-eight.
Leading ASU was Ramirez with her 19 points. Brittany Mixon followed with 16 on the afternoon and a team-leading seven rebounds. Sarah Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C.) led in points and rebounds with 11 points and seven rebounds each. Hughes and Kotcella had 10 points each.
Charleston hosts its last regular-season game with a 7:00 p.m. matchup against Davidson.
ASU heads to Greensboro to face UNC Greensboro Monday night at 7 p.m.
Wofford 56, Elon 51
ELON, N.C. ? Liz Miller poured in 22 points as Wofford fended off Elon 56-51 in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Saturday night at Alumni Gym. Miller connected on six of her nine shots from the field, including two of her four attempts from three-point range, and eight of her 10 tries from the free throw line.
The contest was highlighted by four ties and six lead changes. The Terriers (5-21 overall, 3-15 SoCon) built a 35-27 lead on a jumper by April Moorhouse with 15:57 left to play, but the Phoenix (3-24 overall, 1-17 SoCon) responded by reeling off 10 consecutive points to seize a 37-35 advantage on a jumper by Aiesha Harper with 12:14 remaining.
Wofford charged back with a 17-9 run to forge a 52-46 edge on a layup by Kathlyn Varno with 5:34 to go. Elon answered with a 5-1 spurt to draw to within 53-51 on a free throw by Harper at the 1:32 mark, but could inch no closer. Miller canned a charity shot with 43 ticks to play and Kelly Dwyer sank a pair of freebies with one second left to determine the final margin.
Harper finished with 18 points while teammate Urysla Cotton fashioned a double-double performance with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Phoenix outscored the Terriers 24-22 in the paint and 23-11 off the bench. Meanwhile, Wofford outscored Elon 23-19 off turnovers. The Phoenix won the battle of the boards by a 39-37 margin and committed 23 turnovers to 28 by the Terriers.
Wofford fired 39.1 percent (18 of 46) from the field ? 33.3 percent (2 of 6) from three-point land ? and 64.3 percent (18 of 28) from the free throw line. Elon shot 33.3 percent (17 of 51) from the floor ? 33.3 percent (2 of 6) from beyond the arch ? and 46.9 percent (15 of 32) from the charity stripe.
The Terriers will now return home to face Georgia Southern at 4 p.m. Monday. The Phoenix will return to action when Furman visits Alumni Gym at 7 p.m. Monday.
Davidson 65, Georgia Southern 57
STATESBORO, Ga. - Seniors Ashley Melson and Ashley Rivens were looking to snap a 10-game winning streak Davidson holds over Georgia Southern on senior day, but the Wildcats managed to hold off the Lady Eagles Saturday afternoon (Feb. 21) in Hanner Fieldhouse for a Southern Conference win. A 65-57 decision pushed Davidson to 11-16 overall and 10-8 in Southern Conference play, while Georgia Southern dropped to 15-12, 10-8.
Georgia Southern led by one at the half, 27-26, but could not hold on to the lead as Davidson outscored the Lady Eagles 39-30 in the second half. Despite winning the edge on glass, 39-36, Georgia Southern hit a season low 1-of-21 from beyond the three point arc (5 percent) to Davidson’s 8-of-16 effort (50 percent). The Lady Eagles scored 22 points off Davidson’s 20 errors, but the Wildcats shot 50 percent from the floor to the Lady Eagles’ 32 percent in the game.
Freshman Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) exploded for a three minute spurt in the second half, scoring eight points and securing three rebounds to draw the Lady Eagles to within two, 51-49, with 4:31 to play. After a lay-up from Monica Laune, senior Rivens (Charlotte, N.C.), playing in her last home game of her career, hit two from the charity stripe to cut Davidson’s lead back down to two. But consecutive treys from Alex Thompson and Ashley Lax widened the Wildcats’ margin to six points with :54 remaining in the game.
Senior Eagle Melson connected on a three point play with a jumper and free throw with :17 seconds left, but Davidson went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final seconds to secure the 65-57 final score. Over the final four minutes, the Wildcats went on a 16-7 run, going 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
“Sam [Samantha Williams] was unbelievable during that stretch in the second half,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “She put us back in the ballgame single handedly. But then we’d get unfocused and they would nail us in the back with a three. And that’s frustrating.
The bench was the difference tonight. Other than Sam, we didn’t get much bench help. She [Williams] showed great determination and hard work today,” said Cram.
Georgia Southern trailed the majority of the first half, but tied the game twice and held the lead three times over the course of the opening twenty minutes. Down 12-5 with 12:50 to go in the opening stanza, the Lady Eagles went on an 8-2 run over 3:47 to make it a one point game, 14-13. The Wildcats managed to widen its lead back to five points, but Rivens and Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) teamed up on back-to-back field goals to tie the game at 18 apiece with 5:02 remaining.
After a three pointer from Lax, J'Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.), who opened the game scoring Georgia Southern’s first four from the field, connected on a pair from the charity stripe to make it a 21-20 Davidson game. Jumpers from Rivens and Ogburn pushed Georgia Southern back in the lead, 24-23, with 2:20 to go. But Lax nailed her third trey of the first half before Navarro drained a jumper to tie the game at 26-all with :53 seconds to go. Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.) took a trip to the free throw line, connecting on 1-of-2, to close out the half with a 27-26 Georgia Southern lead.
Ogburn paced Georgia Southern today, scoring a team-high 15 points. Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) pulled down a team-best seven boards. Seniors Melson and Rivens had identical games as both scored 10 points and secured three rebounds in their final home game as Lady Eagles.
Lax led the Wildcats’ with a game-high 24 points, while Kristen Johnson secured a team-best seven rebounds.
Georgia Southern hits the road for its final two games of the season next. The Lady Eagles travel to Spartanburg, S.C. for a 4 pm tip against Wofford on Monday, February 23. Georgia Southern closes out the regular season with a trip to Appalachian State on February 28.
The Wildcats face the College of Charleston in Charleston on Monday night at 7 p.m. in game two of a three-game road trip.
UNC Greensboro 61, Furman 54
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Lakiah Hudson scored 17 points and Monique Floyd added 15 points to lead UNC Greensboro to a 61-54 victory over Furman in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon on Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena.
The victory was the fourth in the past five games for UNC Greensboro (11-16, 8-10 SoCon), which avenged an earlier 66-63 overtime loss to Furman (11-16, 5-13 SoCon), which has now dropped nine of its last 10 games.
Led by Lee Stephens with 11 points, Furman shot just 31.3 percent from the field in the game, converting only 21-of-67 shots. Senior Melissa Liebschwager, who entered the contest as the SoCon’s leader in 3-point field goal percentage, connected on just 1-of-9 attempts from beyond the arc and just 1-of-16 field goal attempts.
Sarah Baker was the only other Paladin in double figures with 10 points. She also claimed nine rebounds, tying Katie Johnson for game high honors on the boards.
Amanda Lee’s 11-point performance gave UNC three double figure scorers, and Gini Grimsley paced the Spartans on the glass with nine caroms.
UNCG converted just 12-of-21 free throws while Furman made only four of five shots from the charity stripe.
Leading 26-23 at halftime, UNCG maintained its advantage over the first 14 minutes of the second half before Furman’s Lashana Booker canned a couple of free throws to tie the game at 49-49 with 5:50 to go.
A Booker layup at the 4:49 mark gave Furman a 51-49 lead, its first of the game, but Hyson’s 3-pointer at the 3:15 remaining put the Spartans up 54-52.
UNCG then took control with Grimsley 3-pointer that gave the Spartans a 59-54 lead with 42 seconds to go.
Furman plays at Elon on Monday at 7:00 p.m. while UNCG hosts Appalachian State, also at 7:00 p.m.