Western Carolina 55, Samford 53
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team dropped a 55-53 decision to the Western Carolina Lady Catamounts Monday evening in a Southern Conference contest in the Pete Hanna Center.
Samford trailed 29-19 at halftime, but the Bulldogs' comeback fell just short in the second half.
"As a team, I was pleased with the way we came out in the second half," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We bowed up and defended. They really took it to us, physically in the first half. We just physically and mentally were not tough enough."
With the loss, Samford drops to 21-5 overall and 16-3 in Southern Conference action, while Western Carolina improves to 17-11 overall and 13-6 in league play. Samford is currently tied with Chattanooga for first place in the league, and the two teams will meet Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale to decide the conference championship.
Samford was led by Emily London, scoring a career-high 24 points. Savannah Hill and Karmen Smith added nine points each for the Bulldogs.
For Western Carolina, Lauren Powell led the way with 13 points. Emily Clarke and Brooke Johnson had eight points apiece for the Lady Catamounts.
The teams traded baskets early in the first half. With the score tied at 6-6, Western Carolina went on a 17-1 run to take a 23-7 lead with 8:45 to go in the half after a layup by Diamond Hunnicutt.
With Samford trailing, 25-9, the Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 10 at 27-17 with 3:21 to go after a pair of free throws by London. The Lady Catamounts took a 29-19 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Samford quickly cut the WCU lead to five at 33-28 with 16:01 to play following a free throw by Megan Wilderotter. The Bulldogs closed to within three points at 35-32 with 14:24 to go after a layup by London.
Western Carolina quickly pushed the lead back out to eight points at 40-32 with 12:53 left in the contest. Samford score six of the next eight points to cut the lead back to four at 42-38 with 11:35 to go after a three-pointer by Smith.
With Samford trailing, 49-43, the Bulldogs rattled off five-straight points to close to within one point at 49-48 with 3:34 to go after a free throw by Chika Okoli. With Samford trailing, 54-50, London hit a three-pointer with four seconds to go to cut the lead to 54-53, but the Bulldogs could not score again as the Lady Catamounts came away with the 55-53 win.
Saturday's game against Chattanooga is scheduled for a 2 p.m. CT start from the Pete Hanna Center.
Western Carolina finishes the regular season Saturday afternoon when it hosts Wofford at 4 p.m. ET.
College of Charleston 54, Davidson 53
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Senior forward Nikki Williams (North, S.C.) hit one of two free throws with 0.4 seconds remaining as College of Charleston (21-7, 14-6) came from 12 points down to defeat Davidson (11-17, 10-9) 54-53 Monday evening in a Southern Conference women’s basketball game at the Carolina First Arena.
Trailing 47-37 with 11:10 to play, the Cougars defense stepped up and held the Wildcats scoreless over the next 6:42 and clawed even at 47-47 with 4:28 remaining in regulation. Following an exchange of baskets to make it 49-49 with 3:20 to play, sophomore guard Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) drilled a three-pointer at the 2:06 mark to put Charleston ahead 52-49 for their first lead of the game.
A jumper by senior guard Mandy Halbersleben closed the gap to 52-51 before junior forward Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C.) added a free throw with 53 seconds to play to make it 53-51. Junior guard Monica Luane then pulled Davidson even with a pair of free throws with 28 seconds to go.
Holding the ball for a final shot at the other end, Charleston missed a jumper with four seconds remaining but Nikki Williams grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled going back up with 0.4 seconds on the clock. After a Wildcat timeout, Williams calmly sank the first free throw before missing the second completely. The Cougars then survived a full court pass by Davidson to claim the 54-53 victory.
It was a far different story in the first half as Davidson worked their way out to a 20-12 lead with 7:27 to play. They would extend that lead to 26-16 three and a half minutes later before taking a 34-26 lead into the break. At the start of the second half, Charleston narrowed the margin to 38-32 before a 6-0 Wildcat run pushed the lead back to double-digits at 44-32 at the 13:12 mark. Charleston would narrow the gap to 47-37 before launching their defensive stand and setting the stage for a second half comeback.
“I think it a tremendous win for us” said Cougars head coach Nancy Wilson. “Davidson played with a real purpose tonight and came out strong in the first half. We were trying hard on our end but our shots just weren’t falling”.
Junior guard Alexandra Thompson led Davidson with 16 points, all in the first half, and added seven rebounds while senior forward Mercedes Robinson chipped in with seven points and a game-high eight rebounds. Luane had a solid all-around game with six points, five assists and three rebounds and sophomore guard Ashley Lax finished with eight points.
For Charleston, junior guard Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) led the team with 14 points while junior center Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C.) contributed 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Tonia Gerty scored 10 points on the night, eight in the second half, and hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 2:06 to play. Junior guard Ericka Williams (Blackville, S.C.) finished with seven points and five rebounds while Nikki Williams capped off her night with five points, five rebounds and a game-high three steals.
“Our defense was tremendous tonight and we had a number of people knock in bunch of shots for us” added Wilson. “Nikki Williams rebound was huge for us and Jade Hughes just stayed with their leading scorer (Thompson) and shut her down. She did an excellent job”.
The victory marks only the second win in the last 14 meetings dating back to January 27, 2003 and is the first time the Cougars have swept a season series from Davidson.
The College of Charleston will begin its pursuit of a Southern Conference title when the Cougars head to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the 2009 Southern Conference Tournament. They will enter the tournament as either the third or fourth seed depending upon the outcome of Western Carolina’s game with Wofford on February 28. The Catamounts are currently 17-11 and 13-6 in conference with a win over Samford this evening.
Charleston enters the tournament with a 21-7 overall record and 14-6 mark in conference play and split the season series with WCU this year. The tournament will run from March 5-9 with the winner earning the leagues automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Davidson concludes the regular season Saturday at Furman with tipoff set for 3 p.m.
Georgia Southern 62, Wofford 61
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? Despite double-double performances from both Liz Miller and Mahagony Williams, Georgia Southern hung on to nip the Wofford women’s basketball team, 62-61, in Southern Conference action on Monday afternoon.
After trailing by seven at halftime, Wofford forged a pair of ties and cut GSU’s lead to one point on four separate occasions, but the Terriers could never retake the lead.
The Eagles opened the game with a 7-2 run, and widened their lead to seven by the 13 minute mark. A three-pointer from Maddie Helms keyed a seven-point run for the Terriers that tied the score at 19 with seven minutes remaining in the half, but five points from Georgia Southern’s Ashley Rivens helped give the Eagles their largest lead of the half, at 33-22. A late push by the Terriers sparked by another three-pointer from Helms cut the Eagle lead to seven heading into halftime.
Georgia Southern was able to maintain a steady lead to start the second half, but the Terriers turned up their defense and were able to cut the Eagles’ lead to three points with 9:37 remaining and again with 8:58 to play. A made free throw from Kate Dempsey cut the lead again, and a layup from Miller tied the game at 49.
The Eagles’ Ashley Rivens responded eight seconds later with a three-pointer, but the Terriers fought to keep the score close and tied the game again at the 3:30 mark. A string of four free-throws gave the Eagles a four-point lead, but a pair of good free-throws by Miller and a jumper from Williams put Wofford within one point with only 40 seconds remaining. Despite the Terriers’ best efforts and a last-second shot from Miller, Wofford was unable to pull out the upset, falling 62-61 to the Eagles on Senior Night.
Georgia Southern was led by senior Ashley Riven’s 19 points, while senior Ashley Melson added 16 points and led the team with seven rebounds. J’Lisia Ogburn contributed 10 points and also collected seven boards for the Eagles. Georgia Southern capitalized on the Terriers’ miscues, turning 21 turnovers into 23 points.
The victory was the 200th in head coach Rusty Cram’s career.
Wofford’s Miller turned in a career performance for the second straight game, grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds en route to a double-double with a team-leading 14 points. Sophomore Mahagony Williams also recorded a double-double, with 13 points and 15 rebounds. Senior Kate Dempsey added 11 points and sophomore Maddie Helms contributed 10.
With the loss, Wofford falls to 5-22 on the season and 3-16 in the Southern Conference while Georgia Southern improves to 16-12 overall and 11-8 in league play. The Terriers will travel to Western Carolina on Saturday, February 28 for their final regular season game of the year. Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m. in the Ramsey Center.
Georgia Southern concludes the regular season Saturday afternoon at Appalachian State, starting at 1 p.m.
UNC Greensboro 74, Appalachian State 60
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Senior Gini Grimsley had 19 points and classmate Ashley Mullins scored a career-high 14 off the bench as UNC Greensboro picked up its fifth win in six games Monday, topping Appalachian State, 74-60.
The Spartans (12-16, 9-10 Southern Conference) also got 16 points from sophomore Monique Floyd and shot a season-best 52.9 percent from the floor (27-for-51) in avenging a January loss to the Mountaineers (7-21, 6-13 SoCon).
Brittany Mixon notched the game’s lone double-double for ASU with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Sade Means scored 15 off the bench. Sam Ramirez finished with 13 points as the Apps also had three players in double digits.
UNCG led for most of the game, but App kept it close in the first half. Canesha Edwards’ layup with 7:13 left in the opening frame made it a four-point game at 25-21, but Floyd’s three-point play ? one of her two on the night ? ignited a 9-0 run that put the Spartans up 13 and in control for good.
A pair of Brittney Spencer free throws with 1:30 to go in the opening half got the Mountaineers back within nine points at 36-27, but Grimsley answered with a 3-pointer on UNCG’s next possession to put the Spartans’ lead back in double figures to stay.
UNCG led by 12 at the half, despite being outrebounded by 10, 21-11. Grimsley had 15 at the half and Floyd had 11, marking just the second time this season that the Spartans had two players in double figures by halftime. The other time was at Davidson on Feb. 9.
“It was amazing,” Grimsley said. “The first couple of shots I took, they felt kind of short, but they went in. So, I figured, if that’s how it’s going to be, I was going to let it fly.”
Edwards’ layup to open the second frame pulled Appalachian State to within 10 at 39-29, but UNCG responded with a 13-3 run to make it a 20-point spread with 13:41 to play.
Mullins’ 3 with 10:12 gave UNCG its largest lead of the game at 59-38 and was one of three triples on the night for the Honaker, VA, senior. Mullins was 5-for-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, with her only miss in the game coming from the free throw line, where she was 1-for-2.
Appalachian State never quit, trimming a 19-point deficit to 13 in about three minutes late in the game. Means hit a pair of 3-pointers to bookend an 8-2 run that pulled the Apps within a baker’s dozen at 69-56 with 2:17 left, but that was as close as ASU would get.
“We didn’t rebound well in the first half,” UNCG coach Lynne Agee said. “We were in control of the ballgame, but they can just flat-out shoot from like 30 feet, all those little guards. So I knew the game was not over. We maintained our composure, we handled their traps a little bit, and it got interesting, but when Ashley Mullins came off the bench on fire, that gave us some breathing room and relaxed everybody.”
In addition to inching closer to a possible 6 seed in the upcoming SoCon tournament, UNCG made some history Monday night, matching the school record with nine blocked shots and setting a new single-season record with 122 on the season. Sophomore Agne Girstautaite had six blocks in the game, falling one short of the individual school record, and moved into second place on UNCG’s single-season list as her total for the year moved to 47.
Grimsley just missed her second career double-double, finishing with nine rebounds. She has had at least nine in five of the last seven games.
Floyd was in double digits for the third straight game, and finished a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Floyd came into the game shooting just 58.8 percent from the line on the season.
“Going back to high school days, we both used to have to do it all,” Floyd said of her combined effort with Grimsley, with whom she played at Fairmont High in Fairmont, NC. “Our shots were falling and we just kept going at it, hustling and trying to get the shots to fall to get the victory.”
The Spartans will close the regular season on Friday at 7 p.m. against Elon. In addition to going for the season sweep of the Phoenix, UNCG will be trying to even its SoCon record at 10-10 and lock up the sixth seed in the league tournament. The Spartans currently sit in seventh place, one game behind Davidson with one game to play for both teams.
Appalachian State wraps up the regular season on Saturday when it hosts Georgia Southern at 1 p.m.
Furman 74, Elon 60
ELON, N.C. ? Lee Stephens knocked down a game-high 17 points and Katie Johnson posted 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds as Furman foiled Elon for a 74-60 Southern Conference women’s basketball triumph Monday night at Alumni Gym.
The Paladins (12-16 overall, 6-13 SoCon) also received 13 points from Candace Dowell, 10 points from Sarah Baker and nine points from Melissa Liebschwager. Stephens also dished out a team-high four assists and collected a contest-best five steals.
The Phoenix (3-25 overall, 1-18 SoCon) ended up with a team-high 16 points from Tiara Gause ? her fourth double-digit performance in five games ? and 14 markers and a game-high 10 boards from Urysla Cotton, marking her seventh double-double outing of the season.
Gause connected on eight of her 14 shots from the floor. Elon also received nine points from Julie Taylor, a contest-best five assists from Aiesha Harper, three steals from Tiffany Davis and eight points and five rebounds from Amber Wall.
Following two ties and six lead changes in the first half, Furman went on to build its largest lead at 60-36 on a jumper by Baker with 10:45 left to play in the contest. The Phoenix went on a 24-12 run to draw to within 72-60 on a bucket by Cotton with 1:05 left, but Stephens silenced the run by canning a pair of free throws with 43 seconds remaining.
The Paladins won the battle of rebounds (37-33), turnovers (17-19), blocked shots (4-2) and steals (11-7). Elon outscored Furman 32-28 in the paint, 16-8 off second chances and 24-11 off the bench. The Paladins outscored the Phoenix 27-13 off turnovers.
Furman fired 50.9 percent (29 of 57) from the field ? 60.7 percent (17 of 28) in the first period en route to forging a 42-24 halftime advantage. The Paladins shot 46.7 percent (7 of 15) from three-point range and 90.0 percent (9 of 10) from the free throw line.
Elon shot 41.0 percent (25 of 61) from the floor ? 27.3 percent (3 of 11) from three-point land ? and 53.8 percent (7 of 13) from the charity stripe. The Phoenix will conclude the regular season with a visit to UNC Greensboro at 7 p.m. Friday while Furman will wrap up its regular season with a trip to Davidson at 3 p.m. Saturday.