Samford 55, Georgia Southern 47
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford sophomore guard Emily London scored 21 points to lead the Bulldog women's basketball team to a 55-47 Southern Conference win over Georgia Southern Monday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.
Defensively, Samford limited Georgia Southern to just 33.3 percent shooting from the floor, including 28.6 percent from three-point range.
"It was definitely not a pretty game of basketball," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "But I give credit to our players, defensively, holding them to 47 points, which was the difference in the game."
Behind London for Samford, Savannah Hill scored nine points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Chika Okoli added eight points for the Bulldogs. Megan Wilderotter dished out six assists for Samford.
Georgia Southern was led by Jessica Geiger with 12 points. Jamie Navarro added 11 points for the Lady Eagles. GSU's Brittney Nelson led all rebounders with nine in the game.
Georgia Southern jumped out to an early 7-0 lead as Samford missed its first 10 shots in the game. Samford, however, answered with a 16-2 run to take a 16-9 lead with 10:21 to go in the first half after a three-point play by Monica Maxwell.
Georgia Southern fought back to retake the lead at 20-18 with 2:21 to go in the opening half after a pair of free throws by Ashley Melson. Samford then closed the half with a 9-0 run to take a 27-20 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Samford pushed its lead out to 11 at 33-22 with 17:28 to go in the game after a pair of free throws by London. GSU cut the lead to eight at 35-27 with 13:46 to go after a three-point play by Geiger.
Samford came back with a 9-3 run to push its lead out to 14 at 44-30 with 9:30 to go after a layup by Wilderotter. Georgia Southern answered with a 12-3 run to cut the lead to five at 47-42 with 4:56 to go after a three-pointer by Navarro.
Georgia Southern would cut the Samford lead to three at 50-47 with 1:04 to play, but Samford scored the last five points of the game to come away with the 55-47 win.
Samford improves to 19-4 overall and 14-2 in SoCon play with the win. The Bulldogs are currently in second place in the league standings, just one game behind Chattanooga. Georgia Southern drops to 14-10 overall and 9-6 in league play with the loss.
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 14, when the Bulldogs play at Appalachian State. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. (CT) start from Boone, N.C.
Georgia Southern returns home to host Furman Saturday at 3 p.m. (ET).
Western Carolina 57, Furman 42
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? Western Carolina women’s basketball pulled down a season-high 55 rebounds, and held Furman to a season-low in scoring by an opponent, defeating the Paladins 57-42 Monday in the Ramsey Center. The Lady Catamounts improve to 13-11 and 9-6 in the Southern Conference while Furman falls to 11-14 and 5-11 in the SoCon.
Senior forward Kendra Eaton led all scorers with 15 points and just missed a double-double with eight rebounds. Fellow senior Lauren Powell added 10 points for the Lady Catamounts.
Furman rejected eight of Western Carolina’s shots, led by Katie Johnson who had three. The Paladins, however, couldn’t convert, shooting an 27.1 percent from the field.
The Paladins only led twice in the game, first in the opening 50 seconds of the contest when Candace Powell hit a three-pointer, to make the score 3-2. Western Carolina reclaimed the lead with a three-pointer by Powell, and Furman took short lead again, when Lee Stephens hit a jumper to make it 12-11. A jumper by Kendra Carroll gave the advantage back to Western Carolina, with 12:20 left in the first half, and the Lady Catamounts never trailed again.
The Lady Catamount lead hovered in the single digits for the rest of the first half and with two seconds left, Western Carolina led by eight points, 28-20. Junior guard Jessica Jackson was fouled shooting a three-pointer, and drained all three free throws, to give Western Carolina a double-digit lead heading into halftime, 31-20.
Furman could never cut the Western Carolina lead to single digits again. Western Carolina built as much as a 20-point lead in the second half and only allowed Furman to score 22 points in the final 20 minutes.
The Paladins went to the free throw line nine times and converted on five. Western Carolina was placed on the charity stripe 23 times, struggling at the line, hitting just 13 for 56.5 percent.
Furman was led by Sarah Baker who had 13 points in the contest and Melissa Liebschwager followed with 12. Liebschwager also had two blocks.
Senior center Brooke Johnson had two blocks in the game and now has 110 in her career. She now needs 18 blocks to break the school record for blocks in a career, 127, set by Jeanne Marvel (1987-88).
Western Carolina is now on a two-game winning streak heading into its road contest at UNC Greensboro Saturday. Tip-time is set for 3 p.m.
Furman travels to Statesboro, Ga., to take on Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Chattanooga 72, College of Charleston 61
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga women’s basketball team (19-6, 15-1 SoCon) extended its winning streak to 10 games to remain atop the Southern Conference standings with a 72-61 win over the College of Charleston (17-7, 10-6 SoCon) Monday night at the McKenzie Arena.
In the first half, the Lady Mocs came out of the gates quick, scoring 15 of the game’s first 19 points to take a commanding 15-4 lead. Both teams would then begin to exchange baskets as UTC was unable to increase its lead beyond 11. With less than four minutes remaining in the period, the Cougars would cut the lead down to four, 29-25 with 3:59 to play in the half on a 3-pointer from Jade Hughes. However, Chattanooga was able to build the lead back and carry an eight-point lead into halftime up 37-29.
After the break, the Lady Mocs began the second half much like the first with an 8-2 run to give the Chattanooga its largest lead of the game, 45-31 at the 16:22 mark. Chattanooga would maintain its double-digit advantage until the eight-minute mark, when the Cougars began to chip away at the Lady Mocs lead. With 8:08 remaining, Hughes made a pair of free throws for the Cougars to cut the lead to nine, 56-47.
College of Charleston would then score the game’s next eight points to put the Cougars within one, 56-55 with 5:32 to play as the Lady Mocs were held without a bucket for five minutes.
Senior Erin Ogan ended the scoring drought with a three to put UTC up four, 59-55 after a time out and the Lady Mocs would outscore the Cougars 16-6 down the stretch to get the win and extend its Southern Conference home-court win streak to 24 games.
Ogan recorded her fifth double-double of the season with a career-high 18 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Junior Jenaya Wade-Fray had 15 points for the Lady Mocs and four assists. Senior LaCondra Mason went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe and was one of four Chattanooga players in double figures with 14 points. Shanara Hollinquest faced a double team for most of the night but managed to score double figures for the 24th time this season with 13 points.
Freshman Tenisha Townsend drained a career-high three 3-pointers and closed out the game with nine points as the Lady Mocs shot 36.8 percent (7-of-19) from behind the arc. On the boards, Chattanooga outrebounded the College 38-31 with both teams grabbing 11 off the offensive glass.
All 11 Cougars who saw action Monday night contributed led by Jade Hughes team-high 13 points. College of Charleston shot 21-of-56 (37.5%) on the night but were limited from the 3-point line making just 4-of-21 (19 percent).
Tonia Gerty dished out a game-best 10 assists and had seven points and four rebounds. Sarah Moye, who fouled out late in the contest, had a team-best six rebounds and three steals and helped the Cougars force 17 Chattanooga turnovers.
The Lady Mocs will now hit the road for a pair of road contests On Saturday, Feb. 14 the Lady Mocs will face Davidson in a 2 p.m. matchup at Belk Arena before heading to Boone, N.C., to take on Appalachian State.
College of Charleston returns to the Lowcountry to host Wofford Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m.
Elon 73, Appalachian State 55
BOONE, N.C.- Appalachian State University women's basketball (6-17, 5-9) trailed the entire game and was unable to come back from a 15 point halftime deficit, as Elon University (3-22, 1-15) picked up its first SoCon win of the season, defeating the Apps 73-55.
The Mountaineers had a slow start Monday evening at the Holmes Center and never quite recovered as the Phoenix jumped out to a 15-5 lead before ASU was able to get its offense going eight minutes into play. Senior Brittany Mixon led Appalachian's charge scoring eight buckets over the course of four minutes of action to cut the Apps deficit to three points.
Mixon finished the game with 15 points and 13 rebounds, recording her fifth double-double of the season, and making it the 16th time in 23 games she has posted double-figure scoring this season. She also had five blocks against the Phoenix, just one away from her career-high of six.
Three would be the smallest advantage for Elon, as the Phoenix closed out the first half of play on a 14-2 run with Amber Wall and Julie Taylor pacing the Phoenix, combining for 10 of their points to put Appalachian down 36-21 at the break.
Wall was one of three Phoenix in double-figure scoring, having 14 points, while Urysla Cotton paced Elon with 17.
Canesha Edwards and Catherine Williams posted strong second half performances for Appalachian, but a little over three minute scoring drought, coupled by a Phoenix 8-0 run put the game out of reach for the Black and Gold, as Elon picked up the win.
Edwards finished the evening with 13 points and seven boards while Williams recorded a career-high 17 points to go along with seven rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.
Along with an early surge by Elon, poor shooting also hindered ASU, hitting just 39.1 percent of their shots to go along with going 0-10 from behind the arc. It was the first time Appalachian had not hit a three pointer since December 8 at Wichita State and just the second time all season. It was also the first time since the Alabama A&M game on November 24, 2008 that an opponent didn't score a three.
ASU looks to bounce back against Wofford on Wednesday February 11 at 7 p.m.
Elon returns to action next Monday night (Feb. 16) with a 7 p.m. game at Western Carolina.
UNC Greensboro 74, Davidson 61
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Senior Mercedes Robinson (Baltimore, Md.) tied her career-high with her 14th double-double of the season, but UNC Greensboro used a 62.1 percent first-half shooting performance and three double-figure scorers to take a 74-61 decision on Monday evening in Southern Conference action at John M. Belk Arena.
Gini Grimsley led the three Spartans (9-15, 6-9 SoCon) in double digits with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including draining four of UNCG's nine three-pointers. The Spartans finished 9-of-20 from behind the arc with Amanda Leigh adding three from three-land on her way to 15 points.
The duo combined to go 9-of-14 from the field in the first half when the Spartans hit 18 of their first 29 shots to hold a 45-28 halftime lead.
Lakiah Hyson rounded out the trio with 15 points to go along with nine rebounds and a game-best five assists.
Robinson tallied her fourth double-double in the past five games with 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, two off her career-high, but it was not enough to keep the Wildcats (9-15, 8-7 SoCon) from dropping their seventh contest in the last eight games.
Though the senior hit the double-digit mark for the 12th time in the last 13 games, Robinson was just 4-of-15 from the field as it was an off-shooting night for the two leading Wildcat scorers on the season. Robinson, who came in averaging nearly 16 points a game, and Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.), who was at an even 13 points, were held to just 9-of-32 shooting overall. Davidson as a team shot just 37.9 percent for the game.
Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) did hit her season average, while senior Mandy Halbersleben (Cincinnati, Ohio) closed with 10 points to go along with six boards to give Davidson three players in double figures.
After Lax hit a trey to bring Davidson within four at 28-24 and a little more than five minutes left in the first half, UNC Greensboro proceeded to go on a 17-4 run to close out the half to grab a 17-point lead.
The lead would remain double digits the majority of the second half with UNCG pulling out to a 20-point lead (55-35) on a Grimsley three-pointer at the 14:22 mark.
Davidson tried chipping away, getting to within 10 after Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) started a 9-0 run with a shot from three-land and then finishing the run with a driving layup to close the gap to 66-56 and 1:30 left on the clock.
Then with under a minute, Lax cut the Spartan lead to nine, 68-59, with her third three-pointer of the game, but it was short lived as UNCG got four free throws from Hyson and a layup by Leigh in the final 49 seconds to seal the win.
For the second straight game Davidson had the edge in points down on the blocks with 30 and also picked up 17 second chance points off its 15 offensive rebounds.
The Wildcats will next play host to Chattanooga in their WBCA Pink Zone Day game, Feb. 14, at 2 p.m.
UNCG will host Western Carolina Saturday at 3 p.m.