Appalachian State 66, College of Charleston 63 (OT)
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Anna Freeman nailed one of her four three-pointers on the night to cap a 20-6 run and another to give the Mountaineers a three-point lead with 1:04 left in overtime to lead Appalachian State to a 66-63 overtime win over the College of Charleston women's basketball team in front of 207 fans at the Carolina First Arena.
Charleston fell to 12-6 overall and 7-3 in the Southern Conference. The loss was the Cougars' first this season at the Carolina First Arena and the first since a 55-61 decision against Chattanooga Jan. 5, 2009. It also snapped a three-game winning streak. Appalachian State improved to 9-9 overall and 5-4 in the league.
"That was a tough one to lose but I expected it to be a tough game," said Head Coach Nancy Wilson. "They're a matchup that makes our games very competitive. I think the major stat that you look at for them is 21 offensive rebounds. They are very quick to the ball and quick jumpers and we didn't do a good enough job keeping a team like that off of the boards."
The Cougars led 51-37 with 8:52 remaining in the second half before the Mountaineers rattled off eight unanswered en route to a 20-6 run that saw ASU tie the game off the Freeman three-pointer, 57-57, at the two minute mark. Chakeitha Weldon's layup with 1:34 to go gave Appalachian State a two-point lead before a jumper by Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) with 1:07 to go tied the game back up. The teams missed chances to take the lead on both ends over the next minute and the game went into overtime knotted up at 59-59.
Tied 61-61 in overtime, Freeman's three-point basket at 1:04 gave ASU the three-point lead before NeShonda McLaurin's (McColl, S.C.) layup cut the margin to one with 14 seconds left. Canesha Edwards connected on two free throws with eight seconds remaining to take the lead back to three. Freeman blocked a Hughes' three-point attempt as time expired to preserve the 66-63 win.
The Cougars were led by Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C.) with 19 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Tonia Gerty followed with 13 on the night, including a three-for-four effort from beyond the three-point arc. Ericka Williams (Blackville, S.C.) came close to a double-double with nine points and a team-leading nine rebounds. Appalachian State was led by Freeman with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Charleston shot 41.3 percent from the field, while Appalachian State shot 41.5 percent. The Mountaineers out-rebounded the Cougars 49-34, including a 21-10 advantage on the offensive boards. Turnovers were tied at 18 apiece.
The Cougars are next in action Saturday, Jan. 23, when they travel to UNC Greensboro for a 1 p.m. tip.
Davidson 68, Georgia Southern 50
STATESBORO, Ga. - Davidson used a 12-4 run late in the second half to break up a close game and the Wildcats ran their win streak to 13 straight in the all-time series vs. Georgia Southern with a 68-50 road win on Monday evening in women's Southern Conference basketball action.
The Wildcats made it seven in a row at the Hanner Field House as they moved back to .500 at 9-9 overall and ran its SoCon mark to 7-3. The Eagles saw their two-game win streak come to an end as they fell to 9-9 overall and 4-5 in league action.
Leading 40-37 after GSU opened up the second half stanza on an 11-5 run, Davidson countered with a 12-4 run behind six Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) points, to push their lead out to a 52-41 advantage with 5:15 remaining and the Eagles were forced to call a timeout.
Davidson would then push its lead out to as many as 18 points on an Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) three-ball with 12 seconds to finish off the scoring. The 'Cats held GSU to just nine points in the final eight minutes of the contest.
Thompson's trey gave the senior her second career double-double as she ended with 10 points and a career-best 12 rebounds. Thompson's previous career-high was 10 at UNC Asheville on Nov. 16, 2007.
Fellow seniors Monica Laune (Ashland, Neb.) and Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) each reached double figures with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
The Eagles' Jamie Navarro tied Laune with game-high honors with 15 points, getting eight of them at the 15-foot line as she went 8-for-8. Krista Tate had 12 points and six boards off the bench.
Davidson's defense was on full display as well, holding GSU to 25 percent shooting, including 17.9 percent (5-28) in the second half when the Wildcats outscored the Eagles, 33-24. The 25 percent shooting overall was a season-best the 'Cats defense.
The Wildcats started the game scoring on five of its first seven possessions and rode that hot streak to a 17-7 lead after a Paquette layup with 13:24 on the clock. The senior forward netted eight early points during the spurt.
Davidson maintained the lead, but Georgia Southern cut the lead down to five and two points on two different occasions. A pair of Jessica Geiger free throws made the score 22-17 at the 5:45 mark, but the 'Cats answered with a three-ball from Lax and two free throws from Monica Laune.
Then, the Eagles' Janay Wilson converted on an and-one play to bring the score to 27-25 with 2:24 left, before Laune drained her second three-pointer of the half and the Wildcats scored eight of the last nine points for a 35-26 halftime advantage. Laune closed the half with 10 points, missing just one of our four shots and added a pair of three-balls.
Davidson held the Eagles to 33.3 percent shooting in the half, while forcing 12 first half turnovers and turning them into 14 points.
Davidson closes out its three-game road swing with a trip to Appalachian State, Jan. 23, at 1 p.m.
Game Notes: Coach Annette Watts is three SoCon wins away from reaching 100 for her career ... Thompson moved closer to the 1,000-point career mark as she is at 923 ... the 'Cats had their ninth straight game with over 10 offensive rebounds, closing with an even 10 ... the 13-game win streak in the all-time series matches the 13-game streak the 'Cats had vs. College of Charleston as the best against any team in the program history ... Thompson is on a nine-game stretch of scoring in double figures.
Wofford 61, Elon 60 (OT)
ELON, N.C. - The Wofford women's basketball team rallied from a first-half deficit to send the game into overtime and secure a 61-60 win over Southern Conference foe Elon on Monday.
Both teams opened the contest scoreless for the first two minutes, with Elon putting points on the board first at the 17:53 mark. Wofford struggled to connect in the field, and scored its first four points off free throws from Ashley Kroker and Kathlyn Varno before Mahagony Williams connected on the first field goal for the Terriers with 6:36 remaining in the first half.
The Phoenix capitalized on the Terriers' scoring troubles by running up a 20-5 advantage, but committed four fouls that kept Wofford in the half, as the Terriers connected on 6-7 free throw shots to bring the score within three at 19-22. Elon stepped up in the final minutes of the half to score a 6-0 run, bringing the score to 28-19 at the half.
The Terrier offense recovered in the second half, led by Mahagony Williams' six straight points to open the half. Five minutes into the period, a three-pointer from freshman Rachel Brittenham gave the Terriers their first lead of the game at 32-31. Wofford was able to stretch its lead to five points with 8:51 remaining in the game.
The two teams battled over the next few minutes of play, reaching deadlocks at 48 and again at 54 before the Terriers claimed a three-point lead at 57-54 with 1:20 remaining. The Phoenix' leading scorer Ali Ford responded with a three-pointer to tie the score at 57 with 35 seconds remaining, and a Wofford miscue gave Elon the ball back with 33 seconds left.
The Phoenix missed a jumper, giving the Terriers possession with three seconds remaining in regulation, but Wofford could not bring the ball down the court, sending the game into overtime.
The Terriers scored first in overtime, with Natalie Gramblin connecting on a jumper to take the two-point lead. A made free throw plus two points from Courtney Medley put the Phoenix up by one, but Wofford responded with a jumper to take the one-point lead with 1:39 remaining. The two teams traded shots, but neither connected, and a Phoenix in-bound was tipped away by Natalie Gramblin to secure the 61-60 win for the Terriers.
Freshman Ali Ford led the Phoenix with 14 points while Courtney Medley added 10. Ursyla Cotton paced the team with 15 rebounds and Kelsey Evans added 13 to help the Phoenix out-rebound the Terriers 60-50.
The Terriers were paced by senior Natalie Gramblin's 16 points, while freshman Rachel Brittenham contributed a season-high 15 in the win. Junior Mahagony Williams notched a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds while also adding five blocks.
With the win, Wofford improves to 3-13 overall and 2-7 in the Southern Conference while Elon falls to 7-11 on the season and 3-7 in league play. The Terriers return home Saturday, January 23 to host league foe Samford in a 3:00 p.m. matchup.
Samford 80, Western Carolina 65
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women’s basketball team had four players score in double figures on its way to an 80-65 Southern Conference win over Western Carolina Monday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.
The Bulldogs raced out to a big lead in the first half, taking a 49-28 lead into halftime. Samford shot an impressive 63.0 percent from the floor and 66.7 percent from three-point range in the first half. The Bulldogs made 12-of-18 three-point attempts in the opening half as well.
“That was definitely impressive,” Samford head coach Mike Morris said of his team’s first-half performance. “I thought our defense really picked up in the first half. I thought we had some really good shots and really good threes. We had 12 threes by six different players. They changed some things up with their defense, but we stayed focused and were very unselfish tonight.”
For the game, Samford was led in scoring by Emily London with 21 points. London has now scored over 20 points in four-straight games. Savannah Hill had 13 points and nine rebounds. Hannah Dawson chipped in 11 points, while Monica Maxwell added 10 points for the Bulldogs.
As a team, Samford dished out 20 assists, tying a season high for the Bulldogs, and the team made 59.1 percent of its three-pointers. The Bulldogs committed just eight turnovers, while forcing Western Carolina into 13 turnovers.
Western Carolina was led by Kaila’Shea Menendez with 16 points. Emily Clarke and Kendra Carroll added nine points each for the Catamounts.
In the first half, the teams traded baskets early, until with Samford leading, 6-5, the Bulldogs went on a 12-4 run to push its lead out to 18-9 with 12:57 to go in the first half after a layup by Hill.
With Samford leading, 23-18, the Bulldogs went on a 14-4 run to increase its lead to 15 points at 37-22 with 5:54 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Paige Anderson. After a WCU basket cut the lead to 37-24, Samford went on a 9-2 run to make the score 49-26 with 1:04 left in the half. Samford took a 49-28 lead into halftime.
Samford pushed its lead back out to 23 early in the second half at 51-28 after a layup by Hill. WCU would not get closer than 17 points until, with Samford leading 66-46, the Catamounts went on a 13-4 run to cut the lead to 11 at 70-59 with 3:12 to go after a layup by Clarke.
Samford answered with a 10-4 run to push its lead back out to 17 at 80-63 with 1:12 to go after a free throw by Anderson. Two late free throws by WCU’s Brittany Ferguson made the final score 80-65.
With the win, Samford improves to 13-6 overall and 7-3 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina drops to 3-15 overall and 2-7 in league play.
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 23, when the Bulldogs travel to Spartanburg, S.C., to take on the Wofford Terriers. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. (CT) start.