Chattanooga 78, Wofford 72
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Chattanooga defeated Wofford 78-72 in Southern Conference women's basketball action at the Benjamin Johnson Arena to grab its 10th consecutive win of the season.
The Lady Mocs improve to 15-6 overall and 10-2 in SoCon action while the Terriers fall to 3-15 overall and 2-9 in league play.
After trailing 32-31 at halftime, the Lady Mocs outscored Wofford 27-15 for their largest lead of the game at 58-47 with 8:51 to play. However, the Terriers' Kristin Bradley would let loose five 3-pointers to keep Wofford close.
After Wofford took a quick 9-3 lead over the Lady Mocs to start the game, freshman Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) drained her second long range shot at the 16:23 mark cutting the lead to 9-6. Wofford's Mahagony Williams hit a lay up to put her team up 11-6, but redshirt freshman Michelle Davis (Cleveland, Tenn.) had an answer with back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Lady Mocs their first lead of the game 12-11 with less than five minutes gone.
Chattanooga quickly put together a 10-0 run for its largest lead of the first half at 22-14 with 9:34 until halftime on the strength of eight points from senior Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.).
Wofford outscored the Lady Mocs 18-9 over the remainder of the period to take a 32-31 lead and Chattanooga trailed at the intermission for the seventh time this season.
The Terriers got out to a 36-32 lead, its largest of the half, to start the second half. Senior Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) hit her first field goal of the game at the 16:41 mark of the second half and capped off a 12-7 scoring advantage by Chattanooga with a pair of free throws to give Chattanooga a 44-43 lead with 12:41 to play.
The Lady Mocs would not relinquish the lead and go on to claim its 10th consecutive win and seventh against SoCon teams. Over the next 2:53, the Lady Mocs went on a 14-4 scoring run to take a 58-47 lead with 8:51 remaining in the game.
Bradley brought the crowd to its feet with the first of her five treys to cut the lead to 58-50. Davis hit a jumper on the other end and Bradley answered with back-to-back 3-pointers followed by a layup from Williams and Chattanooga's lead was in jeopardy as the Terriers made it a two-point game, 60-58, with 6:25 to go.
The Lady Mocs got a little breathing room with 3-pointers from sophomore Tenisha Townsend (Antioch, Tenn.) and Davis to go back up 66-58 with 5:20 to play. Bradley cut into that lead again following a layup from teammate Natalie Gramblin and the Terriers pulled to within three points with 4:22 remaining.
Davis and Christopher again had a response with a pair of 3-pointers stretching the lead back to nine, 72-63, with 3:47 to play. Bradley's fifth 3-pointer, however, would get the Terriers close again trailing by four with just less than three minutes to play.
The two teams answered point-for-point over the next 1:17 and Christopher closed out the game with a pair of free throws with 10 seconds to play and the Lady Mocs would get the 78-72 win.
Wade-Fray led the Lady Mocs with 19 points and had five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Davis just missed her career-high with 16 points, six boards and a pair of steals. She did, however, hit a career-best four 3-pointers. Christopher had 15 points for UTC and six rebounds to go along with three assists and three steals. Hollinquest was the fourth Chattanooga player in double figures with 11 points and six rebounds and three assists.
The Lady Mocs drained a season-high 12 3-pointers and were 12-of-27 for a 44.4 percent shooting effort from beyond the arc. After shooting just 30 percent in the first half, went 16-of-28 (57.1%) in the second.
The Terriers won the battle of the boards, 39-35 and had 16 offensive rebounds to the Lady Mocs' 13. Chattanooga scored 29 points off 20 Wofford turnovers.
The Lady Mocs return to action Saturday at 5 p.m. in the first game of a double header hosting the Elon Phoenix. All the action can be heard live on the Chattanooga athletics' flagship station ESPN Radio 105.1 "The Zone". Live stats, video and audio streaming will be available at the official website of Chattanooga athletics, GoMocs.com.
Samford 60, Furman 49
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Samford women's basketball team earned its fourth-straight Southern Conference win in a 60-49 victory at Furman Monday evening at Timmons Arena.
"I was very pleased with our team tonight," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I thought, defensively, we were very good. But, the biggest stat to me was, we made 23 shots and 22 of those came on assists. We also did a good job of holding their leading scorer to three points."
For Samford in the game, Savannah Hill had 22 points, five rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Emily London scored 18 points for the Bulldogs. Megan Wilderotter shared the team lead in rebounding with Hill, pulling down five rebounds in the win.
As a team, Samford had 22 assists on 23 baskets, the highest percentage of assists to made shots in school history. The Bulldogs shot 51.1 percent from the floor and 80 percent from the free-throw line.
For Furman, Kali Holtfreter led the way with 15 points and five rebounds. Lakyn Ledford and Kendra Berry added eight points each for the Paladins.
In the first half, Samford jumped out to an early 10-2 lead with 16:02 to play in the half after a layup by London. With Samford leading, 18-8, Furman answered with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to two at 18-16 with 6:09 left in the first half.
Samford pushed its lead back out to six at 22-16 with 4:54 to go in the half after a pair of free throws by Wilderotter. With Samford leading, 25-21, the Bulldogs closed the half with a 7-0 run to take a 32-21 lead into halftime.
Samford pushed its lead out to 17 early in the second half at 44-27 with 15:31 to go after a three-pointer by London. With Samford leading, 46-29, Furman went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 11 at 46-35 with 11:43 to go in the game.
Samford pushed its lead back out to 16 at 51-35 with 8:17 to go after a jumper by London. Furman then scored the next five points to cut the lead back to 11 at 51-40 with 7:10 remaining in the game.
Samford then went on a 9-1 run to push its lead out to 19 at 60-41 with 3:14 to go after a layup by Hill. Furman then closed the game with an 8-0 run to make the final score 60-49.
With the win, Samford improves to 15-6 overall and 9-3 in the Southern Conference. Furman drops to 6-15 overall and 3-8 in SoCon play.
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 30, when the Bulldogs play host to UNC Greensboro. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.
Georgia Southern 63, UNC Greensboro 55
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Despite a slow start, Georgia Southern used an early first half run and held off a late second half UNC Greensboro run to seal a 63-55 win in Greensboro Monday night (January 25). Carolyn Whitney tied a season-high 17 points and career-high four three-pointers, leading the Lady Eagles to an 11-9 overall record, 6-5 in Southern Conference play and two straight on the road. UNCG, meanwhile, dropped to 7-13, 4-8 with its third straight loss at home and fourth overall.
Georgia Southern picked up 27 points off 19 UNCG miscues, while shooting 39 percent from the floor and scoring 18 points off the bench. GS outscored the Spartans in the paint, 20-6, and outrebounded the conference foe, 63-55. Whitney collected four of Georgia Southern's 13 steals in the game and finished with three assists and five rebounds.
Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.) was GS's leading rebounder, pulling down 10 boards.
At the line, the Lady Eagles shot 13-of-24 (54 percent), keeping the Spartans to a 5-of-8 effort (63 percent). UNCG outscored the Lady Eagles 34-26 in the second half, but a comeback attempt fell short as GS held on for the win.
Kendra Smith had a record-breaking game for the Spartans, hitting a career-high four three-pointers en route to scoring a career-high 23 points to lead all scorers. Whitney led GS with 17 points, followed by Jessica Geiger's (Stone Mountain, Ga.) 10-point effort.
Georgia Southern got off to a slow start out of the gate, hitting 2-of-11 from the floor as UNC Greensboro built a 10-5 lead by the 13:08 minute marker in the first half. J'Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) cut the lead to three with a jumper at the second media timeout sparking what would amount to a 14-4 Lady Eagle run over the next three minutes.
Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) succeeded a Brey Dorsett trey, setting the stage for a 13-10 UNCG lead. A minute later Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) nailed her second trey of the game, giving GS its first lead, 15-14, with 8:21 in the first. Meredyth Frye (Fredericksburg, Va.) followed Whitney's trey with one of her own and completed an old-fashioned three-point play for a 6-0 personal run, putting the Lady Eagles in front, 21-14. A Smith field goal at 6:52 recorded the first Spartan bucket from the nine minute marker before Whitney drained back-to-back treys to tie her career-high of four. GS closed out the first half using a 5-0 run to gain the 37-21 halftime lead.
Spartan Smith quickly sliced the lead to 12 points hitting back-to-back treys right out of the break. A Geiger three-pointer pushed GS's lead back to 15, 47-32, at 13:21. But a Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) bucket at 12:03 would be the last Lady Eagle field goal as Greensboro went on a 13-1 run over five minutes, ignited by seven points from Smith, cutting the score to 50-47.
A two-point effort from Ogburn at the charity stripe snapped the run as Whitney hit consecutive buckets for a 56-47 Georgia Southern lead with 3:47 remaining. Ogburn connected on an old-fashioned three-point play with 1:53 on the clock for a 59-50 advantage. But Dorsett hit her third '3' of the game making it a six point contest, 59-53 with 1:26 to play. Georgia Southern, a 69 percent free throw shooting team, closed out the game going 4-of-6 at the free throw line, sealing a 63-55 win.
Georgia Southern closes out this three-game road swing with a contest in Cullowhee, N.C., Saturday, January 30. Tip-off against Western Carolina is slated for 2:00 p.m. in the Ramsey Activity Center.
College of Charlston 64, Elon 57
ELON, N.C. - Senior forward Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C./Wren) led College of Charleston with 14 points and 12 rebounds as the women's basketball team downed Elon 64-57 at the Alumni Gym on Monday evening.
Four Cougars (14-6, 9-3 SoCon) scored in double figures as the Cougars completed their season sweep of Elon (7-13, 3-9 SoCon). Kotcella recorded her fourth career double-double while also tying her career high in rebounds. Junior Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla./Spruce Creek) netted 13 points and made four steals while seniors Ericka Williams (Blackville, S.C./Blackville-Hilda) and Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The game got off to a slow start with neither team scoring in the first three minutes. Elon held a 2-0 advantage until Hughes drained one from beyond the arc to kick off a 15-0 run over the next seven minutes.
Charleston maintained a 12-point lead with seven minutes remaining in the first half until Elon's Courtney Medley went on a seven-point scoring run over a span of three minutes to bring the Phoenix within six.
Medley continued to play strong in the second half, starting the period off with a trey and quickly following it up with a layup. The Phoenix, who had committed 14 first-half turnovers played a controlled offense and relied heavily on their bench in the second half. Although they outscored the Cougars 40-38 in the second half, they were unable to make up for their slow start, never getting closer than six points to Charleston.
Down 12 points with just over a minute to play, Elon made the first of nine team fouls. Hughes sank two shots from the free throw line with 1:15 left to play. The Cougars went 11-for-16 from the stripe, ending the game with two baskets by Gerty.
Both teams made the majority of the baskets from within the paint, combining for only 10 three-pointers throughout the game. Elon's bench contributed 34 points, while its starters only scored 23 points.
The Cougars return to Carolina First Arena for a non-conference match against Savannah State on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Davidson 75, Western Carolina 65
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Senior Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.), sophomore Kristen Johnsen (Wayne, Pa.) and freshman Sophia Aleksandravicius (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) each tallied a double-double in guiding the Davidson Wildcats to a solid 75-65 win over Western Carolina on Monday evening in Southern Conference action at John M. Belk Arena.
Davidson earned the season-series sweep with the win as the ‘Cats improved to an even 10-10 overall and 8-4 in SoCon play. WCU fell to 3-16 overall and 2-8 in league play.
The trio each hauled in 10 boards apiece, while Thompson and Johnsen poured in 10 points each and Aleksandravicius had a game-high tying 22 points. Senior Monica Laune (Ashland, Neb.) gave the ‘Cats four players in double-figures with 13 points.
Thompson offset a poor shooting night (0-for-8) by netting all 10 of her points at the charity stripe (10-for-10), matching a career-high, and dished out a season-high eight assists. The senior helped the Wildcats ice the game by going a perfect 6-for-6 from the line in the last 45 seconds.
Johnsen set a career-best with her 10 boards, and Aleksandravicius, who was 8-of-10 from the floor, including a pair of three-balls, recorded her eighth double-double of the year and matched a season-best with five blocks.
Emily Clarke led two Catamounts in double-digits with 22 points and Jessica Jackson dropped in 14 points, nine of them in the last 30 seconds of the game.
Both teams were a bit sluggish to start, combining for just two field goals on 20 attempts in the first six minutes of the game. Davidson started to find its shot though around the 13:18 mark when it started an 11-2 run and never looked back.
The Wildcats used that run to jump to out to a 14-4 lead after a Aleksandravicius trey at the 9:21 mark. The freshman had 10 points and six boards in the first half.
Western cut it back to six, 14-8, after a Clarke jumper in the paint, but Davidson pushed it back to double digits at 25-14 on an 11-6 run, capped off by a Johnsen layup with 2:52 left in the half.
A pair of Thompson free throws gave the ‘Cats a 12-point advantage, 32-20, at the intermission. While the offense was rolling, the ‘Cats defense held the Catamounts to 22.2 percent shooting in the first half and forced them into eight turnovers. Western finished at 35.4 percent, the eighth time Davidson has held its opponent to under 36 percent shooting.
The lead would grow to 17 points (44-27) on Aleksandravicius’ second three-ball through the first five minutes of the second half, and Davidson maintained a double-digit lead until the 7:40 mark when Kaila’Shea Menendez hit a layup for a 54-45 score.
Western got no closer than eight points the rest of the way and Davidson sealed its 10th win of the season by going 10-for-12 from the 15-foot line in the last minute and half. The Wildcats as a team matched a season-high by finishing 24-of-32 from the charity stripe.
Behind Thompson, Johnsen and Aleksandravicius’ 30 combined rebounds, Davidson held a 47-40 advantage on the boards. It’s the ninth time in the last 11 games the Wildcats have out-rebounded the opposition, and it’s the ninth time this year they have hit the 40-board mark in a game.
Davidson wraps up its non-conference schedule with a 7 p.m. game at Radford this Friday, Jan. 29. The two teams were originally to play on Dec. 18, but a snow storm postponed the affair.
Game Notes: Coach Annette Watts is just two SoCon wins away from reaching 100 for her career ... Thompson’s 10 rebounds was the second time this year she has hit for double figures in a game ... Aleksandravicius has six double-doubles vs. league foes ... Laune has scored a combined 63 points in the last four games, hitting double figures in all four contests ... it’s the first time since the 2005-06 season Davidson has swept the season-series against Western Carolina ... Davidson’s seven blocks matched a season-high ... the Wildcats have won six of their last seven home games.