Appalachian State 64, Marshall 55
FARMVILLE, VA. - After a sluggish start, Appalachian State University women's basketball was able to shake out its season-opening game jitters, as the Mountaineers defeated their former conference rival for the second-straight season, earning a 64-55 win over Marshall Friday evening at Longwood's Willett Hall.
The win marks Appalachian's second-straight over the Thundering Herd and improves Darcie Vincent-coached teams to 2-1 against MU, with all games serving as season-openers for both teams.
Once Appalachian (1-0) was able to take a narrow one point lead into the break, up 28-27, the lead changed hands three more times in the second half, before a Sam Ramirez jumper put the Black and Gold on top for good.
Forcing nine Thundering Herd turnovers in the final ten minutes, Appalachian State was able to capitalize and outscore Marshall 18-8 down the stretch to grab the nine-point victory.
Two Rashedah Henriques free throws put ASU down 47-46, but fortunately the Apps were able to get going on the offensive front and push their way past a tough Marshall team.
Henriques posted 12 points in the contest, and was one of three Thundering Herd to finish in the game in double-figures.
During the 18-8 run to close out the game, Ramirez scored six points, while Canesha Edwards found her hot shooting hand as well, chipping in six points to give the Apps the advantage.
Ramirez closed out the contest with a game-best 20 points, shooting 7-15 from the field and a spotless 4-4 at the charity stripe.
The lone senior for ASU also had four steals and dished out two assists.
First half action began in Marshall's favor as the Black and Gold were down 13-7 early.
However, ASU found its rhythm and went on an 11-2 run over a minute and a half span to take the its first lead of the game up, 18-15.
Sophomore Ashlen Dewart began the scoring as she drilled a three-pointer and Catherine Williams, Ramirez and Courtney Freeman also contributed.
Dewart was the only other Mountaineer to have double-figure points, scoring 11, while hauling in three boards.
A heated battle ensued, but a final Ramirez trey at the 1:06 mark put Appalachian up one at the break.
Strong play in the final ten minutes of the game proved to be the difference-maker, and Appalachian was able to sneak past Marshall for its season-opening win.
With little time to rest, the Mountaineers continue Longwood Tournament play, as they take on Campbell, Saturday, November 13. The game between the Apps and Camels is set to tip at 3 p.m. in Willett Hall.
Elon 91, Fordham 77
ELON, N.C. - Behind five players in double figures, including a double-double from Kelsey Evans, the Elon University women's basketball team opened the 2010-11 season in style on Friday night, Nov. 12, claiming a 91-77 victory over the Fordham Rams.
Evans scored 13 points and tied a career-high with 13 boards, marking her fifth-career double-double and her fourth in Elon's last five games. Evans registered a double-double in last year's season opener versus Youngstown State with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Ali Ford poured in a game-high 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, including four three pointers. Ford has scored 20 or more points 13 times in her career.
Junior guard Tiara Gause also chipped in 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, while sophomore Lei Lei Hairston and junior Shon Redmond scored 12 and 10, respectively.
"Fordham was a very physical team from a great conference in the Atlantic 10 and I am extremely proud of the way our team battled all night to come away with the win," said Elon head women's basketball coach Karen Barefoot. "Our team showed a lot of character late in the game after Fordham made a run, but we fought hard to come away with the victory over a quality opponent."
The Phoenix (1-0) shot 55 percent from the field in the victory, including a 44 percent clip from beyond the arc. Ford attempted all of Elon's three pointers on the night, going 4-of-9 in the win.
Defensively, Elon held Fordham (0-1) to 32 percent shooting from the field and forced the Rams into 31 turnovers.
Elon saw its early eight point lead evaporate with just under 12 minutes left in the opening frame, as a Phoenix turnover at mid-court paved the way for a Fordham fast-break layup to make it a 17-17 game with 11:18 remaining.
But the Phoenix stormed back with a 15-4 run over the next six minutes to claim a 32-21 lead after a pair of Erica Keto makes from the charity stripe.
Elon forced a Rams timeout with 5:19 remaining in the first half after Ford connected with her second three pointer of the game to extend the Phoenix lead to 14 points (35-21).
Ford led all scorers with 15 points at intermission, as Elon held a 46-36 advantage after Fordham hit a desperation three as time expired in the first half. Elon shot 61 percent (17-of-28) from the field in the opening frame, including a 75 percent clip from beyond the arc.
Elon claimed its largest lead of the game with 13:55 remaining in the second half, as Kelsey Harris ripped the ball from Fordham's Abigail Corning and took it to the basket for an easy layup to give the Phoenix a 63-43 advantage.
The Rams managed to cut Elon's lead to 12 points with 9:34 remaining after a Kristina Bell three pointer limited the Phoenix to a 68-56 advantage. Fordham trimmed it to nine with 7:36 remaining after a Becky Peters three in the corner made it a 72-63 game. Bell led the Rams with 22 points in the loss.
But the Rams would pull no closer, as Elon would keep Fordham at arm's length down the stretch to secure its first victory of the season.
Elon wraps up the Phoenix Classic on Sunday, Nov. 14, with a 4 p.m. contest versus Troy.
Clemson 71, UNCG 55
CLEMSON, S.C. - Clemson used a 14-0 run midway through the first half and the Spartans were never able to recover as UNCG fell to Clemson, 71-55, in the season-opener for both teams on Friday night in Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Tigers (1-0) used their height advantage all night in the paint as they outscored UNCG 46-26 in that area. Clemson also turned 20 Spartan turnovers into 22 points and converted 16 second-chance points.
Clemson center Shaniqua Pauldo finished the game with 26 points, a matching 13 points in each half, and 15 rebounds for the lone double-double of the evening.. Forward Jasmine Tate added 11 points for the home team and reserve post player Lindsey Mason had eight points. Sthefany Thomas had 16 points for the Tigers, as well.
Amanda Leigh paced the Spartans (0-1) as she had 17 points and six rebounds. Monique Floyd was the only other Spartan in double figures as she had 12 points. Point guard Dayshaun Richbow had a nice game for UNCG as she added six points, seven rebounds and nine assists.
"I was pleased with our aggressiveness," said coach Lynne Agee. "I thought we took it to the basket strong and tried to create some opportunities. Our rebounding is really causing us problems, or lack thereof. We couldn't handle the big center in the middle and we couldn't rebound with them physically."
The Spartans got off to a great start as they won the tip and Floyd got a rebound and layup for the first two points of the contest. A pair of layups gave UNCG the early 6-2 lead before Clemson responded with a pair of 3-pointers to go ahead, 8-6.
A 3-pointer by Leigh with 11:27 remaining in the first half put the Spartans ahead, 17-16, but the Tigers responded with a 14-0 run over the next 5:17 to take a 30-17 lead.
The Spartans continued to chip away at the Tiger lead and eventually made it a 34-28 game with 2:14 remaining before halftime on a layup by Leigh. Clemson would go on to make a pair of baskets before the half to take a 38-28 lead into the break.
In the second half, Floyd converted an old fashion three-point play to cut the Tiger lead to 11 at 42-31 with 17:03 left in the game. That was as close as the Spartans would get the rest of the night as Clemson went on to stretch its lead to 18 with 10:42 remaining.
UNCG once again fought back and cut the lead to 12 on a jumper in the paint by Janae' Stevenson with 6:39 remaining.
The Tigers opened their lead back up to a game-high 19 on a jumper by Kelia Shelton with 40 seconds remaining.
Another Leigh 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining made the final score 71-55.
Despite the height advantage in the paint, the Spartans only trailed in the rebounding margin, 48-42.
The Spartans will return home to Fleming Gymnasium for their home-opener on Monday as they host UNC Wilmington at 7 p.m.
Gardner-Webb 62, Wofford 47
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford College women's basketball team fell in their season and home opener to the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs 62-47 Friday night in Ben Johnson Arena.
Gardner-Webb opened the scoring with the first 20 points as they held a 20-0 lead 12:51 through the first half. In the first seven and a half minutes, the Terriers missed their first 14 shots, had six turnovers and missed four free throws.
Rachel Brittenham scored the first Wofford basket with 12:15 to play in the half. However, over the remaining 12 minutes of the half, the Terriers outscored the Bulldogs 10-9 as Gardner-Webb took a 29-12 lead into the break.
Wofford shot 15.2 percent (5-of-33) from the field and 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from three point range, while Gardner-Webb was 33.3 percent (10-of-33) overall and 22.2 percent (2-of-9) from three. The Bulldogs forced 15 Terrier turnovers, while Gardner-Webb only turned the ball over 10 times.
The Terriers came out in the second half and battled back to cut the lead to 12, 36-24, on two free throws by Mariah Maslin with 12:49 remaining in the game. Gardner-Webb responded with a 14-1 run as they pushed the lead to 50-25 five minutes later.
Gardner-Webb never allowed the Terriers back into the contest as they clinched the game with 62-47.
In the second half the Terriers were 7-of-21 overall, 3-of-5 from three and 18-of-22 from the free throw line. Gardner-Webb was 10-of-34 from the floor, 4-of-9 from three point range and 16-of-21 from the charity stripe.
The Terriers committed 30 total turnovers compared to the Bulldogs 18 turnovers.
Wofford was led by Jessica Escorza, who had 14 points. She converted six of her eight free throw attempts and made two of her three three point shots. Brittenham and Mariah Masalin added eight points each. Mahagony Williams collected nine rebounds, and April Moorhouse collected eight boards. Brittenham had a team-high five assists.
Monique Hudson had a game-high 25 points to lead Gardner-Webb, and Brianna Dillard chipped in 12 points. LaTroya Pope grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, as three other Bulldogs had six rebounds -- Monique Hudson, Dillard and Dominique Hudson. Dominique Hudson had a game-high five steals.
Wofford will travel Blacksburg, Virginia Sunday for a 2 p.m. tip off time against the ACC's Virginia Tech.
North Carolina State 73, College of Charleston 36
RALEIGH, N.C. - The College of Charleston women's basketball team connected on just 12-of-59 field goals en route to a season-opening 73-36 loss to N.C. State at the Sheraton Raleigh Wolfpack Invitational being held at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C. Charleston now faces the loser of the Creighton/Liberty game at 6:00 p.m. Saturday.
Charleston (0-1) trailed by three, 13-10, with 15:01 remaining in the first half and had been keeping the score close, but a cold spell set in and the Cougars were only able to muster three field goals in the final 15 minutes, including an 11 minute stretch from 15:01 to 4:34 that saw only one free throw. Charleston traded baskets with the Wolfpack (1-0) the next four-and-a-half minutes, with N.C. State edging the Cougars 11-10 in scoring, to head into the locker room down by 13, 35-22.
The Cougars remained as cold in the second half, posting just an 18.2 shooting percentage. N.C. State built a 20-point lead the first 10 minutes in and never looked back, coming away with the 37-point 73-36 win.
The Wolfpack connected on 27-of-43 free throws as the Cougars fouled 29 times in the contest. Charleston went scoreless from three-point range, while the Wolfpack went four-for-18. The Cougars were 12-for-59 from the field for 20.3 percent, while N.C. State was 21-of-65 for 32.3 percent. Turnovers were fairly even as both teams coughed it up over 20 times, the Cougars with the slight 26-22 edge.
N.C. State held the 63-49 rebounding advantage, including 39-29 on the defensive end.
The Cougars were led by Tonia Gerty with eight points and Megan Fischer with a career-high eight rebounds and five points. Freshman Alyssa Frye posted seven points in her first game.
N.C. State was led by Bonae Holston with 20 points and 13 rebounds. She was followed by Marissa Kastanek with 16.
East Tennessee State 77, Chattanooga 60
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team fell 77-60 in instate rival East Tennessee State Friday night at the McKenzie Arena in the season opener for both teams.
ETSU (1-0), paced by Destiny Mitchell's 16-point, 12-rebound double-double, outscored the Lady Mocs 27-8 down the stretch to secure the win after Chattanooga gained its final lead of the game at 52-50 with 9:41 to play.
Chattanooga (0-1) started slow, trailing the Lady Bucs 23-13 with 8:57 to play in the first half. Junior Tenisha Townsend drained a 3-pointer that sparked a 16-2 run that gave UTC its largest lead of the game at 29-25 with 4:33 to play before intermission.
The Lady Bucs rallied back with nine points over the remainder of the frame, but Townsend with third 3-pointer of the half, cut the lead to 34-33 as both team headed to the locker room.
The second half started with the advantage changing hands five times before ETSU's final rally put Chattanooga away. Trailing by five with 10:52 to play, sophomore Kylie Lambert cut the lead to 50-47 with a pair of free throws. That was followed by Townsend's career-best fourth 3-pointer to tie the game at 50-50. Junior Bailey Dewart, with a career-high 11 boards, sank a pair of shots from the charity stripe to give the Lady Mocs their final lead, 52-50 with 9:41 to play.
Chattanooga went cold hitting just 3-of-14 from the field over the remainder of the game. Townsend and sophomore Kayla Christopher combined for all eight of Chattanooga's eight 3-pointers with Christopher leading UTC with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Junior Whitney Hood had 15 points in her first regular season game with UTC and pulled down five rebounds. Townsend scored all 12 of her points on 3-pointers and had four assists.
East Tennessee's Tara Davis led all scorers with 23 points with seven assists, a trio of 3-pointers and went 6-for-6 from the line. Gwen Washington had 17 points and four rebounds. ETSU outrebounded the Lady Mocs 45-40 with Chattanooga gaining a 16-15 advantage on the boards and had 17 second chance points.
The Lady Bucs outscored UTC in the paint 36-22 and shot 46 percent for the game with a 53.3 percent (16-30) second half performance.
Chattanooga will be on the road for both games next week beginning with a Monday night contest in Knoxville to take on the No. 4 Lady Vols at Thompson-Boling Arena. The game will be televised by SportSouth. Live stats will be available at GoMocs.com and Larry Ward will have all the action live on ESPN Radio 106.9 FM.
Richmond 79, Western Carolina 65
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina women's basketball dropped its home and season opener 79-65 to Richmond Friday in the Ramsey Center.
Junior guard Kaila'Shea Menendez led the Catamounts with a team-high 18 points and was 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Menendez also hit the only three-pointer for Western Carolina, draining the trey with 10 minutes left in the second half.
The Menendez three-pointer was part of a 22-5 run by Western Carolina in an eight minute span, in the middle of the second half. Western Carolina overcame an 18-point deficit, trailing 53-35 with 14:57 left in the game, to put Richmond on its heels.
The Catamount rally began with a jumper by junior forward Caitlin Hollifield, it was one of two jumpers by Hollifield in the run. Western Carolina also benefitted from a 7-of-8 performance at the charity stripe. The drive was capped off by a jumper by redshirt sophomore Diamond Hunnicutt to shave the Spiders' lead to 58-57 with 6:42 left on the clock.
Richmond sealed the game when it answered with a run of its own. In a three minute span, the Spiders scored 12 unanswered points to balloon its lead to 70-57 with 3:07 remaining. Western Carolina did get the score back down to single digits, 72-64, with 1:42 left, off a lay-up by Hollifield, but Richmond kept Western Carolina at bay by hitting 8-of-1o free throws in the final minute.
Western Carolina's only lead of the game was after scoring the opening basket, a layup by Hollifield. Richmond's Crystal Goring tied the game at two and the Spiders took the lead for good off a jumper by Abby Oliver.
The Catamounts kept Richmond's lead to single digits for most of the first half but the Spiders ended the first 20 minutes up by 12. Western Carolina got a spark heading into halftime as senior Kendra Carroll drained a layup at the buzzer to end the first half.
Hollifield was one of three total Catamounts to record double figure scoring. Carroll added 12 points and also had three steals. Redshirt sophomore Janae' McKinney led the team with a career-high eight rebounds.
Richmond's Brittani Shells led all scorers with a career-high 34 points. Shell was just one of two Richmond players to score in double figures with Goring adding 11.
Western Carolina was out rebounded by Richmond 43 to 36 but picked up eight steals to the Spiders five. One of the true tales of the game was the one three pointer hit by Western Carolina compared to the Spiders' eight.
The Catamounts return to action Sunday hosting East Carolina. Tip time is set for 2 p.m.
Indiana State 59, Furman 36
TERRE HAUTE, IND. - Deja Mattox scored 16 points and Indiana State used a strong second half run to down Furman, 59-36, in front of 3,351 fans at the Hulman Center in the 2010-11 season opener for both teams Friday evening.
The game marked the head coaching debut for both Jackie Carson of Furman (0-1) and Teri Moren of Indiana State (0-1).
Holding a 22-19 lead with just under four minutes to go in the first half, Indiana State got four free throws from Shannon Thomas to close the half with an 8-2 spurt for a 30-21 lead at the break.
The Sycamores continued their run over the first nine minutes of the second half, outscoring Furman 21-2 to take a 51-23 advantage following a Kelsie Cooley layup with 10:57 left. Two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws by Mattox sparked the outburst and put Indiana State in total control.
Furman was paced by senior Kelly O'Connor with 10 points, and Raegan Thompson finished with nine points and a team high seven rebounds.
The Paladins shot only 23.9 percent from the field, converting only 11-of-46 field goal attempts and just 4-of-23 shots in the second half.
Indiana State, meanwhile, connected on 20-of-49 shots from the field (40.8 percent) and fashioned a 38-29 advantage on the boards.
Thomas and Cooley rounded out the Sycamores' double figure scoring trio with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Furman takes on Mercer in Macon, Ga., next Friday.
Arkansas-Little Rock 84, Davidson 84
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Chastity Reed spoiled Davidson¹s season-opener with a game-high 31 points for Arkansas-Little Rock as the Wildcats fell 76-51 in the program¹s first trip to the state of Arkansas on Friday night in women¹s basketball action at the Jack Stephens Center.
Reed sparked a 20-11 run midway through the first half with 10 points during the spurt that gave UALR (1-0) a commanding 35-20 lead and Davidson (0-1) was never able to recover.
Reed, who was the fourth-leading scorer in the nation last year with a 24.8 points per game average, finished 13-of-19 from the field with seven assists and seven steals.
Kristen Johnsen led Davidson with 10 points, scoring the last nine Wildcat points of the game. Eight Wildcats in all etched their names in the scorer¹s book. Freshman Laura Murray had a nice debut, leading the team with nine rebounds to go along with six points.
Davidson hauled in 36 rebounds for the game, 16 of them on the offensive end helping lead the OCats to a 26-22 advantage in points in the paint.
In her return trip back to her hometown, senior Ashley Lax
finished with seven points, two boards and an assist.
Davidson kept things close early as a pair of Sophia Aleksandravicius free throws brought the OCats to within six at 15-9. The Wildcats did a solid job of getting to the line and putting the Trojans in foul trouble in the half. They scored half of their 24 first-half points at the charity stripe, missing just two of 14 attempts. Four UALR players had at least two fouls in the period.
Reed at one time had hit half of the Trojans¹ field goals in the first period as she scored 19 points in the half. The Trojans drained 18-of-32 field goals for the half for a 56.3 percent clip and finished the game shooting 48.4 percent overall.
A running layup by Asriel Rolfe pushed the Trojan lead to 44-24 with under a minute to go for the last score of the first period. Rolfe went 4-of-4 from the field, including hitting all three of UALR¹s treys for 11 points.
The second half saw the UALR lead grow to as many as 30 points.
The Wildcats conclude their Arkansas trip with a 2 p.m. contest in Fayetteville vs. Southeastern Conference-foe Arkansas on Sunday, Nov. 14.
GAME NOTES: This was the 16th time the Wildcats opened a season on the road since the 1992-93 campaign ... The OCats finished 18-of-23 from the free throw line ... tonight¹s game was the first meeting between both schools ...sophomore Jasmine Calin (Miami, Fla.) sparked a 17-point output from the Wildcat bench with a career-high nine points.