Davidson 69, William & Mary 47
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Freshman Laura Murray dropped in a season and game-high 26 points and Sophia Aleksandravicius recorded her 12th career double-double as the duo led Davidson to a 69-47 home-opening win over William & Mary on Friday night at John M. Belk Arena in women's basketball.
In addition to earning their first win of the season, the Wildcats (1-2) also gave head coach Michele Savage her first career coaching win.
Murray, who registered 18 second-half points as the 'Cats went off for 48 in the period, helped Davidson open up a 20-point lead, 34-14, in the second half on a layup with 15:42 on the clock, forcing the Tribe to burn a 30-second timeout. She went onto score six of the 'Cats next 10 points and the lead was pushed
to 26 (44-18) after she converted on a three-point play with 11:37 left.
The freshman hit 8-of-13 shots overall, with three of those buckets coming from behind the arc, and went 7-for-11 from the charity stripe.
The 'Cats later pushed their lead out to 28 (48-20) on a Jasmine Calin layup with 8:41 remaining in the game and would go on to lead by as many as 14 the rest of the way.
Forward Aleksandravicius took care of the inside scoring, netting 14 points to go along with her game-best 13 rebounds, which were three off her career-high. The sophomore also swatted away five shots, one off the school record.
Also reaching the double-figure mark for the third straight game was Kristen Johnsen with 14 points, all of them coming in the second half as she finished perfect on the night. She hit all four of her field goals
and sank all six free throws. In the last two games now, Johnsen is 8-of-8 from the field and 10-for-10 from the free throw line.
William & Mary (0-2) put a pair of scorers in double figures, led by Taysha Paye's 19 points, 18 of them coming in the second period.
The Wildcat defense shut down the Tribe, holding them to 25.4 percent shooting for the game, including just 11 percent in the first half when the Tribe scored just 10 points.
Both team struggled out of the gate as the Wildcats were held without a bucket for the first seven-and-half minutes until Murray canned a three-ball that sparked a 9-0 run to give Davidson a 9-6 lead.
After a Mathieu Kaitlyn jumper for William & Mary at the 9:35 mark made it 9-8, Davidson clamped down on defense, holding the Tribe scoreless over the next five and half minutes in opeing up a 19-8 lead. Davidson went into halftime up 21-10.
Davidson takes to the road, traveling down to Rock Hill, S.C. to play Winthrop on Monday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES: Davidson's win this evening was its first in the all-time series (1-4) ... The 'Cats were 14-of-24 in the second period for a season-best 58.3 percent shooting in a half ... Calin finished with five points, six boards and four assists ... Aleksandravicius has hit the double-figure mark
in five her last six games dating back to last season ... Davidson is 14-16 all-time in home-openers.
Furman 63, Mercer 47
MACON, GA. -- Kelly O'Connor scored a career high 25 points and Furman used a strong second half to down Mercer, 63-47, in women's basketball action Friday evening at the University Center.
The win marked the first career victory for first year Furman head coach Jackie Carson and evened the Paladins' record at 1-1 on the young season.
Mercer falls to 0-3 with the loss.
"We were very flat in the first half but came out in the second half and played our type of basketball - attacking, rebounding aggressively, moving, and getting good shots," said Carson. "That was the best stretch of basketball we've played, and I'm very proud of our squad. If we continue to play like that, we're going to win our share of basketball games."
Furman, which connected on just 8-of-24 shots in the first half and trailed 26-21 at intermission, faced a 36-31 deficit with 10 minutes remaining when Kaitlin Murphy drained a pair of free throws to ignite a 10-0 Paladin run. A layup by Kendra Berry and consecutive 3-pointers by Raegan Thompson and O'Connor finished off the spurt and staked the Paladins to a 41-36 advantage with 7:32 remaining.
Mercer's Kendra Grant drained a 3-pointer 17 seconds later to pull the Bears to within two points, but Furman responded with an 8-0 run fueled by a pair of O'Connor 3-pointers, the second of which put the Paladins up 49-39 with 5:33 left.
Furman finished off the Bears with another decisive rally - a 12-2 run - over the next four minutes to make it 61-43 with 1:16 to go.
O'Connor's career high performance featured 8-of-19 shooting from the field, including 7-of-14 from 3-point range, and 20 of her 25 points over the game's final period.
Murphy was the only other Paladin to register double figures with 10 points, which she combined with a game high eight assists, four steals, and four rebounds.
Lakyn Ledford tallied nine points, but her career high 14 rebounds paced Furman's solid work on the boards, where the Paladins forged a 44-31 advantage. Berry and Thompson both contributed seven rebounds apiece.
Mercer was paced in scoring by three players - Briana Williams, Alex Phillips, and Brittnee Hazel - with 10 points each.
Furman's strong second half was keyed by 14-of-29 shooting from the field (48.3 percent), including 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Bears, meanwhile, connected on just 27.6 percent of their shots (8-of-29) over the game's final 20 minutes.
College of Charleston 59, Bethune-Cookman 56
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A 12-point lead late in the second half quickly evaporated as the Bethune Cookman Wildcats staged a furious rally in the last two minutes to pull within three, but an errant three-pointer with two seconds remaining preserved the 59-56 win for the College of Charleston women's basketball team tonight in front of 189 fans at Moore Gymnasium in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The Cougars (2-2) scored six of the second half's first eight points to lead by 13 (41-28) with 18:09 to go. Bethune Cookman (1-1) began to eat away at the lead over the next 10 minutes and only trailed by three, 44-41, with 7:59 on the clock. A 13-4 run by the Cougars ended that threat and they led 57-45 with just 2:15 remaining.
Bethune Cookman scored the next nine points, sparked by six from Sarah Bolden, who had 14 points on the night, and trailed by just three with 48 seconds to go. Tonia Gerty was fouled with 43 seconds on the clock and nailed two free throws to send the Cougar lead to five before a lay-up by Jasmine Daniels at the 35 second mark put the game back into reach for the Wildcats. Gerty missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw shot, giving Bethune Cookman one last chance to at least tie the game, but a three-pointer by Demetria Frank fell just short as the clock winded down, and the Cougars escaped with the 59-56 victory.
Charleston opened the game cold as ice from the floor and the Cougars found themselves down 15-3 with 12:37 remaining in the first half. The Cougars found their rhythm as Cathryn Hardy scored five of her nine points during a nine minute stretch that saw the Cougars outscore the Wildcats 19-8 and take a 23-22 lead with 4:02 on the clock. They would not give the lead back up the rest of the game, rounding out the half on a 13-3 run the final four minutes to head into the locker room leading by nine, 35-26.
Gerty returned to her hometown and led the Cougars with 15 points with Latisha Harris and Hardy following with nine apiece. Deidre Ramer pulled down 12 rebounds including eight from the defensive end, as the Cougars held the 41-35 advantage on the glass.
Three Wildcats scored in double-figures with Frank leading with 16 and seven rebounds. Turnovers were fairly even with Bethune Cookman holding the slight 27-25 edge.
Charleston shot 37.9 percent from the field for the game, while Bethune Cookman shot 36.0. The Cougars were 13-of-20 from the free throw line, compared to 19-of-25 for the Wildcats. Charleston dominated in the paint, 32-18.
Charleston returns home Monday, November 22, for a 7 p.m. game against USC Aiken.
Appalachian State 75, East Tennessee State 56
JOHNSON CITY, TENN. - For the first time since 2003, Appalachian State University women's basketball was able to pick up a win over its former conference rival on its home floor as the Apps hammered East Tennessee State 75-56, snapping the Lady Bucs 12-game home winning streak and handing ETSU its first defeat of the season.
After two Tara Davis free throws gave ETSU a 41-40 lead in the opening minutes of the second-half, Appalachian State outscored the Lady Bucs 10-2 over a three and a half minute stretch to take the 50-43 lead and never look back.
ASU outscored ETSU 42-25 in the second half.
Courtney Freeman paced the Black and Gold during the run, scoring four points, and was one of five Mountaineers to end the night in double-figures, as the sophomore finished with 10.
Appalachian never led by less than five points and the Apps' rout of the No. 16 team in the CollegeInsider.Com Mid Major Poll was on.
A Canesha Edwards jumper extended the Black and Gold's advantage to double-digits up 10 and two final Edwards free throws with 20 seconds remaining gave ASU the impressive 19-point win.
Hotly contested first half action saw the Apps lead by as many as eight points, with Ashlen Dewart, Sam Ramirez and Anna Freeman all coming alive for the Mountaineers offensively.
Ramirez converted a layup and put the Black and Gold in front 15-7 early, eight minutes into play.
The three-time defending Atlantic Sun champions would not give up quite so easily as Davis drilled a three-pointer to knot action at 21 with a little less than seven minutes remaining until the break.
Anna Freeman was able to respond, scoring six ASU points in the final minutes before the half to help Appalachian take a 33-31 into the break.
Anna Freeman was once again a stud offensively, as she led the Apps in the scoring column for the second-straight contest, pouring in 18 points on 7-14 shooting, including going a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. The sophomore also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out four assists and had two blocks.
For the third time this season, ASU's offense was quite productive, scoring 70 plus points, while the Mountaineers' defense had its best effort of the young season limiting ETSU to just 56 points. The defense also held the Lady Bucs to a dismal 33.3 shooting percent from the field and pounded ETSU on the glass out-rebounded it's A-Sun foe 45-28.
Looking to keep with its impressive play, the 2010-11 season carries on as Appalachian State returns to the High Country for its home-opener, Monday, November 22. The Black and Gold host another strong mid-major opponent in Gardner-Webb. The Mountaineers and Runnin' Bulldogs are set to tip off at 7 p.m. in the Holmes Center.
Georgia 79, Chattanooga 69
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team hit a Georgia opponent 3-point record Friday night at Stegeman Coliseum but fell short of an upset with a 79-69 loss to the Lady Dogs as Georgia celebrated Andy Landers' 1,000th game as head coach.
The loss drops UTC down to 0-3 for the first time ever in Wes Moore's tenure at Chattanooga, while the Lady Dogs improve to 2-0 with a pair of wins over Southern Conference schools after opening the season with a 15-point win over Georgia Southern.
Chattanooga was hot from the perimeter in the first half starting the game with seven straight 3-pointers and closing out the first half with 10, one shy of a school record for a half, and battled the Lady Dogs as the lead bounced back-and-forth 18 times in the frame. Georgia pulled ahead as the half came to a close and led 46-40 at the break.
Junior Tenisha Townsend and sophomore Kayla Christopher combined for six treys in the first frame while freshman Meghan Downes drained three of her own in the second.
After a quick foul on Chattanooga to start the game, the Lady Mocs bounced back with a trey from Christopher for its first lead of the game. Georgia came back with an 11-2 run for its largest lead of the first half, 13-5. Sophomore Kiara Smith drained a three followed by Christopher's second and one from freshman Alex Black to give UTC a 14-13 lead with 14:25 to play in the half.
After a Porsha Phillips lay-in gave the Lady Dogs a 15-14 lead, Smith nailed her second 3-pointer, extending UTC's lead back to 17-15. Georgia tied it on a layup, but The Lady Mocs answered back with its sixth 3-pointer of the half, this time from sophomore Kylie Lambert.
After another layup from Phillips, Christopher hit her third trey to give UTC a 23-21 lead with just half the frame expired at 10:07. It would remain tight down the stretch with three more long-range bombs from Chattanooga, but it would be all Georgia with a 7-0 run in the final 1:10 of the half to take a 46-40 lead.
In the second, the Lady Dogs held Chattanooga off allowing UTC just four points over the first 6:08 of the half and took a 56-44 lead. The Lady Mocs would only get as close as seven points the rest of the half, with the perimeter game all but shut down. Georgia extended its lead to 71-55, its largest of the game, with 8:29 to play.
Junior Whitney Hood hit back-to-back lay-ups and Downes drained two of her 3-pointers as the Lady Mocs outscored the Lady Dogs 14-8 but couldn't get any closer falling by 10 on the road.
Hood led the Lady Mocs with 14 points while Townsend had 13 and Christopher chipped in 11. Lambert had a team-high six rebounds and five Chattanooga players each had three assists.
Georgia was strong inside outscoring UTC 44-16 in the paint and outrebounded the Lady Mocs 45-22 with 17 offensive boards that resulted in 21 second chance points. Chattanooga forced 18 Lady Dog turnovers and turned that into 16 points.
The Lady Mocs shot 45.5 percent from the floor and had a 13-of-26 performance from the 3-point line, tying the Georgia opponent 3-point recorda. However, UTC made just 6-of-12 from the charity stripe. Georgia turned in a 55.9 percent (19-of-34) shooting performance in the first half to shoot 52.4 percent for the game on 33-of-63 from the floor.
Chattanooga returns to McKenzie Arena Tuesday night to host Austin Peay at 7 p.m.
Alabama 65, Georgia Southern 55
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Women's Basketball Team outscored Alabama in the second half 38-35 and held the Tide to 23 points under its scoring average, but the Tide left Statesboro with a 65-55 victory Friday night. Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.) scored 10 points, all coming in the second half, to lead the Lady Eagles.
Junior guard Samantha Williams had nine points while junior forward Candice Ivy, senior point guard Jamie Navarro and redshirt freshman MiMi DuBose contributed eight each. The Tide's Jasmine Robinson led all scorers with 16 points and Tierney Jenkins recorded the 27th double-double of her career with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
A 14-5 run over five minutes in the second half helped Georgia Southern cut a double-digit lead to six points as the Lady Eagles attempted to take over the game. Alabama had recorded seven team fouls by the 12-minute mark, putting the Lady Eagles at the free throw line for the rest of the night. During its run, Georgia Southern added nine points from the charity stripe to go along with a three-pointer and field goal. GSU cut the lead to five, 58-53, with a minute and a half remaining in the game. Jenkins hit four free throws in the final minute to secure the win for Alabama.
"That just shows the heart of these kids," said Lady Eagles Head Coach Rusty Cram. "I think they disappointed themselves in the first half -- we weren't sharp, we didn't come out and focus. That was disappointing because I haven't seen that in this team. We were able to regroup at halftime and come out to actually win the second half by three. The heart of the team is that they are not going to quit, they're not going to lie down. I was tickled to death that they fought back."
Alabama, which usually scores an average of 50 points in the paint, was limited to 14 points by Georgia Southern. The Tide averaged 88 points per game coming into Friday night's contest.
The Lady Eagles trailed 17-30 at the half, shooting only 28.6 (6-21) percent from the field, but getting eight points of offensive production from its bench. Alabama forced Georgia Southern into 15 turnovers in the first half and converted those turnovers into 15 Tide points. Jenkins and Robinson each had four points in the first seven minutes to pace Alabama to a nine-point lead. DuBose and sophomore Ro-Ro Smith each hit threes and freshman forward Danielle Spencer added a jumper to pull the Lady Eagles within five.
Georgia Southern plays next at Jacksonville Sunday, November 21st, at 1 p.m.