Appalachian State 98, Gardner-Webb 68
BOONE, N.C.- Ashlen Dewart scored 24 first half points, and Appalachian State University women's basketball extended its home winning streak to nine games, as the Apps hammered Gardner-Webb 98-68 in the squad's 2010-11 home-opener Monday evening. The win improves the Black and Gold to 4-1 on the young season and gives head coach Darcie Vincent her 300th career victory.
The Runnin' Bulldogs had the advantage early in the contest going up 14-8 but that would be the last time Gardner-Webb led, as Appalachian took control the rest of the game.
A 9-0 Mountaineer run gave the Black and Gold all the momentum they needed, and put the Apps on top for good, making the score 17-14 in ASU's favor with a little over ten minutes remaining in the half.
Sophomore Ashlen Dewart came alive for Appalachian on the offensive front, pouring in seven points during the spurt, including draining a trey.
Dewart sank three more shots from behind the arc in first half play, including one with 11 seconds left to give Appalachian the commanding 41-29 lead heading into the break.
Dewart poured in 24 points in the first period, and ended the contest tying a career-best with 34. She went 12-15 from the field and 4-6 from downtown, while also going 6-7 from the charity stripe.
The Spartanburg, S.C. native was also stellar on the glass, as she posted her sixth career double-double, and second this season hauling in a game-high 11 boards as well.
Courtney Freeman and Sam Ramirez led the Mountaineers offensive assault to open second-half action as they lifted ASU to a 20-point lead up 56-36.
Freeman and Ramirez were not quiet on the offensive front against the Runnin' Bulldogs as Freeman scored 18 points on the night and Ramirez poured in 20.
Also productive offensively, Anna Freeman dished out a career-best nine assists.
Gardner-Webb tried to rally a comeback going on a 14-2 streak with eight and a half minutes remaining in the contest, cutting ASU's lead to 24 points, with Dominique Hudson pacing GWU during the run.
Hudson finished as Gardner-Webb's leading scorer, closing out the game with 19 points.
However, the Runnin' Bulldogs effort was not enough and Appalachian went on to knock off the 2009-10 regular season Big South champion, for the first time in the team's four meetings by a resounding 30 points.
Looking to push its home winning streak to 10 games, the Black and Gold take a week break for Thanksgiving before opening Southern Conference action, Monday, November 29. Continuing with its homestand, ASU will battle Elon at 7 p.m. in the Holmes Center.
Notes: The win is Darcie Vincent's 300th of her career ... the win gives Appalachian its first-ever over Gardner-Webb ... extends Appalachian's home winning streak to nine games, with its last loss coming against Samford on January 11, 2010 .. the victory is ASU's first in a home-opener since the 2007-08 season ... Appalachian is now 2-0 on the season against teams that won their respective conference titles a season ago (beat ETSU- Atlantic Sun champion and Gardner-Webb- Big South champion).
Wofford 83, Southern Virginia 35
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - With an 83-35 win over the visiting Southern Virginia Knights, the Wofford College Terriers brought their record to 2-2 overall on the young 2010-11 season.
Wofford brought their season winning percentage to .500 through the first four game since the 2007-2008 season when they opened with losses to Coastal Carolina and Virginia Tech and had wins against Southern Virginia and Southeast Louisiana.
Wofford opened the scoring with a layup from Mahagony Williams on a pass from Rachel Brittenham, as they jumped out to 12-0 lead through the four minutes of play. Jasmin Johnson ended the Terrier run as she made the first basket for the Knights at 15:37 mark.
Southern Virginia cut the lead to 18-10 three minutes later and eventually pulled within six, 20-14, on a Nicole Tolman basket with 8:34 left in the half. Wofford responded with a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 29-14 with just over five minutes to play. April Moorhouse had four points during the run for the Terriers. Wofford pushed the lead to 21, 40-19, limiting the Knights to just five points over the final five minutes.
Wofford held a 30-10 points-in-the-paint margin at the half and had a plus ten rebounding margin over Southern Virginia, 19-9.
In the second half, it was all Wofford as they added on 43 points and limited Southern Virginia to only 16 points in the half. In the second half the Terriers shot 48 percent from the field and held the Knights to 33 percent from the floor.
Wofford was led offensively by Williams, who had 14 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor. Moorhouse added 14 points, while Brittenham and Ashley Kroker added 12 and ten points respectively. Daniella Motley grabbed a game-high six rebounds.
For Southern Virginia Cara Joyner and Johnson had seven points apiece to led the Knights offensively.
Wofford will return to action Wednesday against UNC Wilmington at 1 p.m. in Ben Johnson Arena.
Winthrop 49, Davidson 41
ROCK HILL, S.C. - The Winthrop Eagles forced Davidson into 24 turnovers and held the OCats to 29.5 percent shooting in taking a 49-41 win on Monday night at the Winthrop Coliseum in women¹s basketball action.
The Wildcats (1-3) saw their nine-game win streak come to an end in the all-time series vs. the Eagles, who improved to 1-3 on the season.
Sophia Aleksandravicius was the lone OCat to reach double figures, getting
16 points and registering her second straight double-double with 10 boards.
The sophomore was held to just two points though in the second half, when the Wildcats shot just 6-of-23 in the period. Davidson hit just 13 field goals overall.
The sophomore had her second straight game with five blocks, one off the school record to push her season total to 14 through four games.
Kristen Johnsen tied Aleksandravicius with 10 boards and Davidson hit the 40-board for the second game in a row.
Winthrop was led by Dequesha McLanahan¹s nine points, while two other Eagles clipped the eight-point mark. TaQuoia Hammick tallied 11 rebounds and helped the Eagles haul in 22 of their 44 boards on the offensive end with five offensive rebounds. Winthrop also got 28 of their points in the paint.
Ashley Lax gave Davidson a 39-37 advantage with her third trey of the game with 5:53 left, but, the Wildcats went cold after that allowing the Eagles to get back in it.
Winthrop would take advantage, going on a game-clinching 10-0 run over the next five minutes to turn a two-point deficit into an eight point lead, 47-39, with 56.5 second left. Davidson hit one more bucket, but time ran out as the OCats fell by eight.
It was a tightly contested first half that saw five ties and five lead changes. Aleksandravicius gave the Wildcats a brief 16-15 lead at the 7:40 mark. Winthrop had no answer for the forward in the half as she hit four of her six field goals and all six free throws for 14 points to go along with seven boards.
Then after the score was tied 20-all, Aleksandravicius gave the Wildcats the lead heading into halftime on a bucket inside with nine seconds as Davidson had a 25-24 lead.
Davidson remains on the road and will travel to Texas where it will play in the UTSA Thanksgiving Tournament, Nov. 26-27, on the campus of UT-San Antonio. The OCats open the tournament against North Texas on the 26th at 5 p.m. and then finish out the weekend with a 5 p.m. contest against UTSA.
Charleston Southern 77, UNCG 67
CHARLESTON, S.C. - UNCG got a season-high 16 points from senior Monique Floyd and a career-high 12 points from sophomore Sidnei Harmon in her first career start, but the Spartans could not overcome 22 turnovers and 13 Charleston Southern 3-pointers in a 77-67 loss to the Buccaneers on Monday.
UNCG fell to 0-3 with the loss, while Charleston Southern improved to 3-1.
Katie Tull scored a game-high 21 points for the Bucs, going 7-for-12 from 3-point range and setting CSU's career 3-point record on the night. Kelsey Wasmer had the game's lone double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The Spartans trailed by as many as 15 in the second half, but managed to get their deficit back to single digits several times, thanks mostly to Floyd and Harmon. Floyd had 13 of her points in the second half, while Harmon scored all of hers after intermission, going 6-for-6 from the floor to set a new career high for the second straight game.
UNCG trailed 33-25 at halftime, but CSU opened the second half with five straight field goals, including three straight 3s. Floyd and Harmon kept the game from getting out of hand, however, combining for the Spartans' first 10 points as UNCG nearly matched the Bucs bucket for bucket.
After a Tull 3 made it 51-37 with 14:58 to play, UNCG turned in an 11-4 run to cut its deficit in half. Harmon had eight points in the run as the Spartans again made it close, trailing just 55-48 with 9:13 to go.
The Bucs would blow it back open, however, getting five points from Wasmer and four from Lakeitha Alston as Charleston Southern pumped its lead up to a game-high 15 at 69-54 with just 5:25 to go.
UNCG would chip away again, getting a Brey Dorsett 3-pointer, a pair of free throws from Janae' Stevenson and a Floyd jumper to get it down to single digits at 70-61. Floyd added a pair of free throws and Stevenson hit another free throw to cap UNCG's 10-1 run and make it a 70-64 game with just 2:55 left.
The rally stalled with a four-point swing with just over two minutes left, as a missed Floyd layup turned into a pair of CSU free throws on the other end when Lydia Johnson was fouled on the rebound. CSU reached the double bonus with 3:36 to play.
The Bucs closed out the game at the free throw line, going 5-for-6 and getting a Johnson layup in the final 2:14.
UNCG was plagued by turnovers on the evening, particularly in a sloppy first half that saw the Spartans turn the ball over 16 times. Charleston Southern scored 25 points off UNCG miscues in the contest.
All 13 players that dressed out saw time for the Spartans, with 11 of them scoring. Stevenson, a freshman playing in just her second career game, had a career-high eight points to go with six boards. Amanda Leigh just missed double figures, as well, finishing with nine points.
Greensboro native Helen Terry finished with 13 points for the Bucs, while Alston had 12 to round out four CSU players in double figures.
UNCG returns to action Friday in Miami, Fla., when it will take on Eastern Illinois in the Mayfair Hotel and Spa Thanksgiving Tournament.
USC-Aiken 81, College of Charleston 48
CHARLESTON, S.C. - USC Aiken shot 55.4 percent and held the College of Charleston women's basketball team without a shot the final 6:29 of the game as the Pacers defeated the Cougars, 81-48, in front of 127 fans at the Carolina First Arena.
The Cougars (2-3) fired the game's first shot but that would be the only lead they would have as the Pacers (4-1) went on a 19-6 run over the next six-and-a-half minutes to build an 11-point, 19-8 lead with 13:27 remaining in the half. Charleston outscored the Pacers 14-7 the next four minutes, capping it off with a three-pointer by Megan Fischer, to cut the margin to four, 26-22, with 9:04 to go before intermission. That would be as close as Charleston would get, as USC Aiken finished out the half on a 13-4 run to take the 39-27 lead into the locker room.
The second half opened with 12 unanswered points by USC Aiken as the Pacers built a 24-point, 51-27 lead with 14:13 left in the game, before Cathryn Hardy ended the drought with a jumper at 13:49. The Cougars would get no closer than 22 the rest of the game as USC Aiken outscored Charleston 30-19 down the stretch. Charleston cut the deficit to 22 off a jumper by Taylor Mims at 6:29 but that would prove to be the Cougars' last basket as USC Aiken took an 11-0 run to end the game with the score 81-48.
Alyssa Frye led the Cougars with a career-high 11 points. Latisha Harris, Tonia Gerty and Fischer followed with eight apiece. Harris added a team-leading six rebounds on the night.
Four Pacers scored in double-figures with Nakia Pinkney leading the way with 18 points and eight rebounds.
Charleston shot 37.7 percent from the field and was five-of-18 from beyond the three-point arc. USC Aiken was 31-of-56 from the field and shot 50 percent from three-point range. USC Aiken held the 38-25 rebound advantage and had eight less turnovers, 14-22, with the Pacers converting 25 of their points off the CofC miscues, compared to nine for Charleston.
Charleston is next in action against Kansas State Saturday, Nov. 27th at 2 p.m., at the Carolina First Arena.