Appalachian State 100, Elon 67
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball opened up Southern Conference play in style as the Mountaineers pushed their home winning streak to 10 games and downed SoCon foe Elon 100-67 Monday evening at the Holmes Center. The win improves ASU to 5-1 on the season and 1-0 to start league play, winning its conference-opening game for the first time since the 2006-07 season and drops the Phoenix to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in conference action.
After trailing in the early minutes of the first half, it was a 13-1 Appalachian streak that broke open the game and ASU never looked back, jumping on top 15-6.
Back-to-back Anna Freeman three-pointers extended the Apps advantage, making the score 25-10 in their favor.
Anna Freeman finished the contest with a career-high 26 points, going 10-13 from the field and 3-5 from behind the arc, along with hauling in six rebounds. Continuing to clutter the stat line, the sophomore also dished out three assists, swatted three shots and recorded three steals.
Courtney Freeman, Canesha Edwards and Sam Ramirez were all on offensively as well and enabled Appalachian to take the 49-25 lead heading into the break.
All three capped off the night with double-figures in the scoring column, as Courtney Freeman tied a career-best with 20 points, Ramirez chipped in 19, and Edwards tallied her first double-double of the season grabbing a game-best 12 rebounds and scoring a season-best 17 points.
Second half play wasn't much kinder to Elon, as a jumper and layup by Ramirez kept the score lopsided, making it 64-33 with the Black and Gold leading just five minutes into the second period.
The Phoenix tried to make it interesting posting a 12-2 run, cutting their deficit to 22 points, down 79-57 with a little over seven minutes remaining.
Elon's late effort however was not enough as seven straight points by Edwards dashed any Elon hopes of a comeback, and Appalachian cruised to the 34-point win.
Lei Lei Hairston led Elon during the run, with four points, and she finished as Elon's leading scoring, totaling 19.
Impressive both offensively and defensively once again, ASU posted 100 points in a regular-season contest for the first time since 1996, while shooting above 50 percent for the fifth time this season.
Defensively, Appalachian limited its opponent to a 38.7 percent field goal percentage, while out-rebounding the Phoenix by nine.
The Apps return to non-conference play and close out their three-game homestand as they welcome UNC Asheville to the High Country, Thursday, December 2. The contest between the Mountaineers and Bulldogs is set to start at 7 p.m. in the Holmes Center.
NOTES: ASU has now won three-straight against Elon ... the win marks the first time Appalachian won its conference-opening game since the 2006-07 season when it defeated Elon 63-52 on December 16, 2006 ... the Apps are on a 10-game home winning streak ... ASU closed out the month of November with a 5-1 mark, the most wins in the month dating back to the 1981-82 season ... the last time ASU scored 100 plus points was on February 22, 1996 when it defeated Georgia Southern 102-94 ... it is just the 17th time in program history dating back to the 1970-71 season that ASU scored 100 points in a regular-season game.
Samford 63, Western Carolina 48
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Samford women's basketball team held Western Carolina to just 35-percent shooting from the floor and 23 percent from three-point range to defeat the Catamounts, 63-48, Monday evening at the Ramsey Center.
The game was the conference opener for both teams. Samford improves to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in SoCon play after claiming its fourth-straight win. Western Carolina drops to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in league play.
"It was good to get our first conference win," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I was very pleased with our team, particularly in the second half with our effort and composure and with the way we executed."
Samford was led in scoring by Paige Anderson and Emily London with 15 points each. Hannah Dawson scored nine points. Alex Crow led the team in rebounding with 11. Savannah Hill had seven assists to go along with her six points.
For Western Carolina, Kaila'Shea Menendez scored 14 points. Caitlin Hollifield had 13 points and eight rebounds. Kendra Carroll added 10 points for the Catamounts.
In the first half, Samford jumped out to an early 6-2 lead with 16:50 to go in the half after a layup by Dawson. Western Carolina then went on an 11-0 run to take a 13-6 lead with 11:54 to go in the half.
Samford answered with a 15-0 run of its own to take a 21-13 lead with 5:25 to go after a basket by Dawson. With Samford leading, 23-15, Western Carolina scored seven of the next eight points to cut the lead to two at 24-22 with 1:11 to go in the half. Samford took a 28-24 lead into halftime.
Samford pushed its lead out to seven early in the second half at 33-26 and 36-29. Western Carolina then fought back to cut the lead to three at 36-33 with 13:55 to go in the game. The Bulldogs then went on an 11-2 run to push its lead to 12 at 47-35 with 9:54 to go after a layup by Crow.
After a pair of WCU free throws cut the Samford lead to 10 at 47-37, Samford scored the next seven points to push its lead to 17 at 54-37 with 7:18 left after two free throws by Anderson. Samford led by as much as 18 at 57-39, but WCU scored the next five points to cut the lead to 13 at 57-44 with 4:20 left in the game.
Samford then scored six of the next seven points to push its lead back to 18 at 63-45 with 11 seconds to go. A late three-pointer by WCU's Carroll made the final score 63-48.
For the game, Samford out-rebounded Western Carolina, 32-28. The Bulldogs shot 47 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three-point range in the game.
Samford will return to action on Dec. 7, when the Bulldogs play host to Berry College. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.
Furman 61, College of Charleston 56
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Kaitlin Murphy scored 16 points and Furman put away the College of Charleston at the free throw line to secure a 61-56 victory in the Southern Conference season opener for both teams Monday evening at Timmons Arena.
Murphy's 16-point performance led a contingent of four double scorers for the Paladins (3-2, 1-0 SoCon), who converted 33-of-48 free throws in the contest. Kelly O'Connor tallied 14 points and Lakyn Ledford (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Kendra Berry (10 points, 10 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles.
The Cougars (2-5, 0-1 SoCon) got a game high 17 points from Janae Smith, 13 points from Tonia Gerty, and 11 points from Ariel Hatcher.
"We made some big free throws, and I don't think I've ever been involved in a game with 48 free throw attempts," said Furman head coach Jackie Carson after earning her first SoCon victory since returning to her alma mater in April. "It wasn't pretty, but an ugly win is better than a pretty loss. We'll take it."
Furman made just 13-of-44 field goals attempts (29.5%) in the whistle-fest, which included 49 fouls and 71 combined free throw attempts.
The College of Charleston, meanwhile, went 20-of-65 from the field (30.8%) but was outscored at the charity stripe by 19 points.
In addition to posting the big advantage at the line, Furman fashioned a 51-38 advantage in rebounds.
"We came up with some big rebounds in the second half. If we continue to do that well, we're going to win some ball games," added Carson.
The Paladins used a 9-2 run over the final five minutes of the first half to take a 29-22 lead into intermission.
A Lakyn Ledford jump shot at the 10:42 mark put Furman up 43-33, but CofC responded with a 9-2 run over the next four minutes to make it a 45-42 game following an Ariel Hatcher layup with 6:40 to go.
A Kelly O'Connor 3-pointer at the 5:37 juncture halted the Cougar charge and gave Furman a 48-42 lead.
From that point the Paladins scored their final 13 points at the free throw line.
The Cougars cut Furman's lead to three on three different occasions, but each time the Paladins responded with free throws to maintain the advantage, with Kelly O'Connor's two charity stripe tosses with 10 seconds left providing the final margin.
Furman will play host to Charleston Southern this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in Timmons Arena.