Furman 63, Appalachian State 62
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Kendra Berry rattled in a 3-pointer - the first of her career - with 2.3 seconds remaining in the game to lift Furman to a 63-62 upset victory over visiting Appalachian State in Southern Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
With Furman trailing 62-60, Berry, a senior forward from Albany, Ga., took a pass at the top of the circle from Kelly O'Connor, turned, and launched only the second 3-point attempt of her career. The shot nicked the rim twice before falling through to give the Paladins a one-point lead.
After a timeout, Appalachian State's Sam Ramirez took the inbounds pass just inside half court but missed a desperation 3-pointer at the final buzzer.
Berry's decisive basket was set up O'Connor, who was fouled on a 3-point shot with 18 seconds remaining with the Paladins trailing, 62-58. O'Connor drained her first two free throws to make it 62-60, but her final attempt bounced long off the rim and into Berry's hands. Following a Furman timeout with 14 seconds to go, the Paladins inbounded the ball and O'Connor, despite heavy pressure, was able to pass the ball to Berry at the top of the circle, where she delivered the game winner.
The win improved Furman to 6-3 on the season and 2-0 in SoCon play, while the loss dropped Appalachian State to 6-3 overall and 1-1 in league action. The Mountaineers were picked to finish second in the SoCon coaches' preseason poll and the Paladins 10th.
Berry scored 12 points and claimed 10 rebounds in the contest for her fourth double-double in the past five games. Lakyn Ledford also notched a double-double with 12 points and a game high 13 rebounds, and Katilin Murphy led the Paladins with 16 points. O'Connor, meanwhile, delivered 13 points to give Furman four double figure scorers.
Sam Ramirez's 23 points led Appalachian State, which entered the contest averaging a SoCon best 82.9 points per game.
Furman trailed 31-22 at intermission and 53-43 with just over eight minutes remaining before putting together a 14-3 run to take its first lead of the game, 57-56, with 3:36 left following back-to-back O'Connor 3-pointers.
Ramirez answered with a 3-pointer with 3:11 to give ASU a 59-57 lead.
A Berry free throw at the 2:19 juncture made it a one-point game before the Mountaineers' Ashlen Dewart canned a pair of free throws to stretch the advantage to 61-58. Canesha Edwards' converted one of two free throws with 27 seconds remaining for a 62-58 Mountaineer lead.
On the ensuing possession, O'Connor let fly with a 3-point shot from the top of the circle but was fouled hard by ASU's Anna Freeman with 18 seconds to go.
Appalachian State forged a slight shooting advantage in the game, converting 38.1 percent of its shots from the field to Furman's 35.5 percent, and the Mountaineers claimed a 48-42 rebounding margin. The Paladins, however, managed an advantage at the free throw line, making good on 14-of-24 attempts to ASU's 7-of-14, and Furman found the mark on 5-of-10 3-pointers in the second half while the Mountaineres connect on just 2-of-9 shots from beyond the arc over the game's final 20 minutes.
The two teams combined for 54 turnovers.
Furman will attempt to remain perfect in league play on Monday when it plays at UNC Greensboro in a 2:00 p.m. game.
UNCG 80, Wofford 67
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Monique Floyd scored 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her third career double-double and UNCG capitalized on 28 Wofford turnovers to open Southern Conference play with an 80-67 win over the Terriers on Saturday.
The Spartans (4-5, 1-0 SoCon), who scored 30 points off Wofford miscues and led by as many as 23 points, put four players in double figures. Amanda Leigh had 13 points and Dayshaun Richbow and Janae' Stevenson had 11 each. Kendra Smith finished with nine points as UNCG just missed putting all five starters in double digits.
Freshman Logan Morris scored a game- and career-high 16 points to lead Wofford, while April Moorhouse had 12 points.
UNCG stormed out of the gates to a 21-7 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the opening frame, scoring 17 points off 12 Wofford turnovers to that point. Leigh had seven of UNCG's points in the opening spurt, including back-to-back buckets off her own steals and a 3-pointer that moved her into a tie for third place in school history in career 3s. She now has 135, matching the total put up by Sam Ferguson from 1995-98.
A Daniella Motley layup with 9:12 to play in the opening half snapped a 6 minute, 15 second field goal drought for the Terriers, but UNCG answered with a 10-1 run to push its lead to 21 points at 31-10 with 5:53 to go in the first half. The Spartans took a 37-19 lead into the break.
UNCG's advantage was still at 18 points about five minutes into the second frame, but Wofford would creep back into the game to get it down to 12. The Terriers, who shot just 29.2 percent from the floor in the first half, went 6-for-9 from the field in their spurt, making it a 58-46 game with 9:36 to play.
The Terriers were still within a dozen at 64-52 with 6:31 left, but that was close as Wofford would get. Floyd took over from there, scoring six points in UNCG's 8-0 run that pushed its lead back to 20.
The Spartans would get their lead up to 23 at 79-56 before Wofford tightened things up at the free throw line late. The Terriers were a perfect 19-for-19 from the stripe in the second frame, including going 8-for-8 in the final two minutes.
UNCG held a 14-0 lead in fastbreak points and outscored Wofford 38-24 in the paint. The Spartans held Wofford's leading scorer, senior forward Mahagony Williams, to just eight points, nearly six below her season average.
Floyd's double-double was her first of the season and first since Jan. 13, 2010, in a win over Elon. The reigning SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week, Floyd also finished with four assists and three steals. The 10 rebounds matched her career high.
As has often been the case this season, the Spartans got a big boost from their bench. Sophomore Sidnei Harmon had eight points and eight rebounds, while freshman Breonna Patterson had eight points, all of them in a span of less than two minutes midway through the second half.
UNCG, whose 11 turnovers were a season low, won its SoCon-opener for the second time in the last three seasons.
The win served as a measure of revenge for the Spartans, who were swept by Wofford for the first time ever last season. The Terriers won the two games by a combined three points, getting the go-ahead points in the last 11 seconds each time.
UNCG will have little time to savor the win, as it hosts Furman on Monday at 2 p.m. at Fleming Gym.
Western Carolina 74, Elon 64
ELON, N.C. Redshirt sophomore Janae' McKinney had a career-high double-double, 19 points and 12 rebounds, to help lead Western Carolina women's basketball (3-6, 1-1 SoCon) to a 74-64 win over Elon (5-4, 0-2 SoCon) Saturday in Alumni Gym.
The Catamounts have won back-to-back games and enjoy its first winning streak of the season, after defeating Georgia State, 51-37, on December 11.
McKinney was 4-for-4, and 9-of-12 overall, at the free throw line to assist in fending off Elon in the final 37 seconds of the game. Eight of McKinney's career-high 12 rebounds were on the offensive end.
Senior Kendra Carroll added 17 points in the game and also dished out four assists. Junior Caitlin Hollifield rounded out the double figure scorers for Western Carolina with 16 points and had two assists.
Western Carolina held Elon scoreless for the first three plus minutes of the second half. The Catamounts took a three point lead at halftime, 32-29, and built a 10-point advantage going on a 7-0 run to begin the half. The Phoenix scored its first bucket of the second half, when sophomore Kelsey Evans hit a jumper at 16:15. Evans' field goal spurred Phoenix on a run of its own, outscoring the Catamounts 11-3, to tie the game at 42 with 11:30 remaining.
Elon would take its last lead of the game when Ali Ford hit a three pointer with less then 10 minutes left in the game. Western Carolina answered Ford's three-pointer with back-to-back treys by Hollifield and Diamond Hunnicutt, the second in the game for both, to push the Catamounts' lead to five points, 52-47.
The Phoenix would trim the Catamounts' lead to one point, 52-51, one last time, when Ford struck again with a circus style lay-up. Ford's acrobatics weren't enough for Western Carolina's tenacious scoring in the final six minutes, as the Catamounts outscored Elon 22-13. In those final minutes of the game, 18 of the Catamounts' 22 points were from the free throw line.
Overall, Western Carolina was 21-of-31 from the free throw line and shot 39.3 percent from the field. The Catamounts had five three pointers and Elon had eight. WCU also won the rebounding advantage 41-38.
In the first half, the game was tied twice and the lead changed seven times. Western Carolina built its largest lead of the first half, seven points, when Hunnicutt hit her first three pointer of the game. A pair of lay-ups by Elon's Lisa Archie cut the lead to three. McKinney pushed the lead back to six, for the Catamounts, with 1:23 remaining, but Elon scored the final bucket of the half when Lei Lei Hairston hit a three-pointer with 35 seconds left in the half.
Elon's Ford led all scorers with 21 points, hitting five three-pointers in the game.
Western Carolina completes its first Southern Conference road swing on Monday playing at Appalachian State. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.
Samford 62, College of Charleston 53
CHARLESTON, S.C.-The Samford women's basketball team held the College of Charleston to just 21 second-half points on its way to a 62-53 Southern Conference win over the Cougars Saturday night at Carolina First Arena.
Morris said the play of several non-starters was a big reason why the Bulldogs were able to come away with the win Saturday night.
As a team, Samford shot 48.9 percent overall and 33.3 percent from three-point range. The Bulldogs held College of Charleston to just 38.2-percent shooting overall and just 13.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Samford was led by Savannah Hill with 15 points and six rebounds. Emily London had 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Paige Anderson added 10 points for the Bulldogs in the win.
For College of Charleston, Tonia Gerty led the way with 20 points, with 14 of those coming in the first half, and eight rebounds. Latisha Harris had nine points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Cougars.
After the teams traded baskets early in the first half, Samford went on a 10-4 run to take a 12-6 lead with 14:34 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Alex Crow. Charleston then scored the next six points to tie the score at 12-12 with 12:20 to go in the first half.
Samford came back to grab a 17-14 lead with 7:18 to go in the half after a basket by Hannah Dawson. With Samford leading, 19-16, Charleston went on an 11-6 run to take a 27-25 lead with 2:42 to go before halftime. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the half. With Samford trailing, 32-31, a layup by Anderson at the buzzer gave the Bulldogs a 33-32 lead going into halftime.
Samford pushed its lead out to five early in the second half at 37-32 with 19:04 to go in the game after a layup by Hill. Charleston fought back to tie the game at 39-39 with 17:24 to go in the game. Samford then scored the next five points to take a 44-39 lead with 14:37 to go after a jumper by Ruth Ketcham.
The Cougars came back again to tie the score at 44-44 with 10:39 left in the game. Samford then scored the next six points to take a 50-44 lead with 8:02 to go after a jumper by London.
College of Charleston cut the Samford lead to one twice at 51-50 and 54-53. Clutch free throws by Dawson, Ketcham and London allowed Samford to score the final eight points of the game to pull away for the 62-53 win.
The win is Samford's seventh in a row. The Bulldogs improve to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in SoCon play. Charleston falls to 4-6 overall and 1-2 in league play.
Samford will play again on Monday when the Bulldogs play at Georgia Southern. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. (ET) start from GSU's Hanner Fieldhouse.
Georgia Southern 77, Chattanooga 69 (OT)
STATESBORO, Ga. - Led by a strong first-half offensive performance by redshirt freshman MiMi DuBose and senior leadership from guards Jamie Navarro and Logan Youngblood late in the game, the Lady Eagles topped Chattanooga with a 77-69 win in overtime at Hanner Fieldhouse Saturday.
After a seven-game road trip, Georgia Southern returned home to play host to Southern Conference rival Chattanooga. The Lady Eagles started strong as DuBose scored 17 of her career-high 19 points in the first half. After connecting on three of her first four shots from behind the arc, DuBose and the Eagles led 22-20 with 10 minutes left in the first half. With eight lead changes in the opening period, both teams traded baskets before Georgia Southern headed to the locker room with a 38-36 advantage.
Chattanooga tied it up quickly in the second half as a Kylie Lambert layup evened the score at 38 all. After another Lady Moc basket, Lady Eagle Meredyth Frye (Fredericksburg, Va.) dropped in a trey to give Georgia Southern a one-point lead, 41-40, with 16:47 on the game clock. Chattanooga and Georgia Southern would trade baskets and register two more ties before Chattanooga hit back-to-back three-point baskets to take a six-point lead, its largest of the contest.
Georgia Southern would fight back late in the second half, retaking the lead after a basket from Youngblood bringing the score to 61-60 with just over a minute left to play. With two key free throws from Frye, the Eagles went up 63-60 with 23 seconds left in regulation. After a quick Chattanooga time out, the Lady Mocs would move the ball down the court before a last-second, three-point prayer from Lambert knotted the game at 63, sending the game to overtime.
Chattanooga struck first in the overtime period, but a DuBose layup, followed by a Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) three pointer, gave the Lady Eagles a 68-65 lead with 3:41 left in overtime. After four missed Lady Moc shots and four straight Navarro free throws Georgia Southern extended its lead to six with less than 30 seconds to play. Successful free throws from Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.) and a strong defensive performance by Youngblood with a key block and rebound in the game's final seconds propelled the Lady Eagles to a 77-69 victory.
Five Lady Eagles scored in double figures as Navarro had 13 points, Frye scored 12 and Tate and Youngblood had 11 each. Tate led the Eagles on the boards with seven. The Lady Mocs' Whitney Hood had a double-double with game highs in points, 22, and rebounds, 13.
Georgia Southern (3-8, 1-2) returns to the court to face conference foe Samford (7-2, 2-0) Monday, December 20th at Hanner Fieldhouse. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.