Wofford 80, Bucknell 75
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Led by April Moorhouse and Daniella Motley's career-highs of 19 points and 16 points respectively, the Wofford College Terriers improved to 5-5 overall with an 80-75 win over the 2-7 Bucknell Bison Tuesday afternoon in Ben Johnson Arena.
Moorhouse and Motley both recorded doubles-doubles as well. Moorhouse added ten rebounds to go along with her 19 points, while Motley grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in addition to her 12 points. It was only Wofford's third and fourth double-double of the season and both players first career double-double. Motley 6-for-6 from the floor, which tied her for first in the Division I era with a 1.000 field goal percentage in a single game.
Wofford fell behind early as Bucknell took an early 10-4 lead four minutes into the game, however the Terriers rallied to tie the game at 12 three minutes later with a 8-2 run capped off by an Ashley Kroker three. The Bison made a run of their own, 8-0, to take an 18-12 lead with 11:32 to play on a Felicia Mgbade layup, but again the Terriers battled back and took a one point lead, 19-18, two minutes later on a Logan Morris jumper. Wofford ran out to a 28-18 lead with 6:55 to play in the half taking the largest lead of the game. Bucknell used a 13-4 run to cut the Wofford lead to 32-31 lead with just over three minutes to play, but Wofford managed to take a 45-40 lead into the halftime as Motley scored the final basket of the half for the Terriers.
Wofford held a slight shooting percent in the first half with 41 percent from the floor and 45 percent from three, while the Bison had 37 percent field goal percentage and 37 percent from behind the arc in the half.
Following the break, a Rachel Voss bucket for Bucknell tied the game two and a half minutes into the game at 47. A Joyce Novacek layup gave the Bison a 57-53 lead with 13 minutes to play in the game. From there, neither team could pull away with a larger lead that four points. With 3:30 remaining, a Novacek basket gave the game its 12th and final tie at 73 before Rachel Brittenham layup and a Mahagony Williams three-point play gave Wofford a 78-73 lead with 1:15 remaining. Wofford gave up a layup to Christina Chukwuedo following a turnover to cut their lead to three, 78-75, with 19 seconds, but iced the game with two Jessica Escorza free throws to give the game the 80-75 final.
Wofford finished with a 43 percent field goal percentage and 23 percent three-point field goal percentage, while Bucknell shot 42 percent from the floor and 28 percent from three. The Terriers also made nine of their 11 free throw attempts, while the Bison only capitalized on 11 of their 16 attempts from the charity stripe.
Wofford committed only 15 turnovers and turned 18 Bucknell turnovers into 24 points. The Terriers' 15 turnovers tied a season low.
Motley had ten of her 12 points in the first half, while Moorhouse had 11 of her 19 points in the second half to pace to the Terrier offense. Jessica Ecorza notched her sixth double-digit scoring game of the season with 13 points, and Mahagony chipped in with 12 points. Rachel Brittenham had a career-high seven assists for Wofford.
For the Bison, Shelby Romine notched a game-high 23 points by going 6-of-17 from the floor, 3-for-6 from behind the arc and made all eight of her free throws attempts. Mgbade and Voss tallied 12 points apeice, and Lindsay Horbatuck added 11 points. Mgbada and Horbatuck had double-doubles for Bucknell as they added ten rebounds and 13 rebounds apiece.
Wofford goes into Christmas break at or above .500 for the first time since the 2007-08 season when they took a 6-4 record into the layoff.
The Terriers will return to the court on January 2 with an away Southern Conference contest at UT Chattanooga.
Kennesaw State 65, Chattanooga 63 (OT)
KENNESAW, Ga. - University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior Whitney Hood scored a career-high 32 points but it wouldn't be enough as Kennesaw State prevailed 65-63 in overtime at the KSU Convocation Center.
Hood had seven points through the first six minutes of the game, but two quick fouls sent her to the bench for the remainder of the half. She would make up lost ground quickly in the second stanza scoring 16 points making 7-of-9 from the floor and a pair of free throws and adding nine more points in overtime.
The Lady Mocs fall to 3-8 on the year with four straight losses. This marks the first time the Lady Mocs have lost four consecutive games since Wes Moore's first season as head coach at Chattanooga.
With 1.7 seconds remaining in regulation, it was Kennesaw State's ball out of bounds under the basket and Chattanooga held a tenuous 53-51 lead. The Owls inbounded the ball to Tamasha Bolden in the lane and she dropped in a short jumper with time expiring to send the game into overtime.
In the extra period, the game remained tight. Kennesaw State won the tip and immediately darted down the court for a layup by Chelcy Farrar to go up 55-53. Hood put in a layup to tie the game at 55-55 with 3:52 to play.
Kennesaw State went up 59-57 on a jumper by Bolden to take a 59-57 lead, but Hood was fouled as she made a layup to tie the game and gave UTC a 60-59 lead at the 2:33 mark. Freshman Meghan Downes made the second of her two free throw attempts with 2:12 to play to give the Lady Mocs a two-point lead, but it would vanish on four straight KSU points, putting the Owls up 63-61 with 57 seconds to play.
Hood's free throws with 31 seconds remaining tied the contest for the 13th time, but luck would not be on UTC's side as KSU's Angie Smith hit a jumper with four seconds on the clock to give the Owls the win. The Lady Mocs had 2.7 seconds to attempt one shot, but it fell short to end the game.
Junior Tenisha Townsend had seven points for UTC and dished out six assists. Freshman Destiny Bramblett had a career-high seven points and seven boards for the Lady Mocs along with a pair of steals and a blocked shot. Downes had seven points and a career-high five rebounds in the game.
Chattanooga will take the next several days off for the holiday break before closing out a four-game road stretch on Dec. 30 at Belmont in a 5 p.m. Eastern Time tip in Nashville.