Appalachian State 64, Wake Forest 57
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball closed out its challenging non-conference slate in style, as Mountaineers held off a tough Wake Forest team and defeated the Demon Deacons 64-57 Wednesday afternoon at the Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum. The victory is Appalachian's second-straight and first over an Atlantic Coast Conference team since 2004.
The Apps (8-3) saw once their once 21 point lead diminish, and for the first time since early on in the contest, Wake Forest cut Appalachian's advantage to single digits.
It was a 7-0 Demon Deacon run in the opening minutes of the second-half that made ASU's lead just nine points, up 42-33, four minutes into the second half action.
Continuing to chip away at Appalachian's once comfortable point cushion, Wake Forest would not let up, pulling within two points at the 8:09 mark, with the Apps narrowly on top 48-46.
WFU scored seven points from the free throw line and was paced by Brittany Waters who tallied five points, as the Demon Deacons tried to rally the comeback.
Waters was Wake Forest's leading scorer with 21 points in the contest.
Despite two treys by Waters, the Mountaineers were able to stave off Wake Forest and big buckets by Ashlen Dewart in the waning minutes, and near perfection at the charity stripe, with Sam Ramirez, Chakietha Weldon and Anna Freeman all nailing their free throws enabled the Apps to hang on for the seven-point win.
Dewart was phenomenal for Appalachian, recording a game-high 25 points on 11-20 shooting, while hauling in six rebounds and dishing out three assists.
Appalachian State started off the first half strong and after falling behind 9-8, ASU posted an impressive 26-4 run to grab a commanding 34-13 lead with a little under five minutes remaining until halftime
It was all Dewart and Anna Freeman during the spurt, as the duo combined for 20 points during the run.
Freeman also stellar in the game, tallied her first double-double of the season, scoring 21 points, notching a game-best 14 rebounds while also recording four assists, two blocks and two steals.
Canesha Edwards was able to get going on the offensive front as well during in the opening period, scoring eight first half points, and the junior closed out the game with 11.
The Mountaineer defense was stifling, holding the Demon Deacons without a basket for over seven minutes in first half play and limiting WFU without a field goal from the 12:19 until the 2:13 mark, when Lakevia Boykin drilled a three-pointer.
Boykin's trey and eight Demon Deacon free throws saw the Black and Gold's 20-point cushion dwindle and WFU grabbed some momentum, with ASU clinging to a 38-24 lead heading into intermission.
Trying to muster a comeback, Wake Forest came out on fire in the second half, and the two squads battled, but the Apps staved off WFU and captured the thrilling win.
For the second straight game ASU limited its opponents to less than 60 points and held Wake Forest to a dismal 24.6 field goal shooting percentage for the contest. Yet again solid the glass, Appalachian out-rebounded Wake Forest 52-46.
Looking to keep with its stout play, Appalachian returns to the High Country, Wednesday January 5 to host Southern Conference foe College of Charleston. The game is slated to tip off at 7 p.m. from the Holmes Center.
Samford 76, Central Connecticut State 57
JERSEY CITY, N.J.-The Samford women's basketball team shot a school-record 62.8 percent on its way to a 76-57 win over Central Connecticut State Wednesday night in the first round of the Saint Peter's College Holiday Classic.
Samford shot 61.5 percent in the first half and 64.7 percent in the second half. The previous school record was 61.1 percent set in 1999 at Florida Atlantic.
"I thought, offensively, we started off well," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We obviously scored the ball well and Savannah Hill got us off to a really good start. I thought defensively we lacked a little energy in the first part, but I think a lot of that had to do with them, they played well."
Samford was led in scoring by senior forward Savannah Hill with 21 points, making 9-of-11 shots from the floor and 3-of-5 from three-point range. Senior guard Emily London scored 11 points for the Bulldogs. London made 5-of-5 free throws in the game. London has now made 299 free throws in her Samford career, setting a new school record. The previous record was 295 set by Alex Munday from 2003 to 2008.
Samford sophomore forward Brittany Jack scored a career-high 10 points in the game. Junior guard Paige Anderson added nine points for the Bulldogs.
Central Connecticut was led by Justina Udenze with 17 points and five rebounds. Leanne Crockett added 10 points and five rebounds for the Blue Devils.
The game was close through most of the first half, with neither team able to take more than a three-point lead. With the game tied at 19-19, Samford went on a 9-0 run to take a 28-19 lead with 4:07 to go in the first half following a pair of free throws by Jack.
After a three-pointer by Central Connecticut cut the lead to six at 28-22, Samford went on an 8-0 run to push its lead to 14 at 36-22 with 1:53 to go in the opening period after a three-pointer by Anderson. Samford took a 40-24 lead into halftime.
Samford pushed its lead out to 22 early in the second half at 51-29 with 14:45 to go in the game after a layup by Anderson. Samford eventually led by as much as 26 points at 59-33 with 8:48 to go in the game.
Central Connecticut fought back to cut the Samford lead to 18 at 65-47 with 4:32 left in the contest. The Blue Devils, however, could get no closer and Samford came away with the 76-57 win.
With the win, Samford improves to 8-3 on the season. Central Connecticut drops to 6-4 with the loss.
Samford will conclude play in the Saint Peter's College Holiday Classic with a game against the host, Saint Peter's Thursday at 6 p.m. (ET).
Georgia Southern 66, High Point 60
STATESBORO, Ga. - Sophomore guard Meredyth Frye scored a career-best 20 points and Krista Tate had her second double-double to lead Georgia Southern to a 66-60 win over High Point in Hanner Fieldhouse Wednesday night. The Lady Eagles extended their win streak to four with the win over the Panthers in the last non-conference game of the season and last contest of 2010. Georgia Southern improves to 5-8 while High Point falls below .500 to 6-7.
Playing their first game since returning from a holiday break, the Lady Eagles used 13 players with four scoring in double figures. MiMi DuBose had 14 points with three three-point baskets and Tate had 10 points to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds. Tate's total on the boards tied her career best. Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) also scored in double digits for the Lady Eagles with 10 points.
Georgia Southern had a 10-point lead, 63-53 with just over three minutes remaining in the game, but High Point wouldn't fold. The Panthers used a three-pointer and two free throws from Frances Fields and a jumper from Cheyenne Parker to pull within three, 63-60, with 1:24 to go. In the final 33 seconds, Navarro hit two free throws to add to the Lady Eagle lead, 65-60, and Tate had two big offensive rebounds on missed free throw attempts to hold possession for Georgia Southern.
Three High Point players scored in double figures with Fields leading the Panthers with 13. Mackenzie Maier had eight rebounds to lead High Point on the boards.
The Lady Eagles begin 2011 with a two-game Southern Conference road trip, traveling for a January 3 game at Elon and January 5 game at UNC Greensboro. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
Princeton 67, Davidson 61
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Sophia Aleksandravicius reached the 20-point mark for the sixth time in her career, but it was not enough to carry the Wildcats to a win in their first-ever matchup against the Princeton Tigers, who had four score in double figures and took a 67-61 victory on Wednesday evening at John M. Belk Arena in women's basketball action.
Aleksandravicius had a game-high 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting, while filling the stat-sheet with seven boards, a career-high tying five steals and five blocks. She moved into fourth-place all-time in the Wildcat record books with 87 blocks.
Addie Micir paced four Tigers in double figures with 16 points, including three of them coming on a clutch three-pointer in the final 1:34 to help seal the win for Princeton.
Devona Allgood, who is from Huntersville, N.C., followed with 15 points, eight boards and two blocks, while Niveen Rasheed (13), who left midway through the second half after injurying her knee, and Lauren Edwards (11) also hit the double-digit mark.
Senior Ashley Lax joined Aleksandravicius in double digits with a season-best 17 points for the Wildcats, getting 15 of those on a season-high five three-balls. Davidson had a season-high eight on the night.
The 'Cats also dished out 16 assists as Barbara Sitton led the way with a career-high 11 dimes.
Sitton led the Wildcats back from an eight-point deficit in the early goings of the first half, helping spark an 11-2 run with a steal, a pair of assists on two fastbreaks and two points as Davidson turned a 16-8 deficit into a 19-18 lead with 3:59 to go. The run was capped off by a Aleksandravicius three-point play.
After Princeton went into halftime up 25-23, a jumper by Aleksandravicius in the paint two minutes into the start of the second half brought the 'Cats to within one at 29-28. The 6-foot-4 forward scored 11 of her 21 points in the second half.
Princeton though would then open up the game with a 13-4 run over the next six minutes to grab a 42-32 lead and force the Wildcats to burn a 30-second timeout. Then coming out of the break, the Tigers added to the run, getting two short jumpers from Allgood and Edwards to push the streak to 17-4, before Shneeka Center halted the run with a turn-around jumper in the lane and the score was 46-34 halfway through the period.
Center had a solid game off the bench, dropping in eight points to go along with four boards, all season highs, in 17 minutes.
Davidson made one last charge. Down 53-43 after Micir hit a couple of free throws with 6:23 left, the Wildcats rattled off a 10-4 run, getting three-pointers from Center and Lax, to cut the deficit to four, 57-53, with 3:48 on the clock.
But after a Princeton timeout, Edwards scored on another jumper from the left corner and Micir pushed the lead out to nine, 62-53, with her final three-pointer and Davidson had to call a timeout with 1:34 remaining.
Davidson got no closer than six points (62-56) the rest of the way.
The 'Cats, who are on a three-game homestand, play a 2 p.m. contest against UNCG on Friday.
GAME NOTES: Davidson saw its four-game home win streak dating back to the end of last season come to an end ... Sitton has now dished out 23 assists in her last three games ... Jasmine Calin matched Center with eight points off the bench ... Lax's double-figure game was the 43rd of her career.