Western Carolina 75, Elon 48
ELON, N.C. - Sophomore forward Caitlin Hollifield's double-double, a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, helped pace Western Carolina women's basketball (5-20, 4-12 SoCon) to a 75-48 win at Elon (10-16, 5-12 SoCon) Saturday in the Alumni Gym.
Western Carolina didn't allow Elon to hit a three-pointer in the game, as the Phoenix went 0-for-13 from behind the three point arch. The Catamounts also forced 26 Phoenix turnovers, scoring 23 points off their miscues.
Hollifield's 1-of-2 free throws, in the first two minutes of the game, gave Western Carolina a 3-2 lead and the Catamounts never trailed to Elon again. The Phoenix hit the first field goal of the game, a lay-up by Tiffany Davis, for the early 2-0 lead but never topped the Catamounts in the final 39 minutes.
The Catamounts built its first double figure lead, of the first half, when sophomore Kaila'Shea Menendez hit her second three-point basket of the game, with 10:20 left to make the score 21-11. Menendez came off the bench to post a game-leading 20 points in the contest, hitting two of Western Carolina's six three-pointers in the game.
Elon cut the Catamount lead to six points with 1:01 left in the first half, when Urysla Cotton hit one of two free throws. Western Carolina answered with back-to-back lay-ups by Hollifield and Menendez to push the Catamount lead to 10, 37-27, at the half.
In the second half, Elon scored the first field goal of the second 20 minutes, to cut the lead to eight, and didn't hit another bucket for the next 10 minutes of the game. In that span, Western Carolina went on a 16-6 run to build a 20-point advantage, 53-33. A pair of field goals by Hollifield and a three-pointer by Emily Clarke helped push the lead to 20.
The Catamounts cruised the final nine minutes of the game, building its largest lead of the game, 29 points 75-46, in the final minute of the game. Western Carolina got 34 points off its bench and 26 points in the paint.
Clarke was the third player to score in double figures for the Catamounts with 13 points. All 10 Western Carolina players saw action and got into the scoring column.
The road win is the second in the last three games for Western Carolina, as the club defeated Furman 69-39 on February 6. The 27-point victory is the second largest of the season for the Catamounts.
Western Carolina will begin a three-game home stand on Tuesday hosting UNC Greensboro. The game is scheduled for Noon as part of Western Carolina Athletics' Education Day.
Georgia Southern 52, College of Charleston 41
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Georgia Southern walked into the Carolina First Arena on Senior Day and pressed College of Charleston for a full 40 minutes to take away a 52-41 win Saturday afternoon (Feb. 13). The Lady Eagle win pushed the Cougars out of a two-way tie for second place in the Southern Conference while snapping a three-game losing streak to CofC and marking the first win over Charleston since Feb. 16, 2008. Georgia Southern improved to 14-11 overall and 9-7 in league competition, while dropping the Cougars to 18-8, 12-5.
"I'm a very, very pleased with the girls and the way they played today. We stayed under control the entire game and stay poised," said head coach Rusty Cram. "For 40 minutes, we stayed focused. Off the bench, the girls stayed focused and we played a very well executed game."
Georgia Southern used a 19-of-23 free throw effort (83 percent) - while holding CofC to 67 percent (6-9) - to secure the win. Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) and Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) led the Lady Eagles each with 11 points, while Deidra Jones scored a game-high 17 points to pace the Cougars including 5-of-5 free throw clip. Jones posted a double-double with 12 rebounds.
Charleston outrebounded GS by nine, led by Jones, but allowed GS to convert 25 miscues for 23 points while the Lady Eagles posted only 11 turnovers. CofC's second leading scorer on the season, Jade Hughes, was kept to a mere two points in the game despite playing 31 minutes.
Navarro opened the contest hitting a trey off a pass from Whitney and the Lady Eagles took a 5-0 lead by 18:33 in the opening stanza. Brooke Kotcella changed the lead to College of Charleston with a three-pointer at 16:54 and after a couple lead switches, the game was knotted at 9-all on a Whitney jumper from J'Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.). Kotcella hit the Cougars' second trey of the game to take a 12-9 lead and Ericka Williams extended the lead to six with another from beyond the three-point arc.
GS cut the lead with a Navarro layup and Janay Wilson (Warner Robins, Ga.) converted a steal - one of 14 GS steals in the game - for a fastbreak layup to tie the score at 15-15 with 8:29 remaining. The teams tossed the lead back-and-forth and Meredyth Frye (Fredericksburg, Va.) tied the score at 23-all for the final time in the half. Frye closed out the half with a pair of free throws for a Georgia Southern 25-23 lead at the break.
The Cougars immediately evened the game right out of intermission, but a Wilson layup at 15:06 gave Georgia Southern a 29-27 lead - GS would continue to hold the advantage the remainder of the game. The Lady Eagles added five more unanswered points before Hughes broke an eight minute CofC scoring drought for a 34-29 score. An Ogburn layup gave GS a nine-point lead, 41-32, at 8:03.
Cougar Gerty would cut the lead to six points, 43-37, with a bucket in the paint at the 5:02 marker. But Ogburn pushed Georgia Southern's lead back to eight and a 3-of-4 Navarro effort at the charity stripe gave the Lady Eagles their first double-digit lead, 48-37, as the clock ran down to 1:22. Jones added two free throws for Charleston as Tate hit both ends of a one-and-one for a 50-39 tally. Navarro's final two free throws and a Jones jumper sealed the final score for Georgia Southern 52-41.
Georgia Southern continues this two-game road trip at Furman, Monday, February 15. Tip in Timmons Arena is slated for 7 p.m.
Chattanooga 59, Appalachian State 56
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - More than 3,000 fans rose to their feet Saturday night at the McKenzie Arena as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team mounted a second-half comeback to down Appalachian State 59-56 in Southern Conference action.
The win keeps the Lady Mocs atop the SoCon standings with a 19-7 overall record and a 14-3 league mark. Appalachian State came into the game riding a seven-game win streak and sitting fourth in the league, two games behind Chattanooga. The Mountaineers falls to 14-10 overall and 10-5 in conference record.
With 12:11 to play in the game, freshman Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) drained the third of her career-high 3-pointers to spark a 16-2 Chattanooga run. Senior Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) forced a turnover by ASU's Sam Ramirez and broke down the court for a layup with 4:32 remaining to give the Lady Mocs a 53-50.
After leading 33-28 at the half, the Mountaineers went 7-for-10 to start the second half and pushed out to a 48-37, their largest of the game, with 12:27 to play, but the Lady Mocs weren't out yet.
In the midst of the 16-2 run, Chattanooga held the Mountaineers scoreless for more than nine minutes. Sophomore Tenisha Townsend (Antioch, Tenn.) hit a shot at the 7:33 mark to give the Lady Mocs their first lead since the two minute mark of the first half. The lead only got to three before the Mountaineers regained control with six straight points and led 56-53 with 1:20 to play.
Senior Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) scored inside to get the Lady Mocs to within a point. Ashlen Dewart, sister of UTC junior Bailey Dewart (Spartanburg, S.C.) missed a pair of free-throws on the other end. A scramble for the rebound ensued, and the Lady Mocs gained possession on the tie-up. Hollinquest was fouled with 18.4 seconds to go and she made both from the charity stripe to reclaim the lead for Chattanooga.
Chakeitha Weldon missed a driving attempt with 7.7 seconds to play, and the ball went out of bounds to the Lady Mocs. Freshamn Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) drew the foul on the throw in and made both of her free throws to give Chattanooga a three-point cushion with 5.9 to go.
Wade-Fray stole the ball on the Mountaineers' long inbounds pass to seal the victory.
Lambert had a career-high 12 points on four 3-pointers and five rebounds and tied her career-high in assists with four. Christopher also dropped in a team-best 12 points to lead the Lady Mocs and Hollinquest added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds and three assists. Wade-Fray had four assists and two steals.
Ramirez had a game-high 19 points for Appalachian State. Dewart contributed 16 points and eight boards. Anna Freeman had a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Mountaineers won the battle of the boards 40-31 and had a 40-16 advantage in the paint with 18 points off 10 offensive boards.
The Lady Mocs shot 36.2 percent in the game on 21-of-58 shooting and were 8-of-11 from the free throw line. The Mountaineers were 25-of-55 from the floor (45.5%) and shot just 4-of-8 from the free throw line.
The Lady Mocs will host Davidson Monday night at 7 p.m. at the Roundhouse. Larry Ward, "the Voice of the Lady Mocs" will air the action live on the flagship station of Chattanooga athletics, ESPN Radio 105.1 FM. Live stats, streaming video and audio is available at the official website of UTC athletics, GoMocs.com.
Samford 73, Davidson 57
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford senior guard Monica Maxwell tied a career high with 22 points in leading the Bulldog women's basketball team to a 73-57 Southern Conference win over Davidson on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.
Maxwell and fellow senior Megan Wilderotter were honored prior to the game for their accomplishments throughout their Samford careers.
"This was a great Senior Day," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "Monica Maxwell, one of our seniors, had a great day with 22 points, and Megan Wilderotter played great defensively. This was just an outstanding defensive effort by our team."
Maxwell made 8-of-12 shots from the floor, including 6-of-9 from three-point range. Maxwell has now made 201 career three-pointers, just one shy of the career record of 202 set by Chelsee Insell.
Savannah Hill scored 15 points in the win. Hill now has 1,004 career points, making her just the fifth player in program history to score at least 1,000 points in their Samford careers. Alex Crow scored 10 points for the Bulldogs, while Paige Anderson had eight points and a career-high seven rebounds.
Davidson was led by Kristen Johnsen with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Alex Thompson and Ashley Lax added eight points apiece for the Wildcats.
In the first half, Samford jumped out to an early 10-2 lead with 14:27 to go after a pair of free throws by Hill. With Samford lead, 15-8, Davidson went on an 8-0 run to take a 16-15 lead with 8:13 to play in the opening half after a pair of free throws by Sarah Davis.
Samford then went on a 10-2 run to take a 25-18 lead with 5:34 to go in the first half after a layup by Anderson. Samford took a 30-24 lead into halftime.
Samford pushed its lead out to 10 at 40-30 with 15:59 to go in the game after a pair of free throws from Hannah Dawson. With Samford leading 46-37, the Bulldogs went on a 14-4 run to push their lead to 19 at 60-41 with 5:40 to play after a layup by J'Quita Babineaux.
Davidson fought back to cut the lead to 13 at 63-50 with 3:25 to go after a layup by Sarah Britton. Samford, however, scored the next six points to push the lead back to 19 at 69-50 with 1:44 to go after a layup by Hill.
Samford pushed its lead to as much as 20 at 73-53 with 1:12 to go in the game. The Bulldogs came away with the 73-57 win.
With the win, Samford improves to 19-7 overall and 13-4 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs remain in second place in the SoCon standings, just one game behind first-place Chattanooga. Davidson drops to 12-12 overall and 10-6 in league play.
As a team, Samford shot 52.3 percent from the floor, including a 50-percent effort from three-point range. Davidson shot 35.1 percent overall and 16.7 percent from the beyond the arc.
Samford will return to action on Monday, Feb. 15, when the Bulldogs play host to Appalachian State. The game, which is the Bulldogs' final home game of the season, is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center. The game is also Samford's Pink Zone game. The cost of admission for the game is a donation to the WBCA/Kay Yow Foundation.