College of Charleston 65, Wofford 51
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Junior guard Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) posted a game-high 16 points with five rebounds, five steals and six assists as the College of Charleston (19-8, 13-5) defeated Wofford (6-18, 4-12) by a score of 65-51 in a Southern Conference women's basketball game at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
With her second three-pointer of the game, senior guard Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) became the College's all-time leader in three-point field goals at the Division I level. She now has 192 for her career. With CofC Leading 9-6 with 11:37 to play in the first half, the teams traded three-pointers to make it 12-9 before junior forward Mahagony Williams narrowed the margin to 12-11 at the 9:16 mark.
From there, the Cougars rebounded from a slow start offensively to mount a 19-6 run over the next 6:20 and take a 31-17 advantage with 3:04 left in the half. Gerty and senior guard Ericka Williams (Blackville, S.C.) each had five points during the stretch. After taking a 33-20 lead into the break, CofC continued their shooting in the second half as Williams opened with five straight points for the Cougars and helped fuel a 10-2 run over the first 2:52 for a 43-22 lead.
They would eventually push that lead to 52-27 with 11:27 to play before Wofford chipped away over the next eight minutes to get to within 13 points at 60-47 at the 3:10 mark. They would get no closer as a Gerty three-pointer on the next possession allowed the Cougars to close out the 14-point victory, 65-51.
Mahogany Williams led the Terriers effort with a team-high 14 points and eight rebounds while senior guard Natalie Gramblin added 10 points behind a 2-of-3 effort beyond the three-point arc. Freshman guard Rachel Brittenham chipped in with eight points and senior guard Kelly Dwyer finished with seven to round out Wofford's top scorers.
Gerty notched an all-around performance with 16 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals in 28 minutes of action while Williams finished with 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds. She shot 6-of-12 from the floor and went 3-for-4 from three-point range. Senior center Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C.) added eight points and Hughes finished with seven points behind a perfect 2-for-2 effort from beyond the three-point arc.
The College of Charleston returns to action when they close out the regular season with trips to Davidson and Appalachian State on Saturday, February 20 and Monday, February 22, respectively.
NOTES
With her two three-pointers against Wofford, Jade Hughes has become the College of Charleston's Division I career leader in three-pointers with 192 ... she passes Natalie Seel (1990-94) ... Hughes is also currently three assists shy of becoming the Cougars' Division I leader in assists with 395 for her career ... the victory marks the third straight season that CofC has swept the season series from the Terriers ... the Cougars are now one win away from their first back-to-back 20-win seasons since the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons ... in those seasons, CofC posted records of 22-7 and 28-4, respectively, at the NAIA level.
Georgia Southern 56, Furman 46
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Georgia Southern picked up its second-straight victory and continued to press its opponents as the regular season winds down defeating Furman 56-46 Monday night (Feb. 15) in the Timmons Arena.
The Lady Eagles beat Furman in all but two statistical categories for the win which pushed them to 15-11 on the year and 10-7 in Southern Conference play. Furman, meanwhile, dropped its seventh straight contest, falling to 6-20, 4-13.
Lee Stephens was held to single digits of eight points for the first time in two years when playing Georgia Southern as Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) and Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) both picked up double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Lady Eagles used an 8-of-16 effort from three-point range to help seal the win led by Whitney and Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.), each with three.
For the game, GS shot 44 percent from the field on 19-of-43 shooting, keeping Furman to 33 percent. The Paladins added an extra four from the charity stripe, but Georgia Southern capitalized on its second chance opportunities scoring 11 points.
Georgia Southern struck first with a J'Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) bucket at 19:19 and GS added another four unanswered before Furman got on the board off a three-pointer by Kali Holtfreter. But GS took an 8-3 lead by the first official timeout and expanded its advantage to 11-3 as Navarro hit three free throws off a by Susan Troutman foul beyond the 3-point line. A Janay Wilson (Warner Robins, Ga.) trey handed the Lady Eagles their first double-digit lead of the contest with a bucket beyond the arc at 12:28 and a minute later Whitney hit the second trey by the visiting team, pushing the lead out to 19-5 with 11:37 remaining.
Ayanna Randolph hit two at the charity stripe for the Paladins before Williams put the Lady Eagles on top 22-7 with a three-pointer. Two minutes of scoreless play was snapped by a free throw from Kendra Berry.
Wilson opened the lead back to 17 points with a jumper at 2:08 and Williams closed out the half with her second trey of the opening frame for a halftime score of 35-18.
Berry closed the deficit to 15 points with a pair of free throws to open the second half as Georgia Southern did not score until the 16:39 marker on a '3' from Whitney. The Paladins put together a 7-2 run over the next three minutes for a 40-27 score before Williams tied her career-high in three-pointers made hitting her third before the second media timeout.
The lead opened to 19 points off a fastbreak layup from Meredyth Frye (Fredericksburg, Va.) at 7:54, but Furman used an 8-0 run sparked by a Holtfreter trey to draw the tally to 50-39 with 5:29 on the clock.
Ogburn snapped the run as Frye continued the GS offense pitting the score 54-39. A Paladin jumper and three-pointer cut the score to 12 points, 56-44, the smallest margin since 5:29 in the game, with 1:45 left to play. Furman's Lakyn Ledford added the final bucket of the game with 21 seconds for the final score of 56-46.
Georgia Southern returns to Statesboro to play host to Wofford on Saturday, February 20. Tip is slated for noon on Pack the House in Pink day. All fans are asked to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness.
Chattanooga 65, Davidson 54
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Chattanooga women’s basketball team defeated Davidson 65-54 Monday night at the McKenzie Arena to clinch its 11thconsecutive Southern Conference regular season title.
The Lady Mocs improved to 20-7 overall for their 11th consecutive 20-win season, and 15-3 in SoCon play. Davidson, with three straight losses, falls to 12-13 overall and 10-7 in league play.
The action started slow as the two teams combined for four field goals and three free throws over the first 7:05 of the game to end up tied 7-7. The two teams traded shots over the next three minutes and tied twice more before the Lady Mocs grabbed the lead for good.
Freshman Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) drove to the bucket at the 9:07 mark sparking a 21-5 run to halftime and Chattanooga led 33-17 at the break.
The Lady Mocs continued the run into the second half putting in the first five points for their largest lead of the game 38-17 at the 18:35 mark.
Davidson wasn’t ready to lay down yet scoring seven straight in a minute-and-a-half to cut the lead to 14 points with 15:30 to play.
The Lady Mocs got the lead back up to 44-24 on a four-point play by freshman Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) just over a minute later, but the Wildcats posted an 11-4 run over the next 5:47 to put Chattanooga’s lead into jeopardy getting to 48-35 with 7:37 to go.
Davidson continued to chip away at Chattanooga’s precarious lead getting as close as seven four times, but the Lady Mocs held on for the win.
Senior Shanara Hollinquest went 9-for-13 from the free throw line and recorded her 14th double-double of the year with a game-high 19 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. Classmate Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) added 17 points and topped the 200 mark for career made 3-pointers with 202. She is the fourth person in Southern Conference history and third at UTC to reach the 200 plateau.
Lambert marked her first back-to-back double digit performance with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers, and three steals. Senior Megan Rollins (Monteagle, Tenn.) grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds with six on each end. She and Hollinquest combined for 13 of UTC’s 16 offensive boards.
The Lady Mocs edged Davidson on the boards 47-46 and had 17 second chance points. The Lady Mocs tied its lowest turnover performance of the year with eight and forced the Wildcats into 16, making seven points off the miscues. Inside Chattanooga held the advantage as well 30-18.
Samford, who was trailing the Lady Mocs by one game heading into the night, fell 66-55 to Appalachian State in Birmingham, Ala., assuring the Lady Mocs at least a share of the league title. This is Chattanooga’s 16th title since the 1983-84 season. Chattanooga becomes just the fifth team to win at least 11 consecutive titles. The most is 12 by Old Dominion from 1993-2004. Wisconsin-Green Bay has won 11 straight titles and is the only other team with an active streak longer than UTC’s.
Up next for the Lady Mocs will be a road contest at Western Carolina Monday, Feb. 22 in Cullowee, N.C. Larry Ward, the “Voice of the Lady Mocs”, will have all the action live on 95.3 FM The Pulse. The game will tip at 7 p.m. Live stats, streaming audio and video will be available at www.GoMocs.com, the official website of Chattanooga athletics.
Appalachian State 66, Samford 55
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Appalachian State University women’s basketball held Samford to just 18 second half points and grabbed a 66-55 win over the number two team in the Southern Conference Monday evening at the Pete Hanna Center. With the victory, the Mountaineers improve to 15-10 on the season and 11-5 in the SoCon, while Samford drops to 19-8 overall and 13-5 in the conference. The win also marks Appalachian’s first over Samford, as the two teams have just met a total of four times.
After heading into the break tied at 37 apiece, the Black and Gold outscored the Bulldogs 7-2 in the opening minutes. Paced by four early points by freshman Ashlen Dewart (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) and a trey by Sam Ramirez (Fayetteville, N.C./Southview), ASU jumped out to a 44-39 advantage.
Ramirez was stout offensively against the Bulldogs, pouring in 19 points, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out four assists.
The two teams continued to battle, as the contest was knotted once more at 48 apiece, but that would be the last time, as an Anna Freeman (Thomasville, N.C./East Davidson) layup and another Ramirez three-pointer gave the Apps a five-point cushion.
Continuing with her career-high offensive outing, Anna Freeman drilled her fourth and final three-pointer of the night, and hit the front end of a free throw to make it a seven-point Appalachian lead with a little less than three minutes remaining.
Freeman ended the night with a career-best 21 points to go along with eight rebounds, two blocks and one steal.
Nine final made free throws down the stretch proved to be the difference-maker and iced the game for Appalachian, as Catherine Williams, Canesha Edwards, Anna Freeman and Chakeitha Weldon (Atlanta, Ga./Kansas) all came up big at the charity stripe.
Weldon was also impressive against the Bulldogs as well, as the sophomore recorded her first career double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Apps finished the evening shooting 87.5 percent from the line, its second best outing at the free throw line this season.
In a first half that saw the score tied on six occasions, it was the Mountaineers who faced a five-point deficit with 2:19 left before intermission.
Ramirez and Freeman helped ASU close out the half on a 5-0 run, with the two teams tied once more at 37 all heading into intermission.
The Apps held the league-leading team in field goal percentage to shooting 22 percent, including going 1-14 from behind the arc.
The Apps took their final lead with 8:43 to go, en route to the 11-point win.
Ending its road stretch, the Mountaineers return to the High Country for a three-game homestand, as they first welcome UNCG to the Holmes Center, Saturday February 20. The tip is set for 4:30 p.m. and the contest marks ASU’s annual “Pink Zone” game, as the Black and Gold will raise money for the WBCA/Kay Yow Cancer fund.
Notes: The win over Samford is ASU’s first in school history (1-3 all-time) ... the 15 wins are the most in a season since the 2005 -06 season (15-13 overall) ... the 11 conference wins are the most since the 2005-06 season as well ...ASU is now 8-1 on the road against conference teams.