Georgia Southern 68, Wofford 50

STATESBORO, Ga. - Senior Carolyn Whitney and junior Jamie Navarro combined for 36 points in a 68-50 Georgia Southern victory over Wofford Saturday afternoon (Feb. 20) in Hanner Fieldhouse. With Hanner decked out in pink for Pack the House in Pink, Georgia Southern capitalized on a 4-of-9 free throw effort from Wofford in the first half to pull away with a lead never relinquished following the opening frame. The win pushed GS to 16-11 on the year and 11-7 in Southern Conference play, while dropping Wofford to 6-19, 4-13.

Hitting 72 percent from the free throw line (23-32), Georgia Southern took an extra 15 trips to the charity stripe over Wofford in the contest. The Terriers, held to 17 trips, shot 59 percent, connecting on 10. Both teams pulled down 38 rebounds, led by April Moorehouse's game-high 10. Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) scored 19 points to lead all scorers with Navarro (Naples, Fla.) adding a career-high 17 - seven at the free throw line. Moorehouse notched a double-double with 10 points to lead the way for the Terriers.

"We thought we could penetrate and get to the line on them," said head coach Rusty Cram. "We felt like the head fakes would get them in the air and we felt like our guards could get to the line. That was our goal going in, and we were successful with it."

The Terriers put on the pressure in the opening frame, keeping the score close until they blanked four free throw attempts in two minutes, while Navarro and Janay Wilson (Warner Robins, Ga.) built Georgia Southern's lead out to five points, 16-11 with 10:56 in the first. Wofford snapped a five minute scoring drought with a Moorhouse jumper, 18-11, as the Terriers continued to inch their way back, drawing the score to three points, 20-17, with a successful trip to the charity stripe from Daniella Motley.

Drawing a foul from Kathlyn Varno, Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.) took a trip to the free throw line, connecting on two sparking a 13-2 run over the next four minutes of play to open the largest lead of the contest, 15 points, to 34-19 with 1:40 to play. Moorehouse hit a jumper for Wofford at the 41 seconds mark as Whitney ended the half with a 2-of-4 free throw effort for a 36-21 Lady Eagles advantage.

Strong offense from GS widened the margin in the second half, expanding the lead to as many as 27 points, 59-32, with 7:58 to play. Mahagony Williams scored in the paint for the Terriers at the 6:33 mark, jumpstarting a 6-0 Terrier run, cutting the deficit to 19 points, 59-40 with 4:54 remaining. Meredyth Frye (Fredericksburg, Va.) pushed Georgia Southern's lead back out to 21 points, 68-47, converting a steal for a layup on the other end. That would be the Lady Eagles' last buck of the contest as Kristin Bradley closed out the game with a three-pointer with 11 seconds for a 68-50 final score.

Georgia Southern hits the road for its final road contest of the regular season, Monday, February 22. The Lady Eagles travel to Davidson for a 7 p.m. match-up.

Samford 53, Western Carolina 42

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Samford junior forward Savannah Hill scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Bulldog women's basketball team to a 53-42 Southern Conference win at Western Carolina Saturday afternoon at the Ramsey Center.

"I was definitely pleased with our defensive effort today," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I thought we guarded well for 40 minutes. The inside play of Savannah Hill and Hannah Dawson was big for us as well."

Hill made 12-of-18 shots from the floor and she grabbed six rebounds. Following Hill for Samford, Hannah Dawson scored 13 points. Monica Maxwell scored eight points in the game, giving her 1,007 for her career, making her just the sixth player in program history to score at least 1,000 points in their Samford career.

Emily London played for the first time since suffering a knee injury against UNC Greensboro on Jan. 30. London scored three points in 30 minutes of action off the bench.

For Western Carolina, Caitlin Hollifield scored 22 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Jessica Jackson added nine points for the Catamounts.

The teams remained close through most of the first half. With Samford trailing, 9-6, the Bulldogs went on a 14-4 run to take a 20-13 lead with 4:44 to go in the first half after a layup by Dawson.

Western Carolina could get no closer than five points for the remainder of the half. Samford took a 26-19 lead into halftime.

Samford pushed its lead out to 12 points early in the second half at 36-24 with 14:32 to play after a three-pointer by Maxwell. Western Carolina scored the next five points to cut the lead to seven at 36-29 with 13:05 to go after a free throw by Hollifield.

Samford then scored the next five points to make the score 41-29 with 10:22 to go after a three-pointer by Hill. WCU then cut the lead to six at 41-35 with 7:12 to go in the game after a three-pointer by Jackson.

Samford then went on an 8-0 run to take a 49-35 lead with 5:27 left after a three-point play by Dawson. Samford pushed its lead out to as much as 15 at 53-38 with 3:09 to go. The Bulldogs came away with the 53-42 win.

With the win, Samford improves to 20-8 overall and 14-5 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina drops to 6-21 overall and 5-13 in league play.

Samford will conclude its regular season with a game at league-leading Chattanooga on Feb. 27. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start.

Elon 58, Furman 55

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Elon women's basketball team completed a season sweep of Southern Conference rival Furman with a 58-55 win Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C.  With the win, Elon improved to 11-16 on the season and 6-12 in the SoCon. Furman dropped to 4-14 in league play and 6-21 overall.
 
"I thought that we played with a lot of maturity tonight," Elon head coach Karen Barefoot said. "This was a good win for us. We fought extremely hard against a Furman team that was playing with a lot of emotion for its seniors and its fans for its Pink Zone game."
 
Elon's Ali Ford led all scorers with 21 points, converting 8-of-14 shots from the floor and 4-of-7 shots from downtown. Urysla Cotton earned a double-double, grabbing a game-best 11 rebounds and netting 11 points. Kelsey Evans finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
 
Furman's Kendra Berry went 5-of-9 for a team-leading 14 points, followed by Raegan Thompson and Lakyn Ledford with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Berry led the team on the glass, pulling down eight boards.
 
Despite trailing by as many as nine points in the first stanza, the Phoenix ended the first half on a 22-4 run that put it up seven, 35-28, at the break. During the run that spanned over six minutes, Ford netted 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting, including three shots from behind the arc. With Elon holding a five point lead with 16:27 on the clock, Furman went on a 16-2 run that saw it take a nine point lead, 18-9, with 10:32 left in the first half. Tiffany Davis ended the Phoenix scoring drought with a bucket at the 9:11 mark. Furman's lead hovered around nine for the next two minutes before Elon went on its run.
 
As a team, the Phoenix shot a blistering 40.6 percent from the field and connected on 4-of-8 shots from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes of play. Elon was also a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.
 
Furman held the Phoenix without a point in the opening six minutes of the second half as it cut the lead to one, 36-35, with 14:35 remaining in the game. A pair of free throws by Elon's Lei Lei Hairston sparked a 5-0 Phoenix streak that made it a 40-36 game with just over 13 minutes left to play. The score was tied twice before a 9-2 run by the Paladins put Furman up seven, 51-44, with just under six minutes on the clock. The Phoenix tallied 11 points over the next four minutes that knotted the score, 55-55. Furman missed a pair of shots before Ford found the bottom of the net on a fast break that put Elon up two, 57-55 with under a minute to play. A free throw by Kallie Hovatter with 13 seconds left sealed the 58-55 win for the Phoenix.
 
As a team, the Phoenix shot 38.5 percent from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc. It also outrebounded the Paladins 38-36 and scored 18 points off of 16 Furman miscues.
 
Elon will play in its final road game of the season when it takes on Wofford Monday night at 7 p.m. Wofford took the last meeting between the schools 61-60 in Elon's only overtime game of the season.

Appalachian State 67, UNC Greensboro 49

BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball overcame a somewhat sluggish first half to down Southern Conference foe UNCG Saturday afternoon at the Holmes Center, beating the Spartans 67-49 in the Apps' annual "Pink Zone" day. With the win the Mountaineers complete the sweep of UNCG and improve to 16-10 on the season and 12-5 in the conference, while the Spartans drops their tenth game in a row, and fall to 7-19 overall and 4-14 in league action.

After taking an eight-point lead into intermission, Appalachian used an 11-3 run over the course of a three minute span in the second period to grab a 49-37 advantage with a little over 10 minutes remaining.

Freshman Anna Freeman (Thomasville, N.C./East Davidson) paced the Black and Gold during the run, as she scored six points, all off of three-pointers with Sam Ramirez (Fayetteville, N.C./Southview) adding a trey of her own and Courtney Freeman (Carlton, Ga./Madison County) chipped in a layup.

Anna Freeman ended the contest with a game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds, tallying her sixth double-double of her career and twice in as many contests. She also had four steals and three blocks.

Appalachian could not quite shake the Spartan squad as two Lakiah Hyson free throws pulled UNCG back within 10.

Anna Freeman drilled five more points in the remaining six minutes of the contest and Chakeitha Weldon added four to propel ASU to the 18-point win.

Weldon dished out a career-high eight assists.

After the game was knotted at 15 all, Ramirez hit back-to-back buckets to put the Mountaineers in front 20-15 with eight minutes left until the half. Ashlen Dewart (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) contributed offensively as well, as she had seven first half points.

Ramirez had yet another strong outing, as she tallied 16 points, making it the eighth consecutive game she has scored in double-figures. The Fayetteville, N.C. native also hauled in eight rebounds and recorded six assists.

A layup by Agne Girstautaite coupled with Brey Dorsett connecting from behind the arc cut into the Black and Gold's lead, making it a two-point game.

ASU was able to take the lead heading into the half for the 15th time this season, leading 34-26 at the break.

A run midway through the second period proved to be the difference-maker in the contest and helped pushed Appalachian to its 16th win of the 2009-10 season.

With a quick turnaround, the Mountaineers continue with its homestand, as the Apps welcome College of Charleston to the High Country, Monday February 20. The conference matchup is slated to tip at 7 p.m. in the Holmes Center.

For the 240 students that attended the contest Darcie Vincent and the women's basketball program donated 240 dollars to the WBCA/Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Overall ASU women's basketball raised over 1,000 dollars for the WBCA/Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

Notes: The 16 wins are the most since the 1996-97 season (finishing 16-12 overall) ... the 12 SoCon wins are the most since the 1995-96 season (finished 14-0 in conference) ... the season sweep of UNCG was ASU's first since the 1977-78 season and fourth of a conference opponent this season (Davidson, Elon, Western Carolina and UNCG) ... the 5-1 start to the month of February is ASU's best start to the month since the 1995-96 season (8-0).

Davidson 72, College of Charleston 69

DAVIDSON, N.C. - Davidson lit up the nets to the tune of 70.8 percent in the first half and held off a late College of Charleston rally in the second half to score a 72-69 win in women¹s basketball action on Saturday evening during the Wildcats¹ WBCA PinkZone Game at John M. Belk Arena.

Davidson (13-13, 11-7 SoCon) hit 17 of its 24 attempts in the first half and was even better from behind the arc, canning nine three-pointers in 11 tries as it jumped out to a 16-point halftime lead. The 'Cats hit 10-of-19 three-pointers overall, a season-best, while finishing at an even 50 percent (25-50) from the floor.

Three Wildcats scored in double figures for the game, led by junior Ashley Lax's (Little Rock, Ark.) 15 first half points. Fresh off becoming the program's 13th player to clip the 1,000-point mark last time out, senior Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) had 13 points, eight boards, four assists and three steals. Fellow senior Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) rounded out the trio with 12 points.

Deidra Jones had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cougars (19-9, 13-6 SoCon), while Tonia Gerty dropped in 18 points.

The 'Cats started out of the gates making 11-of-13 shots, including hitting six of their first seven treys to open up a 29-20 lead, forcing CofC to burn its second timeout of the half at the 10:26 mark.

Shortly thereafter, Davidson pushed the lead out to 35-20 on Lax's second three-pointer of the half, and fourth straight for the Wildcats, forcing yet another Cougar timeout at the 7:52 mark. Lax would finish the half 4-of-4 from behind the three-line and 5-of-7 overall from the floor for all 15 of her points.

The lead grew to 19 after a pair of Kristen Johnsen (Wayne, Pa.) free throws and Davidson went into halftime up 46-30. Johnsen had six points in the half, while Thompson teamed with Lax for a perfect half from three-land with a 3-for-3 showing on her way to nine points.

Davidson maintained a double-figure lead through the first nine minutes of the second half, getting another three-ball, this time from freshman Sophia Aleksandravicius (Pound Ridge, N.Y.), to make the score 50-35.

College of Charleston, after cutting the deficit to nine at 10:41, started to put one last rally together. The Cougars started to charge back after Barbara Sitton (Richmond, Va.) hit a driving layup for a 58-45 score at the 9:21 mark, by going on a 12-1 run over the next four minutes to cut the OCats' lead down to two points at 59-57 after a Indya Mudd layup.

Davidson capitalized on all three of their next possessions to maintain at least a four-point lead, but CofC made it a one-point affair on a Deidra Jones free throw with 2:02 left.

The lead was cut down to one point two more times in the last 56 seconds, but a pair of Thompson free throws with six seconds left sealed the win.

Helping the Cougars late charge was their offensive rebounding as they hauled in 11 offensive boards in the second half, and 16 overall, to take a39-33 edge on the boards for the evening. They had 12 second-chance points and 36 points in the paint.

Davidson assisted on 17 of their 25 total field goals, led by Sitton's game-high five assists.

The Wildcats will next play host to Georgia Southern on Monday evening at 7 p.m.