Wofford 69, Elon 64

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Senior Natalie Gramblin led four Terriers in double-digit scoring with 13 points as the Wofford women's basketball team earned a key Southern Conference win over Elon on Monday.

The first half saw six ties and 13 lead changes as neither team was able to gain an advantage greater than four points. The Phoenix scored first and were able to build up to the first four-point lead at the 15:33 mark, but a jumper from Mahagony Williams cut the lead to two points and Wofford tied the score again less than a minute later.

At the 14:07 mark, a pair of made free throws from Natalie Gramblin put the Terriers up by two, but Elon responded with a jumper from Aiesha Harper followed by two made free throws by Kelsey Evans for the third tie of the half. The Terriers would again manage a four-point lead with 5:51 remaining and headed into the half with a one-point advantage at 33-32.

Wofford opened the second half with a 16-3 run, spurred by 9 straight points from sophomore April Moorhouse in the first three and a half minutes of play. The Terriers built their lead to as many as 17 points, helped by a three-pointer from freshman Kelly Blake, but the 10-minute mark saw the tide turn as a three-pointer from Elon's Ali Ford sparked a 17-1 run for the Phoenix.

From nearly a nine-minute stretch, Wofford did not connect on a field goal, allowing Elon's run to go unanswered. A pair of free throws from freshman Rachel Brittenham put the Terriers up by three with 2:08 remaining, and Williams connected on a jumper at the 1:09 mark to give Wofford a five-point advantage. The Phoenix brought the score within three points again off a trey from Ali Ford with 30 seconds remaining, but senior Natalie Gramblin sunk two shots at the line to secure the five-point win for the Terriers.

A pair of freshmen led the Phoenix, with Kelsey Evans recording a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Ali Ford adding 12 points. Senior Tiffany Davis and sophomore Kallie Hovatter each added nine points in the loss.

Wofford benefited from a balanced offensive attack, as four Terriers notched double-digit points. Senior Natalie Gramblin paced the team with 13 points while sophomore April Moorhouse added 12. Junior Mahagony Williams recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds and senior Kelly Dwyer also added 11 points and notched eight boards and three steals. Senior Kathlyn Varno added six points, five rebounds and three steals in the win.

With the win, Wofford improves to 7-19 on the season and 5-13 in Southern Conference play while Elon falls to 11-17 overall and 6-13 in league action. The Terriers will travel to Appalachian State on Thursday, February 25 to face the Mountaineers in a contest scheduled for 5:00 p.m.

Georgia Southern 58, Davidson 47

DAVIDSON, N.C. - Georgia Southern outscored Davidson 40-24 in the second half after trailing by five at the break and caused 24 miscues to edge the Wildcats, 58-47, Monday night (Feb. 22) in John M. Belk Arena.

Holding the Wildcats to a mere 28 percent from the floor, the Lady Eagles used 22 points scored in the paint to Davidson's 10 to snap a 13-game win streak the Wildcats held against GS entering the game.

Junior Jamie Navarro scored a career-high 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting to move the Lady Eagles into sole possession of fifth place on the Southern Conference standings with one final regular season game to play.

The win pushed GS to 17-11 on the season and 12-7 in league play, while dropping Davidson to 13-14, 11-8. The win marked the first victory over Davidson since 2003 in tournament play and the first regular season win since Feb. 24, 2003. However, the Lady Eagles had not defeated the Wildcats in Davidson since Jan. 22, 2001.

"Our defense tonight was unbelievable. That was 40 minutes of heart on the floor. I'm so proud of the team tonight," said head coach Rusty Cram. "Our goal was to take them to the bucket and get some penetration - and we did. And our points off turnovers were key."

Georgia Southern did not take a trip to the free throw line in the first 20 minutes, but went 13-for-17 in the second half. Intense defense resulted in low numbers from the floor as Davidson shot only 28 percent, while Georgia Southern hit 19-of-56 for 34 percent efficiency. Both teams closed the game with 13 free throws and GS hit only one more trey, but capitalized on Davidson's turnovers, converting for 19 points.

Georgia Southern limited its errors to 14, allowing only eight Wildcat points.

Navarro (Naples, Fla.) finished the game with 19 points with three '3s' and 4-of-4 at the charity stripe to go along with four steals, three boards and two assists. J'Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) recorded double figures with 12 points, while Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) contributed 11 in the winning effort.

Strong defense on both sides of the court hampered the offensive games from both teams as only eight points were scored between the SoCon opponents through the first six minutes of action. Sophia Alexsandravicius hit a pair of free throws at the 12:17 marker to give the Wildcats a two-point lead, 6-4. But a Navarro jumper 17 seconds later tied the game for the second time. Alexsandravicius' second trip to the charity stripe put the Wildcats up by one, but Meredyth Frye (Fredericksburg, Va.) nailed a long ball from beyond the three-point arc for a 9-7 GS lead with 10:57 remaining.

After a Wildcat free throw, Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) connected on a jumper from a Candice Ivy (Roswell, Ga.) pass before Navarro hit the Lady Eagles' second trey of the game for a six point Georgia Southern lead. Ashley Lax sandwiched the third media timeout at 6:17 with a pair of three-pointers to tie the game 14-all - Davidson was 3-of-22 from the field through the first 14 minutes, all beyond the arc.

Navarro hit a field goal with 2:58 remaining to give GS an 18-17 advantage, but back-to-back treys from Monica Laune and Lax handed Davidson a 23-18 halftime lead.

After intermission, Georgia Southern used an 8-0 run with two treys from Whitney and a layup from Geiger to regain the lead, 26-23.

Alexsandravicius cut the lead to one point, but Navarro jumpstarted a 6-0 Lady Eagle run with a jumper at the 16:20 marker resulting in a 32-25 tally. Navarro extended the lead even further hitting her second '3' at 13:54 and followed with another at 12:18 as Georgia Southern pulled out with a 40-29 advantage.

Davidson cut the margin to six points with an old-fashioned three-point play from Laune and an Alex Thompsclosest the Wildcats would come as the Lady Eagles continued its strong play. Navarro, Ogburn and Whitney each took trips to the free throw line over the final three minutes as GS closed out the game 6-of-8 from the charity stripe and capped off the win with two from Navarro for a 58-47 final score.

Georgia Southern closes out regular season play welcoming Appalachian State to Hanner Fieldhouse on Saturday, Feb. 27. Seniors Jessica Geiger, J'Lisia Ogburn, Carolyn Whitney and Elise Whitney will be recognized before their final Georgia Southern home game tips off at 5 p.m.

Appalachian State 70, College of Charleston 54

BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women’s basketball continued with its winning ways, as the Mountaineers downed Southern Conference rival College of Charleston Monday evening at the Holmes Center, earning a 70-54 victory. The win completes the season sweep of the Cougars and improves ASU to 17-10 on the 2009-10 campaign and 13-5 in the conference, while CofC drops its second game in a row, falling to 19-10 overall and 13-7 in league action.

It was second-half defense coupled with a 15-5 run to open the second period that pushed Appalachian to the win.

After leading by just two points at the break, the Black and Gold grabbed a 48-36 advantage with a little under 15 minutes to play. Led by junior Sam Ramirez (Fayetteville, N.C./Southview) who drilled two treys during the streak, and six Ashlen Dewart (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) points, ASU had its first double-digit lead of the contest.

Ramirez had the hot shooting hand in the game, as she scored a career-high 25 points, going 5-12 from behind the arc, hitting all five of ASU’s treys along with grabbing four rebounds while dishing out five assists.

Another Dewart layup put the Apps up by 14, but the Cougars would not back down, as Caleigh Cromwell and Ericka Williams each connected on three-pointers to make it a nine-point game at 58-49 with 7:45 remaining.

A final Jade Hughes’ trey pulled CofC back within eight points, after Canesha Edwards (Newnan, Ga./Newnan) continued her clutch play, hitting two jumpers, but Hughes’ effort was not enough as six final Ramirez free throws down the stretch iced the game for ASU.

Edwards tallied her first double-double of the season, hauling in 11 rebounds and recording 10 points. Fellow guard Chakeitha Weldon (Atlanta, Ga./Kansas/B.E. Mays) tied Edwards for a game-high 11 boards. The 11 rebounds are a career-high for the 5-8 point guard.

The duo combined for 22 of the team’s 50 rebounds, as the Apps out-rebounded the Cougars 50-33.

The first half was a back and forth battle, with College of Charleston opening the contest on a strong note, as Brooke Kotcella nailed two early treys.

Answering the Cougars’ start, Ramirez scored 13 points in the opening 12 minutes of action to give ASU a 24-19 lead. Ramirez’ offensive production along with Catherine Williams (Chattanooga, Tenn./Howard) and Weldon hitting layups put Appalachian on top by seven.

The advantage would soon vanish however, as CofC hit back-to-back three-pointers to knot the game at 31 all with less than a minute until the break.

Edwards drained a jumper with 14 seconds left in the first half, earning ASU the 33-31 lead at intermission.

Holding the Cougars’ to 23 percent shooting from the floor in the second half and 23 second period points, Appalachian was able to defeat College of Charleston and notch its 17th win of the season.

Vying for a second place spot in the SoCon, the Mountaineers play their final home game of the season, as the Apps welcome Wofford to the High Country, Thursday February 25. The game is set to begin at 5 p.m. in the Holmes Center and is senior night for the lone senior on the squad Karina Mill.

Notes: The 17 wins are the most in a season for ASU since the 1995-96 season, going 24-6 overall ... the 13 SoCon wins are the most since the 1995-96 season when ASU went 14-0 in the conference ... the season sweep of the Cougars was ASU’s first since the 2000-01 season and fifth of a SoCon opponent... the win was Appalachian’s first over College of Charleston in the Holmes Center since the 2006-07 season ... the 6-1 start to the month of February is ASU’s best start to the month since the 1995-96 season (ended 8-0 on the month ) ... Appalachian is now just one home win away from tying a school-record eight wins.

Western Carolina 51, Chattanooga 49 (OT)

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina women's basketball (7-21, 6-13 SoCon) played spoiler to Chattanooga (20-8, 15-4 SoCon), as the Lady Mocs were looking to lock in an outright claim to the Southern Conference regular season title, Monday in the Ramsey Center. The Catamounts shocked Chattanooga with a 51-49 win, in overtime, in Western Carolina's final home game of the season.

The Catamounts had to hold off Chattanooga, in the final seconds of overtime, leading by two points. The Lady Mocs had the ball with 10 seconds remaining, but Jenaya Wade-Fray, who had hit both field goals for Chattanooga in overtime, missed a jumper as time expired.

Chattanooga's Shanara Hollinquest missed a jumper, with one second remaining, that would have given the Lady Mocs a win in regulation, with the score tied at 42. It was Hollinquest that hit a field goal, and was fouled, to tie the game at 42 with 48 seconds left.  

In the Catamount's first overtime game of the season, the Catamounts took the lead in the first 30 seconds when junior Emily Clarke hit a jumper to go up 44-42. Western Carolina kept Chattanooga at bay at the free throw line, in overtime, going 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. The Catamounts also got a huge boast from sophomore Kaila'Shea Menendez who hit a monster three-pointer, tipping the rim and rolling in, to give the Catamounts a 49-45 advantage with 2:39 left.

Scoring was a premium in the first 20 minutes of the game. Western Carolina led Chattanooga by six, 18-12, with 3:48 left but the Lady Mocs scored seven unanswered points to lead by one, 19-18, at the break.

There were six ties in the second half, with Western Carolina building its largest lead of the game, eight, 36-28, with 8:29 left. Tied at 39, sophomore Caitlin Hollifield hit 1-of-2 free throws and hit a lay-up, to put the Catamounts up 42-39, before she fouled out.

The Catamounts shot 33.9 percent from the field and held Chattanooga to 26.7 percent. Though Western Carolina gave up seven three-pointers to the Lady Mocs, Western Carolina poured in 22 points inside the paint, and held Chattanooga to 12 points.

The win is the third seasonal split for Western Carolina this season. The club also split with Elon and UNC Greensboro and swept Furman.

Western Carolina plays its final game of the regular season at 3 p.m. Saturday at Wofford. The Seeding for the Southern Conference Tournament is still up in the air, however the Catamounts could place as high as seven or as low as 10. No matter the seeding, Western Carolina will either play at 1 p.m. or 2:30 p.m. March 4.