Samford 57, College of Charleston 50
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Samford sophomore Alex Crow scored a career-high 17 points and pulled down five rebounds to lead the Bulldog women's basketball team to a 57-50 Southern Conference win at College of Charleston Saturday afternoon at Carolina First Arena.
With the win, Samford moves back into a second-place tie with College of Charleston, with both teams holding an 11-4 conference record, two games behind league-leading Chattanooga. Both teams are now 17-7 overall on the season.
"I was so pleased with the way we came out and defended today," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "This was a great team effort defensively. I thought our defensive intensity started with Jazmine Powers. That is a credit to her as a person and as a player. She stepped up and helped us win this game on the road. And then Alex Crow made some big shots. For those two to step up as sophomores against a good team was big for us."
Behind Crow for Samford, Savannah Hill scored 11 points. Paige Anderson, starting in place of the injured Emily London, added 10 points for the Bulldogs.
College of Charleston was led by Tonia Gerty with 14 points and six rebounds. Deidra Jones scored eight points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for the Cougars.
After falling behind early in the first half, Samford went on a 7-0 run to take a 9-5 lead with 16:00 to go after a layup by Hill. College of Charleston answered with a 9-0 run of its own to take a 14-9 lead with 13:18 left in the first half after a basket by Gerty.
Back-to-back Samford baskets by Crow and Hill cut the Cougars' lead to one at 14-13 with 11:35 left in the opening period. Charleston then hit a layup and a three-pointer to push its lead back to six at 19-13 with 10:30 to go in the first half.
Samford then went on an 11-3 run to take a 24-22 lead with 4:44 to go in the first half after a jumper by Anderson. Samford took a 27-26 lead into halftime.
Samford opened the second half with a 14-2 run to push its lead to 13 at 41-28 with 15:13 to go after a three-pointer by Monica Maxwell. Samford pushed its lead out to 16 at 50-34 with 6:42 to go in the game after a layup by Jazmine Powers.
College of Charleston came back with an 11-2 run to cut the Samford lead to seven at 52-45 with 2:22 to go after a jumper by Jade Hughes. The Cougars, however, could get no closer as Samford came away with the 57-50 win.
As a team, Samford shot 44.4 percent from the floor, while limiting Charleston to 37.3 percent. The Bulldogs forced the Cougars into 16 turnovers, while committing just eight.
Samford will return to action on Monday, Feb. 8, when the Bulldogs play at Georgia Southern. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start.
Davidson 83, UNC Greensboro 53
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Sharp-shooting guard Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) led a Wildcat offensive out-burst with a career-high 25 points and head coach Annette Watts collected her 100th career Southern Conference win in guiding Davidson to an 83-53 victory against UNC Greensboro at Fleming Gym in women's basketball on Saturday afternoon.
Lax led a sizzling-hot shooting Wildcat team by draining 9-of-13 shots, including all five of her three-balls, and a pair of free throws for her sixth career 20-point game. Davidson (12-10, 10-4 SoCon) closed the game shooting a season-best 58.2 percent (32-of-55) and nearly as good from behind the arc, canning 8-of-14 for 57.1 percent.
Joining Lax in double figures was the senior combo of Julia Paquette (Stockbridge, Ga.) and Alex Thompson (Asheville, N.C.) with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Freshman Sophia Aleksandravicius (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) tallied her third straight double-double, and 10th of the season, with 10 points and 11 rebounds to round out the quartet of scorers in double digits.
UNCG's (7-16, 4-11 SoCon) Amanda Leigh led the Spartan attack with 16 points off the bench, 12 of them from behind the three-line, and Kendra Smith had 11 points.
Davidson tallied its biggest win of the all-time series by using an 18-7 run at the start of the second half to turn an eight-point lead into a 51-33 advantage with 11:52 left. The 'Cats used four three-pointers in the run, including a pair from Lax with her last one forcing UNCG to call a timeout.
A trey by Monica Laune (Ashland, Neb.), her second of the half, pushed the lead out to 23, and then later, a turn-around layup inside by Amanda Ottaway (Hollidaysburg, Pa.) gave Davidson a 71-43 advantage with 4:57 on the clock.
Sarah Davis capped off the huge second-half scoring surge with a layup for the final score of 83-53. Davis along with nine other Wildcats scored in the half as they erupted for 50 second-half points, the most this year.
Lax got things going in the first half, scoring six of the Wildcats' first 10 points as they doubled up the Spartans, 10-5, in the early stages of the half. She would go on to drop in 14 first-half points.
The junior led a 59.1 percent shooting performance by the Wildcats by hitting 5-of-7 shots, including a pair of three-balls, and both of her free throws in the half.
Later, Lax added two more points on a fastbreak layup at the 5:03 mark to give the Wildcats a 24-11 lead that forced UNCG to burn a timeout. The Wildcats dropped in a season-best 20 points on the fastbreak variety.
Shortly after the timeout, Julia Paquette converted on a three-point play and Lax drained another three-ball to cap off a 14-4 run that pushed the lead to 15.
Assisting the Wildcats run was their stout defense, which forced 10 turnovers, while also holding UNCG scoreless over a seven-minute stretch.
UNCG shot just 28 percent from the field, and finished the game at 28.8 percent. The 'Cats netted 25 points in all off of 19 Spartan turnovers.
Lax closed out Davidson's scoring with yet another trey at the 1:13 mark, before the Spartans ratted off seven points in the closing minute to bring the halftime score to 33-25.
Davidson next returns home for a 7 p.m. contest against Elon on Monday at Belk Arena.
Game Notes: Davidson is in the midst of playing eight of its nine games from Jan. 16-Feb. 15 on the road, with this being game No. 6 away from Belk Arena ... Davidson clipped the 40-board mark for the 10th time, and out-rebounded its opponent for the 10th time as well ... Thompson moved closer to the 1,000-point mark for her career with 11 points to give her 974 ... the win for the Wildcats was their biggest on the road in the all-time series, and was their sixth in the last eight meetings overall vs. UNCG ... Davidson matched its season-high in assists with 18, led by Thompson¹s game-best six dimes ... for the seventh straight year, Davidson eclipsed the 10-win mark in league games.
Appalachian State 73, Elon 54
ELON, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball used a late run to pull away from Elon Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gym, 73-54. With the win, ASU completes the season sweep of the Phoenix and earns its sixth-straight victory, while remaining spotless on the road against Southern Conference opponents. The Apps also improve to 13-9 on the season and 9-4 in conference action, while Elon drops to 9-15 overall and 4-11 in league play.
After battling the entire first half ASU found itself down for the final time at 33-31 as Urysla Cotton nailed a jumper to give the Phoenix the narrow advantage. However, that would be the last time that the Black and Gold faced a deficit, as the Mountaineers' posted a 9-2 streak, grabbing a 40-33 lead with 15:13 remaining.
Appalachian ended the game on a run, outscoring Elon 16-2 in the waning minutes of play with nine points coming from the charity stripe to capture the win.
It appeared as though the Mountaineers would pull away early in the first half, as eight Ashlen Dewart points, coupled with offensive production from Chakeitha Weldon and Kelsey Sharkey put the Apps up 17-12.
Sharkey earned her first career double-double, scoring 12 points and hauling in 13 rebounds. Weldon tallied 16 points and finished as the game's leading scorer.
Despite the five-point cushion, Elon would not go away quietly, posting a 10-0 run of their own to grab a three-point advantage at 24-21 with Lisa Archie hitting two free throws to cap off Elon's streak.
Ending first half action, junior Sam Ramirez drilled a trey as the shot clock expired to knot the game at 24 all. That three-pointer combined with a Sharkey layup and two final free throws put ASU up 28-26 heading into the break.
After falling behind just one time at the beginning of the second period, the Black and Gold went on to capture a 19-point victory.
Five Mountaineers ended the game in double-figure scoring, with Courtney Freeman recording her first career double-double, notching 13 boards and scoring 11 points.
Appalachian now returns home for the first time since January 23, welcoming Western Carolina to the Holmes Center, Monday February 8. The tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the High Country.
Notes: The 13 wins are the most in a season for the Black and Gold since the 2006-07 campaign, finishing that season 13-18 overall ... the nine SoCon wins are the most since the 2005-06 campaign, when ASU went 11-7 and finished fourth in the conference ... the win gives Appalachian its sixth-straight win on the season, its longest winning streak of the season and longest since the 1997-98 season when the Apps won six in a row spanning from January to February ... ASU is still spotless on the road against SoCon foes, and improve to 7-0 ... Darcie Vincent coached teams are now 3-1 against Elon. the seven road wins against SoCon foes are the most since the 1995-96 season ... the win gives ASU its best start to the month (2-0) since the 2001-02 season.
Chattanooga 70, Georgia Southern 48
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Chattanooga women's basketball team finally got the 20-point win for Head Coach Wes Moore in a 70-48 decision over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at the Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Lady Mocs improve to 18-6 overall and maintain their lead in the Southern Conference with a 13-2 league record. Georgia Southern falls to 13-10 overall and 8-6 in SoCon action.
Senior Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) had a game-high 20 points with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Senior Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) posted her 12th double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Georgia Southern got out to a 10-5 lead just over five minutes into the game, but it wouldn't get any better than that for GSU. UTC senior Megan Rollins (Monteagle, Tenn.) hit a layup and sparked an 11-2 run capped off with a 3-pointer from freshman Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) to put the Lady Mocs up 16-12 with 9:30 to play in the half.
The two teams kept it even trading buckets over the next five minutes before the Lady Mocs broke it open and expanded its lead to double figures. Chattanooga outscored the Eagles 15-2 over the final 3:52 of the period to take a 40-24 lead into the locker room at the half.
Chattanooga was 16-for-29 (55.2%) in the first half from the floor draining 5-of-12 from beyond the 3-point line.
Chattanooga maintained its lead through the first half of the second period, however, Christopher drained a 3-pointer at the 8:13 mark and Wade-Fray scored the next six of UTC's eight points in an 11-0 run by the Lady Mocs to grab their largest lead of the game, 65-39, with just over four minutes to play.
The Lady Mocs shot 50.9 percent for the game and held the Eagles to a 36.4 percent performance allowing just one 3-pointer in 14 tries. Chattanooga was 10-of-23 from beyond the arc and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
Chattanooga grabbed 13 steals off 16 Georgia Southern turnovers and scored 19 points off the miscues. UTC dished out 11 assists and won the battle of the boards 36-30. Christopher went 4-for-6 from the 3-point line and was the third UTC player in double figures with 12 points. Redshirt freshman Michelle Davis (Cleveland, Tenn.) went 3-for-5 scoring nine points and grabbing eight boards and four steals.
Carolyn Whitney led Georgia Southern with 14 points, 10 in the first half and Samantha Williams had 13 points making 6-of-9. J'Lisia Ogburn was held to just six points and Jessica Geiger led the Eagles with eight rebounds.
Chattanooga will travel to Charleston, S.C., to take on the College of Charleston in a noon game at the Carolina First Arena on Monday. Larry Ward, the "Voice of the Lady Mocs" will have all the action live on the flagship station of the Chattanooga Mocs, 105.1 FM, the Zone. Live stats, streaming audio and video will be available at the official website of UTC, GoMocs.com.
Western Carolina 69, Furman 39
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Western Carolina women's basketball picked up its first road win of the season with a 69-39 win over Furman Saturday at Timmons Arena. The Catamounts improve to 4-19 and 3-11 in the Southern Conference while the Paladins fall to 6-18 and 4-11 in the SoCon.
The Catamounts held Furman to 39 points, the lowest scoring output of the season for a Western Carolina opponent. The Paladins' 28 percent from the field was also a season-low for a Catamount foe.
Seniors Heather Swayne and Kristen Feemster came off the bench to spark the Catamounts in the contest. The duo was part of a 40 point effort from the Western Carolina bench.
Swayne led all scorers with a season-high 15 points and was 3-for-3 from behind the three point arch. Feemster recorded her second double double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Furman scored the first field goal of the game, and then took a 4-3 lead off a field goal by Lakyn Ledford. With 16:13 on the clock, Western Carolina took over with Feemster's first field goal of the game gave the Catamounts a 5-4 advantage. Western Carolina never trailed in the contest again.
Western Carolina proceeded to go on a 16-7 run to build a 10-point advantage, 21-11, with 9:05 left, capped off by a three-pointer by Swayne. Furman hit just two field goals in the final nine plus minutes of the first half with their last bucket coming with 5:26 left off a jumper by Kendra Berry.
The Catamounts used Furman's scoring woes to build a 30-17 advantage at the half.
Furman hit just seven field goals in the first half and equaled that total in the second half. In the first five minutes of the second half, the Catamounts held the Paladins to just one field goal, a jumper by Ledford.
Back-to-back lay-ups by Emily Clarke and a trey by Swayne pushed the Catamount lead to 20 points. A pair of free throws by Feemster allowed Western Carolina to push its lead to 22 points with 15:07 remaining.
After Furman's Ayanna Randolph hit a field goal, at the 14:53 mark, Western Carolina kept Furman from scoring a bucket for five minutes before Berry hit a jumper with 10:26 left to make the score 46-22. In the final 10 minutes Western Carolina outscored Furman 23-17 for the 30 points win.
The 30 point margin of victory was the largest of the season for Western Carolina. The Catamounts shot 52 percent from the field, a season high for the club. The club also got 26 points in the pain and 14 points off the 13 Furman turnovers.
A replay of the game will be shown on Asheville's My 40 at 10 p.m. and again at 4 p.m. on CSS.
Western Carolina continues its four-game road swing at Appalachian State on Monday. Tip-time is set for 7 p.m.