Appalachian State 59, Fairfield 36
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball continued with its dominating postseason play, as the No. 1 seeded Apps downed No.5 Fairfield to the tune of 59-36 to advance to the semifinals of the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitational. With the win, ASU has also earned six-straight victories on its home floor and improves to a stout 21-12 on the season, while the Stags close out the 2009-10 campaign with a 20-14 mark.
Defensive domination by the Black and Gold was yet again the story of the contest, as ASU limited the Stags to a stifling 18 points in both halves, holding Fairfield to a dismal 26.3 field goal percentage in the game.
After Appalachian found itself down by four with a little over eight minutes remaining in the first, a 14-2 Mountaineer streak put the Apps back on top, heading into the break up 26-18.
Freshman Anna Freeman (Thomasville, N.C./East Davidson) began the run as she hit a layup and junior Sam Ramirez (Fayetteville, N.C./Southview) followed suit, coming alive on the offensive front as well. Ramirez eclipsed the 1,000 point mark for her career (came into Sunday's game at 999 points), as she drilled a trey to give Appalachian the lead for good.
Ramirez poured in eight points during the streak, and finished with a game-high 19, going 3-6 from behind the arc, while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out three assists. She became just the 19th Mountaineer in program history to score at least 1,000 points and the first since Whitney Tossie did it in 2008. She also joins an elite group, as she is just the sixth Mountaineer to score 1,000 points in her career that is not a senior.
The Black and Gold picked up the second half where the first one ended, outscoring Fairfield 15-2 in the opening seven minutes of action. Tara Flaherty scored a jumper five minutes into the second period, making it the first field goal for the Stags since the 4:22 mark of the first.
Ashlen Dewart (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) contributed to ASU's solid offensive performance, as she chipped in six points in the opening minutes of the second, while Catherine Williams (Chattanooga, Tenn./Howard) was productive on the offensive end as well.
Dewart, along with Freeman also ended the game in double-figures, with Freeman scoring 12 points, while grabbing nine rebounds and Dewart posting 10 points while also hauling in nine boards.
Led by Williams on the glass, who had 10 rebounds, Appalachian hauled in 58 boards compared to just 29 by Fairfield, making it the Apps largest rebounding margin of the season at (+29).
Up by 27 with 2:15 remaining, ASU's stellar play continued and Appalachian cruised to the impressive 23-point win.
The Black and Gold will now take on familiar Southern Conference rival, College of Charleston, in the semifinals of the WBI. The game is slated for Thursday March 25 in the Holmes Center and will tip at 7 p.m.
Notes: The 21 wins are the most in a season for the Black and Gold since the 1995-96 season (24-6) ... ASU at a (+11) game margin has the best turnaround in school history (went 9-22 a season ago) ... the win is the Apps' second postseason victory ... ASU is now 9-6 at the Holmes Center, giving the Mountaineers the most ever wins in the HCC ... the victory was ASU's first over Fairfield.
College of Charleston 76, Bradley 66
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Senior guard Ericka Williams (Blackville, S.C.) delivered game-highs of 21 points and eight rebounds as the College of Charleston (21-11, 13-7) earned a 76-66 victory over Bradley (17-14, 12-6 OVC) in the second round of the Women's Basketball Invitational at the Carolina First Arena on Sunday, March 21.
With the win, the second-seeded Cougars advance to the East Region Finals of the WBI where they will face a familiar foe in top seeded Appalachian State. That game will be played on either Wednesday, March 24 or Thursday, March 25 in Boone, N.C. at the Holmes Center.
"We did not have a single senior that did not play well for us today" said head coach Nancy Wilson. "Jade [Hughes] limited their leading scorer early, despite a height advantage and Deidra Jones was strong in the low post and established early that she was going to be a force. NeShonda McLaurin had several key plays and Brooke [Kotcella] and Ericka Williams are a nice pair of forwards".
"I just really appreciate our administration allowing us to be in this tournament and have a chance to compete" added Wilson. "When you have six seniors, four of whom have been in the program for four years, this is really a gift to them. They have put the program in a position to be invited to a tournament like the WBI".
After battling out to a 9-7 advantage early in the game, the College of Charleston used a 10-2 run over a three-minute stretch to extend to a 19-9 lead as senior forward Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C.) drilled a pair of three-pointers. Bradley then used a 10-4 run of their own to close to within 23-19 with 9:01 to play.
At that point, CofC took total control of the game as they used a total team effort to put together a dominant 22-7 run and take a commanding 45-26 lead into the break.
It was more of the same at the start of the second half as five points apiece from Williams and junior guard Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) fueled a 12-5 run that left the College of Charleston with its largest lead of the game at 57-31 with 15:27 to play.
An 18-6 run by the Braves then narrowed the margin to 63-49 at the 6:19 mark but the rally would end there as three straight baskets from the Cougars, including back-to-back fast break layups from senior center NeShonda McLaurin (McColl, S.C.), stretched the lead back to 20 points at 69-49. They would not look back from there as they weathered a late Bradley rally as they closed out the 10-point victory to advance to the WBI East Region Final.
Freshman guard Katie Yohn led Bradley with a team-high 16 points while senior guard Renee Frericks finished with 12 points and three assists. Junior guard Raisa Taylor was the only other member of the Braves to reach double-digits, notching 11 points. Redshirt-sophomore Latasha Hollingshed chipped in with eight points and a team-best six rebounds.
Ericka Williams led four members of the College of Charleston in double-figures with her game-high 21 points and added eight rebounds, three on the offensive glass. Kotcella finished with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting while senior center Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C.) added 11 points and six rebounds, all of which were offensive. Continuing the leadership of the senior class throughout the Cougars postseason run, Gerty finished with an impressive all-around line of 11 points, five assists, four steals and four rebounds.
As a team, CofC shot 45.3 percent from the field and an impressive 42.1 percent from three-point range and 83.3 from the foul line.
The College of Charleston now advances to face Appalachian State in the East Region Finals of the Women's Basketball Invitational on either Wednesday, March 24 or Thursday, March 25. Tip-off for that game is yet to be determined.
NOTES
Today's game represents the most games that the College of Charleston has ever played in a Division I season with it being their 32nd ... it is also the third latest date that the Cougars have played a game, trailing only the March 27, 1982 game vs. Francis Marion and the March 26, 1982 North Dakota State contest ... current records do not include the date's of CofC's run to NAIA Nationals in the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons ... it is the latest Division I contest in program history.
Missouri State 75, Samford 54
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Missouri State's Casey Garrison scored 32 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Lady Bear women's basketball team to a 75-54 win over Samford in the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament Sunday afternoon at JQH Arena.
Samford ends its season with a record of 23-11. Missouri State advances to play the winner of tomorrow's game between Illinois and Marquette.
"It's always disappointing when your season ends," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We lost to a very good team today. The bottom line was we couldn't stop them down the stretch. I am very proud of our team and the season they've had."
Samford was led in scoring by Savannah Hill with 12 points. Monica Maxwell scored 10 points and pulled down six rebounds, while Megan Wilderotter added 10 points. Alex Crow led the team in rebounding with nine.
For Missouri State, Garrison made 10-of-18 shots from the floor and 10-of-12 from the free-throw line. Garrison was followed by Christiana Shorter with 17 points and eight rebounds.
The game was close throughout the first half. With the game tied at 15-15, Samford went on a 7-2 run to take the largest lead for either team in the opening half at 22-17 with 5:32 to go in the first half after a layup by Wilderotter.
Missouri State scored the next six points in a row to take a one-point lead at 23-22 with 3:07 to go in the opening half. Samford fought back to take a 27-25 lead with 1:18 left in the first half after a pair of free throws by Hill. Missouri State scored six of the last seven points in the first half to take a 31-28 lead into halftime.
After a basket by Hill early in the second half cut the MSU lead to 31-30, Missouri State went on an 11-3 run to take a 42-33 lead with 13:57 to go in the game. Samford fought back to cut the lead to four at 46-42 with 8:16 to go in the game after a free throw by Paige Anderson.
Missouri State scored the next six points to push its lead to 10 at 52-42 with 6:47 left in the contest. With MSU leading, 57-47, the Lady Bears went on a 16-3 run to push its lead to 23 at 73-50 with 55 seconds to go. Missouri State came away with a 75-54 win.
For the game, Missouri State made 41.4 percent of its shots from the floor, including 33.3 percent from three-point range. Samford made 33.3 percent of its shots overall and 25.9 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc. The Lady Bears out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 45-32.
The loss ends the most successful season in Samford women's basketball history. The team's win total of 23 ties the school record for wins in a season. The Bulldogs reached the finals of the Southern Conference Tournament for the first time, and they played in their first national postseason tournament, earning a win in the first round of the WNIT over Ole Miss.