CHARLOTTE, N.C. - No. 11 Furman pulled off the biggest upset on the first day of the 2010 Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championship, coming from behind in the final minutes to defeat sixth-seed Davidson, 73-67 in Bojangles Coliseum Thursday evening.
Furman will face third-seed Appalachian State Saturday thirty minutes following conclusion of the game between No. 4 College of Charleston and No. 5 Georgia Southern, which is set to tip-off at 9 a.m. ET.
Davidson's lead was as large as 15 points at the 15:02 mark in the second half, but Furman outscored Davidson 37-14 down the stretch. The Wildcats had held the lead from 2:20 into the first half until Furman tied the game at 65 with a three-ball from All-SoCon Lee Stephens with 3:01 remaining. Sophia Aleksandravicious responded for the Wildcats with a jumper near the free throw line to put Davidson back ahead by two, but Kendra Berry hit a contested jumper to even the score at 67.
Furman got a stop with 2:10 remaining and Stephens hit both free throws after she was fouled driving to the basket on the ensuing possession. Julia Paquette was fouled on Davidson's next possession with 49 seconds remaining, but missed the front end of a one-and-one and Berry hauled in the defensive board.
Furman earned two more stops and Stephens and Kaitlin Murphy were perfect from the free throw line to ice the win.
Stephens led Furman (7-23) with 23 points, going 7-for-13 from the field and converting 3-of-4 from behind the arc and all six free throw attempts. She also tallied five rebounds and four assists, Susan Troutman and Lakyn Ledford led the Paladins with six boards each. Ledford and Berry each added nine points. Nine different players scored for the Paladins.
Alex Thompson and Sophia Aleksandravicius both scored 17 points to lead Davidson (14-15). Thompson, a senior All-SoCon selecion, was 5-for-10 from the field, 3-for-7 from behind the arc, 4-for-4 at the free throw line and tallied five assists. Aleksandravicius hauled in four rebounds. Ashley Lax also reached double figures with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field, converting 3-of-6 three-balls while adding three assists and two boards. Julia Paquette and Amanda Ottaway led the 'Cats on the glass with six rebounds.
Furman began chipping away at the lead with a pair of jumpers from Troutman. After trading buckets, a layup by Kaitlin Murphy and a pair of successful free throws by Kelly O'Connor made it a two-possession game at 56-50 with 10:15 remaining. Davidson held Furman at bay trading baskets until a layup by Stephens, a pair of free throws by Ayanna Randolph and a jumper by Berry made it a two-point game with 4:06 to go.
Davidson was the stronger team early, building a 28-18 lead with 6:24 remaining in the first half as Ashley Lax, Monica Laune and Alex Thompson combined to hit 5-of-8 3-point attempts. But the Paladins pulled within one possession after Berry converted a conventional 3-point play, Randolph hit a free throw and Kelly O'Connor sank a three-ball.
Davidson though responded as Kristen Johnson dropped in a pair of layups on consecutive possessions and Thompson went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe to give Davidson a 38-31 edge at halftime.
Stephens had kept Furman in the game at the start, scoring 14 of Furman's first 16 points behind five-of-six shooting from the field (including two 3-pointers) and pair of successful free throws, while the rest of the team combined to hit just one of their first 12 attempts.
Furman shot 35.5 percent (11-for-31) in the first half, but improved in the second half, hitting 52 percent (13-for-25) of their attempts from the field. The Paladins were also strong from the free throw line hitting 17-of-24 attempts.
Davidson's shooting was consistent, as the Wildcats were 12-for-24 in the first half and 11-for-24 in the second half to finish the game at 47.9 percent. They did not receive as many free throw attempts though, hitting 13-of-16 from the charity stripe. Each team hit eight three-pointers. Furman held a slight 32-31 edge in rebounds and a 19-13 advantage in turnovers.
Notes: Furman advances to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2007 ... Davidson had won the previous two meetings this season.
Game 2: #9 UNC Greensboro 57, #8 Western Carolina 55
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Lakiah Hyson hit a pair of free throws with 18 seconds remaining to lift the UNC Greensboro Spartans to a 57-55 victory over the Western Carolina Catamounts in opening round action of the 2010 Southern Conference Basketball championships at the Bojangles Coliseum Thursday afternoon.
The Spartans will advance to face No. 1 seed Chattanooga in the second game of the quarterfinals.
UNCG led by as many as 13 in the second half, behind three double-figure scorers, including 20 points from Hyson, but Western Carolina put together a 12-2 run, capped by a pair of free throws by Caitlin Hollifield, to get within a possession, 47-44, with 5:24 remaining.
Neither team would gain more than a two-possession advantage, trading buckets over the remaining five minutes as the game went down to the final minute. The Spartans' Monique Floyd pushed UNCG's lead back to five with a jumper at 4:48, but Emily Clarke answered on the other end of the floor for Western to make it a one-possession game.
Floyd, who scored 12 second-half points and eight straight, scored the second straight for the Spartans, pushing the lead back to five, 51-46, with 2:41 to go, but Kaila'Shea Menendez converted an and-one play with 2:34 left to cut UNCG's lead to two.
Floyd scored her third straight bucket for UNCG to lift the Spartans ahead four, 53-49, and Clarke hit just one of two free throws with 2:12 left, before Menendez converted another and-one play to knot the score at 53 with 1:13 remaining.
Hyson missed a layup with the game knotted and 43 seconds to play, and Western's Kristen Feemster grabbed the rebound. But a critical Catamount turnover and steal by Hyson led to a pair of late-game free throws, which proved the decider, as Jessica Jackson's three-point attempt missed at the buzzer.
Hyson finished with 20 points on 5-of-16 shooting, including 2-for-5 from behind the arc and 8-for-10 at the line. Floyd tallied 15 points, including 12 second-half points, on 6-of-10 shooting, and Girstautaite had 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
Clarke led the Catamounts with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-7 from behind the arc, and Menendez was the second Western player in double figures with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
UNCG opened the first period with a 13-6 run, behind six points from senior guard Lakiah Hyson, and led the rest of the way.
Trailing 19-10, Western Carolina's Jessica Jackson hit a three with 8:30 to go to cut the Spartans’ lead to six, but it is as close as the Catamounts would get. Greensboro used a 7-0 run to regain some distance and pull ahead, 26- 13, with just four minutes remaining, and would lead by as many as 14 in the opening frame en route to a 30-20 half time lead.
Hyson finished with 13 points in the first half on 5-of-8 shooting to lead all scorers. The Spartans went 12-of-25 from the field (48 percent) and 4-of-8 (50 percent) from behind the line. Agne Girstautaite (3-for-5) and Amanda Leigh (2-for-3) each had six points for the Spartans.
Western Carolina went 8-for-25 (32 percent) from the field and connected on just one three pointer in seven attempts (14.3 percent). Leading scorer Emily Clarke finished with five points on 1-of-5 shooting to pace the Catamounts.
Game 1: #10 Elon 67, #7 Wofford 53
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Sharp shooting by Ali Ford and double-doubles fom Kelsey Evans Urysla Cotton led 10th-seeded Elon to a 67-53 victory over seventh-seeded Wofford in the first game of the 2010 Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championship in Bojangles Coliseum.
The Phoenix will face second-seed Samford Friday morning at 9 a.m. ET in the first contest of the quarterfinals.
Ford, the SoCon Freshman of the Year and the lone freshman selection to the All-Southern Conference team, paced the Phoenix (12-18) with 21 points, hitting 5-of-9 3-pointers and going a perfect 4-for-4 at the charity stripe. She also tallied four assists, two rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Cotton, a senior, posted her seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds (all defensive). Evans, a freshman, posted her third consecutive double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Junior Mahagony Williams led the Terriers (8-21) by matching her career-best scoring total of 20 points behind 9-of-17 shooting from the field. She and senior Kathryn Varno led Wofford with nine rebounds. Senior Natalie Gramblin added 10 points, while Varno added eight.
Elon never relinquished the lead after opening the game on an 11-2 run. Elon hit 11-of-28 attempts (39.3 percent) from the field in the first half while holding Wofford to 7-of-37 shooting (18.9 percent) to take a 30-17 lead to the locker room at halftime.
Wofford used an 11-0 run early in the second half keyed by Varno, Williams and a 3-pointer from Maddie Helms to pull within three, but Ford went 3-for-3 behind the arc within a three-minute span to lead a 13-2 run for Elon. A three-ball from Courtney Medley gave the Phoenix a 17-point lead with 8:52 remaining. Elon then maintained the double-digit cushion for the remainder of game to secure the win.
Elon shot 60 percent (12-for20) in the second half to finish the game at 47.9 percent (23-for-48).
Notes: Elon snapped a four-game losing streak to Wofford with the win ... Elon has now pulled off three-consecutive SoCon first-round upsets ... Elon held Wofford to a season-low 17 points in the first half ... Wofford's previous first-half low was 19 points on Jan. 18 in a 61-60 overtime win at Elon.