Chattanooga 54, Davidson 51
DAVIDSON, N.C. --- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior Bailey Dewart nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with time running out to give the Lady Mocs a 54-51 win over Davidson in Southern Conference women's basketball action Friday night at Belk Arena.
With 6.6 seconds on the clock, UTC Head Coach Wes Moore called a time-out to set up a final play for the Lady Mocs. Sophomore Kayla Christopher was called upon to get the ball on the inbounds, but the Wildcats had her smothered much like she was throughout the game. Dewart, standing just a few feet away, called for the ball and squared up to drain the 3-pointer from just to the left side at the top of the key. The ball snapped the net with the buzzer sounding to give the Lady Mocs the win.
Chattanooga (8-9, 5-3 SoCon) trailed from the start of the game with the Wildcats getting out front 20-8 with 11:15 to play in the first half. Freshman Meghan Downes drained a 3-pointer to cut into the lead and Chattanooga would get as close as three by halftime with the Wildcats leading 27-24 at the break.
The second half started slow with Davidson (5-9, 1-5 SoCon) grabbing the first bucket of the stanza on a layup from Laura Murray to put the Wildcats up 29-24 with 17:31 to play. Sophia Aleksandravicius hit just the second of two free throws to give Davidson its largest lead of the second half at 30-24.
The Lady Mocs cut the lead to 32-31 on a 3-pointer from Christopher followed by a layup from junior Whitney Hood with 14:29 to play. The Wildcats would get its lead back up to five, 40-35 and Hood hit a layup to cut it to 40-37. On a missed 3-point attempt by UTC, Downes crashed the boards for the rebound and was fouled on the way down. That set up a jumper in the lane by freshman Destiny Bramblett who was fouled. She drained the free throw to tie the game for the first time since early in the first half.
Davidson got the lead back, but Chattanooga continued to fight back and took the lead on a layup from Hood. Sophomore Kiara Smith drained a career-high tying third 3-pointer to give Chattanooga a 47-43 lead with 6:49 to play. The Lady Mocs held on to the tenuous lead over the next four minutes before Davidson got back out front, 50-49 on a jumper in the lane from Sophia Aleksandravicius with 2:36 to play.
Davidson's final point of the game would be on a free throw from Chloe Woodington who hit the front end of a two free throws to give her team a 51-49 lead. Christopher drove in to hit a jumper from the right side and tie it up 51-51 with 49 ticks on the clock.
The Wildcats' Aleksandravicius missed a short jumper and sophomore Kylie Lambert came up with the rebound with 19 seconds to play. The Lady Mocs drove the court and with 6.6 seconds to play, Moore called the time out to set up the final play for the win.
Davidson edged the Lady Mocs on the boards 36-35, but Chattanooga got more production from its bench 15-6. Hood had a game-high 17 points and four rebounds while Smith, with three huge 3-pointers, had nine points and one steal. Junior Tenisha Townsend had seven points for the Lady Mocs along with three assists and two steals.
Davidson was led by Murray's 17 points and 16 from Aleksandravicius who added eight rebounds. Woodington had five assists and Barbara Sitton had four assists.
The Lady Mocs head to Boone, N.C., to take on Appalachian State at the Holmes Convocation Center Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Elon 79, Furman 59
ELON, N.C. - Behind a dominant performance in the paint that included nearly three double-doubles, the Elon University women's basketball team recorded its fifth straight victory in Southern Conference play on Friday night, Jan. 14, as the Phoenix claimed a 79-59 win over the Furman Paladins inside Alumni Gym.
Elon improves to 10-5 overall and 5-2 in league play, while Furman drops to 6-9 (2-4 SoCon) with the loss.
The victory is Elon's fifth straight in league play, marking the first time the team has won five games in a row since joining the SoCon in 2003-04. The last time Elon won five straight games in conference play was 2001-02 when the team won six straight Big South games.
As a team, Elon outscored Furman 54-26 in the paint and claimed a 48-37 advantage on the glass. The Phoenix bench outscored its counterparts
36-9 in the victory. A total of eight Elon players scored at least five points in the win.
Sophomore forward Lei Lei Hairston proved to be a force inside for the Phoenix, tying a game high with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field to go along with nine boards and a game-high five blocked shots.
Hairston is the third Elon player to record five blocks in a game this season, as sophomore center Lisa Archie did it on Dec. 18 against Western Carolina, while sophomore forward Kelsey Evans has done so twice this season.
Archie and Evans just missed recording double-doubles in the win, as Archie registered 11 points and nine boards, while Evans posted nine points and grabbed nine rebounds. Both Evans and Archie swatted two shots by the Paladins, as the Phoenix recorded 10 blocked shots as a team in the win, extending its SoCon leading total 90 this season.
Elon shot 49.2 percent from the field, including a blistering 58.6 percent in the second half. On the flip side, the Phoenix defense held Furman to 34.8 percent shooting from the field.
The Phoenix could not find an answer for Furman's Kelly O'Connor early in the first half, as O'Connor drained three three-pointers in the first four and a half minutes of the game to give the Paladins a 13-6 advantage. O'Connor led all scorers with 12 points on four three-pointers in the opening frame, but the Phoenix led, 35-29, going into the locker room. O'Connor finished the game with 16 points, while teammate Kaitlin Murphy played all 40 minutes and tied for a game-high with 17 points on 8-of-20 shooting.
Elon shot 41.7 percent from the field in the opening frame, but the Paladins held the Phoenix without a three-point field goal in the first 20 minutes (0-for-4). The Phoenix played stellar defense in the first half, recording eight total blocks and holding the Paladins to 29.7 percent shooting from the field.
The Phoenix continued to generate offense through its hands-on defense in the second half, going up by 15 points with 10:24 to play after freshman guard Kelsey Harris ripped Furman's Kendra Berry of the ball and took it to the basket for the easy layup to make it a 52-37 game.
Elon totaled 26 points off 20 Furman turnovers.
From there, the Phoenix never looked back, going up by as many as 24 points late in the game to secure its fifth straight victory in league play.
Elon plays its next two contests on the road, beginning with a trip to Spartanburg, S.C. on Sunday, Jan. 16, to face the Wofford Terriers at 3 p.m.
Georgia Southern 69, Western Carolina 64 (OT)
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Women's Basketball team (8-10, 5-4) earned its 600th all-time victory with a 69-64 overtime win over Western Carolina (5-11, 3-4) Friday night. The Lady Eagles picked up their sixth-straight home victory and have won seven out of the last nine games.
"This is an accolade," said Lady Eagle Head Coach Rusty Cram. "You tip your hat to Georgia Southern, just to think we can get 600, that is a huge milestone for us. My hat's off to them, my hat is off to all the ladies that have played here in the past that contributed to those 600 wins, there have been some great ones, as well as those ladies tonight. My hat's off to Georgia Southern and I think it is a great achievement for Georgia Southern University."
Georgia Southern did what it does best draining 29 of 36 free throws, including three in the final 20 seconds of overtime. The Lady Eagles shot 80.6 percent from the line and 40.5 percent overall. Meredyth Frye (Fredericksburg, Va./Riverbend) led the Lady Eagles at the charity stripe with 13 made free throws and tallied 18 points. MiMi DuBose (Jefferson, Ga./Jefferson) led all scorers with 20 points, while Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) scored in double figures with 12 points. DuBose or Navarro have led GSU in scoring in 11 games this season.
"We felt like going in, the two teams were so balanced, they had a couple of strengths, we had a couple of strengths, where we were strong, they were weak, where they were weak, we were strong," Cram said. They kept us from getting into some things, some sets that we wanted to get into offensively. They had a great game plan, ours, fortunately, was to get to the free throw line, especially the second half, and we were able to do that."
Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga./St. Pius X) helped Georgia Southern outrebound Western Carolina 35-31 and led the team with seven boards.
"That was one of our strengths. We knew they were going to rebound the basketball, especially the offensive glass. They are quick, they can get up and down the court, and they do a lot of things well. They were well-coached," said Cram.
Four players scored in double digits for the Catamounts. They were led by Kaila'Shea Menendez's 15 points. Kendra Carroll added 12 more, while Emily Clarke and Caitlin Hollifield posted 11 points each. Clarke scored all 11 of her points in the first half and finished the game with four field goals in 15 attempts.
Georgia Southern led 31-30 at the break in a tightly contested first half which included five ties and four lead changes. DuBose drained three treys and scored all 12 of her points in the first 11 minutes. She led all scorers in the first period. Clarke came off the bench and scored 11 points for Western Carolina to help keep the Catamounts in the contest.
The Lady Eagles reeled off an 11-5 run late in the first half to give them their largest lead of the period. Georgia Southern broke open a 20-20 tie and led 31-25 with 2:08 to play in the first half. The Catamounts scored the final two baskets of the period and pulled to within one point as time expired.
Georgia Southern expanded on a one-point lead and pulled ahead by 9, 48-39, with 9:23 to play. The Lady Eagles used a 13-5 run to earn their largest lead of the game. GSU scored eight of their 13 points on free throws. Frye led the way with six points during the run with a perfect six-for-six shooting from the charity stripe.
The Catamounts rallied late to cut the lead to one point, 55-54, with under a minute to play. Western Carolina was sparked by a 9-1 run over the final four minutes and tied the game at 56-56 with 15 seconds remaining. Carroll hit the game-tying shot after Clarke missed a three-pointer.
Georgia Southern quickly jumped up by four points in the overtime period and held on for a five-point win. Western Carolina cut the lead to only a basket on a jumper by Hollifield with 22 seconds remaining. Navarro and Frye hit three free throws in the final 15 seconds to help secure the 600th win in Georgia Southern Women's Basketball history.
The Lady Eagles return to action Tuesday in Charleston, S.C. against the College of Charleston. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Carolina First Arena.
Appalachian State 74, Samford 62
BOONE, N.C.- Appalachian State University women's basketball posted a furious second-half rally and was able to keep its home winning streak alive, as the Apps overcame a double-digit halftime decifit to earn a decisive 74-62 win over Samford Friday evening. The victory is not only the Mountaineers' (11-4, 5-2 SoCon) 14th-straight on their home court but also their first ever against Samford (12-5, 5-3 SoCon) in the Holmes Center.
Finding itself trailing by 17 points at the break, thanks in part to hot shooting by Samford and seven first period three-pointers, ASU mustered a monster comeback, and came alive in second half action.
Once Savannah Hill scored a layup to open up second half play, the Black and Gold outscored the Bulldogs 10-2, as Samford saw its lead dwindle, making the score just 43-32 with a little over 17 minutes remaining.
Hill paced Samford offensively, scoring 16 points, including seven in the first five minutes of the game, while grabbing four rebounds.
Sam Ramirez, Ashlen Dewart and Anna Freeman all found the bottom of the basket for the Apps and provided a spark for the squad, which continued to gain momentum.
Relentless and not going away quietly, Appalachian chipped away at Samford's lead pulling within 10 points at the 15:22 mark.
However it was a 21-7 Mountaineer spurt, on the heels of 14 points by Dewart during the run, that enabled Appalachian to notch its first lead of the contest, up 55-53 with 7:21 left to play.
Dewart scored all 21 of her points in the second-half, and capped off the game as the leading scorer, while also hauling in seven boards.
Samford knotted action at 55 apiece, but that would be the closest of margins and ASU would never fall behind again.
It was key buckets down the stretch by Kelsey Sharkey, Anna Freeman, Ramirez and Chakeitha Weldon that saw Appalachian maintain its lead and pick up an exciting 12-point victory over its conference foe.
Anna Freeman and Ramirez also ended the game in double-figures, scoring 18 and 16 points respectively.
Although the second half was thrilling, the outcome appeared bleak during the opening 20 minutes as Samford could not miss, shooting a stout 81 percent from the field through the first eight and a half minutes of play.
Samford's stellar shooting gave the Bulldogs a commanding 27-12 advantage with six minutes left until halftime.
Things did not get much better for Appalachian, which could not seem to get anything going on the offensive front, as ASU was behind 39-22 at the break.
In a tale of two halves, the Mountaineers posted a complete turnaround and absolutely dominated its conference competitor, outscoring Samford 52-23 in the second half.
Along with shooting an impressive 64.0 percent from the field during the second period, compared to 36 percent in the first, ASU forced a season-high 23 Samford turnovers, while also out-rebounding the Bulldogs.
With little time to rest, ASU remains in the High Country, as the Mountaineers host another league foe in Chattanooga. The Lady Mocs trek to the Holmes Center Sunday, January 16, with the game slated to start at 2 p.m.