Davidson 69, College of Charleston 40
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Four Wildcats clipped the double-digit mark in points, led by Sophia Aleksandravicius' 16, and Davidson as a team held College of Charleston to 26.4 percent shooting in cruising to a 69-40 Southern Conference win in women's basketball on Monday evening at John M. Belk Arena.
The win was Davidson's largest in the all-time series as the Wildcats improved to 5-6 overall, snapping their three-game skid, and 1-2 in the SoCon. College of Charleston fell to 4-9 overall and 1-3 in league play.
Joining Aleksandravicius in double figures was Shneeka Center with 12 points, Laura Murray with 11 and Jasmine Calin with 10. Both Center's and Calin's point totals were career highs.
The Cougars placed one in double digits as Tonia Gerty hit for 11 points, but had eight of the team's 33 turnovers. The 'Cats turned those turnovers into 30 points and pocketed a season-best 16 steals.
It was all Davidson from the start after Kristen Johnsen - seven points, nine boards- gave the 'Cats an early 8-0 lead on a layup, CofC was forced to burn a timeout.
Then led by Center, Davidson rattled off a 16-3 run about halfway through the period that would later push the advantage out to 18 (29-11) with 2:46 remaining. Center scored six of her 11 first-half points during the spurt. The freshman, who made her first career start, hit season bests in points, rebounds (9), assists (2) and steals (2) in 29 minutes.
A pair of free throws by Murray, who had 11 first-half points with Center, in the last 13 seconds gave the 'Cats a commanding 35-13 halftime lead that they would not give back in the second half.
Aleksandravicius opened the second half with six straight Wildcat points to push the lead out the 24 (41-17) with 14:11 on the clock.
The lead grew to 26 on a Calin jumper at 6:34 and she would put a stamp on the Wildcats outstanding evening with a fastbreak bucket for a 69-38 advantage to close out the scoring for the 'Cats. Calin was very productive, scoring 10 points, hauling in four boards and pocketing a personal-best tying three steals in just nine minute of action.
Davidson had its second 40-rebound game, hauling in a season-high 48, 20 of which came on the offensive end and were turned into 19 second-chance points.
Overall, eight of the nine Wildcats who suited up and entered the game, put their names in the scorer's book as they earned their largest win of the season.
Davidson, which starts a stretch of playing four games in an eight-day span, now its the road for a 7 p.m. contest at Western Carolina on Wednesday, Jan. 5.
GAME NOTES: Davidson improved to 22-8 all-time vs. the Cougars and are 12-2 at home in th series ... the 20 offensive boards in the most for the 'Cats since they opened the 2008-09 season with 21 at Winthrop ... tonight's league win was first-year head coach Michele Savage's first of her career ... the Wildcats had their seventh straight 10-assist game, dishing out 15 with Barbara Sitton (Richmond, Va.) and Laura Murray each passing out five apiece ... Murray's five dimes matched her season-high, while Sitton has now passed out 33 in the last five games ... the 13 first-half points given up by Davidson was the least amount since holding High Point to 13 on Dec. 15, 2007.
UNCG 56, Western Carolina 50
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Amanda Leigh scored a game-high 14 points and UNCG weathered Western Carolina's second-half rally to remain undefeated in Southern Conference play with a 56-50 win over the Catamounts on Monday.
With their fifth straight win, UNCG moved to 7-5 overall and 4-0 in the SoCon for the first time since the 2000-01 season. Western Carolina fell to 3-10 overall and 1-3 in the league.
Monique Floyd was also in double figures for the Spartans, scoring 11 points and narrowly missing her second double-double of the season with nine points. Western's Janae' McKinney did record a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Kaila'Shea Menendez scored a team-best 13 points and Caitlin Hollifield pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to go with nine points.
The Spartans held a 34-20 halftime lead, but saw the Catamounts cut it to three at 50-47 on a Menendez layup with 1:25 left to play. With momentum fully in Western Carolina's favor at this point, UNCG's Dayshaun Richbow came up with a huge steal at midcourt on the Catamounts' next possession.
Richbow raced in for the layup and was fouled on the play, knocking down the ensuing free throw to make it a two-possession game again.
Western's Emily Clarke drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut it to three again, but the Catamounts were forced to foul to stop the clock and Floyd hit three free throws in the last 34 second to put the game away.
UNCG got off to a slow start to the contest, not getting on the board until the 14:10 mark on a Leigh layup. Western, meanwhile, was struggling from the floor itself, as it led just 4-0 prior to Leigh's bucket. UNCG quickly turned it around, as Leigh rattled off seven straight points for the Spartans to put UNCG ahead.
A Hollifield 3-pointer briefly tied it at 7, but Breonna Patterson answered with a 3 on the other end and the Spartans would not trail again.
The teams would trade buckets over the next several minutes, but Janae' Stevenson's layup with just over 4 minutes left in the half kicked off a 14-5 run to put some breathing rooms between the squads.
The Catamounts would not go away, however, opening the second half on 14-6 run to cut it to 40-34 with 11:58 to go. WCU would trim it to four points on a McKinney layup, but the Spartans answered with an 8-0 run to get back up by 12. Richbow started the spurt with a leaner in the lane, and Floyd, who had a tough shooting night to that point, finally got going with three straight buckets to put UNCG up 50-38.
Menendez had five points and McKinney had four in a 9-0 Western run that made it 50-47.
UNCG won despite a pair of lengthy scoring droughts to open each half. In addition to the 5 minute, 50 second scoring drought to open the game, the Spartans didn't score for the first 3:42 of the second half.
The Spartans' five-game winning streak is their first since taking five straight from Dec. 2-21, 2008.
UNCG will continue its stretch of five games in 11 days when it hosts Georgia Southern on Wednesday. That contest is set for a 7 p.m. tip at Fleming Gym.
Elon 77, Georgia Southern 61
ELON, N.C. - Down by as many as 10 points early in the game, the Elon University women's basketball team used its size and offensive proficiency to battle back and claim a 77-61 victory over the Georgia Southern Eagles on Monday night, Jan. 3, inside Alumni Gym.
With the win, Elon improves to 7-5 on the season and 6-1 at home, while evening its record to 2-2 in the Southern Conference. Georgia Southern, who went into tonight's game riding a three-game winning streak, including two in a row in league play, drops to 5-9 (2-3 SoCon) with the loss.
The Phoenix dominated the Eagles on the glass, 43-28, collecting 11 second-chance points and 32 total points in the paint. After a poor shooting performance in the first half, Elon shot 57.7 percent from the field in the second half and finished the game with a 46.4 percent mark.
After scoring just two points in the first half, sophomore forward Kelsey Evans had a stellar performance in the game's final 20 minutes to finish with a career-high 20 points. Evans went 6-for-8 from the field and 8-for-10 at the free throw line for the Phoenix, while also recording two blocks and one steal.
Sophomore forward Lei Lei Hairston just missed recording her second career double-double, as the Reidsville, N.C. native finished with eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds in the win.
Sophomore guard Ali Ford was the second Phoenix player to score in double figures, scoring 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field, including a 2-for-7 clip from beyond the arc. Ford also made 4-of-5 from the charity stripe to help Elon shoot 76.9 percent (20-for-26) on the night. Ford has scored in double figures in all 12 games this season and in 30 out of Elon's last 31 games.
Junior guard Tiara Gause pitched in nine points and four assists for the Phoenix, while senior guard Julie Taylor registered eight points on 3-of-6 shooting, including two makes from beyond the arc.
Georgia Southern's Meredyth Frye tallied a game-high 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting for the Eagles, including a 3-of-7 performance from beyond the arc.
It was all Georgia Southern in the early stages of the game, as the Eagles built up a seven-point advantage after Jamie Navarro drilled a three pointer from the top of the key with 15:49 remaining to put the Phoenix behind, 16-9. Georgia Southern extended its lead to 10 points with 12:22 left after MiMi DuBose connect from well beyond the arc to put Elon down, 22-12, forcing Phoenix head coach Karen Barefoot to call a timeout.
Taylor helped the Phoenix pull within two points with 3:58 remaining after Kelsey Harris found Taylor for three just in front of the GSU bench on a fastbreak to help make it a 28-26 game. Harris helped Elon cut the deficit to one on the next possession after splitting a pair of free throws to make it a 28-27 game with 3:15 left in the first half. Harris tied a career-high with five assists for the Phoenix in the win.
Taylor helped Elon takes its first lead since early in the game with
2:36 left after Gause found the Columbia, Md. native for three from the top of the key to complete a 14-0 run and make it a 30-28 game.
The Phoenix went into the locker room up four points, 32-28, after Aiesha Harper stripped GSU's DuBose at midcourt with 1:03 left on the clock and took the ball to the basket for the easy layup.
The maroon and gold shot 36.7 percent from the field in the opening frame, but a total of eight players scored at least two points for Elon, who was led by Taylor's eight points on 3-of-4 shooting in the first half.
Elon continued its hot shooting in the second half, going on a 15-5 run to take a commanding 47-33 lead with 12:38 remaining in the game after Hairston hit a jumper inside the paint over an Eagle defender.
The Eagles managed to cut Elon's lead to eight points with 7:22 to play after Navarro connected on her fourth three-pointer of the game from the top of the key to make it a 60-52 game.
But the Phoenix managed to keep the Eagles at arm's length down the stretch, holding on to a double-digit lead over the final 2:54 of the game to secure the victory and improve to 2-2 in league play this season.
Elon is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 8, when the Phoenix takes on the Samford Bulldogs in Birmingham, Ala.