Western Carolina 60, Davidson 48
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina women's basketball (4-10, 2-3 SoCon) picked up its first home win of the season with a 60-48 Southern Conference victory over Davidson (5-7, 1-3 SoCon) Wednesday in the Ramsey Center.
After losing the first seven home games, to start the season, the Catamounts finally got a "W" in the win column at home, but more importantly, added another win in the Southern Conference race. Western Carolina, at 2-3, is just one win away from evening its record in conference.
The Catamounts benefited from seven three pointers in the game, tying their season-high. Senior Emily Clarke came off the bench to hit four three-pointers in the game against the Wildcats. Clarke led the team in scoring with 14 points and was one of three Catamounts to score in double figures. Junior forward Caitlin Hollifield followed with 11 points and freshman Rena Wakama, who got the first start of her career against Davidson, added 10.
Western Carolina led 25-22 at the half, marking just the fourth time this season the Catamounts led at the half, and weathered a flurry of scoring by Davidson to start the second half. The Wildcats went on a 4-0 run to start the final 20 minutes to take a two points lead, 27-25.
Hollifield hit a lay-up to tie the game and the two teams would trade baskets and ties for the next six minutes. Davidson built as much as a five point lead, 36-31, with 15:06 left, but Clarke hit a three pointer to pull the Catamounts within two, 36-34. The game was tied for the sixth time, at 36, when Janae' McKinney hit a lay-up.
Davidson kept clawing back to regain the lead one more time before the game was tied again. After the eighth tie of the game, 41-41, Western Carolina would take the lead for good when McKinney drained a pair of free throws with 8:34 left. McKinney's free throws would spark a 19-7 run by WCU in the final eight minutes to cage the Wildcats and earn the win.
Western Carolina benefited from 27 points off the bench, sparked by Clarke's 13. The Catamounts also benefited from 12 points off 19 Davidson turnovers. The Catamounts were also 13-of-19 from the free throw line and out-rebounded the Wildcats 25-31.
Laura Murray led Davidson with 15 points and was 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
Western Carolina continues its four-game home stand hosting College of Charleston at 3 p.m. Saturday. The women's game is the second of a doubleheader, as the Catamount men host Davidson at noon.
UNCG 55, Georgia Southern 51
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Monique Floyd scored 18 points and pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds as UNCG ran its winning streak to six games with a 55-51 win over Georgia Southern on Wednesday.
The Spartans improved to 8-5 overall and 5-0 in the Southern Conference for just the second time in school history. GSU fell to 5-10 overall and 2-4 in the league with the loss.
Dayshaun Richbow joined Floyd in double digits with 12 points, the second-highest total of her career, and matched her career high with five steals.
Krista Tate had a team-best 11 points for the Lady Eagles, just missing a double-double with nine rebounds. Jamie Navarro had eight points and nine boards of her own.
With Georgia Southern holding the ball and UNCG nursing a 53-51 lead with 10.1 seconds left, the Spartans got the stop they needed when Meredyth Frye stumbled driving the lane and turned the ball over. Floyd, playing tough defense with four fouls, came up with the steal and was fouled, then went to the line and knocked down both ends of the one-and-one with 3.1 seconds left to salt away the win.
Like just about every game in UNCG's streak, this one was tight throughout. The Spartans briefly led by as many as nine in the second half, but the margin was in the three- to five-point range for most of the night.
The Lady Eagles tied it at 40 on a Jordi Cook 3-pointer with just under 9 minutes left, but Floyd answered with a 3 from the corner - just the second of her career - to put UNCG on top to stay. Amanda Leigh followed with a 3 of her own to push the lead to six points and freshman Breonna Patterson canned a triple off a GSU turnover to give the Spartans a quick 9-0 spurt and some breathing room.
GSU answered with six straight points to get it back to a three-point game, but Richbow picked Navarro's pocket at midcourt and raced in for a layup that put UNCG back up by five. The Lady Eagles refused to back down, however, clawing back to within two at 53-51 with less than a minute left to set up the frantic finish.
UNCG's 3-point barrage seemingly came out of nowhere, as the Spartans had hit just one of their first 13 attempts prior to Floyd's trey. Sophomore Brey Dorsett finally lifted the lid from 3-point range nearly 7 minutes into the second half. UNCG went 0-for-9 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Despite holding Georgia Southern to just 28.1 percent shooting in the first half, UNCG led by just three at the break, 28-25. The Lady Eagles shot just 31 percent for the game, going 18-for-58 from the floor.
GSU, which entered the game second in the SoCon in 3-point percentage (37.6 percent), also struggled from long range. The Lady Eagles shot just 3-for-16 from beyond the arc, good for just 18.8 percent.
Floyd's double-double was her second this season and fourth of her career. The senior from Fairmont, N.C., did it while battling foul trouble that limited her to just 8 minutes in the first half and 21 for the contest.
UNCG will complete the back end of its 11-day, five-game stretch this weekend at Chattanooga and Samford. The Spartans will try for the first 6-0 SoCon start in school history when they face the Lady Mocs in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Saturday at 6 p.m.
NOTES: Junior Jazz Weaver pulled down a career-high six rebounds. ... UNCG shot 81.8 percent from the free throw line (9-for-11), well above its season average of 63.4 percent coming into the game. ... The Spartans' only other 5-0 SoCon start came in the 2000-01 season. UNCG finished 14-4 in SoCon play that season.
Appalachian State 78, College of Charleston 62
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball rallied from a two-point halftime deficit and won its 13th straight home game Wednesday evening, as the Apps notched a 78-62 win over College of Charleston. ASU (9-3, 3-1 SoCon) is now on a three-game winning streak and has defeated CofC (4-10, 1-4 SoCon) in the two squads' past four meetings.
Suffering a 37-35 deficit at the break, the Black and Gold posted a 13-4 spurt in the opening minutes of second-half play to take the lead and never looked back.
After Cathryn Hardy connected on two free throws to begin the second period, the Apps answered with ten straight points to grab a six-point advantage.
The scoring came from all over from Appalachian as Sam Ramirez, Anna Freeman, Courtney Freeman and Ashlen Dewart all contributed on the offensive front.
Continuing to click on all cylinders, Appalachian extended its lead to ten-points off a Kelsey Sharkey free layup, making the scoring 58-48 in the Mountaineers' favor.
Despite some late buckets by College of Charleston, ASU never led by less than ten points and final jumpers by Canesha Edwards pushed Appalachian to the 16-point win.
The impressive second-half by the Apps proved to be the difference-maker in the contest, as ASU outscored its counterpart 43-25.
The stingy Mountaineer defense also stepped up in second half action, holding CofC to a dismal 20.6 field goal percentage, and not allowing the Cougars to connect on a single three-pointer.
Sluggish and un-energetic play to start the game saw the Mountaineers fall behind by as many as nine-points, facing a 16-7 deficit just seven minutes into the game.
Dewart and Ramirez stepped up however, and a Ramirez trey put Appalachian on top for the first time, taking a narrow 24-22 advantage with a little under eight minutes remaining until halftime.
The Cougars would not go away quietly, going on a 5-0 run in the waning minutes of first half play to lead by five, but fortunately for the
Mountaineers, Ramirez drilled yet another trey and ASU went into the half down just two.
Appalachian picked up its pace in the second half and defensive domination coupled with offensive execution enabled the Apps to earn their third conference win of the season.
Four Mountaineers ended the game in double-figures with Dewart scoring a game-best 19 points. Tallying her third double-double of the season, the Spartanburg, S.C. native also hauled in a game-high 13 rebounds.
In addition to Dewart, Ramirez chipped in 17 points, Anna Freeman 15 and Edwards scored 14.
ASU now takes to the road, as the Black and Gold head to Spartanburg, S.C. to battle conference competitor Wofford. The contest between the Mountaineers and Terriers is slated to begin at 2 p.m., Saturday, January 8, from Wofford's Benjamin Johnson Arena.