Appalachian State 81, Wofford 60
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball rolled to its fourth-straight victory, as the Mountaineers routed Wofford 81-60 Saturday afternoon on the Terriers' home floor. The victory is the Black and Gold's seventh straight over Wofford and improves ASU to 10-3 on the season and 4-1 in league play, while WC falls to 5-8 overall and 1-4 in SoCon action.
After Appalachian took a comfortable 44-28 lead into the half, Wofford began the second-half with a spark, outscoring ASU 7-2 to pull within 11 points a little under five minutes into the period.
ASU responded however, countering with an 10-2 streak of its own, paced by Sam Ramirez, pushing the Apps' lead back out to 56-37 with 9:37 remaining.
Ramirez had five points during the Mountaineer spurt, and ended the contest with a game-high 24, two shy of her career-high on 10-19 shooting, including drilling four treys. The lone senior cluttered the stat line, playing perhaps her best all around game of the season thus far, as she recorded a career-high eight steals, hauled in seven rebounds and dished out four assists.
Never allowing Wofford to come closer than 17 points, Appalachian cruised to the dominating 21- point victory.
The Mountaineers started the game on fire, jumping out to a commanding 19-5 lead, thanks in part to impressive play by Spartanburg, S.C. native Ashlen Dewart. The sophomore scored eight of Appalachian's first 19 points.
Dewart was also stellar in the game, tallying her second straight double-double, scoring 21 points, while grabbing 16 rebounds.
Not shy offensively either, Ramirez and Courtney Freeman were also able to ignite the Black and Gold on the offensive front, and the Apps made the score 24-9 in their favor with a little under 12 minutes to go until the break.
Wofford tried to get something going, posting an 8-2 run, with points coming from April Moorhouse and Mahagony Williams, and the Terriers were able to pull within nine.
Nine points however would be the narrowest of margins, as the Mountaineer offense was unstoppable, with Ramirez drilling two treys in the waning minutes of first period play and the Apps took a 14-point cushion into the half.
Despite Wofford trying to rally to begin the second half, Appalachian picked up its pace and maintained its double-digit lead.
Freshman Michelle Taylor helped enable the Apps keep up their strong play, as she scored a career-high nine points, all coming in the second half, while grabbing six rebounds as well, and the Black and Gold went on to the 81-60 win.
Appalachian's tough SoCon play continues, as the Mountaineers head to Statesboro, Ga. to battle league foe Georgia Southern, Monday, January 10. The game between the Apps and Eagles is slated to tip off at 7 p.m. from GSU's Hanner Fieldhouse.
Western Carolina 60, College of Charleston 56 (OT)
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Junior Kaila'Shea Menendez drained two free throws, with 12 seconds left, to secure a 60-56 overtime win for Western Carolina women's basketball against College of Charleston Saturday in the Ramsey Center.
The Catamounts even their record in Southern Conference play to 3-3 and improve to 5-10 overall, matching its longest winning streak of the season at two. College of Charleston falls to 1-5 in the SoCon and 4-11, and has lost six games in a row. It is the first time since the 2006-07season the Cougars have lost that many consecutive games in a season.
Menendez had a chance to win the game in regulation. Western Carolina was down 52-51 with five seconds left when Menendez was fouled. She missed the front end of two free throws but hit the second to tie the game at 52.
College of Charleston trailed for over 19 minutes in the second half before Megan Fischer drained a three pointer from the left side, 52-51. It was the first Cougar lead since a four point advantage, 9-5, with 16:26 left in the first half.
Western Carolina led by as much as 10 points in the first half, but College of Charleston went on an 8-0 run in the final four minutes to cut the lead to four, 25-21 at the break. The Catamounts held its lead for almost all of the second half, even pushing its advantage to nine, 48-39, with five minutes remaining, but the Cougars kept clawing back.
Trailing by nine points, 50-41, with 4:04 left, College of Charleston pulled within seven, 50-43, on a lay-up by Latisha Harris. The Cougars were then a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in a one minute span to complete an 8-0 run. Leading by just one point, the Catamounts had a chance to push the lead back to three, but Rena Wakama hit just one of two free throws to set up the three-pointer by Fischer and ultimately overtime.
Western Carolina out-scored College of Charleston eight to four in overtime. Tied at 56, the Catamounts mounted a 4-0 run sparked by senior Kendra Carroll's jumper with 40 seconds left in OT.
Menendez was one of two Western Carolina players to score in double figures, leading the way with 14. Carroll added 12 points in the contest. Freshman forward Shauna Terry had a couple of career marks with a career-high 12 rebounds and also a career best three blocks. Terry has recorded at lead two blocks in her last three games and has 12 on the season.
College of Charleston was led by Janae Smith who led all scorers with 17 points. Fischer added 12.
The Catamounts struggled at the free throw line hitting 18-of-33 and 4-of-10 in overtime. WCU also hit just two three pointers in the game and didn't connect on one in the second half or overtime. Western Carolina ripped down a season-best 55 team rebounds and limited the Cougars to 41. Overall, the Catamounts shot 31.3 percent from the field and the Cougars shot 31.7.
Western Carolina completes its four-game home stand hosting Wofford on Monday. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.
Elon 47, Samford 42
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Rookies Kelsey Harris and Candice Silas provided the spark the Elon University women's basketball team needed on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 8, at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala., as the duo lifted the Phoenix to a 47-42 victory over the Samford Bulldogs.
Elon improves to 8-5 and 3-2 in the Southern Conference with the win, while Samford drops to 11-4 (4-2 SoCon) with the loss.
Harris led the Elon bench with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field in 24 minutes, while Silas finished with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting to go along with five rebounds and one steal.
The Phoenix played stellar defense in the victory, forcing 14 Samford turnovers and limiting the Bulldogs to 33.3 percent shooting from the field, including a 5-of-29 (17.2 percent) clip from beyond the arc.
Samford went into today's game ranked third in the nation in three-point field goals per game (8.6).
Ali Ford led all scorers in the win, tallying a game-high 15 points on
6-of-13 shooting from the field. Ford has scored in double figures in 31 of Elon's last 32 games, including all 13 contests this season. Samford was the last team to hold the Morganton, N.C. native below 10 points.
Shon Redmond just missed recording her first career double-double, scoring nine points 4-of-8 shooting to go along with nine boards, while sophomore Kelsey Evans registered a game-high four blocked shots.
Ford helped the Phoenix get off to a hot start on offense, scoring 10 of Elon's first 14 points to help her team to an early 12-10 lead with
11:07 remaining in the first half. Ford led all scorers with 12 points in the opening frame, helping the Phoenix to a 24-21 advantage over the Bulldogs.
Elon shot 36.7 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and scored
11 points off eight Samford turnovers. The Bulldogs dominated the glass, 22-14, but neither team managed to get to the free throw line in the first half. The two teams combined to shoot 21 three pointers, as Elon went 2-of-9 from long distance and Samford went 1-of-12.
After taking the ball to the basket for a layup with the shot clock winding down to give Elon a 28-25 lead with under 14 minutes remaining, Silas again came up big for the Phoenix, taking a charge on the baseline on defense to give Elon the ball back.
Following Silas' strong defensive effort, Harris netted back-to-back baskets to complete an 8-0 run and give Elon its largest lead of the game, 32-25, with 12:22 remaining, forcing Samford head coach Mike Morris to call a timeout.
Samford made it close with 45.3 seconds remaining on the clock after a missed three by Savannah Hill leaked out to Jazmine Martin under the basket for the easy layup, limiting Elon to a 46-42 lead.
But the Phoenix managed to hit key free throws in the waning moments to secure the win and improve to 3-2 in league play.
Elon now heads to Chattanooga, Tenn. for a Monday night game with the Lady Mocs. Tip is set for 6 p.m. inside the McKenzie Center.
Chattanooga 70, UNCG 65
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team extended its win streak to four games, its longest of the year, and knocked off league-leading UNC Greensboro 72-63 Saturday night in Southern Conference action at the McKenzie Arena.
The win moves the Lady Mocs to 7-8 overall and into a tie for third in the SoCon at 4-2 with Samford. UNCG remains atop the standings at 8-6 overall and 5-1 in SoCon action followed by Appalachian State with a 4-1 league mark.
Junior Whitney Hood led four Chattanooga players in double figures with a game-high 18 points and snared a career-high tying 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year. Sophomore Kylie Lambert added 14 points and eight rebounds while sophomore Kayla Christopher and junior Tenisha Townsend each contributed 12 points. Townsend had career-highs on the night with four 3-pointers and eight assists. Christopher had 10 first half points and dished out a season-high six assists. Junior Bailey Dewart just missed a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.
The Spartans fired first hitting a 3-pointer to start the game, but the Lady Mocs put together a14-1 run to jump out to its largest lead of the first half at 14-4 with 14:22 until halftime. UNCG cut the lead down to five points three times in the period but Chattanooga would twice more build its lead to double digits and carry a 37-31 lead into intermission.
The Lady Mocs shot 51.9 percent (14-of-27) in the first half including five 3-pointers and closed out the game making 11-of-23 from beyond the arc.
In the second half, Chattanooga got a short jumper from Lambert followed by a trey from Dewart to get out to a 42-31 lead with less than two minutes elapsed in the stanza. The Spartans fought back getting a pair of layups form Janae' Stevenson and Dayshaun Richbow to cut the lead back to 42-35 at the 16:03 mark. Chattanooga stretched its lead back to 12 points on a jumper from freshman Taylor Hall and a 3-pointer from Townsend form the left side, going up 47-35 with 15:22 to play.
The Spartans held Chattanooga scoreless over the next four minutes and cut into the lead, but the Lady Mocs responded with eight straight points, including a pair of treys from Townsend, to grab its largest lead of the game at 54-41 lead with 9:45 to play. The game continued to bounce back-and-forth over the final 9:45 with the Spartans getting no closer than five but the Lady Mocs hung on for the win.
UNCG outscored Chattanooga in the paint 32-26 and had a 13-7 advantage on bench points. The Lady Mocs outrebounded the Spartans 42-38 and had 18 assists. The Spartans had just seven turnovers on the night, a season-low for any SoCon team.
Amanda Leigh, with a pair of 3-pointers, led the Spartans with 12 points while Monique Floyd had 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Dayshaun Richbow had 11 points as well and dished out a team-high five assists. Kendra Smith was the fourth Spartan in double figures with 10 points.
Chattanooga will be back in action Monday, Jan. 10 at 6 p.m. at the McKenzie Arena when they host Elon. The Phoenix outlasted Samford 47-42 in Birmingham, Ala., Saturday afternoon and are 3-2 in SoCon play.
Georgia Southern 55, Davidson 42
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Women's Basketball team held Davidson 18 points under its season average of 60 points and to only 27.7 percent shooting from the field in a 55-42 win at Hanner Fieldhouse Saturday. The offensive output by the Wildcats was the lowest point total allowed by the Lady Eagles this season. Georgia Southern's (6-10, 3-4 SoCon) offense clicked with 11 three pointers and 57.9 shooting from behind the arc to tie season bests in both categories. The win extends the Lady Eagles' homecourt winning streak to four.
Redshirt freshman MiMi DuBose led the Lady Eagles with 12 points. Jamie Navarro had 11 and Meredyth Frye 10 in the winning effort. Krista Tate had six rebounds to go along with three assists and three steals. Navarro added four assists and four steals to her stat line.
Five ties and five lead changes defined the back-and-forth first half between the Lady Eagles and Wildcats. Davidson took a 5-0 lead only to have Georgia Southern tie it up after a trey by DuBose and layup by Frye. The two teams would tie at eight and 14 as the Lady Eagles and Wildcats traded scores through the first six-and-a-half minutes. Neither team would hold a lead of more than three points in the first half.
Sophia Aleksandravicius and Laura Murray combined for 10 of Davidson's first 12 points while Georgia Southern hit three-straight threes and Tate converted a three-point play for a 17-14 GSU lead. Murray added two free throws for Davidson, but Logan Youngblood hit a jumper from a Danielle Spencer pass to keep the lead at three, 19-16.
Two Kristen Johnsen field goals bookended Shneeka Center's two free throws to give Davidson a brief three-point lead, 22-19. Youngblood threw a pass to Briana Scott on the left elbow for a jumper and two free throws by Frye would give the Lady Eagles a 23-22 advantage. The Wildcats did not score for the final 8:42 of the half and had seven turnovers in the final 3:10.
Georgia Southern had a five percent advantage in field goal shooting percentage and had made two more three-pointers, but Davidson outrebounded the Lady Eagles 17-12 after the first 20 minutes.
Scoring on their first four possessions of the second half, the Lady Eagles' 11-2 run put Georgia Southern out in front 34-24 after four-and-a-half minutes. Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) hit a three and then had another jumper as the lead was extended to 13. Davidson's scoring woes didn't improve in the first 10 minutes of the second period as it had only one field goal and four Aleksandravicius free throws to that point. Georgia Southern would maintain the double-figure lead for the rest of the game.
Chole Woodington and Alexsandravicius shouldered the offense over the next five minutes for Davidson with six points from Alexsandravicius and five from Woodington. In the same stretch, the Lady Eagles had baskets from four different players with a jumper by Youngblood and threes by Navarro, Frye and Williams. Candice Ivy brought the GSU lead to 54-40 with a jumper off an assist from DuBose and a free throw by Tate completed the scoring for Georgia Southern.
Georgia Southern plays host to Appalachian State (10-3, 4-1) on Monday at Hanner Fieldhouse for a 7 p.m. conference tilt.