Samford 59, Montana 45
CHICAGO, Ill.—The Samford women’s basketball team opened the 2011-12 season with a 59-45 win over Montana Friday afternoon in the first round of the Maggie Dixon Classic, hosted by DePaul University.
Senior guard Paige Anderson scored 16 points, dished out a career-high five assists and grabbed five rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to the victory. Fellow senior Jazmine Powers posted career highs in points with 10, rebounds with seven and assists with six.
Freshman Taylor Reece scored 12 points in her collegiate debut. Senior Ruth Ketcham scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds. Junior Hannah Dawson shared the team lead in rebounds with Powers, pulling down seven boards of her own.
Montana was led by Katie Baker with 11 points. Carly Selvig added 10 points for the Lady Griz.
After falling behind early, Samford went on a 13-4 run to take a 13-6 lead with 14:58 to go in the first half after a layup by Ketcham. With Samford leading, 18-12, the Bulldogs went on a 9-2 run to push its lead to 27-14 with 4:06 left in the game after a three-pointer by Anderson.
Samford pushed its lead out to as much as 15 in the first half at 31-16 with 2:39 to go before halftime after a jumper by Powers. The Bulldogs took a 35-20 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Samford increased its lead to 19 points at 39-20 with 17:34 to go after a jumper by Ketcham. With Samford leading, 42-25, Montana scored the next five-straight points to cut the Samford lead to 12 at 42-30 with 11:15 to go after a free throw by Kellie Cole.
Samford answered with an 8-2 run to push its lead back out to 18 at 50-32 with 8:40 to go after a three-pointer by Reece. The Lady Griz cut the Samford lead to 11 at 52-41 and 56-45. Montana, however, could get no closer, as the Bulldogs pulled away for the 59-45 win.
Samford will play again Saturday in the Maggie Dixon Classic championship game at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs will take on the winner of the game between St. Mary’s and 18th-ranked DePaul.
Chattanooga 69, UAB 59
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team posted a tight 65-59 win over UAB in the season opener for both teams Friday night at the McKenzie Arena to advance to the second round of the Preseason WNIT.
Sophomore Taylor Hall (New Tazewell, Tenn.) posted a double-double with a team-high 13 points and 10 rebounds while teammate senior Whitney Hood (Meridian, Miss.) recorded a double-double as well with 11 points and 10 boards.
Chattanooga led throughout much of the first half behind the offense of Hall who had eight points at the half. However, the Blazers took a brief lead toward the end of the first half outscoring UTC 10-3 over a three minute stretch to take a 30-27 lead with 30 seconds to play. Senior Tenisha Townsend (Antioch, Tenn.) drained a 3-pointer with seven ticks on the clock to draw even at intermission.
In the second half, the lead changed four times with neither team getting ahead by more than six points. Hood, who was 1-of-3 in the first half, went 3-for-4 from the field and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. Junior Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) added eight points in the second frame to score a team-best 13 points of 4-of-5 shooting including a 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
Towsend was a solid 4-for-4 from the free throw line down the stretch to solidify the Lady Mocs lead and was the fourth UTC player in double figures with 10 points and five assists. Junior Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) was held scoreless throughout much of the game with the UAB defense stacked against her. However, she hit a jumper with 3:55 to play to cut the Blazers lead to 54-53 then followed that with a trey to give Chattanooga a 56-54 lead 50 seconds later.
UAB’s Amber Jones drained a 3-pointer of her own to give the Blazers UAB a 57-56 lead. However, Townsend was rock solid from the line and scored all four of her free throws in the final 42 seconds of play.
Chattanooga will travel to Waco, Texas to take on the No. 1 Baylor Bears Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. Baylor posted an 82-28 win over Howard in its first round matchup. Check GoMocs.com for live stats and video streaming. Larry Ward, the “Voice of the Lady Mocs” will have all the action live Sunday afternoon on either 105.1 FM or 95.3 FM.
Western Carolina 62, North Carolina Central 49
DURHAM, N.C. – Sophomore guard Rena Wakama scored a career-high 19 points in Western Carolina women’s basketball’s (1-0) 62-49 win over North Carolina Central University (0-1) Friday at McDougald/McLendon Gymnasium.
Wakama was 10-of-12 from the free throw line and 4-of-14 from the field in route to her career-high night 19 point night. She was 3-of-4 from the charity stripe, in the final 30 seconds, to erase the Eagles’ any thought of a chance of making it a game in the final minute.
The Catamounts had a shaky start to the game, battling back and forth with North Carolina Central. Western Carolina trailed by as much as three points twice, in the first half, and was tied seven times before the Catamounts took the lead before the half. With 23 seconds left, Wakama was fouled and knocked down a pair of free throws, to give WCU a 25-23 lead at the half.
It may be one of the oldest and cliché comments ever used in sports, but it truly was a tale of two halves for Western Carolina. After suffering through a bout of scoring woes, in the first 20 minutes, the Catamounts unleashed on the Eagles in the second half.
Western Carolina roared out of the locker room going on an 11-0 run to build a 36-23 lead before North Carolina Central could blink an eye. North Carolina Central was held scoreless for the first three plus minutes of the second half before the Eagles’ Jasmine Alston hit a three-pointer.
The Catamounts ballooned its lead to 15 points four times during the second half. In an end of the game lull, Western Carolina watched North Carolina Central battle back to a singe-digit deficit.
A pair of free throws by the Eagles’ Chasidy Williams trimmed the WCU lead to nine, 52-43, with 2:06 left. Freshman guard Makensey Campbell got the points back when she hit a jumper to put WCU back into a double digit lead.
A key component in Western Carolina’s second half explosion was senior guard Kaila’Shea Menendez, who scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half. Campbell rounded out the double figure scoring for WCU with 12 points; she also had a pair of blocks in the game.
Western Carolina shot 35.6 percent from the field and outrebounded North Carolina Central by two, 38-36. The Catamounts were also 18-of-23 from the free throw line.
The Catamounts return home on Monday for a two-game home stretch. Western Carolina will take on Charleston Southern at 7 p.m. in the Ramsey Center.
College of Charleston 58, East Carolina 43
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Freshman Mikaela Hopkins scored 14 points and pulled down 17 rebounds to lead the College of Charleston women's basketball team to a 58-43 victory over East Carolina on Friday night at TD Arena.
The Cougars (1-0), who improved to 12-5 in season openers under head coach Nancy Wilson lead 25-22 at halftime, but used a 13-3 second half run to break open the game.
In addition to Hopkins, fellow freshman Christy Hewatt (14 points) and junior Cathryn Hardy (13 points) also scored in double-figures for the Cougars. Hopkins 17 rebounds are tied for fourth all-time in CofC history.
Wilson has always stressed defense to her team and the Cougars responded by allowing only 43 points to a team that averaged 70 points per game last season.
The Cougars also forced 24 turnovers and held the Pirates (0-1) to 25.4 percent shooting from the field. The defense was especially evident on limiting ECU 3-point opportunities as the Pirates were just 2-for-20 from beyond-the-arc in the game. CofC outrebounded ECU 49-39.
The Cougars will now embark on a three-game road trip starting with a matchup at Coastal Carolina on Monday Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.
Appalachian State 48, Virginia 80
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Courtney Freeman notched her third career double-double, but Appalachian State women's basketball was unable to overcome an early deficit in an 80-48, season-opening loss at Virginia on Friday, Nov. 11 at John Paul Jones Arena.
The Cavaliers (1-0) jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never looked back, outscoring the Mountaineers (0-1) by a 41-29 margin in the first half.
After a layup from Jazmin Pitts with 13:30 remaining in the first half put the Cavaliers up by 10 (12-2), Appalachian reeled off a 6-0 run to pull within four points (12-8).
Virginia extended its lead to six points (14-8) before ASU brought the deficit back to four points (14-10) on a pair of free throws from C. Freeman.
It was all the closer the Mountaineers would get as the Cavaliers pounded the ball inside, scoring 22 points in the paint in the first half, to build an insurmountable lead.
Virginia shot an impressive 47.1 percent (16-for-34) from the field in the first half as Chelsea Shine led the way with 13 first-half points.
C. Freeman scored 11 of her team-high 15 points in the first half, but Appalachian shot just 34.5 percent (10-for-29) through the first 20 minutes of play.
The second half proved to be more of the same as the Cavaliers came out on fire, scoring the first six points, and pushed their lead to 53-33 with just under 15 minutes to play.
Appalachian State would come no close than 17 points on two occasions the rest of the way as Virginia cruised to its seventh-straight season-opening win.
C. Freeman also finished as the game's top rebounder, tying a career-high with 13 boards. Maryah Sydnor scored nine points in her collegiate debut and fellow freshman Katie Mallow netted eight.
Anna Freeman pulled down six rebounds, scored four points and collected two steals. Chakeitha Weldon finished with six points and a game-high six assists.
The Cavaliers were paced by Shine's 15 points and eight rebounds. Pitts finished with 13 points in just 12 minutes of play while Ataira Franklin (11 points) and Lexie Gerson (10 points) each hit double figures.
Virginia grabbed 46 rebounds to Appalachian's 36, turned the ball over 12 times and forced 17 AS turnovers. The Cavaliers finished with 21 assists to ASU's 10.
Appalachian shot just 31.1 percent (19-for-61) from the floor while Virginia show 46.0 percent (29-for-63) including 6-for-14 from beyond the arc.
The Mountaineers return to action when they travel to Gardner-Webb for a 3 p.m. matchup on Saturday, Nov. 19.
UNCG 46, Liberty 61
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Playing in front of the fifth-largest home crowd in school history, UNCG’s women’s basketball team fell to Liberty on Friday at Fleming Gymnasium, 61-46, in the season-opener for both squads. The contest also marked the debut of new UNCG coach Wendy Palmer.
Sidnei Harmon scored a team-high eight points and pulled down five rebounds for the Spartans (0-1), while freshman Jarae Savage had four points and a team-best six rebounds in her collegiate debut.
Liberty (1-0), ranked 20th in the nation in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, got a game-high 20 points from Devon Brown, while Reagan Miller scored 17. UNCG held preseason Big South Conference Player of the Year Avery Warley largely in check on the offensive end of the floor with eight points, but the reigning Big South Defensive Player of the Year had a dominant night on the boards with 14 rebounds.
The Spartans got off to a sluggish start to the evening, shooting just 25 percent (7-for-28) in the opening half and trailing by as many as 15 in the opening frame. Liberty also got off to a slow start and led just 6-0 more than four minutes in.
A pair of Natalie Headley free throws served as UNCG’s first points of the season, but Miller scored nine of the Lady Flames’ first 15 points as Liberty finally got some momentum going.
A 10-0 Liberty run midway through the first half turned a five-point game in a 15-point spread at 21-6, and UNCG was playing catch-up the rest of the night.
After Dayshaun Richbow’s 3-pointer rattled in to beat the shot clock with 49 second left in the first, the Spartans trailed at the half, 29-17.
The Spartans kept pace with Liberty in the second half despite the Lady Flames shooting 52.2 percent (12-for-23) from the floor. After Brown’s 3-pointer and steal and layup put the Lady Flames up 40-21 less than five minutes after intermission, the Spartans’ offense seemed to get going.
After Breonna Patterson and Miller traded buckets, Sarah Folwell hit 3-pointers on two of UNCG’s next three possessions to get the Spartans back within a baker’s dozen at 42-29.
Liberty would push its lead back to 17 on a Danika Dale jumper with just over 10 minutes remaining, but the Spartans would chip away to get it back to 11 at 54-43 with 2:30 left.
Warley pushed Liberty’s lead back to 13 points before the Lady Flames’ salted the game away at the free throw line in the final minute.
UNCG turned the ball over only 12 times on the evening and forced 20 miscues by Liberty. UNCG also had 11 steals with Richbow accounting for five of them, matching her career high.
Headley, who had been limited to just 10 games in her two years at UNCG due to injury, scored a career-high six points in her first career start.
UNCG’s crowd of 616 made some noise in cozy Fleming Gym, which also saw the debut of the newly named Lynne Agee Court in honor of the Spartans’ longtime coach who retired after last season.
The Spartans return to action Wednesday at No. 20 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Carmichael Arena.