Samford 62, Alabama State 51
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Samford sophomore guard Shelby Campbell scored a career-high 21 points and the Bulldogs' defense held Alabama State to just 28.3 percent shooting as the Samford women's basketball team took a 62-51 win over the Lady Hornets Wednesday evening at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
Campbell made 8-of-12 shots from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. Taylor Reece scored 10 points, while Jazmine Powers and Jazmine Martin added seven points each. In addition to her seven points, Powers dished out five assists. Martin and Campbell shared the team lead in rebounding, pulling down five boards each.
As a team, Samford shot 47.7 percent from the floor and 52.4 percent from three-point range. The Lady Hornets made just 25 percent of their three-pointers.
For Alabama State, Kierra Paige led the way with 15 points. Danielle Gazaway scored 13 points, while Tamara Wadlington added 10 points for the Lady Hornets.
Samford jumped out to an early 9-4 lead with 16:40 to go in the first half after a free throw by Powers. Alabama State scored the next five points to tie the score at 9-9 with 15:47 left in the opening half. Samford answered with a 9-2 run to take an 18-11 lead with 12:17 left in the first half after a three-pointer by Campbell.
ASU fought back to cut the Samford lead to four at 20-16. Samford, however went on a 14-0 run to push its lead to 34-16 with 5:03 left in the first half following a jumper by Powers. ASU could get no closer than 12 points for the remainder of the first half, and the Bulldogs took a 39-26 lead into halftime.
Alabama State cut the Samford lead to nine points at 43-34 early in the second half. Samford, however, went on a 14-3 run to push its lead out to 20 points at 57-37 with 5:45 to go in the game after a three-pointer by Kendall Schwantz.
The Lady Hornets fought back to close to within 11 points at 60-49 with 1:00 remaining in the contest. That was as close as ASU could get as Samford came away with the 62-51 win.
With the win, Samford improves to 2-1 on the season, while Alabama State drops to 0-2.
Samford will return to action on Friday, Nov. 25, when the Bulldogs take on Western Kentucky on the first day of UAB Thanksgiving Classic. The game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start from Bartow Arena.
Western Carolina 65, UNC Asheville 53
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women’s basketball (3-0) scored 39 second half points to surge past mountain rival UNC Asheville (1-1) 65-53 Wednesday in the Ramsey Center.
The Catamounts open the season 3-0 for the first time since the 2002-03 season, when WCU finished the year with a 21-7 record.
Senior guard Kaila’Shea Menendez led all scorers with 17 points and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Senior forward Caitlin Hollifield notched her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds and also had three blocks. Rena Wakama capped off the double figure scoring with 10 points in the game.
Western Carolina trailed by five, 31-26, at the half. UNCA thrived in the first half on huge three pointers, four of its five first half treys were hit by guard Grace Blaylock, who ended the game with 13 points. The Catamounts shut down Blaylock and the Bulldogs from behind the arch in the second half. WCU only allowed Blaylock, who had 12 first half points, one point in, and the Bulldogs just one three pointer, in the final 20 minutes.
With 1:53 remaining in the first half, Western Carolina found itself trailing UNCA by 11, 31-20. The Catamounts used strong defensive pressure and a pair of steals by sophomore guard Wakama to claw back into the game. Sophomore Alex Abraham began a 6-0 run, by WCU, to close out the first half by draining a pair of free throws. A lay-up by Menendez and a jumper by freshman Makensey Campbell capped off the scoring run for the Catamounts.
Western Carolina continued its scoring hot streak to start the second half, reeling off four straight points to cut the Bulldog lead to one, 30-31. UNCA maintained its lead until the 15:11 mark when Janae’ McKinney hit a lay-up for WCU to tie the game at 35. A lay-up from Hollifield gave WCU its first lead since 15:20 left in the first half, at 37-35.
UNCA cut the Catamount lead to one point twice, the last time trailing by just one, 44-43 with 8:30 left. Back-to-back three pointers by Wakama and a trey from the left corner by redshirt junior Diamond Hunnicutt completed a nine point swing to pull ahead of the Bulldogs.
The Catamounts pushed its lead to 12 points, 57-45, with 3:23 left in the game when UNCA made a run. The Bulldogs scored six unanswered points to trim the game to 57-51. Menendez was 6-of-6 from the free throw line, in the final minute, to ice the game for the Catamounts.
After hitting just one three pointer in the first half, Western Carolina hit five treys in the second half. The Catamounts outrebounded UNCA 40-37 had 11 steals in the game and 5 blocks.
Western Carolina will travel to Campbell on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip-off time.
UNCG 35, No.19/17 North Carolina 91
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 19/17 North Carolina put five players in double figures and shot 56 percent from the floor to down UNCG 91-35 at Carmichael Arena on Wednesday in women’s basketball action.
Freshman Jarae Savage scored a season-best 10 points, while redshirt sophomore Natalie Headley pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds to lead UNCG (0-2).
For the Tar Heels (3-0), Laura Broomfield posted the game’s lone double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Brittany Rountree had a game-high 14 points, while Chay Shegog added 13 and Krista Gross and Danielle Butts had 12 each.
UNCG hung with North Carolina in the early going, holding the high-octane Tar Heels to just six points in the first five and a half minutes. Early buckets from Headley and Savage had the Spartans trailing just 6-4 at the first media timeout.
The Tar Heels found their offense after that, however, rattling off an 11-0 run over a span of 4:13 to put some breathing room between the squads. A Dayshaun Richbow basket stopped the bleeding momentarily, but North Carolina followed with a 13-0 spurt to push its lead to 30-6.
After scoring just six points through the first 15 minutes of the game, the Spartans scored 12 in the final five minutes of the first half, with Sidnei Harmon leading the way with five. North Carolina led 46-18 at the break.
North Carolina continued to pour it on in the second frame, opening the half with a 13-2 run to make it 59-20 with 15:53 left.
The Tar Heels would lead by as many as 59 in the contest. The 56-point margin of loss was the largest in UNCG history.
UNC forced 28 Spartan turnovers, converting them into 38 points. UNCG forced 21 turnovers of its own, accounting for 15 points. Savage and Jazz Weaver had two steals each for the Spartans.
Despite North Carolina’s gaudy offensive numbers, UNCG held the Tar Heels to their fewest points and smallest margin of victory on the season. UNC came into the game averaging and even 100 points per game with a scoring margin of +61.0 points per game.
One area in which UNCG hung with the Tar Heels was on the glass. UNC came into the game out-rebounding its opponents by 22.5 per game, but had a mere 48-45 advantage over the Spartans.
UNCG was just 16-for-71 from the floor, good for a 22.5 shooting percentage. The Tar Heels blocked 12 shots on the evening.
North Carolina is ranked 19th in the nation in the Associated Press poll and 17th in the USA Today/ESPN poll.
The Spartans return to action on Monday at Radford. Game time is set for 7 p.m.