Western Carolina 43, Campbell 59
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Western Carolina women’s basketball (3-1) dropped its first game of the season, 59-43, at Campbell (3-0) Saturday in Gore Arean.
The Catamounts had 23 turnovers which led to 15 points for Campbell.Western Carolina spent most of the game in catch-up mode, and the attempt to even or take a lead in the game, was hampered by the costly turnovers.
Western Carolina kept the game close for most of the first half, and even tied the game at 22, off a three-pointer by senior guard Kaila’Shea Menendez with 3:22 left. Campbell answered with a lay-up by Kate Cloxton and Western Carolina answered again, knotting the contest at 24, on a Janae’ McKinney put back after a rebound.
Campbell would take the lead for good when Cloxton answered with a three-pointer. It was the start of a five-point swing for the Lady Camels, as they lead 29-24 at the half.
Menendez’s long two-point shot to start the second half looked promising for the Catamounts, cutting the Lady Camel advantage to three, 29-26.Western Carolina struggled from the field and to hold onto the ball.
Western Carolina did cut the Lady Camel lead to three, two more times, before Campbell began its scoring roll. Campbell pushed its lead to 10, 40-30, before the Catamounts ended its three plus minute scoring drought when Kristen Lyon hit a field goal.
Besides a pair of free throws by Ali Lane, Lyon’s field goal at the 13:49 marked a 10 minute stretch the Catamounts failed to score a bucket from the field. Ironically, it was Lyon who ended the scoring woes with a bucket with 3:14 left.
Mendnedez led the Catamounts with nine points and ended her streak of scoring double figures, in the first three games of the season. Caitlin Hollifield, who scored the first six points of the game, ended the contest with six points and six rebounds.
Western Carolina shot 31.4 percent from the field. The Catamounts did out-rebound the Lady Camels 41-35.
The Catamounts return home Tuesday to host Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m. in the Ramsey Center.
Appalachian State 69, Gardner-Webb 41
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Anna Freeman picked up her 12th career double-double as Appalachian State women’s basketball shut down Gardner-Webb in a 69-41 victory on Saturday, Nov. 19 at Paul Porter Arena.
The Mountaineers (1-1) forced the Runnin’ Bulldogs (0-3) into 28 turnovers and shot 43.1 percent (25-for-58) in the contest to pick up their second-straight win over Gardner-Webb.
Despite a slow start, Appalachian built a double-digit lead (23-13) with just over six minutes remaining and led by as many as 15 points (30-15) before heading into the break with a 30-20 lead.
The Apps exploded in the second half, scoring 39 points while shooting an impressive 48.4 percent (15-for-31) from the floor and 85.7 percent (6-for-7) from the charity stripe.
Freeman, who scored 21 of her game-high 28 points in the second half, gave ASU their first 20-plus point lead (57-36) with 4:53 remaining in the contest. The 28 points marked a new career-high for the preseason all-SoCon selection, who also ripped down a game-high 14 rebounds.
Kelsey Sharkey finished with six points and 10 rebounds while freshman Katie Mallow poured in 13 points and was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc as the Mountaineers show 40 percent (4-for-10) from three-point range. Chakeitha Weldon dished out a career-high nine assists, scored five points and had four steals.
Gardner-Webb did not have a player score in double figures and shot just 34.7 percent (17-for-49) from the floor and 35.3 percent (6-for-17) from the free-throw line.
The Mountaineers finished with a 40-33 edge in rebounds and shot 75.0 percent (15-for-20) from the charity stripe in the game. Appalachian State never trailed after Gardner-Webb scored the first point of the contest and never allowed the Bulldogs to tie the game at any point.
Appalachian returns to action when it plays host to East Tennessee State at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 21 in the 2011-12 home opener inside the Holmes Center.
Elon 58, Charlotte 89
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Elon University women’s basketball team could not stave off a hot-shooting Charlotte 49ers team on Saturday night, Nov. 19, at Halton Arena, as a Phoenix suffered a 89-58 setback.
Charlotte shot 54 percent from the field in the game, knocking down six shots from beyond the arc.The 49ers finished the game with a 51-29 advantage on the glass, including 17 on the offensive end that led to 17 second-chance points. The 49ers also scored 40 points in the paint compared to the Phoenix’s 20.
“I think our main problem tonight was we stopped being aggressive. We were aggressive early and generated a lot of our offense through transition but we didn’t have that effort the entire game,” said Elon head coach Charlotte Smith. “I thought we played up-tempo early on, but we didn’t do a good enough job on the boards tonight to win the game.”
Ali Ford led all scorers with a game-high 28 points on 11-of-24 shooting from the field in the loss.
Rookie Zora Stephenson followed up an impressive 28-point performance last night against Virginia Intermont with an efficient 11 points on three three-balls and a pair of free throws in 19 minutes off the bench.
Elon shot just 32 percent from the field in the setback, including a 5-of-20 mark from three-point land. The Phoenix turned the ball over a season-low 16 times and forced the 49ers into 16 turnovers.
Like the Phoenix did in last night’s win, the 49ers put five players in double figures, led by Epiphany Woodson’s 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
Elon led just once in the contest, as a Ford baseline jumper with 13:31 left gave the Phoenix an early 13-10 advantage and forced 49ers head coach Cara Consuegra to call a timeout.
But the 49ers jumped out to an 11-point lead with 5:30 remaining after a Jennifer Good layup made it a 30-19 game. Charlotte went on a 12-2 run over a six-minute span toward the end of the opening frame to go ahead by 16 points, 37-21, with 2:14 on the clock.
Elon found itself in a 24-point hole at intermission, 47-23, after the 49ers closed the half on an 8-0 run over the final 1:54.
The Phoenix could not contain Charlotte’s hot shooting in the first 45 minutes, as the 49ers shot a blistering 61 percent (19-of-31) from the field, including 4-of-7 from long distance. Elon was limited to a 27-percent clip from the field in the first half after knocking down 10-of-37 shots.
Charlotte claimed a 30-point lead to all but seal it with under seven minutes remaining in the second half after a Paige McCallum jumper made it an 80-50 game.
Elon returns to action next weekend for the East Carolina Thanksgiving Tournament, Nov. 26-27, in Greenville, N.C. The Phoenix tips off action versus Robert Morris on Saturday, Nov. 26, at 6:30 p.m. before taking on host ECU a day later at 4:30 p.m.
Wofford 50, Norfolk State 45
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford women’s basketball team improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 2006-07 season with a 50-45 win over Norfolk State Saturday afternoon in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Wofford is off to their best start since the 2006-07 squad started off at 3-0. The Terriers will now chase down the 2001-02 squad that started off 5-0 that was led by current assistant coach and former point guard Jessica Ridgill. With the Western Carolina (3-1) lost to Campbell the Terriers are now one of only two teams in the Southern Conference without a loss. Elon (2-0) is in action Saturday night against the Charlotte 49ers.
A basket by Norfolk State’s Recca Trice at 19:36 gave the Spartans a 2-0 lead, and April Moorhouse put the Terriers on the board with a jumper with just under 17 minutes to play. Mariah Masalin hit a long two to give Wofford a 4-2 lead with 16:22 to play, and the Terrier lead hit four points at the 13-minute mark on a Morgan Wrightson layup. Two Moorhouse free throws at 11:55 and two Erin Frost free throws gave Wofford a 12-4 lead as part of a 12-2 run for the Terriers. Norfolk halted the run with back-to-back layups by Rae Corbo to cut the lead to 12-8 with 9:24 to play. Wofford extended the lead with a Wrightson free throw and layup to take a 15-8 lead with just over seven minutes to play, but back-to-back Norfolk State baskets pulled the Spartans to 16-12 less than a minute later. Wofford’s lead hit eight points, 24-16, on a Wrightson jumper with just over four minutes to play in the half. Norfolk State cut the lead to 26-23 at 2:20 on Trice three-point play, but a Michelle Merritt layup at the one and a half minute mark pushed the Wofford lead back to six points, 29-23. Wofford carried the six-point lead, 31-25, into the half.
Wofford shot 54 percent from the floor in the half and 33 percent from three, while the Spartans were 35 percent overall and missed on their only two three-point attempts. Wofford also outshot Norfolk State from the free throw line, as they were 75 percent compared to 33 percent.
Coming out of the half, Norfolk State cut the lead to five points, 35-30, on a Whitney Long three with 16:42 to play. Back-to-back Terriers baskets on a Masalin three and a Motley lay-in pushed the Wofford lead to ten points, 40-30, with just under 15 minutes to play. Norfolk State mounted a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 40-34, but a Wrightson layup on an assist from Motley pushed the Wofford lead back to eight points, 42-34 three minutes later. Norfolk State pulled within four points, 44-40, on another Trice jumper, but a Moorhouse basket with just over seven minutes left made the score 46-40. Neither team would score for the next three minutes, until Moorhouse knocked down another jumper at the four-minute mark to give the Terriers a 48-40 lead. Norfolk State went on a 5-0 run on a three by Whitney Long and a layup by Rachel Gordon to cut the lead to three points, 48-45, with a minute to remaining. However, Wofford held on for the win as Wrightson knocked down two free throws with 21 seconds left to seal the 50-45 win.
The Terriers finished 41 percent from the floor and 20 percent from three, while they held the Spartans to just 28 percent overall and 18 percent from three. Wofford converted eight of their 13 free throws, while Norfolk State went just 1-for-4 from the line.
Moorhouse recorded her second consecutive double-double with ten points and 11 rebounds, while Wrightson led all scorers with 14 points. Motley added 12 points to the Terriers total, while Brittenham handed out five assists. Motley and Moorhouse both had three blocks.
Corbo was the lone Spartan in double figures with her ten points. Gordon grabbed ten rounds and missed the double-double with eight points.
Wofford will play the third game of its four-game home stand when they host Bluefield College November 23 at 2 p.m.