Furman 75, Elon 60
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Raegan Thompson scored 15 points, pacing a contingent of four double figure scorers, to power Furman to a 75-60 victory over Elon in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
The win gave Furman (6-3, 3-0 SoCon) its first 3-0 start in league play since the 2005-06 season and snapped the Paladins’ five-game series losing streak to Elon (4-5, 1-2 SoCon).
Thompson converted 6-of-13 shots, including 3-of-8 three-pointers, to pace Furman, which also got 13 points each from Kaitlin Murphy and Teshia Griswold. Brittany Hodges rounded out the Paladins’ double-figure scoring effort with 11 points.
Aiesha Harper led Elon with a game high 19 points, with Kelsey Evans and Kelsey Harris adding 13 each for the Phoenix.
Furman trailed 10-4 early before fashioning a 17-2 run to take a 21-12 advantage following a Griswold jump shot with 7:37 to go in the first half.
The Paladins led 29-25 with just over three minutes to go before Thompson buried back-to-back 3-pointers and Lashana Booker added a free throw to complete the half with a 7-0 spurt for a 36-25 advantage.
A Harper layup just under seven minutes into the second half helped the Phoenix make it a six-point game at 41-35, but that would be as close as Elon would get.
Furman responded behind the strong play of sophomore forward Janice Roberts, who connected on a jump shot, a layup, a free throw, and a steal to key an 11-2 run that saw the Paladins take control of the game. Roberts’ steal and pass to Murphy, who connected with Griswold for a layup with 8:46 remaining gave Furman a 52-27 lead.
Furman shot 43.4 percent from the field (29-of-67) while Elon connected on 26-of-63 shots (41.3 percent), but just 2-of-17 from 3-point range.
The Paladins registered a big rebounding advantage, claiming a 50-34 differential on the glass, including 20 offensive boards to the 11 for the Phoenix.
Lashana Booker collected a game high nine rebounds while Thompson added eight caroms for the Paladins.
Furman will attempt to remain perfect in SoCon play on Monday when it entertains UNC Greensboro in a 7:00 p.m. game.
Davidson 56, College of Charleston 39
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Laura Murray scored 16 points, while Davidson forced 25 turnovers and held College of Charleston to 32 percent shooting as the Wildcats topped the Cougars 56-39 in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Belk Arena.
Barbara Sitton tallied 10 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals for Davidson (5-4, 2-0 SoCon), and Sophia Aleksandravicius posted 10 points, five steals, four blocked shots and four rebounds.
Mikaela Hopkins collected 10 points and five rebounds to lead College of Charleston (2-6, 1-2 SoCon), and Jazz Green scored six points.
Davidson held the Cougars to 15-for-47 from the field and 1-for-9 from three-point range. The Wildcats had 13 steals and scored 27 points off of turnovers.
The Davidson defense was dominant in the first period as the Wildcats built a 27-13 halftime lead. Davidson held College of Charleston to 3-of-14 shooting from the field and forced 11 turnovers through the first 13:14 of the game. The Cougars wound up shooting 27 percent in the stanza.
After a sluggish start, the Wildcats got going offensively, stretching an early 9-3 lead into a 21-7 cushion with 7:43 left on consecutive baskets by Aleksandravicius. Murray also canned consecutive three-pointers to ignite the run.
The Cougars turned up the defensive pressure in the second frame and allowed Davidson to score just six points in the first nine minutes of the stanza.
That allowed Charleston to whittle the lead down to eight points on a pair of Alyssa Frye free throws with 6:34 to play. But Davidson responded with 11 straight points from five different players in a decisive run that made the score 50-31 with 3:20 remaining.
The Wildcats remain home for another conference contest against Georgia Southern Monday in Belk Arena.
Samford 64, Western Carolina 61 (OT)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Samford women’s basketball team overcame a 14-point second half deficit to earn a 64-61, Southern Conference win in overtime over Western Carolina Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.
With Samford trailing, 61-59 late in the overtime period, freshman Taylor Reece hit a three-pointer to give Samford the lead for good at 62-61 with 30 seconds to play. Paige Anderson added two late free throws to seal the Samford win at 64-61. Samford scored the final seven points of the game to earn the come-from-behind win.
In the win, Samford was led by Anderson with 19 points and five rebounds. Fellow senior Ruth Ketcham scored 18 points, while senior Jazmine Powers had 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the win.
For Western Carolina, Janae’ McKinney had 17 points and nine rebounds. Kaila’Shea Menendez also scored 17 points for the Catamounts. Caitlin Hollifield added 13 points and nine rebounds for WCU.
In the first half, Samford grabbed an early 4-2 lead with 17:08 to go in the first half after a jumper by Anderson. With Samford leading, 6-5, Western Carolina went on a 12-2 run to take a 17-8 lead with 10:04 left in the opening period following a layup by McKinney.
The Catamounts pushed their lead out to 13 at 28-15 with 2:30 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Makensey Campbell. The Catamounts took a 10-point lead into halftime at 30-20.
In the second half, Western Carolina pushed its lead out to 14 at 40-26 with 12:25 to go after a jumper by Hollifield. With WCU holding a 42-28 lead, Samford went on a 13-2 run to cut the Catamounts’ lead to three at 44-41 with 5:58 to go after a layup by Powers.
Samford took its first lead of the second half at 49-48 with 2:52 left in the half after a layup by Powers. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of regulation. With Samford trailing, 53-51, Ketcham made two free throws with 21 seconds to go, tying the game at 53-53 and eventually forcing overtime.
In the overtime, Samford took the early lead at 55-53 on a layup by Anderson. WCU scored eight of the next 10 points to take a 61-57 lead with 1:58 to go after a free throw by Kristen Lyon. A layup by Ketcham with 1:33 left cut the WCU lead to 61-59, setting the stage for Reece’s eventual game-winning shot.
For the game, Samford made 46.2 percent of its shots from the floor, including 23.8 percent from three-point range. Western Carolina shot 34.9 percent overall and 46.2 percent from three-point range.
With the win, Samford improves to 6-4 overall and 1-2 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina drops to 4-6 overall and 0-3 in the SoCon.
Samford will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 21, when the Bulldogs play at seventh-ranked Kentucky. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Lexington, Ky.
Wofford 62, UNCG 47
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford women’s basketball team picked up its first Southern Conference win of the season with a 15-point victory, 62-47, over UNCG Saturday night in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
It was the Terriers first 15-point win over a conference opponent since February 11, 2002 when Wofford beat Davidson, 77-53.
Wofford (7-3, 1-1) got on the scoreboard first with a Daniella Motley layup a minute and a half into play. The basket sparked a 10-1 run by the Terriers through the first six minutes.
UNCG (2-7, 1-2) responded with a 5-0 run highlighted by a Natalie Headley three-point play to cut the lead to 10-6 with 12:39 to play, but Wofford responded and pushed the lead to 12 points, 18-6, following a Morgan Wrightson three.
The Spartans again mounted a charge at the lead with a 10-2 run that cut the lead to four points, 20-16, on a Janae’ Stevenson layup with just over six minutes to play in the half. Lauren Kirby converted a basket in the paint, and Wrightson knocked down a corner three to push the lead to nine points, 25-16, two minutes later. UNCG closed out the half on a 4-1 run to trim the Terrier lead to 26-22 at the break.
Wofford went 34 percent from the floor, 43 percent from three and 75 percent from the free throw line. UNCG was 29 percent overall and 66 percent from the free throw line. The Spartans missed on all five of their attempts from long range in the half.
The Terriers came out of the locker rooms and extended their lead to ten points, 35-25, following a Rachel Brittenham four-point play just over four minutes into the half, but three minutes later, UNCG closed the gap to four points, 37-33, on Stevenson jumper.
Wofford responded with a 7-0 run and pushed its lead back to 13 points, 48-35, with 7:30 remaining in the half. UNCG made one more surge at Wofford when they made it a nine-point game, 48-39, a minute later, but Wofford sealed the win over the remaining six and a half minutes with eight points from Logan Morris as the Terriers earned the 15-point win, 62-47.
Wofford finished the game 37 percent from the floor, 39 percent from three and 83 percent from the free throw line. It was the Terriers best performance from the line this season as they went 15-of-18. UNCG finished 30 percent overall and 70 percent from the charity stripe.
Wofford, the nations leading team in three-point defense, held the Spartans without a three as they finish 0-for-6. It snapped a 156-game streak with a three-point field goal for the Spartans dating back to November 20, 2006 against Charlotte.
Wofford put four scorers in double figures for the third time this season as Morris led the Terriers with 16 points, ten of which came in the second half and eight in the final six minutes of the game. It is the second time she has scored 15 or more points coming off the bench in 2011-12.
Daniella Motley followed with 14 points and six rebounds, while Wrightson and Brittenham chipped in 12 and 11 points respectively. Wrightson grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, while April Moorhouse collected six boards.
Brittenham handed out a team-high six assists to move into six place all-time on the career list with 271 assists.
UNCG was led in scoring by Stevenson with 16 points, and Sarah Folwell added 13 points. Dayshaun Richbow had a team-high seven rebounds and handed out a game-high eight assists.
The Terriers will host Elon Monday at 2 p.m. for their next game in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.