Furman 62, Marshall 54
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Brittany Hodges scored a season high 22 points and claimed nine rebounds to power Furman past Marshall, 62-54, in women’s basketball action Thursday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
Hodges, a 6-foot-1 freshman forward drained 10-of-13 field goal attempts and 2-of-3 free throws to go along with a pair or blocks to help Furman (8-3) erase a six-point halftime deficit on the way to its third straight victory.
Marshall (7-3), which saw its six-game winning streak halted, was paced by Leandra King’s 11 points and eight rebounds.
Raegan Thompson, the SoCon’s reigning player of the week, and Lashana Booker rounded out Furman’s double figure scoring trios with 10 points apiece.
After connecting on just 8-of-28 field goal attempts (28.6 percent) in the first half, Furman made 12-of-26 shots (46.2 percent) over the game’s final 20 minutes, with Hodges tallying 16 of her 22 in the second period.
On the defensive end Furman limited Marshall to just 27.7 percent shooting from the field (18-of-65).
Furman trailed 27-21 at intermission but wasted no time in grabbing control of the game after halftime.
Two baskets and two free throws by Hodges, a jump shot by Teshia Griswold, a pair of 3-pointers by Thompson, and two Booker free throws less than five minutes into the second half completed a 16-2 run that gave Furman a 37-29 lead.
Hodges then added back-to-back baskets to give the Paladins’ a 41-30 advantage with 12:55 to go.
Furman stretched its margin to 14 points at 53-39 following a Thompson jump shot with eight minutes remaining before Marshall reeled off 10 consecutive points.
Lateidra Elliott’s 3-pointer at the 4:33 mark pulled the Thundering Herd to within four at 53-49, but Furman responded with a pair of Thompson free throws and single free throws by Brigid Morrissey and Lashana Booker to make it a 57-49 game with just under two minutes to go.
Furman’s next game is Dec. 28 against Georgia in Athens. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
Wofford 68, North Carolina A&T 61
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Wofford’s Rachel Brittenham set a new school record with 15 assists, and April Moorhouse and Erin Frost tallied new career-highs with 24 points and 15 points to lead the Wofford women’s basketball team to a 68-61 win over North Carolina A&T Thursday afternoon in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
The Aggies opened the game with an 11-6 lead over the first 11 minutes of play. However, the Terriers rallied and took a 12-11 lead at the six-minute mark on an Moorhouse layup. All six of the Terriers opening baskets came from Moorhouse and five of those came from assists from Brittenham including the one that gave Wofford the lead.
NC A&T took a 14-12 lead two minutes later on a JaQuayla Berry free throw, but Wofford rallied and ended the half on 10-3 run highlighted by two Frost threes to give the game a 22-17 score at the break.
Wofford finished the half 39 percent from the floor and 25 percent from three. The Terriers missed their only free throw of the half. The Aggies were 22 percent overall and 30 percent from the line (3-of-10). NC A&T went 0-for-10 from behind the three-point line in the half. Moorhouse alone was 7-of-10 in the half for 14 of the Wofford’s 22 points.
Wofford came out of the half and pushed the lead to ten points, 29-19, on a Frost layup two minutes into play, but The Aggies battled their way back into the game as they cut the lead to two points, 36-34, on a Berry three-point play with 13:50 showing on the clock.
Wofford responded with a 10-4 run to extend the lead back to eight points, 46-38, three minutes later with a layup from Moorhouse. Following the basket, NC A&T mounted an 8-2 run and closed the margin down to two points again, 48-46, on a lay-in from DeAndre Davis with 6:52 remaining.
But Wofford didn’t panic as Brittenham, who had just tied the school record for assists in a single game two possessions before on a lay-in from Lauren Kirby, hit a wide open Frost on the wing for the three to push the Terrier lead to five points 53-48 with just under five minutes to play.
The Aggies closed the gap to one point twice, 53-52 and 55-54, but Brittenham continued the rewrite the record book as she found an open Morgan Wrightson for three to put the Terriers up four, 58-54, with two minutes to play. Brittenham cut past her defender into the lane and was falling down when she hit Wrightson in stride for the bucket.
After an Aggie layup by Tracy King trimmed the lead to two points on the next NC A&T possession, but Wrightson responded with a hard drive to basket for the layup and was fouled. She converted the free throw for the three-point play to put the Terriers ahead by five, 61-56, and seemingly clinch the win.
Wofford’s Brittenham, Wrightson and Frost converted key free throws in the closing seconds to give the Terriers their eighth win, 68-61, before the Christmas Break.
The win puts the Terriers at 8-4 overall and sets a new school record in wins before the holidays, which was previously held by the 2001-02 team with seven. It also matches the win total for the Terriers from the 2010-11 and 2009-10 seasons.
Wofford finished the game 44 percent from the floor, 43 percent from three and 78 percent from the line, while NC A&T went 35 percent overall, 13 percent from three and 53 percent from the line. Wofford, who leads the NCAA in three-point defense, only allowed three threes in 23 attempts.
Moorhouse added another ten points in the second half to earn her a career-high 24 points in the game. She finished 11-of-17 from the floor and also grabbed six rebounds. Frost ended the contest a perfect 4-for-4 from three and 5-of-7 overall with a free throw for her career-high 15 points.
Brittenham’s 15 assists snapped the old school record of assists in a single-game of 13, which was held by assistant coach Jessica Ridgill. Brittenham now has 291 career assists, just two shy of fifth place on the all-time list. Brittenham also had eight points in the game.
Daniella Motley grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in only 17 minutes of play due to foul trouble throughout the game. Wrightson added eight points for the Terriers all coming in the final two minutes of play.
Berry paced the Aggies with 27 points by going 9-of-15 from the floor, 3-of-5 from long range and 6-of-12 from the line. Jaylan Bodiford added ten points, and Adriana Nazario grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
It was the second time in as many games as both the Terriers and their opponent had a 20-point scorer. It was the second time this season an opponent has had a 20-point scorer in back-to-back games against the Terriers. Old Dominon’s Tia Lewis touched the Terriers up for 27 points; Radford’s Da’Nar Erwin-Spencer had 24 the next game. But, it was the first time Wofford has had back-to-back 20 points scorers since Brie Bradshaw scored 27 points against UNC Asheville on January 10, 2004 and 21 points against App State on January 13, 2004 during the 2003-04 season.
Wofford will open the 2012 calendar year on the road at Georgia Southern on January 2 at 5 p.m. for their next contest.
Davidson 81, Radford 68
RADFORD, Va. — Four Wildcats reached double figures in points, led by Laura Murray’s 19, and Davidson picked up its fifth straight win with an 81-68 triumph on the road at Radford Thursday in a non-conference women’s basketball contest at the Dedmon Center.
Davidson (7-4) won its second road game in a row and finished out its schedule vs. Big South foes at 3-1. Radford fell to 6-5 on the year as it was playing its first game at home in over a month.
Sophia Aleksandracivius registered her third double-double of the year with 18 points and a game-high 11 boards. She also filled the stat-sheet with a career-high six assists, three blocks and a steal.
Amanda Ottaway had a career game off the bench, dropping in a personal-best 18 points on a career-best 6-of-8 shooting, while adding six free throws. Jasmine Calin tied her career-high with 12 points, canning a career-high 6-of-8 free throws.
Davidson put the game out of reach in the second half with a 17-8 run over a seven-minute stretch. Out of the break, Radford cut a 12-point Wildcat lead down to six (48-42) on a 10-4 run to start the new period. The ‘Cats answered back with their big run that pushed their lead out to 65-50 with under 9:30 left. Ottaway and Calin combined for nine of the points during the spurt.
Davidson, which led by as many as 19 in the second half, was never threatened the rest of the way in earning its fifth straight double-digit victory. The ‘Cats remained perfect in the month of December at 5-0, with all five of their wins coming by an average margin of 18 points.
Radford put a pair of players in double figures with Ayana Avery scoring 21 points and Ashley Buckhannon netting 20. The duo combined to hit all nine of the Highlanders’ three-pointers on the evening.
The first half featured 60 combined shots as it was an up-and-down affair on the floor. The ‘Cats shot 56.7 percent (17-30), while Radford used the three-ball to keep itself in the contest, canning six treys.
Murray gave Davidson an early 15-8 lead on the first of three triples she hit in the half. She had 14 first-half points, draining five of her seven shots.
The Wildcats then opened up a double-digit cushion with a 13-0 run to turn a 19-15 advantage into a 32-15 lead at the six-minute mark, forcing the Highlanders to burn a timeout. During the spurt, Ottaway had a quick six points off the bench, while Murray capped off the run with her second three-pointer in the run for a 32-15 lead.
Davidson maintained the double-digit lead into halftime, 44-32.
The Wildcats take a nine-day Christmas break before heading to play at Wake Forest on the final day of December at 2 p.m.
Georiga 81, Appalachian State 37
ATHENS, Ga. – A rare cold-shooting night proved too much to overcome as Appalachian State women’s basketball dropped an 81-37 decision to No. 13/15 Georgia on Thursday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
The Mountaineers (8-2) managed just 10 points in the first half as the Lady Bulldogs (10-2) raced out to a quick 12-2 lead to snap ASU’s eight-game winning streak.
Appalachian shot just 11.5 percent (3-for-16) from the floor in the game’s first 20 minutes and missed several layups in its attempt to stick with Georgia.
The Apps were able to close the gap to 10 points (20-10) with 6:15 left in the first half, but the Lady Bulldogs slammed the door shut with a 12-0 run to close out the half and head to the locker room with a 32-10 lead.
Georgia continued to pour it on in the second half, outscoring the Mountaineers 49-27 over the final 20 minutes en route to an emphatic home victory.
As a team, Appalachian State shot just 22.2 percent (12-for-54) from the floor including 14.3 percent (2-for-14) from beyond the arc and 45.8 percent (11-for-24) from the charity stripe.
Anna Freeman led the Mountaineers with 14 points while Kelsey Sharkey ripped down a team-high nine rebounds. Courtney Freeman scored nine points and pulled down six boards while Raven Gary pulled in a career-high five rebounds.
Georgia saw three players record double-doubles as Khaalidah Miller led all scorers with 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Krista Donald added 22 points and 13 boards while Jasmine Hassell scored 13 and had 11 rebounds.
The Lady Bulldogs shot 42.0 percent (29-for-69) from the floor and 74.1 percent (20-for-27) from the free throw line. Georgia pulled down 60 rebounds, 18 on the offensive glass, to Appalachian’s 33 and finished with 15 assists to ASU’s six.
The Mountaineers will close out the calendar year with their final non-conference game of the season against Longwood at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31 at the Holmes Center.
Chattanooga 88, East Tennessee State 80
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team went 10-for-12 from the free throw line in the final three minutes to hold off a surging East Tennessee State for an 88-80 win over the Lady Bucs at the MSHA Athletic Center Thursday night.
Chattanooga improves to 8-3 overall (3-0 SoCon) and East Tennessee State falls to 1-11 overall.
Sophomore Meghan Downes had a career-high 19 points to lead five Chattanooga players in double figures. She drained a career-best four 3-pointers on six attempts. Senior Whitney Hood put up 17 points making 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Juniors Kayla Christopher and Kylie Lambert each had 13 points in the contest. Christopher was 8-for-8 from the charity stripe, sinking four in the final 52 seconds.
Sophomore Alex Black was the fifth UTC player in double figures with 10 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Taylor Hall went 4-for-6 from the free throw line in the final three minutes for eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
After leading by as much as eight in the first half, the Lady Mocs carried a 33-31 advantage into the locker room at the intermission. In the second half, Chattanooga stretched that lead out to as much as 14 points midway through the latter stanza. UTC never trailed in the second half, but ETSU did knot the game up 72-72 with 2:57 to play.
With 4:48 to play in the game, the Lady Mocs led 71-63 with a pair of free throws from Hood. ETSU would answer on an 8-1 run to tie it up on a layup from Gwen Washington who had a team-leading 18 points. Hood put in a layup to put UTC back on top and the Lady Mocs would not trail again.
Christopher followed it with a 3-pointer and then the two teams traded baskets. Christopher hit another pair of free throws with 52 seconds to play and led 81-74. Twice the Lady Bucs would get to within five, but that would be all they could manage as Chattanooga held on for the eight point victory.
Destiny Mitchell had 14 points and eight rebounds for East Tennessee State while Maria Bond had 12 points and two blocked shots. East Tennessee State edged the Lady Mocs on the boards 40-39.
In the second half, the Lady Mocs were 17-of-26 (65.4%) from the floor and was 5-for-9 (55.6%) from beyond the arc while hitting 16-of-19 from the free throw line. Chattanooga was 25-of-33 from the free throw line for the game and hit seven 3-pointers.
Chattanooga will take time off for the holiday break and return to action Tuesday, Jan. 3 2012 as they travel to Knoxville to take on the Lady Vols at Thompson-Boling Arena.