Elon 60, Wagner 57
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Elon University women’s basketball team held off a second-half surge by the Wagner Seahawks on Thursday, Dec. 29, to claim a 60-57 win on the final day of the Marriott Cavalier Classic inside John Paul Jones Arena.
Wagner erased a 14-point deficit make it a one-point game late after a pair of Kelly Clark free throws with 2:21 to play made it 54-53. But key jumpers down the stretch from Kelsey Evans and made freebies by Aiesha Harper proved to be too much for the Seahawks. Evans connected on two jumpers with less than two minutes remaining before Harper hit a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left.
Wagner had a chance to tie the game with 1.9 seconds remaining, but an Archambault three-point attempt missed wide of the basket.
The Phoenix evens its record to 6-6 on the season with the victory.
Evans led the Phoenix with 18 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, while Harper finished with 13 points, eight assists and five rebounds. For her efforts, Harper was named to the Marriott Cavalier Classic All-Tournament Team.
The Phoenix won the battle on the boards, 41-40, including a 17-13 edge on the offensive glass. Kelsey Harris grabbed a team- and career-high 11 boards in 30 minutes of action.
Erica Keto played well off the bench, grabbing six boards and scoring six points in 20 minutes to lead the Phoenix reserves.
Elon held Wagner to 35 percent shooting in the win, including just a 2-of-8 clip from beyond the arc.
Elon took an 11-point lead with 6:21 to play in the first half after a great backdoor screen by Sam Coffer allowed Harper to slash to the basket for a layup to make it a 26-15 game.
The Phoenix took a 12-point lead, 31-19, into the locker room at intermission after limiting the Seahawks to 29 percent shooting in the first half on 8-of-28 field goal attempts. Wagner’s 19 first-half points mark the lowest total Elon has given up in any half this season.
The Seahawks made it a two-point game with under eight minutes to play after a Brittney Thorpe jumper made it a 44-42 game.
After the Seahawks tied the game at 46-all, Harris gave the Phoenix the lead back after connecting with a three with five minutes left.
The Phoenix kept the Seahawks at arm’s length from that point forward, as key shots from Evans and Harper down the stretch made the difference.
Elon returns to action on Dec. 31 with a 2 p.m. tilt in Morgantown, W.Va., against the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Penn 47, UNCG 36
SAN DIEGO – UNCG turned in a 20-4 run to cut into a 23-point second-half deficit down to seven but could not complete the comeback, falling to Penn 47-36 at the San Diego Surf ‘N Slam Classic at San Diego State’s Viejas Arena on Thursday.
After Penn (7-2) opened the second half on a 15-2 to run to blow open what had been a 10-point game at the half, UNCG (2-10) answered with an even bigger run to seize momentum back from the Quakers.
Janae’ Stevenson was the catalyst for the Spartans, scoring nine of her team-best 11 points in the spurt to get UNCG back within 41-34 with 4:38 to play.
A Katy Allen 3-pointer stopped the spurt, however, ending Penn’s field goal drought of 7 minutes, 12 seconds. With the lead back in double digits, the Quakers were able to push their advantage to 13 points before settling for the 11-point victory.
The game was close in the early going, with the teams tied at 4 at the first media timeout. A Renee Busch 3 made it a three-point spread before Dayshaun Richbow’s layup got UNCG back within a point. Busch hit another 3 to make it a four-point game at 10-6 before another Richbow bucket again made it a one-possession game.
Alyssa Baron got a jumper to fall to make it a four-point spread and the Quakers never looked back. Baron had nine first-half points, including the final bucket of the half for either team, to make it 22-12 at the break. Neither team scored for the final 4:09 of the opening frame, while UNCG’s drought was the final 7:38.
The Quakers stormed out of the gate in the second half, opening the frame on the 15-2 run to make it 37-14 with 16:10 left. Jess Knapp and Meghan McCullough had five points each in the spurt, each hitting a layup and a 3.
But that was when the Spartans would take over, starting with Natalie Headley’s jumper with 15 minutes left. Stevenson had three of UNCG’s next four baskets, sandwiched around a 3 from Breonna Patterson. Consecutive baskets from Jazz Weaver made it a 10-point game at 39-29.
Baron stopped the bleeding a bit with a pair of free throws, but Stevenson made a jumper then stole the ball and fed Headley for a layup to make it an eight-point game. Headley was fouled on the play but couldn’t convert the ensuing free throw. A Stevenson free throw with 4:38 left pulled UNCG within seven for the first time since late in the first half before Allen’s 3 restored Penn’s double-digit lead.
Baron finished with a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and was the only Quaker in double figures. Knapp had nine points and eight rebounds.
Stevenson added six rebounds and matched her career high with two assists for the Spartans, while Sidnei Harmon matched her season high with nine boards.
Headley, who finished with four points, four rebounds and three steals, had matched her career high in steals just 12 minutes in.
UNCG won the rebounding battle for just the second time this season, pulling down 35 to Penn’s 32. The Spartans dominated the offensive glass, 11-2.
UNCG returns to Southern Conference play when it takes on Western Carolina in Cullowhee, N.C., on Jan. 7 at 2 p.m.
Wagner 72, College of Charleston 69 (OT)
NEW ORLEANS - Four players scored in double-figures, but it wasn't enough as the College of Charleston women's basketball team fell 72-69 in overtime to Central Michigan in the consolation game of the Tulane Doubletree Classic.
Junior Megan Fischer led the Cougars (2-10, 1-3) with 14 points and nine rebounds. Also scoring in double-digits were fellow juniors Cathryn Hardy (13) and Latisha Harris (11) and freshman Christy Hewatt (11).
The teams traded buckets for the opening minutes of the first half until the Cougars went on a 10-0 run with two baskets by sophomore Jillian Brown and 3-pointers by Fischer and sophomore Alyssa Frye. Central Michigan (8-6, 0-0) came right back and scored the next 10 points and led by as many as nine.
The Cougars would fight back and used an 8-2 run to close the first half and get within one at 31-30, as they scored their most first half points of the season.
In a game that featured nine ties and eight lead changes each team battled hard down the stretch of the second half and Fischer got a layup with 5:29 to go to tie the game at 55.
Central Michigan would go up 60-58, but it was Fischer again with the answer on a jumper to tie the game at 60 with 1:52 to play.
After missed opportunities by both teams, Central Michigan had the ball with the same score with 20 seconds to play when Crystal Bradford drove to the basket and tough defense by Hardy caused Bradford to travel and turn the ball over. The Cougars had one last chance with 8.9 seconds left but could not convert as Fischer missed a long desperation shot as time expired in regulation.
In overtime both teams scored on their first two possessions, but Central Michigan went on a 6-0 run to separate themselves and eventually take the game 72-69.
Brown finished the game with nine points and a career-high eight assists for the Cougars.
The 69 points are the most for the Cougars since Dec. 31 of last season in a 86-74 loss to Charleston Southern.
CofC will resume play Jan. 2 as they ring in the new year with a 7:00 p.m. contest vs. Wingate at TD Arena.
Vanderbilt 81, Western Carolina 36
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Western Carolina closed out the month of December with an 81-36 loss to No. 21 Vanderbilt Thursday at Memorial Gymnasium.
The Catamounts hung tough early, even enjoying early 3-0, 5-4 and 7-5 leads, before Vanderbilt took control. The Commodore’s Tiffany Clarke hit a jumper to tie the game at seven, at the 11:59 mark. Kady Schrann followed with a jumper to give Vandy its first lead of the game, 9-7. The Commodores would never trail again.
Vanderbilt rode the hot hand of Christina Foggie who led all scorers with 27 points. She was 9-of-13 from the field, hitting five three pointers, and was also 4-of-4 from the free throw line. In total, the Commodores unleashed for 10 three pointers. Western Carolina hit only two three-pointers, one in each half.
After scoring 34 points in the first half, Vanderbilt scorched the court with 49 points in the second half. Western Carolina had 14 first half points and posted 22 in the second.
Junior Diamond Hunnicutt led Western Carolina with eight points. Shauna Terry paced the team with five rebounds.
Vanderbilt shot 50 percent from the field and Western Carolina was 28 percent. The Catamounts were out-rebounded by the ‘Dores 45-29.
Western Carolina plays its final non-conference game of the season on Monday, January 2, 2012, when the Catamounts travel to USC Upstate. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.