Furman 60, College of Charleston 51
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston women’s basketball team played aggressive defense with a school record 15 blocks and 12 steals, but could not take the victory as they fell 60-51 against the Furman Paladins at TD Arena.
Junior Latisha Harris provided a lot of energy for the Cougars as the led the team with 14 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks. The seven blocks are the second most in school history for a single-game. The Cougars 15 blocks set a new school record, breaking the previous mark of 10, set on Feb. 11, 2002 against Appalachian State.
CofC had four other players score at least eight points in the game. Freshman Christy Hewatt had another strong outing as she posted eight points, three rebounds and three blocked shots.
The Cougars (1-5, 0-1) trailed 19-8 at the 7:24 mark in the first half after the Paladins (4-2, 1-0) went on a 10-0 run as CofC struggled to make shots. For the next five minutes the Cougars picked up the intensity as they used a 9-0 run to close the Paladin lead to 20-17. CofC got within one at 20-19 at the 1:17 mark, but trailed 24-19 at the half.
The Cougars opened the second half with a basket by Harris, who followed that up a huge block that looked more like a volleyball kill. The teams traded buckets for the first five minutes of the half, but then the Paladins caught fire with a 15-5 run to lead 47-33 with 8:36 left in the game.
The Cougars would not go down without a fight though, and cut the lead to eight on a Megan Fischer 3-point shot to bring the score to 55-47 with 2:15 to play. The Paladins made five-of-six free-throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
The Cougars have a quick turnaround as they host Wofford on Monday Dec. 5 at 7:00 p.m. at TD Arena.
Davidson 64, Western Carolina 46
CULLOWHEE, N.C. — Junior Sophia Aleksandravicius tallied her third 20-point game of the year and Barbara Sitton had a career-best 14 as Davidson cruised to a 64-46 Southern Conference opening win at Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon in women’s basketball in the Ramsey Center.
The ‘Cats (4-4, 1-0 SoCon) led from tip to the end as they picked up their first road win of the season. They also won their fifth league opener in the past six years.
Aleksandravicius, who just missed her third double-double with a game-high nine boards, hit 8-of-11 shots from the field and added four free throws. The junior tied her career-high with five steals and Davidson as a team had a season-best 17.
Sitton was 5-of-9 from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 from the line for her 14 points. She also pocketed five steals. Sophomore Laura Murray broke out of a mini-scoring slump with 11 points after being held to 12 in her last two games.
Western (4-4, 0-1 SoCon) was led by Shauna Terry’s eight points. Davidson held the Catamounts to 35.1 percent shooting.
Eight Wildcats etched their names in the scorer’s book in the first half to help give Davidson a commanding 14-point lead. Sitton led the charge early with six points and the Wildcats were up 13-3 seven minutes in.
Aleksandravicius took over, scoring seven of the Wildcats’ 10 points in one stretch, including a layup that made it 30-20 with 2:48 left in the half. She had 13 points, six boards and two steals in the first period.
Amanda Ottaway capped off the half by scoring the final four Wildcat points for a 34-20 lead at halftime. She finished with six points and five boards off the bench.
Sitton and Aleksandravicius kept their hot-scoring touch going to open the second half. The duo netted 13 of the Wildcats’ first 18 points in the half as Davidson blew the game open with an 18-9 run in the first eight minutes for a 52-29 lead.
Murray gave the Wildcats its biggest lead at 62-32 on a steal and fastbreak layup with 5:43 left in the game.
Davidson takes a 14-day break before returning to the hardwood with a Dec. 17th home game at John M. Belk Arena against College of Charleston at 2 p.m.
UNCG 61, Samford 53
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Natalie Headley scored a career-high 18 points and Jarae Savage and Dayshaun Richbow added 12 each as UNCG downed defending Southern Conference tournament champion Samford on Saturday, 61-53, on the day the Spartans dedicated Lynne Agee Court and honored their former coach.
UNCG improved to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the SoCon. Samford fell to 4-3 overall and 0-1 in league play.
Samford, which last year won a school-record 25 games and made an NCAA tournament appearance, was led in scoring by Paige Anderson with 13 points, while Taylor Reece had 12.
Headley scored 13 second-half points as UNCG never trailed after the break. She put the team on her back down the stretch, scoring nine points in a span of about six minutes after the Bulldogs trimmed an 11-point second-half lead down to just three at 43-40 with just under 10 minutes left.
Richbow took over from there, scoring UNCG’s final six points in the last 1:09 to put the game on ice. Her jumper made it 57-50 with just over a minute to play before Anderson drained a 3-pointer from the wing to make it a two-possession game. Samford elected to put UNCG on the free throw line, but Richbow made the Bulldogs pay for that strategy, knocking down both ends of 1-and-1 opportunities on consecutive trips down the court for the final margin.
The teams traded the lead several times in the first half before Janae’ Stevenson put UNCG on top for good with a layup that made it 22-20 with 6:40 to go before halftime. That bucket ignited a 7-0 run for the Spartans that put them up 27-20 at the break. UNCG held Samford scoreless for the last 8:03 of the frame.
UNCG kept up the defensive pressure to start the second half, stretching its lead to nine before a pair of Reece free throws gave Samford its first points in 10 minutes, 36 seconds of game time.
Headley and Savage answered with jumpers on back-to-back possessions to give UNCG its largest lead of the day at 33-22 before the Bulldogs made a run.
Anderson, Samford’s leading scorer who was held without a point in the opening frame, finally found her rhythm, scoring six points in the Bulldogs’ 8-0 run that made it 33-30 with 13:58 to go.
Consecutive baskets by Richbow put UNCG back up by seven, but Samford wouldn’t go away. The Bulldogs got within three points four more times, the last on Reece’s free throws that made it 53-50 with 4:26 left. Headley’s final basket of the day made it a two-possession game with 2:40 to go and Samford would get no closer than four from there.
UNCG won the rebounding battle for the first time on the season, 34-27. Perhaps more impressively, the Spartans held Samford to just four offensive boards, in turning preventing the Bulldogs from scoring any second-chance points in the contest.
UNCG turned the ball over just eight times on the day, and Samford didn’t score any points off the Spartans’ few miscues. UNCG scored 12 points off 13 Bulldog turnovers.
Savage, a freshman, set new career highs in points and rebounds, sharing game-high honors with Richbow with seven boards. The 12 points and seven rebounds were both season highs for Richbow, as well.
Headley was nearly flawless on the day, going 7-for-8 from the floor and hitting both of her 3-point attempts. She was 2-for-3 from the free throw line, with her only miss coming with five seconds left in the game.
Starting point guard and leading scorer Breonna Patterson left the game after a hard collision after just six minutes and didn’t return. Richbow played the remaining 34 minutes in her place.
Weaver played a career-high 24 minutes in her first start of the season and just missed double figures with a season-high nine points.
The big win came on a day in which Agee, UNCG’s coach from 1981-2011, was honored at halftime and the court named in her honor was dedicated. She addressed the crowd with several friends, former players and former colleagues behind her. Several former Spartan players were on-hand for the event, as the contest also served as Alumnae Day.
UNCG returns to action Tuesday when it steps out of conference play to take on another team from Birmingham, Ala., UAB. The Spartans and Blazers are set for a 7 p.m. tip at Fleming Gymnasium.
Wofford 58, Gardner-Webb 50
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Logan Morris’ 17 points paced the Terriers for the second consecutive game as Wofford set a new school record to start the season at 6-0 with a 58-50 win over Gardner-Webb Saturday afternoon in the Paul Porter Arena.
The Terriers snapped the record currently held by the 2001-02 and 1992-93 teams, who started their seasons at 5-0.
Wofford opened the game with a 9-0 run on a three from Mariah Masalin, Rachel Brittenham jumper and layup, and a Daniella Motley jumper three minutes into the game. Following a Runnin’ Bulldog basket by Brianna Dillard, Motley knocked down another two to push the Terrier lead to 11-2 at 15:58 remaining in the half.
Gardner-Webb mounted a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 11-7 three minutes later, but Lauren Kirby jumper ended the run with a jumper and Morris followed up with a basket to give the Terries a 15-7 lead at the 12-minute mark.
After an Eliana Scanlon layup for the Runnin’ Bulldogs to make it 15-9, the Terriers used an April Moorhouse layup and Morgan Wrightson sparked a 7-0 run as Wofford took a 13-point lead, 22-9, at the seven minute mark. Gardner-Webb couldn’t cut into the lead over the remaining seven minutes in the half as the Terriers took a 29-17 lead into the break.
Wofford was 48 percent from the floor (13-of-27), 30 percent from three and missed on their three free throw attempts. The Terriers held the Runnin’ Bulldogs to just 26 percent overall (6-of-23).
Coming out of the half the Terriers immediately pushed their lead to 14 points, 31-17, on a Moorhouse jumper. Wofford held the 14-point lead, until Gardner-Webb rallied trailing 35-21 with 16:07 to play and trimmed the Terrier lead down to six points, 36-30, four minutes later.
Wofford responded with a 6-0 run sparked by a Morris three that gave the Terriers a 42-30 lead with 10:23 to play in the game. Wofford’s lead hit 14 points, 48-34, at the seven-minute mark, only to see Gardner-Webb mount a 6-0 run to trim the lead to 48-40 with just over five minutes remaining.
Wofford pushed the lead back to 14 points, 58-44, on a Morris layup with 2:22 and held to claim the eight-point win, 58-50.
Wofford finished 50 percent overall, 33 percent from three and only 23 percent from the free throw line (3-of-13). Gardner-Webb ended the game at 38 percent overall and 60 percent from the charity stripe (12-of-20). The Runnin’ Bulldogs missed on all four of their three-point attempts.
Morris’ 17 points paced the Terriers for the second consecutive game as she had 15 points against Southern Virginia in the team’s last game. She was 7-of-8 from the floor, 2-of-3 from three and made one of her two free throw attempts. It is also her second consecutive game where she scored 15-plus points coming off the bench for the Terriers.
Wrightson added 15 points, and Moorhouse chipped in 12 points. Wofford has now had three or more Terriers score in double-digits in all six of its games this season. Motely grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, while Brittenham handed out a game-high six assists.
Scanlon came off the bench for the Runnin’ Bulldogs and scored 19 points, while Jessica Heilig and Catrina Green chipped in 11 points apiece. Heilig also had a team-high seven rebounds.
Wofford will put their undefeated start to the season on the line with a game at the College of Charleston December 5 at 7 p.m. in its Southern Conference opener.
Chattanooga 59, Elon 46
ELON, N.C. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team spoiled the Southern Conference opener for Elon and their first-year head coach Charlotte Smith, Saturday night with a 59-46 win over the Phoenix at Alumni Gym.
Senior Whitney Hood, junior Kylie Lambert and sophomore Taylor Hall combined for 36 points and 27 rebounds in the win. Hall netted her second double-double of the year with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Hood scored a game-high 16 points. Lambert just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 boards.
Chattanooga improves to 4-3 overall and 2-0 in league play while the Phoenix drop to 2-4 overall with their fourth straight loss and 0-1 in the SoCon.
Elon jumped on the Lady Mocs early and led 10-5 at the 16:11 mark of the first half behind six points from Ali Ford.
Just over a minute later, Chattanooga sophomore Alex Black drained a 3-pointer with 14:52 to play in the first to spark a 13-1 run by the Lady Mocs. UTC took an 18-11 lead at the 8:07 mark of the half and never trailed again.
Elon would get close over the remainder of the half to get to within two points twice in the half and trailed 29-26 at intermission.
In the second half, the Lady Mocs outscored Elon 30-20, shooting 33.3 percent (10-of-30) and was 7-of-8 from the free throw line and shooting just 50 percent (3-of-6) in the first.
Chattanooga started the second half on an 8-2 run behind the scoring of Lambert and junior Kayla Christopher to go up 26-37 with 16:55 to play. The Phoenix then went on a 10-3 run to cut UTC's lead to 40-38 with 14:10 to play. However, Chattanooga would put together another run of its own, 11-2, and push the lead to double figures midway through the second half at 51-40.
Ford led the Phoenix with 16 points and was the only player in double figures. Kelsey Evans had nine points while Lisa Archie had a team-high eight rebounds and Sam Coffer had seven.
Chattanooga outrebounded Elon 52-39 marking the second straight game UTC has pulled down more than 50 boards. UTC got 11 points out of its bench and outscored the Phoenix 16-14 in the paint while netting four fast break points
The game wraps up the Lady Mocs' six-game road trip that started nearly 5,500 miles ago on November 13 in Waco, Texas. Chattanooga covered seven states and two countries over that time and went 3-3.
The Lady Mocs will take the next week off for exams before stepping back out of Southern Conference play hosting Kennesaw State in their first home game since hosting UAB in the season opener on Nov. 11. The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. Sophomore Faith Dupree will see her first action as a Lady Moc.