Appalachian State 64, Longwood 54
BOONE N.C. – Anna Freeman became the 21st member of the 1,000 point club as Appalachian State women’s basketball defeated Longwood, 64-54, at the Holmes Center on Saturday.
The Mountaineers (9-2) jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead to close out the calendar year with a win for the third-consecutive season while the Lancers (2-13) dropped their seventh-straight game.
Freeman opened the scoring for Appalachian by draining three-straight three pointers in the first seven minutes of the game to jump-start ASU’s offense, which outscored Longwood 37-17 in the first half.
Appalachian State never led by less than 10 points for the final 16 minutes of the first half of play and Freeman extended the lead to 28-10 with a layup at the 7:33 mark to put her over 1,000 career points.
The Mountaineer defense held the Lancers to just seven first-half field goals while ASU connected on 43.2 percent (16-for-37) of its shots in the first half, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Longwood fared much better in the game’s second half, putting up 37 points to Appalachian’s 27 while holding the Mountaineers to just 28.1 percent (9-for-32) from the floor.
Despite a solid defensive effort from the Lancers and a cold- shooting second half, ASU led by double-digits for nearly the entire contest, though Longwood was able to cut the deficit to seven points (57-50) with just over two minutes left to play.
Freeman and Canesha Edwards combined to score the next three points to push Appalachian’s lead back to 10 points (60-50) with 1:38 left on the clock.
The Lancers would make one final push, cutting the lead to single-digits (60-52) with 1:21 remaining, but the Mountaineers hung out for the win.
As a squad, Appalachian State shot 36.2 percent (25-for-69) from the floor including 33.3 percent (4-for-12) from beyond the arc and 52.6 percent (10-for-19) from the charity stripe.
Freeman led the Mountaineers with 18 points while Kelsey Sharkey notched a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Edwards and Courtney Freeman each notched 10 points.
Longwood shot 38.3 percent(18-for-47) from the field, 25.0 percent (3-for-12) from downtown and 75.0 percent (15-for-20) from the free-throw line.
The Lancers were paced by Crytsal Smith’s game-high 20 points while Brittanni Billups chipped in with 14.
Appalachian State pulled down 48 rebounds to Longwood’s 30 and committed 19 turnovers while forcing 23. The Mountaineers finished with a 26-8 edge in offensive rebounds and 14-6 edge in assists.
The Apps return to action when they travel to Southern Conference rival Elon for a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday, Jan. 7 before taking on UNCG at 7 p.m. on Jan. 9.
West Virginia 84, Elon 36
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Elon University women’s basketball team dropped its final game of the 2011 calendar year on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 31, as the Phoenix fell 84-36 to the West Virginia Mountaineers inside the WVU Coliseum.
The Phoenix (6-7) could not find an answer on the boards for the Mountaineers (10-3), who finished the game with a 55-30 advantage on the glass, including 26 on the offensive end.
Zora Stephenson and Ali Forid each finished with a team-high seven points, while Kelsey Evans and Aiesha Harper ended the night with six points apiece. The Mountaineers managed to hold Harper below five assists for the first time in five games.
Elon shot 27 percent from the field on 12-of-45 field-goal attempts, while the Mountaineers knocked down 35-of-79 shots for a 44-percent clip.
The Phoenix jumped out to an early three-point lead with in the first 50 seconds of the game after an old-fashioned three-point play by Harper made it a 3-0 game.
Elon held WVU in check for most of the first half until the Mountaineers closed the opening frame on a 15-2 run to take a 37-17 lead at intermission.
The Mountaineers claimed a 34-17 advantage on the glass in the first 20 minutes, including 19 rebounds on offense.
WVU kept its foot on the gas to open the second half, going on a 17-4 run to claim a 54-21 lead with less than 13 minutes to play.
Elon concludes its six-game road swing on Wednesday night, Jan. 4, when the Phoenix takes on Southern Conference foe Davidson. Tip is set for 7 p.m. inside Belk Arena.
Wake Forest 68, Davidson 66
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — In a game that featured 14 ties and 15 lead changes, the Davidson women’s basketball team fell just short, 68-66, in a contest that went down to the wire on the road against ACC-foe Wake Forest as the Wildcats’ five-game win streak came to an end on Friday afternoon at Joel Coliseum.
Davidson (7-5), which trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half, got to within one-point twice in the final 23 seconds, but Wake Forest eventually scored the win by hitting three of its last four free throws in that span.
The Wildcats put four players in double figures for the second straight game. Laura Murray led the way with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting, with a pair of three-balls and four free throws.
Amanda Ottaway followed up her 18-point effort at Radford in the last game with 15 points, while Sarah Davis had a season-high 11 off the bench. Sophia Aleksandravicius rounded out the quartet of double-figure scorers with 10 points and nine boards. She also swatted away a season-high six shots, one off her school-record.
Wake Forest (10-3) won its third straight. It was led by Sandra Garcia’s 22 points off the bench, while Lakevia Boykin chipped in with 16 points.
The turning point of the game was a 13-2 run over a five-minute span in the middle of the second half by Wake Forest that turned a 44-43 Davidson lead into a 56-46 Demon Deacon advantage at the 7:23 mark. The ‘Cats had maintained its lead after halftime thanks to Davis, who rattled off eight of the Wildcats’ first 12 second-half points to give them the one-point lead.
Murray did her best in keeping things close for Davidson. In one stretch, she ran off seven straight capped off by a three-ball. Ottaway followed with a triple of her own and it was 61-56 with 4:29 left.
Later, Murray made it 65-60 on two free throws, and then on the ‘Cats next possession, hit a running layup off the baseline for a 65-62 score and 36 ticks left.
Ottaway then calmly canned a pair of free throws and Davidson was within one, 65-64, with 23 seconds left. After Wake Forest hit two free throws, Aleksandravicius made it 67-66 on an out of bounds play in the paint.
A quick foul with five seconds left put the Demon Deacons on the line again where Mykala Walker hit the first free throw. She then missed the second, but the ball got poked out to the three-point line and by the time Davidson recovered, time had expired.
The first half was a two-player show on each side, with Murray and Ottaway shining for Davidson, while Wake Forest’s Garcia and Boykin did most of the damage for the Demon Deacons.
Murray dropped in a quick seven points to start the game and Davidson doubled up WFU, 12-6 at 15:40 mark.
Wake Forest’s Garcia countered, scoring nine straight points and capping off her spurt with an and-one play for a 17-16 lead.
Down 23-21, Ottaway then stepped up and scored seven straight for the Wildcats to knot things up at 28-all with 3:07 left in the half. But prior to the senior’s run, Lakevia Boykin of Wake Forest rattled off nine of her 11 first-half points in a row to keep things close for the Demon Deacons.
The half ended with Barbara Sitton swishing home a pair of free throws for a 32-30 lead.
The Wildcats return to Southern Conference play to start the new year by hosting Elon, Jan. 4. Gametime is set for 7 p.m.