Women's Basketball Southern Conference

Wednesday Women's Basketball Roundup

Elon 51, Western Carolina 45
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Kelsey Evans had another monster day in Cullowhee for the second-straight year on Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 18, to lead the Elon women’s basketball team to a 51-45 victory over the Western Carolina Catamounts inside the Ramsey Center.
 
Elon has won its last three games and improves to 9-9 overall and 5-4 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina falls to 6-11 (1-7 SoCon) with the setback.
 
Evans registered her third double-double of the season (19th career) in the win after scoring 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting and grabbing 15 boards. Evans has grabbed 15 or more rebounds in a game four times in her career, including twice in Cullowhee. Last year at WCU, Evans scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.
 
Today was the second-straight game and fourth time this season Elon has held its opponent to less than 50 points.
 
The Phoenix limited the Catamounts to 28 percent shooting from the field and won the battle on the boards, 41-38.
 
Elon dominated in the paint, outscoring Western Carolina 28-14.
 
The Phoenix shot 40 percent from the field in the win and hit 5-of-14 shots from beyond the arc (36 percent).
 
Elon held a 29-23 lead at the half after shooting 48 percent from the field and limiting the Catamounts to a 28-percent clip. The Phoenix held a 23-18 edge on the boards at intermission and claimed a 14-8 advantage in points in the paint.
 
The Catamounts made it a one-point game with 9:42 left in the second half after an Abraham jumper made it a 38-37 game. Rena Wakama gave WCU its first lead of the game with 9:14 remaining after hitting a pair of free throws to make it a 39-38 game.
 
But Aiesha Harper helped Elon regain the lead with 5:11 to play after drilling a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Phoenix ahead, 43-42, and force a WCU timeout. Harper finished the game with 10 points and four assists.

Rookie Shannen Cochraham added six points and five boards in 14 minutes off the bench.
 
Elon is off until Monday, Jan. 23, when it hosts UNCG at 7 p.m.

Appalachian State 59, Wofford 58
SPARTANBURG, S.C.  – Appalachian State University women’s basketball hung on late for a thrilling 59-58 win over Southern Conference foe Wofford on Wednesday at Benjamin Johnson Arena.

The Mountaineers (12-3, 6-1 SoCon) led by as many as 14 points in the contest, but were forced to make several defensive stands in the closing seconds to fend off the Terriers (9-8, 2-6).

Wofford kept the game close throughout the first 11 minutes before the Apps reeled off a 15-5 run to take their first double-digit lead (25-15) on Raven Gary’s jumper with 8:33 left in the first half.

Appalachian State would extend the lead to 14 points (35-21) when Maryah Sydnor hit a layup with 2:50 to play in the first half, but the Terriers netted the final five points of the half to head to the locker room with ASU leading 37-28.

The second half saw Appalachian struggle from the floor as Wofford chipped away at the lead thanks to an 11-4 run to start the half. The Terriers pulled within two points (41-39) at the 15:26 mark before a three-pointer from Katie Mallow ended the run and pushed ASU’s lead back to five points (44-39).

Wofford did not back down and regained the lead (48-47) on Rachel Brittingham’s trey with 8:44 left in the game. The Apps jumped back on top when Sydnor hit a jumper just 22 seconds later to make it 49-48.

The Mountaineers would never trail the rest of the way, though the Terriers were able to tie the game twice in the closing minutes and had two shots with less than a minute remaining, including a potential game-winner from Brittingham at the buzzer that hit back-iron and before bouncing out.

Anna Freeman finished with a team-high 12 points for ASU while Chakeitha Weldon chipped in with six points and six rebounds.

Michelle Taylor finished with eight points and four rebounds in her first collegiate start and Sydnor added eight points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Wofford was paced by Logan Morris’ game-high 15 points while Daniella Motley notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Morgan Wrightson also finished in double-digits with 13 points.

Appalachian State shot 38.5 percent (15-for-65) from the floor while the Terriers shot 45.8 percent (22-for-48) including a 10-of-12 mark from the charity stripe. 

The Apps notched 13 turnovers and forced 28 turnovers while committing 15 turnovers of their own. Wofford won the battle of the boards with a 35-33 edge in rebounds.

ASU returns to action when it plays host to Chattanooga on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Holmes Center before taking on Samford at 6 p.m. on Monday night.

Georgia Southern 35, College of Charleston 34
CHARLESTON, S.C. - After two one-point leads slipped away in the last two games, the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles earned a one-point victory at the College of Charleston Wednesday. Jordi sparked a second-half comeback with a season-high eight points and propelled GSU to a 35-34 win. 

Georgia Southern (6-12, 2-7) overcame 29 turnovers and outrebounded one of the top teams in the conference despite their second-lowest scoring output of the season. MiMi DuBose led  the Lady Eagles with nine points and tied for the team lead with five rebounds. Meredyth Frye did a little bit of everything including five points, five rebounds, four assists, three blocks and three steals.

College of Charleston (3-15, 2-7) was held to 22.4% by a solid Georgia Southern defensive effort that included 11 blocks. Cathryn Hardy scored 10 points and added seven rebounds, while Latisha Harris scored seven points and added a team-best nine boards. The Cougars saw their 10-point second-half lead slip away after shooting just 5-for-20.

Georgia Southern led by seven points twice in the first half, but watched as the College of Charleston took an 18-12 lead into the half. The Cougars used a 6-0 run, including four points from Deidre Ramer, to snap a 12-12 tie with 2:34 remaining in the period. Briana Scott hit a pair of jumpers and Anna Claire Knight added a three to give the Lady Eagles a 7-0 lead to start the half. GSU maintained a seven-point lead seven minutes into the contest after DuBose hit a trey. However, Charleston took advantage of 15 first-half turnovers to score seven unanswered points and tie the game at 12-12.

Down 10 points early in the second half the Lady Eagles shot 40.9% in the half and finished with 31.8% for the game. Georgia Southern responded with eight-straight points, including a three by Cook that cut the deficit to two points. A layup by Frye gave the Lady Eagles a 32-30 lead and DuBose added a three to extend the advantage to three points with just over five minutes to play. The Cougars had two shots in the final 30 seconds but missed both.

The Georgia Southern Lady Eagles return home Saturday for a Pack the House in Pink doubleheader against Western Carolina at 3 p.m. The men follow at 7:30 p.m. with College of Charleston.

Chattanooga 74, Samford 68
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Whitney Hood recorded her third straight game with 20 or more points and led three players in double figures as the Lady Mocs outlasted Samford 74-68 Wednesday night at the McKenzie Arena in Southern Conference women’s basketball action.
 
The Lady Mocs improve to 13-4 overall and 8-0 in league play while the Bulldogs move to 10-7 on the year and fall to 5-3 in the SoCon.
 
Hood led all scorers with 21 points and pulled in five boards while juniors Kayla Christopher and Kylie Lambert each tossed in 12 points. Lambert had a game-high seven rebounds and four assists. 
 
Chattanooga started off with a 9-2 lead behind Hood and Lambert, but allowed the Bulldogs to power back into the game with seven straight points to tie it up 9-9 with 14:30 to play in the first. The two teams battled against with UTC getting up by five points three times before Samford came back to knot it up again at 18-18 at the 11:22 mark on a jumper from Shelby Campbell.
 
Sophomore Faith Dupree’s put back at the 9:37 mark made it a 22-18 UTC advantage, but moments later Samford’s Ruth Ketcham drew a foul on a layup with 8:46 to play in the first and cut that lead back to one on a 3-point play.
 
Dupree hit another layup to give Chattanooga a small bit of breathing room and Christopher drained a 3-pointer from the left side to make it a 27-21 game seconds later. Samford’s Hannah Dawson hit a 3-pointer cutting back into the lead but a driving layup from Christopher followed by a defensive rebound from senior Tenisha Townsend and a 3-pointer from sophomore Taylor Hall from the left side and Chattanooga stretched its lead to 32-24 with 3:59 to play.
 
Dawson converted another 3-pointer and Samford forced a turnover on the ensuing possession, but the Bulldogs turned it back to the Lady Mocs with Hood grabbing the steal and Christopher answered with a 3-pointer. Lambert followed with a jumper in the paint to give the Lady Mocs their largest lead of the game, 37-27, with 1:18 to play in the half.
 
Samford nailed its fifth 3-pointer of the half to cut the lead to 37-30 at intermission.
 
In the second half, each time Chattanooga would build its lead, Samford would battle back to cut it to two or three points several times, but the Lady Mocs never trailed in the game.