Georgia Southern 56, Wofford 48
STATESBORO, Ga. - In a team effort, the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles earned their third-straight win in a return to Southern Conference play Monday. Tashayla Steede notched a career-high 11 points in the 56-48 victory over the Wofford Terriers. The Lady Eagles led by as many as 12 points in the second half but led by just two points with two minutes remaining before closing out the contest with an 8-2 run.
Georgia Southern (5-8, 1-3) scored 26 points in the paint for the second game in a row and scored 17 points off of turnovers, two more than Wofford (8-5, 1-3). Meredyth Frye joined Steede with 11 points, while MiMi DuBose added 10 points including a trey that snapped a 10-0 Terrier run in the second half.
On the defensive end, Janay Wilson recorded three of the team's season-high 10 steals while managing nine points and six rebounds. The Lady Eagles added four blocks on the defensive end and held Wofford to just 24% shooting in the second period to hold the Terriers to their third-lowest points total of the season.
Daniella Motley led a Wofford team, that shot 46.4 percent in the first half but went a cold 6-for-25 in the second period, with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. April Moorehouse added nine boards to the team's total of 33 and was one of three Terriers in double figures with 12 points. Morgan Wrightson went a perfect four-for-four from the charity stripe and notched 11 points before fouling out.
The first half ended much like it opened with the two squads deadlocked at 29-29. Both teams went cold in the final five minutes, combining for just eight points. Georgia Southern's final basket in the half came with just a hair under four minutes to play. Motley led all scorers in the period with 11 points and was a force inside for the Terriers, who tallied 18 of their points in the paint. DuBose led the Lady Eagles with seven points.
The two teams started the half by trading baskets before Wofford's defense forced a shot-clock violation, and Motley drained the team's fourth-straight point with 12:42 remaining to break the stalemate. Danielle Spencer pulled Georgia Southern back within two points.
The Terriers came right back with five unanswered points to open a seven-point spread, their largest of the half, with 10 minutes to play. The Lady Eagles countered with an 8-0 run over the next 1:20 and took their first lead of the contest, 20-19, after Wilson swiped the ball and laid it in for the easy basket.
GSU shook off the cold finish to the first period and opened the second half with a 13-4 run over seven minutes behind six points from Steede and four from Frye. The Lady Eagles extended their lead to 11 points after a layup by Frye with 9:26 remaining. Following a layup by Motley, neither team could notch a basket for nearly four minutes. Motley broke the ice with a jumper and Wofford rattled off ten-straight to pull within two, 48-46.
Wingate 69, College of Charleston 60
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Down by as many as 18 points, the College of Charleston women’s basketball team cut the deficit to eight, but could not complete the comeback as they fell 69-60 at home against the Wingate Bulldogs Monday.
Junior Cathryn Hardy led the Cougars with 13 points and sophomore Jillian Brown recorded a career-high 10 assists in the game.
Freshman Jazz Green came off the bench and scored eight of her 10 points in the first half as the Cougars (2-11, 1-3 SoCon) built an early four point lead in the first four minutes of the game.
Wingate (7-2, 1-1 South Atlantic) used a 7-1 run to build a two points lead, a lead they would take to halftime at 25-23.
The Bulldogs caught fire to open the second half and went on a 20-4 run to break the game open. Wingate did most of their damage in the post as they outscored the Cougars 24-12 in points in the paint in the second half.
The Cougars would not go down without a fight and got key contributions from their reserves as they totaled 30 points from the bench including eight a piece from freshman Mikaela Hopkins and sophomore Deidre Ramer.
CofC used a 15-5 run over a four-minute stretch to cut the Bulldogs lead to eight at 64-56 with 2:10 remaining in the game. The Cougars could not get any closer as Wingate hit a free-throw and a layup to go up 11.
The Cougars resume Southern Conference play on Saturday as they host Chattanooga at TD Arena at 2:00 p.m.
Western Carolina 63, USC Upstate 58
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Freshman guard Makensey Campbell scored a career-high 18 points as Western Carolina women’s basketball (5-8) tipped off 2012 with a 63-58 win over USC Upstate (1-12) Monday at the Hodge Center.
Campbell tied her career-high with four three-pointers in the contest. She helped the Catamounts make a run in the first half to tie the game at 25 heading into the locker room. She scored nine points in each half.
Western Carolina was down by much as seven points in the first half, with UCS Upstate enjoying its third seven-point lead with 9:10 left. Senior guard Kaila’Shea Menendez hit a three-pointer to trim the Spartans lead to four, 16-12. USC Upstate returned the favor with a field goal to go up by six, 18-12.
The Catamounts ended the half on a 13-8 run. Twice WCU tied the game, first on a Campbell three-pointer and the second three in the run a trey by Rena Wakama.
It was a see-saw game for most of the second half. Each team enjoyed a slim lead, but it was Western Carolina’s 10-2 run, in a five minute span, that gave WCU its largest lead of the game, eight. The Spartans did not hit a field goal from the 14:25 mark until Tyra Smith hit a jumper with10:02 left to play.
Smith’s jumper for USC Upstate began the Spartan’s own run in the game, as scored seven straight points to pull within one, 45-44, with 8:24 remaining. Though Western Carolina would bend in the game, the Catamounts never broke, after taking a 33-31 lead early in the second half.
USC Upstate would trim the Catamount lead to one point three more times. The last narrow margin came at 4:06 remaining when Kim Roach hit one of two free throws to pull the Spartans to 50-49. Freshman guard Ali Lane answered for Western Carolina with a jumper to make it 52-49.
Leading by three, 56-53 with 2:13 remaining, Western Carolina relied on its free throw shooting to keep the Spartans at bay. The Catamounts were 7-of-8 from the charity strip, in the final two minutes, to ice the game.
Western Carolina had three players score in double figures, paced by Campbell who led all scorers with her 18 points. Wakama added 13 points and Menendez had 11.
USC Upstate pounded the boards, doubling up Western Carolina on the glass. The Spartans had 41 rebounds to the Catamounts 21, with 24 being on the defensive end.
The victory snaps a six-game losing streak for Western Carolina.
Western Carolina will return home Saturday to host Furman at 2 p.m. in the Ramsey Center. The game is part of a doubleheader with men’s basketball, who will tip-off against UNCG at 4:30 p.m. It will be the first home game for the Catamounts since December 5 when WCU hosted Appalachian State.