Samford 73, Davidson 65
DAVIDSON, N.C.—The Samford women’s basketball team overcame a 15-point first-half deficit to come from behind for a 73-65 Southern Conference win at Davidson Saturday afternoon at Belk Arena.
Samford trailed Davidson, 34-29 late in the first half, and 35-24 at halftime, but the Bulldogs came back to outscore the Wildcats, 49-30 in the second half to win, 73-65.
Samford was led in the game by freshman forward Taylor Reece with a career-high 21 points, making 8-of-13 shots from the floor and 3-of-3 from three-point range. Reece also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out two assists in the win. Reece scored 14 of her 21 points in the second half.
Senior guard Ruth Ketcham scored 15 points, while senior guard Paige Anderson contributed 13 points. Junior forward Hannah Dawson scored 12 points and pulled down six rebounds.
For Davidson, Laura Murray scored 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Sophia Aleksandravicius added 12 points for the Wildcats.
The teams went back and forth for the early part of the first half. With Samford leading, 11-9, Davidson went on a 10-0 run to take a 19-11 lead with 10:07 left in the half after a basket by Amanda Ottaway.
Davidson pushed its lead out to as much as 15 in the first half at 34-19 with 3:55 to go before halftime. Samford, however, scored the next five points to cut the lead to 10 at 34-24 with 1:57 to go in the half after a basket by Dawson. A late Davidson free throw made the score 35-24 heading into halftime.
Samford opened the second half with a 13-1 run to take a 37-36 lead with 16:13 to go after a layup by Reece. Davidson came back to take a four-point lead at 46-42 with 12:19 to go in the game.
With Davidson leading, 50-46, Samford went on a 10-2 run to take a 56-52 lead with 7:30 to go after a pair of free throws by Jazmine Powers. Davidson fought back to tie the score at 59-59 with 3:14 to go. Samford, however, went on an 11-2 run to take a 70-61 lead with 52 seconds to go after a pair of free throws by Anderson.
Davidson closed to within six points late at 71-65, but Samford’s Anderson hit two late free throws to make the final score 73-65.
With the win, Samford improves to 11-7 overall and 6-3 in Southern Conference play. Davidson falls to 11-7 overall and 7-2 in league play. The loss was Davidson’s first home setback of the season.
As a team, Samford made 52.2 percent of its shots, including 65.2 percent in the second half. The Bulldogs hit 50.0 percent of their three-pointers, including 57.1 percent after halftime. Davidson made 36.7 percent of its shots overall and 46.7 percent from three-point range.
Samford will return to action on Monday, Jan. 23, when the Bulldogs play at Appalachian State. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. (CT) start from Boone, N.C.
Furman 66, UNCG 64
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Raegan Thompson drained a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining in the game to complete a dramatic second half comeback that lifted Furman past UNC Greensboro, 66-64, in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Fleming Gymnasium.
After Breonna Patterson hit a 3-pointer with 34 seconds to go to give UNCG a 64-63 lead, the Paladins, following a timeout with 13 seconds remaining, worked the ball to the left wing, where Kaitlin Murphy threw a low pass to Thompson at the top of the circle. After struggling to get a handle on the ball, the junior guard let fly with the shot that found the bottom of the net for the game winner.
UNCG (3-14, 2-7 SoCon) failed to get a shot off on its final possession as Furman (10-8, 6-3 SoCon) completed the regular season sweep of the Spartans and wrapped up a season long four-game road stretch with a 2-2 mark.
Thompson, who finished with a game high 16 points, including 4-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc, keyed a Furman second half comeback that saw the Paladins erase a 16-point deficit. Kaitlin Murphy contributed 13 points, and Brittany Hodges recorded her second double-double in the last three games with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Patterson and Janae Stevenson led UNCG with 12 points apiece.
The Paladins’ blistered the nets at a 53.3 percent clip (16-of-30) over the game’s final 20 minutes after missing their first 14 shots of the contest and connecting on just 5-of-29 field goal attempts in the first half (17.2 percent).
Furman trailed 34-21 at intermission and 44-28 following a layup by UNCG’s Natalie Headley with 16:32 remaining in the game.
An 8-0 Furman spurt, keyed by two Thompson layups and a basket and two free throws by Hodges, over the next three minutes made it 44-36.
Thompson’s 3-pointer at the 10:44 mark cut the Spartan advantage to 46-42, and a pair of free throws by Sarah Durdaller pulled the Paladins to within three, at 49-46, with 9:20 to go.
Durdaller made it 49-48 with a jump shot on the Paladins’ next possession, and a little over a minute later Murphy stroked a 3-pointer to give Furman a 51-49 lead, its first of the game.
After five lead changes the Spartans used baskets by Jazz Weaver, Patterson, and Sidnei Harmon to grab a 61-56 advantage.
The Paladins, however, fought back behind Thompson, whose 3-pointer with just over two minutes to go, sliced the Spartans’ lead to 61-59. Murphy then canned a pair of free throws to tie it at 61-61 at the 1:32 juncture.
Furman appeared to be in excellent shape to win the game after Hodges converted a layup to give Furman a 63-61 lead with 53 seconds remaining, but the Spartans answered out of timeout with a Patterson 3-pointer and 64-63 advantage, setting up the Paladins’ dramatic final possession.
Furman entertains Wofford on Monday at Timmons Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
Georgia Southern 41, Western Carolina 40
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Lady Eagles earned their second straight one-point win with a 41-40 victory over the Western Carolina Catamounts in the 7th annual Pack the House in Pink contest. The Lady Eagles held on for over three minutes after both squads finished scoreless in the fourth-straight game decided by one point.
Despite a player not reaching double figures, Georgia Southern (7-12, 3-7) earned its third Southern Conference win behind 9 points and six rebounds from Anna Claire Knight. The Lady Eagles shot 42.9% from the floor but were held to 35 attempts. Jordi Cook added eight points to go along with MiMi DuBose's (Jefferson, Ga.) seven.
Western Carolina (6-12, 1-8) made up for a low 28.6 shooting percentage by holding GSU to 27 rebounds, their second lowest total of the season, and forcing 20 turnovers. Alex Abraham and Janae McKinney both scored seven points to lead the Catamounts' offense.
Georgia Southern led 22-18 at the halftime break but a pair of cold streaks to open and close the contest allowed Western Carolina to remain within striking distance. Knight was able to find space in the defense and drove to the hole for seven points in the first half. Cook added a pair of threes in just nine minutes of action. Alex Abraham, who tallied eight points and seven rebounds at Elon, led the Catamounts in the period with five points and four boards.
After starting the contest scoreless for nearly the first six minutes, Georgia Southern scored its first basket on a layup by Knight. They ran off 14 unanswered points in a span of nearly three minutes, and Cook nailed back-to-back treys from behind the arc to put the Lady Eagles up 14-3. GSU maintained a double-digit lead and was ahead 22-9 with 5:06 remaining before hitting another cold streak. Western Carolina nearly erased the 13 point advantage with 9 unanswered points and held the Lady Eagles scoreless over the final five minutes.
A trip to locker room at half was not enough to snap Georgia Southern's cold streak. The Catamounts took full advantage of the scoring outage, retaking the lead for the first time since 16:07 in the first half. Rena Wakama and Makensey Campbell hit back-to-back three pointers to put Western Carolina ahead 24-23. The Lady Eagles pulled back ahead with a 10-2 run and led 33-32 with 9:06 remaining.
Georgia Southern returns to Hanner Fieldouse next Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest against the College of Charleston.
Appalachian State 62, Chattanooga 51
BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State University women’s basketball handed Southern Conference favorite Chattanooga its first conference loss in a 62-51 victory on Saturday at the Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers (13-3, 7-1 SoCon) dominated the second half of play, outscoring the Lady Mocs (13-5, 8-1) by a 34-22 margin over the game’s final 20 minutes.
After Courtney Freeman hit a three-pointer to open the scoring, Chattanooga used an 8-0 run to take an 8-3 lead that it would not surrender for the duration of the first half.
The Lady Mocs led by as many as 10 points (23-13) with 11:55 left in the opening stanza but the Apps clawed their way back into the game and trailed by just one point (29-28) at the end of the first half.
Despite shooting just 25.0 percent (9-for-36) over the first 20 minutes, ASU used a strong effort from the charity stripe (9-for-10) to keep the score close throughout the opening period of play.
The second half was all Appalachian State as the Mountaineer offense came alive, connecting on 48.0 percent (12-for-25) of its shots in the second half while limiting Chattanooga to just 34.8 percent (8-for-23) from the floor.
Maryah Sydnor opened the second half with a layup to give ASU its first lead (30-29) and start a 13-3 run which propelled the Apps to a 41-32 lead before UTC’s Megahn Downes ended the run with a three-pointer.
Appalachian State led by as many as on two occasions in the final seven minutes, but the Lady Mocs were able to close the gap to five points (52-47) with just under three minutes left to play.
It was the closest Chattanooga would come the rest of the way as the Mountaineers sealed the deal by scoring 10 of the games final 14 points en route to the win.
As a team, the Apps shot 34.4 percent (21-for-61) from the floor including a blistering 86.4 percent (19-for-22) from the charity stripe while the Lady Mocs shot 35.3 percent (18-for-51) for the game but were just 5-for-26 from beyond the arc.
The Mountaineers dominated the glass on both ends, outrebounding Chattanooga by an astonishing 48-25 margin including a 19-4 edge in offensive rebounds.
Sydnor led all players with16 points while snagging four rebounds and collecting three assists and three steals. Anna Freeman finished with 13 points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.
C. Freeman had a game-high seven rebounds while scoring eight points and Chakeitha Weldon scored seven while ripping down six boards. All nine Mountaineers who played grabbed at least two rebounds.
Chattanooga was led offensively by Whitney Hood’s team-leading 12 points. Hood was the only UTC player to score in double figures as Taylor Hall fell just shy of the mark with nine points.
Appalachian State returns to action at 6 p.m. on Monday when it plays host to defending SoCon Tournament champion Samford.