Appalachian State 53, Samford 49
BOONE, N.C. –Maryah Sydnor tied a career-high with 20 points as Appalachian State University women’s basketball picked up a 53-49 win over defending Southern Conference champion Samford on Monday at the Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers (14-3, 8-1 SoCon) won their third-straight game and, with Chattanooga’s loss to Davidson, moved into sole possession of first place in the SoCon while the Bulldogs (11-8, 6-4) fell for the second time in their past three games.
Appalachian State got on the board first with a pair of free throws from Sydnor and never trailed the rest of the game, although Samford would make it close several times in the final five minutes.
The Apps took their first double-digit lead of the game (20-10) with 5:34 left in the first half, but the Bulldogs connected on back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to four points (20-16). ASU responded with three-straight buckets, capped off by Katie Mallow’s “trey” to end the half and give the Mountaineers a 26-16 lead at the break.
Appalachian led by as many was 16 points (45-29) with 8:36 remaining in the second half and seemed to be in total control, but Samford clawed its way back into the contest and used a 20-6 run to make it 51-49 with just over 30 seconds left to play.
After a missed three-pointer by Paige Anderson the Bulldogs were forced to foul, sending Sydnor to the line where she ended the game in the same way she started it, sinking both free throws to cap off a 53-49 victory.
The freshman forward led all players with 20 points while collecting seven rebounds, three steals and two assists. Raven Gary scored a career-high eight points off the bench and Kelsey Sharkey finished with seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Samford was led on offense by Hannah Dawson’s 11 points while Jazmine Powers scored 10. Anderson, who entered the night averaging a team-high 13.4 points per game, was held to just seven points on 2-of-7 from the floor.
As a team, Appalachian State shot 42.6 percent (20-for-47) from the field including an 11-for-15 mark from the charity stripe. Samford managed to shoot just 32.7 percent (18-for-55) and was ice cold from beyond the arc, connecting on just 20.0 percent (5-for-25) of its shots from long range.
The Apps finished with a 35-32 edge in rebounds but turned the ball over 22 times to Samford’s 19. Each squad finished with 10 assists and the Mountaineers snagged 14 steals to 10 for the Bulldogs.
Appalachian State returns to action when it hits the road for a 2 p.m. contest at Furman on Saturday before returning home against Western Carolina at 6 p.m. on Monday.
College of Charleston 50, Western Carolina 33
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston women’s basketball team held Western Carolina to 26.2 percent shooting and out-rebounded the Catamounts 50-33 and they cruised to their second straight win with a 54-39 victory Monday at TD Arena.
Junior Cathryn Hardy led the Cougars with 10 points in what was the 10th straight game at least one CofC player has scored in double-figures. In all nine players scored for the Cougars as junior Megan Fischer added nine points and six rebounds and sophomore point guard Jillian Brown contributed eight points and eight rebounds.
The Cougars (5-15, 4-7 SoCon) used 8-0 and 7-0 runs to jump out to a 26-16 halftime lead as they held the Catamounts (6-13, 1-9 SoCon) to 6-of-32 shooting (18.8 percent) in the opening half.
The Cougars opened the second half with a three-pointer from sophomore Alyssa Frye and a layup by Fischer to extend their lead to 15 at 31-16 with 18:50 to play in the half.
Western Carolina, who was led by 10 points from Diamond Hunnicutt picked up their offense in the second half shooting 10-of-29 (34.5 percent).
The Catamounts had the ball down 13 threatening to close the gap, but the Cougars got the rebound and although missed their first shot got an offensive rebound and a kick out to Hardy, who knocked down a three-pointer to extend the lead to 16 at 46-30 with 6:01 to play.
The Cougars would never lead by less than 10 the rest of the way as they picked up the 54-39 victory and their fourth conference win.
Up next the Cougars will seek to avenge a home loss to Georgia Southern as they travel to Statesboro, Ga. Jan. 28 for a 3:00 p.m. game against the Lady Eagles.
Davidson 56, Chattanooga 52
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Davidson’s Katrin Chiemeka made a free throw with 16.2 seconds left, and the Wildcats forced Chattanooga to use the whole clock and fire an errant 3-pointer at the buzzer to hang on to a 56-52 Southern Conference women’s basketball victory Monday night in Belk Arena.
Chiemeka finished with seven points, five rebounds and three assists for Davidson (12-7, 8-2 SoCon), and Sophia Aleksandravicius posted 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. She went over the 200 career block mark with her third block of the game.
Laura Murray scored 13 points, all in the second half, and Barbara Sitton netted nine, all in the first frame. Sitton also collected eight rebounds and five assists.
Whitney Hood led Chattanooga (13-6, 8-2 SoCon) with 18 points and seven rebounds, and Ka’Vonne Towns posted eight points, five rebounds and four assists.
After a Hood free throw made the score 53-50, Murray answered with a driving layup to put the Wildcats back up five with 45 seconds left. Tenisha Townsend drew a foul and buried two free throws for Chattanooga with 39 seconds remaining, leaving the margin at three points.
The Lady Mocs had fouls to give and brought full-court pressure. Davidson worked the ball around, and began a drive to the basket with seven seconds left on the shot clock, when Lady Moc Kylie Lambert was whistled for a foul.
With only 18 seconds left, Chattanooga was forced to foul Chiemeka and put her on the free-throw line. The junior hit the first end of the one-and-one and missed the second, but the Wildcat defense forced Chattanooga to use too much time on its offensive possession.
With the score tied 35-35 midway through the second half, Murray hit two triples, and Chiemeka added another in an 11-3 run that opened a 46-38 lead with 8:01 to play. The Lady Mocs got to within three points twice, but would get no closer the rest of the game.
The ‘Cats held Chattanooga to 3-of-17 from the 3-point line in the game and used a season-high tying 19 offensive rebounds to score 16 second-chance points. Overall, Davidson outrebounded Chattanooga 45-40.
Sitton’s jumper ignited an 11-3 Davidson run in the first half as the ‘Cats pushed a one-point lead into a 20-11 advantage. The junior had five points during the run, and Jasmine Calin added a pair of layups.
The Lady Mocs countered by scoring the game’s next 12 points to open a 23-20 advantage with 4:51 left and went into the locker room leading 27-25.
The Wildcats have a week off before hosting Furman Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. in Belk Arena.
Furman 57, Wofford 66
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Brittany Hodges scored 15 points to pace a contingent of four double figure scorers as Furman rolled past Wofford, 75-66, in Southern Conference women’s basketball play Monday evening at Timmons Arena.
Hodges converted 6-of-11 shots from the field and scored 11 of her 15 points in a second half that saw Furman (11-8, 7-3 SoCon) shoot 65.2 percent from the field (15-of-23) over the game’s final 20 minutes. The freshman forward also claimed a game high eight rebounds and registered three steals for the Paladins, who improved to 20-0 all-time against Wofford (9-10, 2-8 SoCon) in Greenville.
Raegan Thompson added 14 points, six rebounds, and five steals, Janice Roberts 11 points, and Kaitlin Murphy 10 points and a season high nine rebounds for the Paladins.
Wofford was paced by Morgan Wrightson, who tallied a high 22 points, including 11-of-12 free throw attempts. April Moorhouse contributed 11 points and eight rebounds while Logan Morris chipped in 10 points for the Terriers.
Strong defensive pressure by the Paladins forced Wofford into 29 turnovers, including 17 in a second half that turned into a whistle-fest featuring 25 fouls and 40 free throw attempts by the two teams.
Furman, which led virtually the entire game, finished the contest shooting 41.1 percent from the field (23-of-56). The two teams dueled to a near drawn on the boards with the Paladins forging a slight 42-41 edge.
The Paladins forged a 31-23 halftime advantage and stretched it to 13 at 40-27 following a pair of Teshia Griswold free throws two minutes into the second half.
Wofford answered with 10-2 spurt to narrow it to 42-37 on a layup by Mariah Maslin at the 15:42 mark.
Furman, however, kept the Terriers at bay, pushing the margin back into double digits, its largest coming with just under nine minutes to go when a Murphy free throw gave the Paladins a 58-43 lead.
A Rachel Brittenham 3-pointer with seven minutes to go pulled the Terriers to within eight at 60-52, but Murphy responded with a jump shot less than a minute later to again give the Paladins a double digit advantage, which held until the game’s final second.
Furman returns to action on Saturday when it entertains Appalachian State in a 2:00 p.m. game.
Elon 57, UNCG 43
ELON, N.C. – A stingy defense effort helped the Elon women’s basketball team to its fourth straight win on Monday night, Jan. 23, in Alumni Gym, as the Phoenix registered a 57-43 win over Triad rival UNCG.
Elon improves to 10-9 overall and 6-4 in Southern Conference play with the victory, while the Spartans fall to 3-15 (2-8 SoCon) with the setback. Elon has held its opponent below 50 points in three straight games and five times overall this season.
Ali Ford knocked down three shots from long distance in the win and is now tied with Lorretta Lawson with 234 career three-point makes, the most in school history. Ford finished with nine points, five rebounds and four assists.
Kelsey Evans recorded her second straight double-double in the win after finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Evans is averaging 13 points and 13.5 rebounds over the last two games.
Aiesha Harper finished with 12 points and a game-high five assists for the Phoenix, while Kelsey Harris just missed her first career double-double with 11 points and nine boards.
The Phoenix’s inside presence proved to be too much for the Spartans, as Elon won the battle on the boards, 47-40, and outscored UNCG in the paint, 32-22.
The Phoenix took a seven-point lead at intermission after a Kelsey Harris reverse layup as the buzzer sounded made it a 29-22 game.
Elon shot at a 46-percent clip in the opening frame on 12-of-26 field goal attempts while limiting UNCG to 27 percent shooting.
Lisa Archie gave Elon a 15-point lead with 8:18 to play in the second half after Ford hit her under the basket near the baseline for an easy layup to make it a 48-33 game. Archie went for nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and 3-of-7 shooting from the free throw line in her first game since Dec. 28.
The Phoenix went on a 17-3 run over an eight-minute stretch in the second half and held UNCG two only two field goal makes for nearly 10 minutes in the final frame.
Elon’s defense limited UNCG to 26 percent shooting on 17-of-66 field goal attempts, including a 2-of-12 clip from beyond the arc.
The Phoenix hits the road for its next two games, beginning with a 3 p.m. tilt on Saturday, Jan. 28, at Samford.