Western Carolina 69, Wofford 60
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Senior guard Kaila’Shea Menendez eclipsed 1,000 points in her career, pacing Western Carolina women’s basketball (7-13, 2-9 Southern Conference) to a 69-60 win over Wofford (9-11, 2-0 SoCon) Saturday in the Ramsey Center.
Menendez led all scorers with 19 points, hitting 8-of-16 from the field and also nailing three treys in the contest. She scored nine points in the first half, with a lay-up at the 3:05 mark not only sending her over 1,000 points but also pushing the Catamounts’ lead to 27-20.
Tied at 20, the fourth in the first half, Western Carolina took the lead for good when Diamond Hunnicutt hit a lay-up with 4:17 left. In the final four minutes, Western Carolina went on a 12-4 run to lead 32-24 at the half.
Western Carolina built its largest lead of the game, 13 55-42, with 7:29 left in the game when sophomore guard Rena Wakama drained a three pointer. The Catamounts built the lead to 13 for a second time, with 6:30 left, before Wofford went on a mini run.
The Terriers kicked their scoring into high gear, for a spurt in the final six minutes of the game, going on a 7-0 run to cut the Catamount lead to six, 57-51, at the 4:53 mark. Logan Morris capped off the scoring frenzy, for Wofford, with a three-pointer. Morris led Wofford with 16 points in the game.
In a five minute span, Wofford went on a 13-4 run to make the game interesting, with 1:26 left, shaving Western Carolina’s lead to four, 61-57. The Catamounts turned Wofford back at the free throw line. In the final minute of the game, the Catamounts were 6-of-6 from the free throw line and also benefited from a field goal from Alex Abraham.
Overall, Western Carolina was 17-of-24 from the free throw line for the game. Wofford was 13-of-22 from the charity stripe.
The Catamounts shot 44.2 percent from the field and Wofford was 46.7. A telling stat was points off turnovers. Thought both teams committed over 20 turnovers a piece, Wofford had 25 and Western Carolina had 24, the Catamounts turned the Terriers’ miscues to 29 points, while Wofford scored just 13 points off WCU turnovers.
Abraham was the only other Catamount to score in double figures, with 10 points. Junior Janae’ McKinney just missed hitting double figures with nine points.
Wofford had a total of three players in double figures. Besides Morris, with 16, Morgan Wrightson had 15 points and April Moorehouse added 12.
The victory by Western Carolina halts a five-game losing streak for the Catamounts.
Western Carolina will head back on the road Monday playing at Appalachian State. Tip time is set for 6 p.m.
Appalachian State 78, Furman 63
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Courtney Freeman posted her fifth career double-double and Maryah Sydnor scored 20 points for the second-straight game as Appalachian State University women’s basketball picked up a 78-63, Southern Conference win over Furman on Saturday afternoon.
The Mountaineers (15-3, 9-1 SoCon) won their fourth-straight game and avenged last season’s road loss to the Paladins (11-9, 7-4) to stay alone atop the conference standings.
Appalachian State trailed just twice in the contest and led for the final 32 minutes of play en route to another convincing win over a conference opponent.
Sydnor, who scored 20 points in Monday’s win over Samford, got ASU on the board first for the second game in a row as the teams traded blows throughout the opening 10 minutes.
Furman, which trailed by as many as five points in the early going, grabbed a one-point lead (3-2) on Kaitlin Murphy’s three-pointer before the Apps used a 6-0 run to take an 8-3 lead.
The Paladins regained the lead two more times in the first half, the first on a jumper by LaShawna Booker and the second on Raegan Thompson’s trey to take their biggest lead of the game (14-12) with 12:46 left in the first half.
It would be the final time that Furman would lead as the Mountaineers turned on the jets and reeled off a 23-10 run over the next 10 minutes to take their first double-digit lead of the game (35-24) with 2:46 left in the first half.
Appalachian headed to the locker room with a 37-28 lead, which Furman was able to cut to four points (40-36) early in the second half, but ASU scored the next eight points and snagged another double-digit lead (48-36) after Catherine Williams completed a three-point play with 15:34 left to play.
The Mountaineers would lead by as many as 21 points (66-45) midway through the half before the Paladins rallied to cut the lead to just seven points at the 3:03 mark. Appalachian State responded by hitting four-straight shots to stretch the lead to 76-61 with under a minute to go before closing things out on a Canesha Edwards jumper to make the final 78-63.
Sydnor scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting to match a career-high in scoring while Freeman finished with 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Anna Freeman poured in a game-high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Furman was paced by Brittany Hodges team-leading 21 points and nine rebounds while Sarah Durdaller (12) and Teshia Griswold (10) each scored in double-figures.
As a team, Appalachian State shot 50.8 percent (33-for-65) from the floor including a 4-of-7 mark from beyond the arc. The Paladins were held to just 34.8 percent (23-for-66) from the field and finished just 3-of-17 from deep.
ASU finished the contest with a 51-32 edge in rebounds, forced 18 turnovers and dished out 15 assists. The Mountaineers outscored Furman 21-19 off turnovers and 22-16 in the paint.
Appalachian State returns home when it plays host to Western Carolina at 6 p.m. on Monday before weekend road contests at Georgia Southern and College of Charleston.
Samford 67, Elon 53
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Samford junior forward Hannah Dawson posted her first career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, both career highs, in leading the Bulldog women’s basketball team to a 67-53 Southern Conference win over Elon Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.
With the win, Samford improves to 12-8 overall and 7-4 in Southern Conference play. Elon falls to 10-10 overall and 6-5 in league play. With Furman’s loss to Appalachian State earlier in the day, Samford moves into a tie with the Paladins for fourth place in league standings.
In her career-high performance, Dawson made 7-of-12 shots from the floor. Senior guard Paige Anderson scored a game-high 22 points, making 5-of-6 shots, all from three-point range, and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.
Senior guard Jazmine Powers had 10 points, six rebounds and a career-high seven assists for the Bulldogs. Senior guard Ruth Ketcham added six points in the win.
For Elon, Ali Ford led the way with 16 points. Aiesha Harper scored 10 points, while Kelsey Harris and Lei Lei Hairston added six points each for the Phoenix.
In the first half, after Samford scored the first three points of the game, Elon went on an 8-0 run to take an 8-3 lead with 14:57 to go in the first half after a layup by Lisa Archie. Samford responded with a 21-2 run to take control of the game with a 24-10 lead with 8:24 to go in the half after a layup by Powers.
Elon scored the next five points to cut the Samford lead to nine at 24-15 with 4:40 to go after a free throw by Hairston. Samford pushed its lead back out to 14 points at 29-15 with 1:56 to go after a three-pointer by Anderson. Samford took a 31-19 lead into halftime.
Samford pushed its lead out to 22 points at 47-25 with 14:28 left in the game following a layup by Shelby Campbell. With Samford leading, 49-27, Elon went on a 10-2 run to cut the Samford lead to 14 points at 51-37 with 8:30 to go after a layup by Harris.
The Bulldogs pushed their lead back out to 19 points at 56-37 with 5:31 to go following a jumper by Taylor Reece. Elon went on another 10-2 run to cut the Bulldogs’ lead back to 11 points at 58-47 with 3:51 left after a three-pointer by Hairston.
Samford pushed its lead back out to 17 points at 64-47 with 1:52 to go following a three-pointer by Anderson. Elon could get no closer than 14 points the rest of the way as Samford came away with the 67-53 win.
For the game, Samford outrebounded Elon, 38-30. The Bulldogs made 43.6 percent of its shots, while holding Elon to just 38.8 percent for the game.
Samford will return to action in Monday, Jan.30, when the Bulldogs play host to UNC Greensboro. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.
College of Charleston 47, Georgia Southern 44
STATESBORO, Ga. - Junior Megan Fischer led the College of Charleston women's basketball team with 13 points as the Cougars won their third straight game 47-44 over Georgia Southern Saturday.
The first half was a defensive struggle as the Cougars (6-15, 5-7) held the Eagles (7-13, 3-8) to 35.3 percent shooting, but only managed to convert 5-of-27 field goals.
Fischer got the Cougars going in the second half as she hit two three-pointers in the first three minutes of the period to give her team a 24-22 lead.
The Cougars would build the lead to five at 32-27 over the next four minutes, but then the Eagles caught fire and used a 14-2 run to go up 41-34 with 6:59 remaining.
The Eagles led by three at 44-43 with 2:52 left, when Fischer got an offensive rebound and made a put-back and was fouled.
Both teams exchanged turnovers and missed shots, before sophomore Alyssa Frye hit the go-ahead jumper from the right wing with 36 seconds left to put CofC up 45-44.
On the following Eagle possession Frye got a block and rebound to secure the win.
The Cougars resume action Wednesday Feb. 1 as they travel to Cullowhee, N.C. to battle Western Carolina.
Chattanooga 63, UNCG 44
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- On a night when the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga honored its past, the Lady Mocs were looking ahead, earning a 63-44 win over UNCG Saturday evening at the McKenzie Arena in front of a season-high crowd of 2,836.
The win snaps a two-game losing skid for the Lady Mocs as they move to 14-6 overall and 9-2 in Southern Conference action. UNCG falls to 3-15 on the year and 2-9 in league play. Chattanooga led from start to finish and got 19 points from the bench in the win.
Chattanooga started the game shooting 60 percent (6-of-10) with senior Whitney Hood racking up nine points on a 4-of-4 start to give UTC a 15-4 lead with 13:43 to play in the opening stanza. The Lady Mocs lead grew to 11 points, but UNCG’s Breonna Patterson hit a pair of 3-pointers to cut Chattanooga’s lead to 17-12, the closest the Spartans would get in the first half.
Junior Kayla Christopher hit three of her four 3-pointers in the final 4:33 of the half to take Chattanooga into intermission with a 35-19 lead.
UNCG started the second half with six points from three different players to cut the lead to 35-25 at the 18:13 mark, but that is as close as it would get for the Spartans. Christopher hit a short jumper sparking a 15-5 run at the 16:40 mark of the half capped off by a layup from the left side by sophomore Faith Dupree who finished with eight points, three rebounds and a steal.
Christopher dropped in a pair of free throws with 4:38 to play to give the Lady Mocs a 60-40 lead, its largest of the game. She finished with a game-high 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, tying UTC’s season-high with four 3-pointers, all in the first half. Hood put in 16 points of her own in the game for her 10th straight double-digit game this season.
Freshman Ashley Southern had six points and four rebounds. Sophomore Taylor Hall had a game-high eight rebounds on the night while junior Kylie Lambert had five points and five rebounds for the Lady Mocs. Senior Tenisha Townsend and freshman Ka’Vonne Towns each dished out five assists with Townsend adding five points and Towns grabbing five boards.
The Lady Mocs struggled last week on the boards, but came on strong tonight outrebounding the Spartans 48-30 and had 18, one shy of a season-high, off the offensive glass. Chattanooga outscored UNCG 26-12 in the paint and had 18 second chance points. Both teams gave up 13 turnovers, but the Lady Mocs turned theirs into 20 points to the Spartans eight.
At halftime, former Lady Mocs players, coaches, trainers and managers were on hand for a special recognition in honor of the Lady Mocs Legends Weekend. The former Mocettes and Lady Mocs gathered at the DoubleTree hotel downtown for a private reception Friday night and then hosted a public reception at the Chattem Basketball Practice Facility. In attendance was UTC’s first women’s basketball varsity head coach Grace Keith. She started the program in the 1974-75 season and was the coach for two seasons. She was replaced in 1976 by Sharon Cable Fanning-Otis who was a member of that first team.
The Lady Mocs return to action Monday night when they play host to Elon whose four-game win streak was snapped Saturday at Samford in a 67-53 loss. The Phoenix is 10-10 overall and 6-5 in SoCon play. Chattanooga posted a 59-46 win over Elon at Alumni Gym on Dec. 3. The game will be carried live by ESPN3.com. The game can also be heard on ESPN 105.1 The Zone and live stats will be available at GoMocs.com, the official website of Chattanooga Athletics.