Wofford 70, Georgia Southern 55
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Rachel Brittenham came up two rebounds shy of a triple-double with 17 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds as Wofford defeated Georgia Southern 70-55 Monday night in the Benjamin Johnson Arena in a Southern Conference game.
Brittenham finished the game 6-of-7 overall, 3-of-4 from three and 2-of-4 from the free throw line. It is the second time this season she has broken the double-digit assists mark and fifth in her career. She now has 341 career assists, fourth all-time, and 126 assists this season, fifth in assists in a single-season. She broke the single season mark in 2010-11 with 160 assists.
With the win, the Terriers improves to 10-11 overall and 3-9 in the Southern Conference. It is the first time since 2007-08 that Wofford has reached ten wins in a season and it is the earliest a team has reached ten wins since the 2001-02 team had ten wins by January 12. The win also snaps a six game losing skid and avenges a loss to the Eagles (7-14, 3-9) early in the season.
Wofford took an early 12-6 lead with just over 16 minutes to play. Logan Morris had eight of the first 12 points for the Terriers including two corner threes. Wofford extended the lead to 17-10 at 12:33 when Mariah Masalin found Rachel Brittenham on the baseline for an easy layup.
Wofford pushed the lead to 21-10 two made free throws from Brittenham and a technical foul on Georgia Southern at the ten-minute mark, and surged head to a 15-point lead, 25-10, on back-to-back jumpers from Masalin two minutes later.
Georgia Southern cut into the Terrier lead on baseline jumper from Janay Wilson, 25-14, but Wofford responded with a three from Brittenham and a put back on her own miss from Daniella Motley to push the lead 30-14 with 4:33 left in the half.
After the Eagles again cut into the lead 32-18 on two free throws from Britteny Benzio, Erin Frost answered with back-to-back threes to extend the lead to 20 points, 38-18, with just over a minute left. Georgia Southern converted the final basket of the half as Wofford took an 18-point lead, 38-20, into the half.
Wofford held their 20-point lead, 47-27 through the first media timeout in the second half with 15:58 left to play, but Lacie Dowling made a three coming out of the timeout to make it 47-30.
Wofford pushed the lead back to 21 points, 54-33, on a three from Wrightson two minutes later, and a Brittenham three at the 12-minute mark pushed the lead to 57-33.
Georgia Southern cut the lead to 19 points, 57-38, on jumper by Ro-Ro Smith at 9:48, and pulled to within 59-44 on two Anna Claire Knight free throws. Brittenham responded with a three and a layup from Motley to push the lead back to 19 points, 64-45 with 6:42 left in play.
The Eagles answered with a 10-2 run highlighted by a three from Briana Scott over the next five minutes before Daniella Motley knocked down a jumper on Brittenham’s tenth assists of the game to make it 68-55 Wofford. Wofford took the game 70-55 as Motley scored the final basket.
Wofford finished the game 49 percent from the floor, 53 percent from three and 56 percent from the line, while Georgia Southern went 27 percent overall, 20 percent from long range and 78 percent from the line.
The Terriers held a 45-33 rebound advantage, and an 18-5 assists advantage.
Brittenham’s 17 paced the Terriers offensively, but for the third straight game and 14th time this season Wofford had three with double-digit points. Motley finished with 14 points and nine rebounds. Morris followed with ten points, all of which came in the first half.
April Moorhouse added six points giving her 807 career points and putting her in a tie for 19th all-time in the Wofford record book. She is also the 21st player to crack the 800-point mark.
Knight was the only Eagle in double-figures with 11 points.
Wofford stays in the Benjamin Johnson Arena to finish a three-game home stand with Chattanooga on February 4 at 6 p.m. and Samford on February 6 at 6 p.m. which will air on ESPN3 as the SoCon Game of the Week.
Samford 83, UNCG 40
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Samford sophomore guard Shelby Campbell scored a career-high 23 points to lead four players in double figures as the Bulldog women’s basketball team cruised to an 83-40 Southern Conference win over UNC Greensboro.
The win was the largest for Samford in Southern Conference play since joining the league prior to the 2008-09 season. Samford improves to 13-8 overall and 8-4 in SoCon play with the win. UNC Greensboro drops to 3-17 overall and 2-10 in league play.
Campbell made 9-of-11 shots from the floor and 2-of-4 from three-point range.
Behind Campbell for Samford, senior guard Paige Anderson, senior guard Ruth Ketcham and freshman forward Taylor Reece scored 12 points each. Ketcham also had a game-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Kendall Schwantz scored eight points and junior forward Hannah Dawson added seven points for the Bulldogs.
For UNC Greensboro, Janae’ Stevenson scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds. Sidnei Harmon and Jarae Savage added eight points each for the Spartans.
In the first half, UNC Greensboro jumped out to an early 7-4 lead with 16:29 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Stevenson. Samford responded with a 16-0 run to take a 20-7 lead with 12:05 to go in the opening half after a three-pointer by Ketcham.
UNC Greensboro fought back to cut the Samford lead to eight points at 20-12 with 9:59 to go in the first half after a layup by Savage. Samford, however, went on a 16-3 run to push its lead out to 21 points and 36-15 with 1:57 to go in the half after a layup by Campbell. Samford took a 39-17 lead into halftime.
Early in the second half, Samford pushed its lead out to 24 points at 41-17 with 19:07 to go after a jumper by Reece. UNC Greensboro cut the lead to 19 points at 41-22 with 17:32 left in the game. With Samford leading, 43-24, the Bulldogs went on a 14-4 run to take a 29-point lead at 57-28 with 10:23 to go after a basket by Schwantz.
Samford pushed its lead out to 35 points at 66-31 with 7:44 to go after a basket by Campbell. After UNCG cut the lead to 31 at 66-35, Samford closed the game with a 17-5 run to make the final score 83-40.
For the game, Samford posted season highs in points (83), field goals made (31), field goal percentage (62.0) and assists (23).
Samford will return to action on Monday, Feb. 6, when the Bulldogs play at Wofford. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. (CT) start from Spartanburg, S.C.
Appalachian State 58, Western Carolina 39
BOONE, N.C. –Appalachian State University women’s basketball used a stifling second-half defensive effort to pick up a 58-39 win over Southern Conference archrival Western Carolina on Monday night at the Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers (16-3, 10-1 SoCon) won their fifth-straight game and swept the regular season series against the Catamounts (7-14, 2-10) for the third-consecutive season.
After the Apps took a five-point lead twice in the opening minutes, Western Carolina rallied with a 7-0 run to take a 9-7 lead with 14:06 left in the first half before ASU took back the lead with three-straight points to make it 10-9. WCU reclaimed the lead (11-10) on Janae’ McKinney’s jumper with 11:51 on the clock in what would be its final lead of the contest.
Maryah Sydnor hit a jumper just moments later to give the Mountaineers the lead for good, though the Catamounts were able to cut the deficit to just one point on three occasions in the closing moments of the half before ASU took a 29-25 lead to the locker room.
Appalachian State grabbed its first double-digit lead (38-28) on a pair of free throws from Anna Freeman with 12:45 left to play before the Catamounts cut the deficit to just seven points (38-31) just a minute later.
The Mountaineers would turn up the heat after that, reeling off an 18-5 run to give them a 20-point lead (56-36) with just over three minutes of action left. Western Carolina drew as close as 18 points in the final three minutes, but the Apps closed things out to pick up another Southern Conference victory.
Freeman led all players with 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting while Sydnor finished with 11 points, six rebounds and two assists. Courtney Freeman had six points and six rebounds while Kelsey Sharkey tied a career-high with six steals.
Western Carolina was led on offense by Diamond Hunnicutt and Rena Wakama, who each finished with eight points. Kaila’Shea Menendez, who entered the contest averaging a team-best 11.8 points per game, was held to just five points.
As a team, the Mountaineers shot 34.5 percent (19-for-55) from the floor and went 18-for-23 from the charity stripe including a 15-for-17 mark in the second half. Western Carolina was held to just 31.7 percent (13-for-41) from the floor and made just four shots in the second half.
Appalachian State won the battle of the boards by a 38-29 tally and picked up 16 offensive rebounds. The Apps forced 29 turnovers and collected 19 steals.
The Mountaineers hit the road with a game at Georgia Southern at 5 p.m. on Saturday before traveling to College of Charleston for a 7 p.m. contest on Monday.
Davidson 78, Furman 57
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Davidson junior Sophia Aleksandravicius was a block away from a triple-double, tallying 20 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocked shots to go with three steals to lead the Wildcats to a 78-57 Southern Conference women’s basketball victory over Furman Monday night in Belk Arena.
Aleksandravicius’ nine blocks are a new school record, topping her old mark of seven. Laura Murray finished with 17 points and seven assists for Davidson (13-7, 9-2 SoCon), and Kristen Johnsen scored a season-best 14. Barbara Sitton collected 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Freshman Lillian McCabe provided a big spark off the bench with a season-best seven points in 21 minutes of action.
Alexis Peterson posted 14 points, six rebounds and four steals for Furman (11-10, 7-5 SoCon), and Teshia Griswold had 10 points and five rebounds.
Davidson shot 56 percent for the game, and 66 percent in the second half when the ‘Cats outscored the Paladins 49-31. Davidson registered 20 assists in the contest, tying a team season-high.
With the ‘Cats ahead by eight, Murray’s conventional 3-point play sparked a decisive 13-3 run that gave Davidson a 71-53 advantage with 2:54 left in the game. Murray added another jumper during the stretch, and Sitton capped it with consecutive layups.
Trailing 26-21, Davidson capped the first half by scoring the last eight points to go into the break with a 29-26 lead. Sitton scored four points in a 10-4 run as Davidson opened a 49-37 cushion 6:12 into the second half.
The Wildcats scored a season-high 54 points in the paint and shot only six 3-pointers in the game. Davidson had 11 blocked shots as a team to go along with 12 steals.
The Wildcats return to action at College of Charleston in a 2 p.m. contest Saturday, Feb. 4.
Chattanooga 80, Elon 65
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Sophomores Faith Dupree and Meghan Downes combined to score 42 points in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's 80-65 Southern Conference women's basketball victory over Elon Monday night at the McKenzie Arena. Chattanooga improves to 15-6 overall and 10-2 in league play while the Phoenix fall to 10-11 on the year and 6-6 in the SoCon.
The pair, normally one of the first off the bench saw increased playing time when the Lady Mocs' two leading scorers were unable to take the court. Senior forward Whitney Hood experienced pain in her knee and was pulled in favor of Dupree just moments into the game, while Downes was a late addition to the starting lineup after junior Kayla Christopher fell ill.
Dupree scored a career-high 24 points in 27 minutes and tied her career-best with four rebounds She went 9-for-18 from the field and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Downes was one shy of her career-high knocking down 18 points, 12 in the first half, in 33 minutes of play shooting 7-of-13 from the field and was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Four Chattanooga players scored in double figures on the night with sophomore Taylor Hall recording her fourth double-double of the year with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds while freshman Ka'Vonne Towns had a career-high 11 points and three steals and was 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
Senior point guard Tenisha Townsend dished out a career-high nine assists with just two turnovers and tied her career-best with three steals.
Elon got out to a 7-4 start on the Lady Mocs through the first four minutes of the game. However, Downes answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to give UTC a 10-7 lead and Chattanooga never looked back. Those six points sparked a 31-8 drumming by the Lady Mocs for a 35-15 lead, UTC's largest, with 4:11 to play in the first half. UTC led 43-26 at the break.
With scoring from four different players, Elon outscored Chattanooga 13-8 over the first 3:33 of the second half, including an 8-0 run by the Phoenix, to cut the Lady Mocs lead to 51-39. That's the closest Elon would get the remainder of the way.
Freshman Kayla Freeman, Dupree and Towns combined for the next 14 UTC points to give the Lady Mocs a 65-4 lead with 6:25 to play. Twice more Chattanooga got its lead up to 19 points and go on to record the 15-point win.
This marks the second time this season that the Lady Mocs have scored 80 or more points and just the first time topping the mark against a league opponent. Chattanooga's bench outscored Elon 44-8 and had a 20-0 advantage in the first half. In the paint, UTC put up 38 points and gave up 24 to the Phoenix. Chattanooga forced 19 Elon miscues, including a season-high 13 steals, and took advantage outscoring the Phoenix 25-9 off turnovers. After getting outrebounded last weekend, Chattanooga recorded its second straight game outrebounding its opponents outdueling Elon 38-30 with 12 from the offensive glass.
Chattanooga went 18-of-33 (54.5%) from the field in the first half and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the frame, but the second half would be turned around as UTC scored 16-of-21 from the free throw line and was just 10-of-30 from the field. The Lady Mocs, ranked 24th among all NCAA Division I schools in the nation at the free throw line, shot 80 percent (20-of-25) from the charity stripe.
Elon was led by Aiesha Harper and Ali Ford's 18 points. Harper had a team-best six rebounds, five assists and committed five turnovers. Ford pulled down five boards and also dished out a team-best five assists while recording four turnovers. Kelsey Evans had 11 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots.
The Phoenix went 22-fo-51 on the night (43.1%) and were 8-of-23 from the 3-point arc while making 13-of-21 from the free throw line.
Chattanooga will be on the road this weekend beginning with a 6 p.m. meeting with Wofford in Spartanburg, S.C., on Saturday, Feb. 4. The Terriers are 10-11 overall and 3-9 in the Southern Conference after recording a win over Georgia Southern at home tonight.