Chattanooga 66, Georgia Southern 60
STATESBORO, Ga. --- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Whitney Hood just missed a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds to lead the Lady Mocs to a 66-60 Southern Conference win over Georgia Southern at the Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Lady Mocs moved to 10-4 overall and are now 5-0 in league play. The Eagles fall to 5-10 overall and 1-5 in conference action.
In the second half, sophomore Meghan Downes was fouled on a 3-point shot and sank all three free throws to give Chattanooga a 45-26 lead, its largest of the game. The two teams traded buckets over the next 5:51 and junior Kylie Lambert’s layup with 6:38 to play made it 59-40, the Lady Mocs largest lead of the game.
However, Georgia Southern’s Janay Wilson would score the next eight points of the game making 6-of-6 from the free throw line and draining a jumper to cut the score to 59-48 with 4:02 to play. Hood sank two free throws to stretch the lead back out to 61-48, but GSU would score the next six to make it 61-54 with 1:20 remaining.
UTC senior Tenisha Townsend hit the second of her two free throws with 46 seconds to play to make it 62-54, but the Eagles answered with a 3-pointer from Meredyth Frye a few second later to make it 62-57, the closest it would get since midway in the first half.
Lambert and Townsend combined on the next four free throws to secure the win.
After shooting 44.4 percent (12-of-27) in the first half, the Lady Mocs were 9-of-23 in the second to shoot 42 percent for the game. UTC was 3-of-10 from the 3-point line and went 21-of-31 (67.7%) from the free throw line.
Hood was 6-of-12 for the game and went 5-of-7 from the free throw line. UTC got 30 points from its bench led by sophomore Faith Dupree who was 4-for-8 from the field and closed out with 10 points. Downes made a pair of 3-pointers and was 3-for-3 from the free throw line.
Sophomore Alex Black put up eight points while sophomore Taylor Hall scored six points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, four off the offensive glass. Junior Kylie Lambert had six points in the game and grabbed five boards.
Four Georgia Southern players scored in double figures led by Briana Scott’s 14 points. Janay Smith just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. Meredyth Frye put up 12 points and MiMi DuBose had 10 points. The Eagles shot 35.1 percent from the field and made 6-of-17 3-pointers while shooting 14-of-19 from the free throw line.
Chattanooga outrebounded the Eagles 40-34 and outscored GSU 22-18 in the paint.
The Lady Mocs return home for a three-game homestand beginning with a Friday night matchup with Wofford at the McKenzie Arena. The game is set to tip at 7 p.m. Live stats as well as streaming video and audio will be available at MocsVision on GoMocs.com.
Wofford 63, Davidson 59
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Rachel Brittenham’s game-winning three with 44 seconds left to play was part of a 15-2 run over the final five minutes to give the Wofford Terriers a 63-59 win over Davidson Monday night in the Benjamin Johnson Arena in a Southern Conference game.
Wofford improves to 9-5 overall and 2-3 in the SoCon, while Davidson suffered its first conference loss and drops to 9-6 overall and 5-1 in the SoCon. Two Brittenham threes including the game winner capped off Wofford’s 15-2 run over the final 5:15.
Wofford opened the game with a 7-0 run through the first two minutes of play. Logan Morris had four of the Terriers’ opening seven points. Davidson scored the next five points to cut the lead to 7-5 with 16:30 to play on a Laura Murray three, but Wofford responded and pushed the lead back to six points a minute later.
Wofford took its largest lead of the half, 25-18, at the ten-minute mark on a three-point play by Morgan Wrightson, and held a six-point lead, 30-24, on Morris layup three and half minutes later. However, Davidson ended the final 6:31 of play with a 10-2 run to take a 34-32 lead into the locker rooms. Davidson’s Jasmine Calin scored the final basket of the half for either team on a layup with 2:33 on the clock.
Wofford finished the half 46 percent from the field, 50 percent from three and 57 percent from the line, while Davidson was 42 percent overall 57 percent from behind the arc and 57 percent from the line. Wrightson and Murray had 12 points at the half to lead their respective teams.
Davidson came out of the break and immediately pushed its lead to eight points, 40-32, just over three minutes into play. Wofford cut the lead to five points, 40-35, on a Brittenham three with 15:46 on the clock. It was Wofford’s first basket since the 3:58 mark in the first half, a scoring drought spanning 8:14.
Michelle Merritt got an offensive rebound and putback that cut the Wildcat lead to 44-43 with 12:18 to play, but Davidson responded with baskets by Kristen Johnsen and Sophia Aleksandravicius to push the lead back to five points, 48-43, 45 seconds later.
Two minutes later, Wofford cut the lead to two points, 48-46, following a Mariah Masalin jumper and a Wrightson free throw, but again, Davidson answered with a 7-0 to take the largest lead of either team in the game, 55-46, on a Murray layup with 6:42 remaining.
Trailing by nine, 57-48, Wofford mounted its final charge at the lead as they went on a 7-0 run and cut the lead down to 57-55 with 2:18 to play. Masalin had four points and April Moorhouse had three points during the run.
Davidson scored is final basket of the game on an Amanda Ottaway layup with 1:53 remaining to take a four point lead, 59-55, but Brittenham responded for the Terriers with back-to-back threes. Her first came at 1:32 cutting the Wildcat lead 59-58, and her second proved to the game winner as she banked in a three from the right side with two seconds on the shot clock to give Wofford its first lead of the half 61-59 with 44 seconds left in regulation.
Wofford sealed the 63-59 win with two defensive stops and a free throw each from Wrightson and Moorhouse.
The Terriers ended the game shooting 41 percent from the floor, 46 percent from three and 58 percent from the free throw line, while the Wildcats ended at a 39 percent clip from the floor, 46 percent from three and 53 percent from the line.
Brittenham’s game winner was her fourth three of the half giving her 12 second half points and a team-high 15 total points. She finished 5-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-6 from three. She was the first Terrier this season to make five threes in a game and the last Terrier since Maddie Helms made five threes against Chattanooga on January 2, 2011. She also ends the game tied for second for three-point shooting percentage in a single-game with her 5-of-6, .833, performance.
Wrightson finished with 14 points, while Daniella Motley picked up her fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and career-high 15 rebounds. She now has the Terriers last four double-doubles on the season and recorded a double-double in three of the last four Wofford games.
April Moorhouse grabbed ten rebounds and chipped in eight points, while Brittenham had a game-high six assists.
Murray, who had 16 points, led Davidson’s offense. Aleksandravicius collected her fifth double-double of the season with ten points and 15 rebounds.
Wofford will take to the road with games at Chattanooga on January 13 at 7 p.m. and at Samford on January 15 at 3 p.m.
Samford 60, College of Charleston 54
CHARLESTON, S.C.—The Samford women’s basketball team earned its second-straight Southern Conference road win in a 60-54 victory at College of Charleston Monday evening at TD Arena.
With the win, Samford improves to 8-6 overall and 3-2 in SoCon play. College of Charleston falls to 2-13 overall and 1-5 in league play.
Samford was led in scoring by Paige Anderson with 15 points. Jazmine Martin scored 12 points, while Taylor Reece, Hannah Dawson and Christy Robinson added eight points each. The Samford bench outscored the Charleston reserves, 20-3.
College of Charleston was led by Cathryn Hardy with 15 points. Alyssa Frye scored 14 points, while Latisha Harris scored 13 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Jillian Brown added seven points for the Cougars.
In the first half, Samford came out of the gate hot, racing out to a 13-3 lead with 14:34 to go in the first half on the strength of 11 points from Anderson. College of Charleston came back with an 18-1 run to take a 21-14 lead with 10:34 left in the opening period.
Samford came back with a 16-2 run of its own to take the lead back at 30-23 with 3:14 to go after a three-pointer by Robinson. Samford took a 34-27 lead into halftime.
College of Charleston scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 36-34 lead with 13:00 to go after a jumper by Harris. Samford fought back to take the lead at 42-38 with 10:10 left after a free throw by Ruth Ketcham.
College of Charleston then scored nine of the next 11 points to take a 47-44 lead with 7:22 to go after a three-point play by Harris. Samford then went on a 9-0 run to take a 53-47 lead with 4:27 to go after a jumper by Martin.
Samford pushed its lead out to seven points at 56-49 with 2:47 left after a three-pointer by Reece. College of Charleston fought back to cut the Samford lead to three at 56-53 with 1:15 left after a jumper by Frye. The Cougars, however, could get no closer and Samford came away with the 60-54 win.
As a team, Samford made 40.4 percent of its shots, including 43.5 percent of its three-pointers. College of Charleston shot 43.5 percent overall and 50.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Samford will return to action on Friday, Jan. 13, when the Bulldogs play host to Furman. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.
Appalachian State 81, UNCG 66
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Despite leading the entire game, Appalachian State women’s basketball was forced to fight off a pesky UNCG squad in 81-66 Southern Conference win on Monday at Fleming Gymnasium.
The Mountaineers (11-2, 5-0 SoCon) raced out to a 19-4 lead after reeling off an early 13-0 run but the Spartans (2-12, 1-5) fought their way back, cutting ASU’s lead to just seven points (32-25) late in the first half before running out of steam in the second half.
After falling behind 6-2, UNCG pulled within two points before Courtney Freeman and Catherine Williams combined for 11 of Appalachian’s next 13 point to build a 19-4 lead with 12:52 remaining in the first half.
The Spartans responded with a 10-3 run of their own to pull within eight points (22-14) at the 8:02 mark. The Apps extended the lead to 12 points (28-16) with 6:04 left on the clock.
UNCG would make another late first-half run to make it 32-25, but the Mountaineers staved off the rally to take a 38-29 lead into the locker room.
Appalachian State extended its lead to as many as 16 points (51-35) in the second half, but the Spartans again fought back to cut the deficit to just eight points (74-66) with under two minutes to play, but the Mountaineers hit three-straight layups in the waning moments to put the game out of reach.
As a team, the Apps shot a blistering 59.3 percent (35-for-59) from the floor including 70.4 percent (19-for-27) in the second half while holding UNCG to just 34.7 percent (25-for-72) from the field.
Appalachian State finished with a 40-35 edge in rebounds, forced 19 turnovers and dished out 24 assists. The Mountaineers also held the Spartans to just 23.5 percent (4-for-17) from beyond the arc.
Freeman led all scorers with a career-high 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting while Anna Freeman put up 18 points. Maryah Sydnor had 12 points in 17 minutes off the bench and Williams scored 10 and ripped down a game-high 11 boards for her third career double-double.
Chakeitha Weldon dished out eight assists while each half of the Freeman duo notched five. Williams also recorded five block while A. Freeman had four.
UNCG was led on offense by Breonna Patterson’s 16 points while Janae’ Stevenson notched 14. Dayshaun Richbow and Natalie Headley finished with 12 and 10, respectively.
The Mountaineers return home when they play host to Davidson on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. inside the Holmes Center.
Furman 57, Western Carolina 54
CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- Kaitlin Murphy scored 14 points and Teshia Griswold added 12, including a game changing 3-pointer with just under five minutes remaining, to propel Furman to a 57-54 victory over Western Carolina in Southern Conference women's basketball play Monday evening at the Ramsey Center.
The win helped Furman (9-6, 5-1 SoCon) snap a modest three-game losing skid and claim its first win over Western Carolina (6-9, 1-5 SoCon) in Cullowhee since the 2004-05 season, ending a six-game swoon on the Catamounts' home court.
Murphy, who battled foul trouble, found the mark on 4-of-8 shots and 5-of-6 free throws. She offset five turnovers with four rebounds, three assists, and a steal in 23 minutes of action.
Furman committed 27 turnovers, which it was able to weather due to poor shooting by Western Carolina, which canned just 20-of-72 shots (27.8 percent). The Paladins, who shot 39.3 percent (19x50) from the field, battled to a 44-44 draw on the boards despite the Catamounts posting an 18-8 margin on the offensive glass.
Griswold converted 5-of-10 field goal attempts, including both 3-point tries. Her final trey with 4:46 to go capped a 7-2 run that saw the Paladins turn a 41-37 deficit into a 44-43 lead.
Two Murphy free throws with 2:17 left gave the Paladins a 50-45 advantage, and Furman led 53-47 following a Murphy free throw at the 1:12 juncture.
The Paladins turned the ball over on their next three consecutive possessions, which helped the Catamounts answer with a 3-pointer by Makensey Campbell and a Janae' McKinney layup that cut it to 53-52 with 20 seconds remaining.
Fouled on the ensuing possession, Murphy drained two free throws to give Furman a 55-52 lead, and the Paladins held on after WCU's Ali Lane missed a 3-point attempt with 10 seconds to go.
Kaila'Shea Menendez led WCU with 16 points, and Rena Wakama added 14 and Abraham with 10.