Georgia State 73, Georgia Southern 48

ATLANTA – Cody Paulk collected 18 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots to lead Georgia State to a 73-48 women’s basketball victory over Georgia Southern in the Panthers’ Thanksgiving Tournament Friday afternoon in GSU Sports Arena.

Anna Claire Knight posted career highs of 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Eagles (0-2), and Sierra Kirkland scored eight. Meredyth Frye finished with seven points and three rebounds, while Danielle Spencer and Aishya Wofford each had six boards.

Kayla Nolan scored 15 for the Panthers (3-1), and Ashlee Cole netted 13. Maryam Dogo had 11 rebounds.

The Eagles struggled from the field, shooting 24 percent for the game and 1-for-15 from 3-point range, but went 17-for-27 from the free-throw line. Georgia Southern forced 20 turnovers and finished with 13 steals. Georgia State hit 47 percent from the floor and knocked down four triples.

Paulk and Cole each scored four points as Georgia State used a 12-0 run to open a 14-4 margin 6:26 into the contest. Georgia Southern went 0-for-9 from the floor during the stretch.

The Eagles cut an 18-point second half deficit down to 10 twice, but the Panthers never let the margin get under double figures. Kirkland ignited an 8-0 Georgia Southern run that made the score 38-28 5:09 into the second half, but Nolan answered with a pair of free throws and Gaby Moss drilled a 3-pointer to push the margin back to 15.

Lacie Dowling hit a triple, and Knight added a pair of free throws to cut the lead back to 10 with 12:09 to play, but the Panthers went inside to Paulk. The senior scored five points in a 15-5 run that pushed the lead to 20 points with 6:59 remaining. Nolan added seven points during the stretch.

The Eagles are back in action at the Georgia State Thanksgiving Tournament tomorrow at 2 p.m. as they take on either Kent State or Florida A&M.

Chattanooga 68, Portland State 59

MORAGA, Calif. --- After getting off to a slow start behind the steady play of first-time starter junior Ashlen Dewart the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team came away with a 68-59 win over Portland State in the opening game of the St. Mary’s Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic at McKeon Pavilion.

The Lady Mocs improve to 4-0 on the year, their best start since the 1999-2000 season when UTC started the season at 4-0 in Head Coach Wes Moore’s second season. Portland State falls to 3-1 on the year.

Dewart kept Chattanooga in the game scoring 13 of Chattanooga’s first 15 points just over halfway through the opening stanza. Dewart’s first layup tied the game in the opening minute at 2-2 but the Vikings scored the next six to get an 8-2 lead at the 17:48 mark. Dewart and Portland State traded buckets over the next couple of minutes before a couple of free throws put the Vikings up 16-8 with 14:42 to play in the first.

Dewart and sophomore Ka’Vonne Towns combined on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to just two, 16-14 at the 10:22 mark of the first. Dewart would get one more point in the half, but it would be senior Kylie Lambert down the stretch with 12 points behind a pair of 3-pointers and 6-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe.

Chattanooga took the lead for good on Lambert’s final free throw of the period and solidified it with a layup from Towns to make it 35-32 at the break.

The Lady Mocs started the second half on a 17-7 run to take a 52-39 lead with 13:05 to play. Portland State would only get as close as eight points twice more in the contest. Dewart added 10 second half points to end up with a game-high 23 points. That is a season-high for the transfer, the most she has scored at UTC and one point shy of the most points scored in a game by a UTC player this season. Junior Taylor Hall and junior Meghan Downes have each tossed in 24 points for the Lady Mocs.

Lambert added six to her total and posted a double-double for the first time this season and the fifth of her career with 18 points and 10 boards. She also added a career-high five steals in the game and was 10-of-12 from the free throw line, a career-best effort.

Senior Kayla Christopher became the 25th member of the Lady Mocs’ 1,000-Point Club Friday with eight points and was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc to move to fourth place all-time on the UTC women’s basketball all-time 3-pointers made list with 171, surpassing Miranda Warfield for the spot. She had a season-high five assists on the day and recorded two steals.

Chattanooga outscored Portland State in the paint 24-12 and held a 20-11 advantage on points off turnovers forcing 26 by the Vikings. The Lady Mocs were outrebounded 40-39 but pulled down 16 offensive boards that translated into 17 second chance points. The Lady Mocs recorded 19 steals, the most since getting 15 against Wofford on December 9, 2009. Towns and Hall each snared four steals apiece.

Chattanooga shot 34.9 percent for the game after shooting 40 percent in the first half and was 4-of-19 from the 3-point line while making 20-of-27 free throws.

Portland State shot 42 percent for the game (21-50) and was 5-of-12 from beyond the line while making 12-of-16 from the charity stripe.

Portland State had three players in double figures led by Kate Lanz with 11 points and eight rebounds. Angela Misa nearly had a double-double in the second half, scored all 10 of her points in the latter stanza for 10 points and 14 boards. Allison Greene added 10 points in the effort.

Chattanooga will face host St. Mary’s on Saturday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will be carried live on Cat Country 95.3 FM. Live stats, video streaming and streaming audio will be available at GoMocs.com.

Samford 49, Alabama State 19

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Samford women’s basketball team used a strong defensive performance to take a 49-19 win over Alabama State on the first day of the Samford Thanksgiving Classic Friday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.

Samford held Alabama State to just 13.3 percent shooting, and the 19 points allowed is a new Samford record for fewest point allowed in a game. The Lady Hornets scored just four points in the first half, which was just one point shy of a national record.

Samford was led in the game by senior guard Jazmine Martin with 14 points. Junior guard Shelby Campbell and sophomore forward Taylor Reece added eight points each. Campbell also grabbed five rebounds, and Reece dished out four assists.

Senior forward Hannah Dawson added five points and five rebounds for the Bulldogs. Freshman Lydia McGee scored four points, while fellow freshmen Ashli Mayes and Rebecca Webster contributed three points each. Junior Christy Robinson and redshirt freshman Keke Fletcher added two points each.

For Alabama State, Jasmine Peeples led the way with seven points. Danielle Gazaway scored five points, while Ashley Jones and Nakyia Smith added three points each for the Lady Hornets.

Samford started the first half strong, scoring the first nine points of the contest to take a 9-0 lead with 13:30 left in the first half after a free throw by Dawson. After a basket by Alabama State cut the lead to 9-2 with 10:30 left, Samford went on another 11-0 run to push its lead to 20-2 with 3:38 left in the first half after a jumper by Martin.

The Bulldogs took a 23-4 lead into halftime. In the first half, Samford limited Alabama State to just 9.1 percent (2-of-22) shooting.

Samford opened the second half on a 16-2 run to push its lead out to 33 points at 39-6 with 9:17 left in the game after a three-pointer by Martin.

Alabama State fought back to cut the lead to 28 at 39-11 with 6:32 left. The Lady Hornets, however, could get no closer than 27 points the rest of the way, as Samford came away with the 49-19 win.

With the win, Samford improves to 2-1 on the season. Alabama State drops to 0-2 with the loss.

In the early game Friday afternoon, UAB defeated Tennessee State by a score of 68-60.

The Samford Thanksgiving Classic will conclude with two more games Saturday afternoon. Alabama State will take on UAB at 1 p.m., followed by Samford taking on Tennessee State at 3 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center.

Miami (OH) 55, College of Charleston 42

OXFORD, Ohio –  The College of Charleston women’s basketball team forced 32 turnovers, but couldn’t get their offense going as they fell to Miami (Ohio) 55-42 Friday at Millett Hall.

Freshman Shannon Hines led the Cougars with 11 points as she scored the first points of her collegiate career. Hines also contributed on defense as she was one of four Cougars with at least four steals in the game. The Cougars (2-2) had 19 steals for the game, their fourth most in school history.

Cathryn Hardy, a native of Dayton, Ohio, playing in front of a large amount of friends and family just missed a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.

The Cougars trailed early as Miami (Ohio) (3-1) jumped out to a 10-2 lead and lead by as many as 19 at 24-5 with 6:57 to go in the first half.

The Cougars closed the half on a 10-2 run to get within eight at 26-18.

In the second half the Cougars would cut the lead down to four with a Hines basket at the 12:51 mark, but couldn’t draw any closer. Miami (Ohio) countered with an 11-3 and made key free-throws down the stretch.

The Cougars return to action Sunday with game at Cincinnati at 2:00 p.m.