Wofford 66, Kennesaw State 49

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Daniella Motley picked the first double-double of the season for the Terriers with 18 points and 12 rebounds as Wofford reeled off its third straight win with a 66-49 victory over Kennesaw State Saturday afternoon in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.

Motley scored her 18 points by going 9-for-16 from the floor, while grabbing six rebounds in each half.  Motley also had a game-high four steals.  Merritt followed with nine points by going 4-for-5 from the floor.  Ashton Fleming and Chanel Stokes added eight and seven points apiece.  Rachel Brittenham handed out five assists giving her 389 career assists moving her into second place all-time.  She passed assistant coach Jessica Ridgill in the game.

Wofford improves to 3-1 as they Terriers earned their third straight win after dropping the season opener.  Kennesaw State falls to 1-5 overall.

The Terriers opened the game with an 8-3 run as four different scorers scored in the first two minutes of play.  Kennesaw State rattled off a 7-2 run to tie the game at 10 at the 16-minute mark.

After trading baskets over the next four minutes, Wofford extended a one point lead, 15-14, out to seven points, 21-14, with a 6-0 run with baskets from Motley, Stokes and Michelle Merritt with nine minutes reaming in the half.

However, the Owls battled back and pulled within one point, 21-20, sparked by four points from Chantel Kennedy five minutes later.  Leading 26-24, with 4:48 on the clock, the Terriers closed out the first half with a 12-2 run with four points from Lauren Kirby to take a 38-26 into the break.

Both teams held high shooting percentages after the first 20 minutes with Wofford going 44 percent from the floor and Kennesaw State making 42 percent of its shots from the floor.

In the second half, Wofford came out on a 6-0 run as they extended the lead to 18 points aided by four points from Merritt two and a half minutes into play.

Wofford’s lead hit 20 points following a free throw from Morgan Wrightson with 12:35 remaining in the game.  The Terriers never allowed the Owls back into the contest as the lead never dipped below 17 points en route to a 66-49 Wofford win.

Wofford finished the game 41 percent from the floor, six percent from three and 71 percent from the free throw line.  The Terriers limited the Owls to only a 29 percent field goal percentage in the second half.  Kennesaw State finished 35 percent overall, 25 percent from three and 62 percent from the line.

The Terriers won the battle of the boards as they collected 42 rebounds compared to 34 for the Owls.

Kristina Wells led Kennesaw State with 13 points, while Kennedy earned a double-double with ten points and 13 rebounds.  Sametria Gideon also collected double-digit rebounds with ten rebounds.

Wofford hits the road for four straight games that starts at North Carolina Central on November 26th at 6 p.m. before opening SoCon play with trips to Chattanooga on November at 7 p.m. and Samford on December 1 at 3 p.m.

Georgia Southern 71, Kent State 47

ATLANTA – MiMi DuBose scored a game-high 21 points and dished out four assists, and Georgia Southern held Kent State to 26 percent shooting to notch a 71-47 women’s basketball victory over the Golden Flashes Saturday afternoon in the Georgia State Thanksgiving Tournament in GSU Sports Arena.

DuBose went 5-for-10 from 3-point range and knocked down six of her eight free throws. Jordi Cook scored eight points in 12 minutes off the bench, and four Eagles scored seven points apiece.

Jamie Hutchinson led Kent State (0-5) with 10 points, and Tamzin Barroilhet collected eight points and nine rebounds.

The Eagles (1-2) grinded their way to a 31-22 lead at halftime and pushed the lead into double digits early in the second half. Kent State tried to cut into the lead with full-court pressure, but the Eagles handled it well and wound up shooting 55 percent in the stanza.

For the second straight game, Georgia Southern forced 20-plus turnovers and tallied double-digit steals, finishing today’s contest with 11.

With GSU leading 37-28 early in the second half, a DuBose triple started a 13-3 run that gave the Eagles a 19-point advantage. Kiki Rawls netted four of her seven points during the stretch, and Danielle Spencer added four. The Eagles pushed a 17-point margin to a 69-43 cushion with 1:58 to play as Cook knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to cap a 13-4 run.

Kent State led 15-11 midway through the first half, but GSU held the Golden Flashes to two field goals over the final 11:03 of the stanza.

Meanwhile, a DuBose triple sparked a 13-0 Eagle run that gave GSU a 24-15 lead with 5:27 left in the half.

Kent State cut the lead to six with a free throw by Ashley Evans, but Meredyth Frye, who finished the game with seven points, hit a triple from the wing with 37 seconds left to give the Eagles the nine-point halftime lead.

The Eagles open Southern Conference play at league preseason favorite Davidson next Saturday in a 4 p.m. contest in Belk Arena.

American 69, Elon 68

ELON, N.C. – A layup by Ali Ford with five seconds left did not fall the way of the Phoenix as the Elon women’s basketball team (2-2) dropped a 69-68 game to American (1-3) today, Nov. 24, in Alumni Gym.

The game saw 12 ties and 16 lead changes as Elon shot 48 percent from the field on 28-of-58 field goal attempts, while American hit 29-of-65 to shoot 44 percent. The Phoenix out-rebounded the Eagles by three, 35-32, and was perfect from the charity stripe. American managed to score 18 points off the maroon and gold’s 18 turnovers.

Ford led all players with 21 points and also dished out a season-high six assists. Kelsey Evans recorded her third straight double-double with a season-high 20 points and 11 boards. The senior is now one point shy of becoming the 19th player in program history to reach 1,000-career points. Jessica Farmer was the third Elon player to score in double figures with a career-high 10 points.

American led by seven, 18-11, with 13:29 left in the first before a 10-2 run by the Phoenix, capped by a three-point play by Evans off a layup and made free throw, gave the maroon and gold a 21-20 advantage with just over 10 minutes to play.

A layup by Ford at the 2:15 mark put the Phoenix up 32-28 with its largest lead of the half and forced an Eagle timeout. Back-to-back threes by American’s Alexis Dobbs and Jen Dumiak then gave the Eagles a two-point advantage, 34-32. Elon pulled even off a Farmer jumper with 21 seconds remaining to knot the score, 34-all, at the half.

The Eagles came out strong to start the second half taking a nine-point edge, 48-39, at the 16:27 mark. A jumper by Zora Stephenson stopped the American surge and started a 14-0 run that spanned over three minutes and saw seven straight points from Evans to take a 53-48 lead with 11:51 remaining.

American knotted the game for the eighth time at 53-all and the score differential remained within one possession until Elon moved ahead by four, 68-64, with just under four minutes to play. The Eagles’ Aaron Zimmerman completed a three-point play on a free throw to finish a five-point run to move ahead, 69-68 with 14 seconds left.

Elon then inbounded the ball as Ford took it down the court for an attempted layup with five ticks on the clock. The ball fell off the rim and American’s Michelle Holmes grabbed the rebound. Elon was not able to get another shot off as the Eagles walked away with the one-point win.

The Phoenix will close out its four-game home stand with its conference opener against College of Charleston on Saturday, Dec. 1, in Alumni Gym. Tip is set for 2 p.m.

Furman 73, Mercer 64

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Teshia Griswold scored 17 points and Erica Norwood came of the bench in the second half to provide a defensive spark and tally 11 points to help Furman past Mercer, 73-64, in women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.

Griswold scored 10 of her 17 points in the first half to lead the Paladins (3-1) to a 40-29 halftime lead, but it was Norwood’s play that proved most decisive, as the freshman guard entered the contest with 13 minutes remaining and the scored tied at 47-47 after the Bears (3-2) had erased Furman’s halftime advantage.

Once on the floor the 5-foot-3 Norwood quickly cooled off Mercer guard Precious Bridges, whose seven points — part of her 17-point performance — had helped the Bears open the second half with a 16-2 run to take a 45-43 lead following a Bridges jump shot at the 15:34 mark.

With the game tied at 51-51, Furman, using a Brittany Hodges layup and Griswold jumper and 3-pointer, seized a 58-51 advantage with eight minutes to go.

A Kelsey Ellis jump shot at the 4:40 juncture pushed the lead to 63-54 before Mercer responded with a 6-0 spurt to cut it to 63-60 on a Tabitha Bradshaw layup with 2:47 remaining.

Following a flurry of missed shots by both teams over the next two minutes, Norwood was fouled with 1:04 to go and sent to the free throw line, where she converted a pair of shots for a 65-60 lead on the way to game ending stretch of 10 consecutive made free throws by the Paladin newcomer.

Norwood, who tallied all 11 of her points at the line, also added two assists and a steal in 12 minutes of action.

Mercer’s Kendra Grant led all scorers with 24 points.  Bridges, the Bears’ leading scorer on the young season, produced her 17 points on just 6-of-25 shooting.  Teanna Robinson finished with 10 points and a game high 14 rebounds.

Mercer shot 40.0 percent from the field, connecting on 28-of-70 shots, and notched a 47-38 rebounding advantage, including a 28-19 margin on the offensive glass, but the Bears were outscored 28-6 at the free throw line by the Paladins, who drained 28-for-33 opportunities.

The Paladins play at Georgia on Wednesday in a 7:00 p.m. game.

Tennessee State 57, Samford 40

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Samford women’s basketball team shot just 31.3 percent overall and 14.3 percent from three-point range in a 57-40 loss to Tennessee State in the final game of the Samford Thanksgiving Classic Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.

Samford was led in the game by senior guard Shelby Campbell with 10 points. Sophomore Taylor Reece scored seven points, while senior Hannah Dawson and freshman Lydia McGee added six points each. McGee also led the team in rebounding with six.

For Tennessee State, Kesi Hess led the way with 15 points. Tanesha Stenson added 11 points and seven rebounds. Simone Hopes led all rebounders with 12 in the contest.

In the first half, Tennessee State jumped out to an early five-point lead at 9-4 with 14:30 left in the half after a three-pointer by Hess. With TSU leading, 11-6, Samford went on a 9-2 run to take a 15-13 lead with 9:05 left in the half after a jumper by Kendall Schwantz.

The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes until, with Samford leading 19-17, TSU went on an 8-2 run to take the lead again at 25-21 with 2:37 left in the half after a jumper by Destiney Gaston. Tennessee State took a 25-23 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Tennessee State pushed its lead out to eight points at 35-27 with 13:13 to go after a jumper by Gaston. Samford fought back to cut the lead to three points at 38-35 with 9:03 left after a three-pointer by Reece.

With Tennessee State leading, 43-38 with 6:17 to play, The Lady Tigers closed the game with a 14-2 run to make the final score 57-40.

With the loss, Samford drops to 2-2 on the young season. Tennessee State improves to 2-3 with the win.

Samford will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 27, when the Bulldogs play host to Auburn-Montgomery. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.

Saint Mary’s 70, Chattanooga 67

MORAGA, Calif. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team’s comeback attempt against Saint Mary’s (CA) College fell short in the final game of the Gael’s Concord Hilton Thanksgiving Classic.

The loss was Chattanooga’s first on the year after making a 4-0 run to start the season. UTC is now 4-1 overall and will open Southern Conference play hosting Wofford Thursday, November 29 at the Roundhouse.

Lady Mocs senior Kayla Christopher started the game making six of her first attempts including four 3-pointers and ended the game with a season-high 27 points and a career-best seven shots from beyond the arc, second most in school history. She now has 178 on the year. Christopher was named to the All-Tournament team for her effort.

Chattanooga held a four-point lead throughout most of the first half getting up as much as six, but saw it slip away in the waning minutes of the opening period behind four points from Jackie Nared to cut the lead to two and a layup from Carli Rosenthal tied it 18-18 at the 5:56 mark.

Christopher made two of her four first-half 3-pointers to put Chattanooga up 24-20 with 4:49 to play in the opening frame, but Nared responded with two of her own and the Gaels took the lead for good 26-24 at the 2:30 mark and would lead 30-26 at the break.

Saint Mary’s Nared capped off a second half 17-5 run with a layup to give the Gaels their largest lead of the game, 47-31, with 15:55 to play. The Lady Mocs responded behind five points from Christopher to cut the lead to eight, 51-43, at the 11:30 mark of the half.

The Gaels would continue to push its lead back to double digits despite offensive pressure from the Lady Mocs over the next seven minutes. However, Chattanooga finally cracked the defense and pulled to within one point, 68-67 on a 3-pointer from Christopher, capping off a 14-5 run from UTC in the closing stages.

Chattanooga tried to strategize its way back into the game by fouling SMC’s Morgan Hatten. She would hit the second of her two free throws to put the Gaels up 69-67 with 17 seconds to play. Chattanooga got the ball back on the possession change and ran the floor. Freshman Tatianna Jackson (Atlanta, Ga.) missed a 3-point attempt and junior Alex Black (Memphis, Tenn.) was on hand to grab the offensive board. Her quick put back hit off the front of the rim and back into her hands, but an errant pass to Jackson went out of bounds.

UTC put Nared, who was 7-of-7 from the charity stripe for the game, at the free throw line and she would only hit one of her two shots, but with 2.1 seconds on the clock, Chattanooga couldn’t get down the court for a shot and fell for the first time this season.

Christopher closed out the game with 27 points, making 10-of-14 from the field and 7-of-10 from the 3-point line. She had two rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals in 27 minutes of play. Junior Taylor Hall had 12 points, four rebounds and three steals. Sophomore Ka’Vonne Towns matched her career-highs with 11 points and six rebounds. She was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and made two of her four free throw attempts.

Senior Kylie Lambert and junior Alex Black each had six rebounds and combined for nine of Chattanooga 14 assists. Chattanooga forced the Gaels into 15 miscues that resulted in 16 points off turnovers and their 17 offensive rebounds translated into 17 second chance points. The Lady Mocs got 23 points from the bench compared to Saint Mary’s 19 while the Gaels outscored UTC in the paint 16-12.

Appalachian State 69, Campbell 54

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Raven Gary shot a career high 17 points to lead Appalachian State University women’s basketball to a 69-54 victory over Campbell University Saturday evening at Minges Coliseum.

The Mountaineers, who improve to 3-1 overall, and grab their first road win of the 2012-13 season, managed a 32-26 lead at halftime against the Camels (4-1), who brought the intensity, forcing a neck-and-neck contest.

Campbell shot a low 27.3 percent (9-33) from the floor in the first 20 minutes, including 3-8 from beyond the arc and 5-7 from the line.

Appalachian State fielded a more respectable 38.7 percent (12-31) in the field during the first half, along with recording 4-6 from the charity stripe.

The Apps battled early in first half to maintain a one-possession lead before a layup from Campbell’s Tonisha Baker tied the contest (17-17) with 9:19 remaining in the period. A follow-up jumper by Roslyn Presley would give Campbell a 17-19 lead. A pair of quick threes from Farrahn Wood put App back on top (23-19), where they would stay for the remainder of the half.

Anna Freeman led the first half with eight points and seven rebounds, followed by Maryah Sydnor and Raven Gary, who contributed  seven points each.

App State began the second half with an A. Freeman layup before heading on a 6-0 ru at the 18:11 mark (38-32). At the hands of Tonisha Baker, Campbell would make a run of their own cutting App’s lead to a one-possession game, and even regaining the lead (49-48) for a single possession.

The Fighting Camels would not lead again, as the Apps increased their intensity in the second half along with their numbers. The Mountaineers raised their field goal percentage by nearly 10 percent to 48.3 percent (14-29), while raising their three-point game to 66.7 percent (2-3). The Mountaineer’s largest lead of the night (15) with 1:59 remaining would also mark the final score of the contest at 69-54.

Raven Gary and Anna Freeman led the Apps with 17 points each. A. Freeman recorded her second consecutive double double with 12 rebounds, while Gary recorded four steals. Maryah Sydnor finished with 13 points of her own and four steals.

Baker paced the Camels with 13 points, including 4-4 from the line, and eight rebounds. Ashley James posted nine points, with Kiera Gaines and Jessica Moore adding seven each.

Campbell shot 31.7 percent (19-60) on the night, while the Mountaineers finished at 43.3 percent (26-60) from the floor, shooting 11-14 from the line.

Appalachian State will return to Minges Coliseum to face Nofolk State at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday for day two of the ECU Pirate Invitational.