Furman 85, USC Upstate 80

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Teshia Griswold scored 21 points and tallied a game tying layup with eight seconds to go in regulation to force overtime to help Furman claim an 85-80 victory over host USC Spartanburg in women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Hodge Center.

The victory snapped a six-game losing skid for Furman (4-7), which had last won on Nov. 24 against Mercer prior to the Saturday’s verdict over USC Upstate (4-7).

Freshman Holli Wilkins, whose layup with 1:03 remaining in overtime, put Furman ahead for good, 81-80, set a new season high with 16 points, and Kaitlin Murphy, whose steal set up Wilkins’ go-ahead basket in the extra frame, converted all four free throw opportunities in the final minute to secure the victory and finish with 14 points.  Murphy also tallied a pair of assists and a game high five steals.

Brittany Hodges rounded out Furman’s double figure scoring effort with 10 points to go along with a game high 11 rebounds.

Griswold punctuated her solid play with eight rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass.

The contest also marked the return of forward Sarah Durdaller, who had been sidelined since Nov. 24 with a broken foot.  The Paladin sophomore tallied nine points, six rebounds, and two assists in 24 minutes of action.

Upstate’s Tee’Ara Copney led all scorers with 22 points, but was whistled for her fifth foul with two seconds remaining in regulation after Griswold knotted the game at 72-72.

Leading 35-33 at intermission, Furman used a 7-2 run over the first two and half minutes of the second half to assume a 42-35 advantage following a layup by Brigid Morrissey.

The Paladins led 44-37  before the Spartans used a 13-1 run to take a 50-45 lead with a pair of Brittany Starling free throws with 12:20 remaininig.

Upstate led 63-53 with just under six minutes remaining before Furman battled back with 3-pointers by Murphy and Erica Norwood to make it 67-65 at the 3:49 juncture.

The Spartans got a 3-pointer and two free throws from Copney to push their advantage to 72-65, but Furman answered with the final seven points in regulation, getting a 3-point play from Griswold, two Durdaller free throws, and Griswold’s offensive rebound and stickback with eight seconds showing on the clock.

The Paladins shot 39.2 percent from the field (31-of-79) and connected on 19-of-26 free throws (39.2 percent) while USC Upstate found the mark on 43.6 percent of its shots from the field (24-of-55), including 7-of-16 from 3-point range.  The Spartans registered solid work at the free throw line, connecting on 25-of-29 attempts (86.2 percent), but Upstate suffered 28 turnovers, which Furman converted into 26-15 scoring advantage.

The triumph was the first positive overtime verdict for Furman dating back to the 2009-10 season, haliting a string of four extra period defeats.

The Paladins return to action on Jan. 7 when they entertain Southern Conference foe Appalachian State at Timmons Arena.

East Carolina 71, Elon 64

GREENVILLE, N.C. – A three off the hands of Ali Ford to tie the game with 24 seconds left did not fall for the Elon women’s basketball team (4-6) as the Phoenix fell to East Carolina (9-3) by a final of 71-64 today, Dec. 29, in Minges Coliseum.

Kelsey Evans recorded her fifth double-double of the season after a game-high 20 points and 13 rebounds. Ford tallied 17 points and seven assists, while Kelsey Harris also scored in double figures with 11 points.

Elon finished 24-of-65 from the field to shoot almost 37 percent. ECU shot 36 percent from the field, including 43 percent (10-of-23) from long range. The Pirates’ Whitny Edwards and Kristine Mial both knocked down four threes in the game.

The Phoenix won the battle on the glass, 49-43. The team’s 49 boards marked the third best in a game for Elon this season.

The Pirates controlled most of the first half with the Phoenix cutting the deficit to no less than seven in the first 15 minutes. Down by 12, 39-27, with 3:24 left in the half, a three by Ford sparked a 10-0 Elon run to close out the first frame. Ford hit another shot from long range with three ticks left on the clock to pull the Phoenix within two at the break, 39-37.

Taking the momentum into the second half, a pair of free throws by Evans and one by Sam Coffer gave Elon its first lead of the game at the 18:33 mark, 40-39. The Pirates answered with a 9-3 run to regain the lead and go up by five, 48-43, with 16:20 left.

The maroon and gold would not let up and climbed back to grab a 60-59 lead off an Evans jumper with just under four minutes remaining.

Two made freebies by Ford put Elon within one, 65-64, at the 1:43 mark, but a jumper by ECU’s Britny Edwards gave the Pirates the edge by three, 67-64.

Evans’ 13th rebound of the game put the Phoenix in good position to tie the game as Ford took a three with 24 seconds left. The ball took a hard bounce off the board and landed in the hands of the Pirates’ B. Edwards. Four free throws as the clock wound down gave ECU the seven-point win.

Elon will close out 2012 with a 2 p.m. contest at nearby North Carolina A&T on Monday, Dec. 31, in Greensboro, N.C.

George Mason 54, Georgia Southern 53

FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason’s Kyana Jacobs hit a driving layup with 12.7 seconds left, and Janaa Pickard blocked a runner by Georgia Southern’s MiMi DuBose on the other end as the Patriots overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to defeat the Eagles 54-53  in the Patriot Center Saturday afternoon.

DuBose finished with a season-high 22 points for the Eagles (1-9), while Anna Claire Knight scored 11. Sierra Kirkland posted six points and nine rebounds, and Aishya Wofford tallied six points and seven boards.

Jacobs had nine points, seven steals and four rebounds for the Patriots (5-5), and Amber Easter tallied 15 points and nine rebounds.

Maggie Davis hit 1-of-2 free throws to give the Eagles a 53-51 lead with 2:48 remaining. Easter hit a free throw for the Patriots, and that’s the way the score would stay until Jacobs’ layin.

DuBose scored all nine points as the Eagles stretched a six-point halftime lead to a 41-28 cushion early in the second period. The Patriots trimmed a 12-point GSU lead to 49-48 on two Easter free throws with 5:48 remaining to set up the late-game excitement. Pickard scored six and Easter netted five during the 11-0 stretch.

The Eagles held Mason to 31 percent shooting for the game while shooting 41 percent on their end, but GSU committed 23 turnovers, which turned into 22 Patriot points. George Mason had 15 steals in the contest.

The Eagles jumped out to a 10-2 run to start the game as Knight scored a conventional 3-point play, and DuBose added a triple from the corner. Jacobs scored five points in a 9-2 George Mason run, and the Patriots took their first lead of the game at 19-18 on a pair of Cierra Strickland free throws.

With GSU trailing 23-22, Kirkland and DuBose scored four points each in a 10-0 Eagle run that opened a 32-23 lead. Easter hit a triple from the wing with seven seconds left in the half, and GSU went into the break with a 32-26 advantage. The Eagles shot 54 percent from the field in the stanza, the second-best percentage in a half this season, while holding the Patriots to 33 percent.

The Eagles finish their road trip to Virginia with a 2 p.m. contest at James Madison on New Year’s Eve.

Auburn 80, Samford 51

AUBURN, Ala.—The Samford women’s basketball team dropped an 80-51 decision at Auburn Saturday afternoon in Auburn Arena.

Samford was led in the game by senior guard Jazmine Martin with 18 points. Freshman Ashli Mayes had 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Senior Hannah Dawson added nine points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Shelby Campbell played just two minutes, leaving the game with a knee injury with 18:06 to go in the first half.

Auburn was led by Hasina Muhammad with 19 points, five rebounds and four assists. Blanche Alverson had 15 points, while Najat Ouardad had 14 points. Tyrese Tanner added 11 points for the Tigers.

In the first half, the teams traded baskets for the first few minutes until, with the game tied at 5-5, Auburn went on an 8-0 run to take a 13-5 lead with 13:09 left in the half after a three-pointer by Alverson. Samford answered with an 8-0 run of its own to tie the score at 13-13 with 9:38 to go after a three-pointer by Krista Stricklin.

Auburn took control of the game with a 19-0 run to take a 32-13 lead with 3:09 left in the first half after a basket by Alverson. The Tigers took a 41-19 lead into halftime.

Samford scored the first five points of the second half to cut the Auburn lead to 17 points at 41-24 with 18:31 left in the game after a three-pointer by Martin. The Tigers scored the next five points to push their lead back to 22 points at 46-24 with 17:27 left after a layup by Tanner.

Auburn pushed its lead out to as much as 31 points at 80-49. The Tigers came away with an 80-51 win. The loss was Samford’s fourth in a row, marking the first time Samford has lost four-straight games since losing the final four games of the 2004-05 season.

As a team, Samford shot 40.5 percent overall and 50.0 percent from three-point range. Auburn made 51.7 percent overall and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc. Auburn outrebounded Samford, 29-25. Samford committed 26 turnovers to just nine for Auburn.

Samford will next play on Jan. 5, when the Bulldogs return to Southern Conference action by playing at Elon. The game is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. (CT) start from Elon, N.C.

No. 16 South Carolina 66, Western Carolina 44

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Western Carolina women’s basketball (3-8) dropped its final non-conference game of the season, 66-44, to No. 19/16 South Carolina (12-1) Saturday at the Colonial Life Arena.

The Catamounts hung tough with the Top-25 Gamecocks in the first half as South Carolina’s anemic free throw shooting, 53.9 percent for the season, aided in keeping the Catamounts in the game. South Carolina was just 1-of-7 from the charity stripe in the first half.

The Franklin, N.C. connection of freshman guard Lindsay Simpson and redshirt sophomore forward Melanie Stewart accounted for seven of the Catamounts’ 18 first-half points. Simpson had five points, including Western Carolina’s only three-pointer in the first 20 minutes. Stewart connected on the first field goal of her Catamount career, a jumper at the 9:20 mark.

Western Carolina built a bit of momentum heading into the locker room scoring the final points of the half, a jumper by sophomore guard Makensey Campbell. The Catamounts also played tight defense in the final 10 seconds of the game, keeping the Gamecocks away from the basket, forcing time to expire before South Carolina could get off a shot.

Shauna Terry’s jumper, to start the second half, bookended scoring for Western Carolina, as the Catamounts scored the final points of the first half and the first of the second. The bucket cut South Carolina’s lead to single digits, 29-20, but the Gamecocks quickly answered with a basket and a free throw after Aleighsa Welch was fouled.

South Carolina began to heat up in the final 20 minutes of the game and pulled away from the Catamounts. The Gamecocks outscored the Catamounts 37-22 in the second half and was 3-of-7 from the free throw line, after only hitting one free throw in the first half.

Western Carolina did get a few long-range shots in the second half. After hitting just one three-pointer in the first 20 minutes, the Catamounts connected on two in the second. The Catamounts also pounded the glass, just a few caroms less then the Gamecocks, as South Carolina won the rebounding battle 33-29.

Simpson and Campbell led Western Carolina with nine points a piece. Simpson had a shot to hit double figures, for the second straight game, when she went to the line for a one-and-one opportunity, but missed the free throw. Campbell was 3-for-3 from the field and 1-for-1 from behind the three-point arch and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. 

Other notes from the game include Stewart logging in the first blocked shots of her career, with two against South Carolina. Also, freshman forward Lindsey Burleson saw the first action of her Catamount career, playing the final two minutes of the game and ripping down a rebound.

Western Carolina returns home at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 5, to host Southern Conference foe Wofford.