Elon 64, Western
Carolina 48
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Elon women’s basketball team picked up
its first Southern Conference win of the season with a strong 64-48 final at
Western Carolina today, Dec. 3. Three Phoenix players scored in double figures,
led by 14 from both Kelsey Evans and Ali Ford, as Elon improves to 3-3 on the
season (1-1 SoCon), while the Catamounts fall to 3-4 (1-1 SoCon).
The Phoenix shot a season-high 50 percent from the field off
15-of-29 attempts and outscored the Catamounts in the paint, 34-20. The defense
kept WCU to 24 percent from the field as the Catamounts only connected on
16-of-65 from short range and went 5-of-17 from beyond the arc. The maroon and
gold also won the advantage on the glass, 43-36.
Ford scored in double figures for the fifth straight game of
the season and tied her career-high of eight assists in her 100th game as a
Phoenix. Evans recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 10 boards to
go along with her 14 points.
Kelsey Harris also scored in double figures with 11 points,
while rookies Autumn Carter and Jessica Farmer each contributed eight.
With Elon leading by seven in the first half, 13-6, a jumper
by Farmer at the 10:39 mark ignited a 15-5 run to put the maroon and gold at a
17-point advantage with just under four minutes remaining. A three by Ford with
34 seconds left put the Phoenix up by 16, 36-20, at halftime.
Elon shot a blistering 57 percent from beyond the arc in the
first 20 minutes and 51 percent from the field.
In the second half, the Catamounts cut its deficit to 14
after a 12-9 run to make it a 58-44 score with five minutes remaining. Despite
the fight from WCU, Elon was able to maintain its strong edge and win the game
by 16.
Appalachian State 79,
Georgia Southern 47
BOONE, N.C. – Courtney Freeman became the 22nd player in
Appalachian State University women's basketball history to score 1,000 career
points in Monday's 79-47 romp over Southern Conference foe Georgia Southern in
the 2012-13 league opener.
The Mountaineers (6-1, 1-0 SoCon) cruised to an easy victory
over the Eagles (1-4, 0-2), who never threatened in the contest.
Georgia Southern won the tip sending Danielle Spencer
straight to the basket for two (0-2), but it would be no indication of the
Eagles' game to follow. Kelsey Sharkey marked App's first points with an easy
layup for two (2-2) before a scoreless two minute run ensued. Maryah Sydnor
followed with a layup of her own to add two more for the Mountaineers (4-2),
before GSU's Anna Claire Knight connected on a three-pointer and shifted the
lead back in the Eagles' favor (4-5). Just seconds laterAnna Freeman put a
layup on the board to swing the momentum in Applachian's favor (6-5), and set
the Mountaineers on a 6-0 scoring run as they climbed ahead 12-5.
Appalachian held GSU to just 20.7 percent (6-of-29) from the
floor in the first half as it staked itself to a 29-14 halftime lead and never
looked back.
Courtney Freeman opened the second half with a layup to
continue Appalachian's dominance (31-14) as the Mountaineers ascended from
there, scoring 50 points in the second half to widen the final margin to 32
points.
C. Freeman led all scorers with 24 points, and fell just shy
of a double-double with nine rebounds.Maryah Sydnor poured in 19 points and
Anna Freeman added 14 points to go along with four assists and three blocks.
As a team, Appalachian shot 45.2 percent (28-of-62) from the
floor while holding the Eagles to just 31.6 percent (18-of-57) on the night.
The Mountaineers shot an incredible 95.7 percent (22-of-23) from the charity
stripe and pulled down 43 rebounds to GSU's 35.
College of Charleston
88, UNCG 61
GREENSBORO, N.C. –
Led by 23 points from senior Latisha Harris, the College of Charleston
women’s basketball team ran by UNCG 88-61 at Fleming Gym on Monday.
Senior Cathryn Hardy and junior Alyssa Frye added 16 points
apiece for the Cougars (4-4, 2-0) and junior Jillian Brown had 10 assists. The
Cougars finished the game with 32 fast break points and 26 points off the
bench, in what tied the 10th spot in program history for most points scored.
Neither team could get much going early on as they Cougars
led 4-3 at the first media timeout over the Spartans (1-5, 0-2). CofC then pushed the ball and converted some
fast break baskets, which turned into a 16-6 run and put them up 20-9 with
11:49 to play.
The Cougars went up 24-13 when the Spartans came storming
back as they used a 9-0 run to get within two at 24-22. The Cougars answered
with an 11-4 run to close the half and go up 35-26 at the break.
With Brown pushing the ball and the Cougars running the
floor, Harris scored 16 points in the second half. Freshman Shannon Hines
capped off a 15-0 run as she drove to the basket and found sophomore Courtney
McKenzie for a layup to put the Cougars up 59-38.
The Cougars went deep into their bench as they used all 12
of their players and 11 different players scored in the game.
The 88 points is the most since December 2, 2000, when the
Cougars scored 88 points at Stetson.
Samford 65, Furman 33
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Samford women’s basketball team used a
balanced scoring attack and a strong defensive effort to earn a 65-33 Southern
Conference win over Furman Monday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.
Samford held Furman to just 33 points in the contest, and
the Paladins shot just 14.3 percent overall and 15.4 percent from three-point
range. Samford leads the nation in three-point field goal percentage defense
(12.9%) and the Bulldogs rank third nationally in scoring defense (43.0 ppg.).
For Samford offensively, all 11 players scored in the win.
The Bulldogs were led by senior forward Hannah Dawson and freshman guard Lydia
McGee with 11 points each. Dawson also grabbed eight rebounds, and McGee dished
out a team-high five assists.
Samford redshirt freshman Keke Fletcher scored a career-high
10 points, while junior Christy Robinson followed with eight points and
sophomore Taylor Reece added seven points. Junior Kendall Schwantz led the team
in rebounding with a career-high 10 boards, and she tied McGee for the team
lead in assists with five.
For Furman, Kaitlin Murphy led the way with 12 points and
five rebounds. Erica Norwood added 11 points for the Paladins.
In the first half, both teams started off slowly until, with
Samford leading 5-2, the Bulldogs went on a 12-0 run to push its lead to 17-2
with 10:45 left in the first half after a three-pointer by Fletcher.
Furman fought back to cut the Samford lead to nine at 22-13
with 4:40 left in the half after a three-pointer by Teshia Griswold. Samford,
however, closed the half on an 8-0 run to take a 30-13 lead into halftime.
In the second half, with Samford leading, 35-16, the
Bulldogs went on an 11-2 run to push its lead to 28 points at 46-18 with 7:05
to go following a three-pointer by Fletcher. Furman could get no closer than 25
points for the remainder of the game.
Samford pushed its lead out to as much as 34 points at 65-31
with 56 seconds to go after a three-pointer by Rebecca Webster. The Bulldogs
came away with a 32-point win, 65-33.
As a team, Samford shot 48.9 percent from the floor,
including a 55.6-percent effort from beyond the arc. Samford outrebounded
Furman, 42-38, and the Bulldogs produced 18 assists on 22 made shots.
With the win, Samford improves to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in
Southern Conference play. Furman drops to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in league play.