Appalachian State 84, Elon 68
BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State University women’s basketball raced out to an early lead and never trailed in an 84-68 win over Southern Conference rival Elon on Monday.
The Mountaineers (21-3, 15-3 SoCon) swept the Phoenix (12-13, 8-8) for the third-straight year, defeated Elon for the sixth-straight time and upped their winning streak to a season-high 10 games.
In a game that the Apps dominated from the start, the Mountaineers started the game on a 15-0 run and held the Phoenix without a bucket for nearly six minutes before Sam Coffer connected on a three-pointer with 14:03 to go in the first for Elon’s first points.
Appalachian State would lead by as many as 23 points (43-20) with just 43 seconds left in the opening period after Catherine Williams converted a layup in traffic.
Kallie Hovatter’s three-pointer in the closing seconds would make it 43-23 at the half as the Mountaineers converted on 12-of-15 first-half free throws to help them to a 20-point halftime advantage.
Courtney Freeman scored 10 of her 14 points in the first half as the Apps shot 42.4 percent (14-of-33) from the floor while getting scores from nine of the 10 players who appeared in the opening period of play.
The Apps kept the pressure on in the second half and led by as many as 24 points (61-37) before Elon mounted an 18-6 run to cut the deficit to just 12 points (67-55) with just over eight minutes left to play.
Appalachian State would regain momentum by pushing the lead to 73-59 with less than four minutes left, but the Phoenix cut the lead to just nine points on three occasions in the final three minutes before running out of steam as the Mountaineers scored seven points in the final minute to secure the victory.
Maryah Sydnor led all players with 19 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Anna Freeman poured in 13 points, grabbed five boards, notched five steals and recorded four assists and four blocks Kelsey Sharkey finished with 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals.
The Phoenix got a team-high 11 points from Ali Ford while Sam Coffer and Kelsey Evans each scored 10. Coffer also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to record a double-double.
As a team, Appalachian State shot 50.0 percent (31-for-62) from the floor and was 19-for-27 from the charity stripe. Elon shot 40.6 percent (26-for-64) in the game but struggled from the free-throw line where it connected on just 8-of-15 attempts.
The Apps won the battle of the boards by a 42-34 tally and forced 23 turnovers while committing 20 of their own. Appalachian State dished out 17 assists and collected 13 steals.
The Mountaineers return to action at 2 p.m. on Saturday against Davidson in a battle of the SoCon’s top two teams.
Chattanooga 67, Georgia Southern 52
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Sophomore Taylor Hall and senior Whitney Hood combined for 36 points to lead the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to a 67-52 win over Georgia Southern at the McKenzie Arena Monday night in Southern Conference women’s basketball action.
Chattanooga is now 18-7 overall and 13-3 in league play while the Eagles fall to 7-18 on the year and 3-13 in the SoCon.
Hall, with her fifth double-double of the year, poured in a career-high 19 points and matched her career-best for rebounds with 15. She was 7-of-14 from the field and had a pair of 3-pointers while pulling in five offensive boards. Hood was 7-of-16 from the floor and scored 17 points, knocking down her first 3-pointer at Chattanooga, second of her career.
After the two teams traded baskets with four lead changes to start the game, Hall sparked a 10-2 run with a short jumper from the right on an assist from Hood with 17:36 to play in the first. She capped off the scoring drive with the first of her two 3-pointers three-and-a-half minutes later to make it 14-7.
After Hood’s 3-pointer, a fastbreak layup from freshman Ka’Vonne Towns gave the Lady Mocs a 22-12 lead with 9:40 to play until the half. However, Georgia Southern’s Claire Knight dropped in a 3-pointer and back-to-back layups off offensive rebounds by Aishya Wofford cut that lead to 22-19 less than two minutes later.
Chattanooga battled back and held the Eagles scoreless over the final 5:13 of the first half and led 35-22 at the break.
The Lady Mocs opened the second half with a 15-4 scoring advantage to take a 50-26 lead midway through the stanza. The Eagles could not be held off as they went on a 22-7 scoring run to cut Chattanooga’s lead back to single digits at 57-48 with 3:38 to play. UTC went on to outscore Georgia Southern 8-5 over the final minutes for the 13 point win.
Chattanooga and Georgia Southern were nearly evenly matched in the paint with UTC edging the Eagles 28-26. The Lady Mocs outrebounded GSU 42-15, but the Eagles made better work of their offensive rebounds outdueling Chattanooga 14-11 on second chance points. UTC had just nine turnovers, one more than the season-low and scored 12 points off 12 Georgia Southern miscues. The Eagles bench was productive with 22 points to Chattanooga’s 13.
Junior Kayla Christopher went 2-of-5 from the 3-point line and tied Jan Cameron (1991-94) for fifth on Chattanooga’s all-time list with 161. Hood has topped the 900-point mark at Chattanooga with 908 points in just two years with the Lady Mocs.
UTC will travel to Cullowhee, N.C., this weekend to take on Western Carolina at the Ramsey Center Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Larry Ward, the “Voice of the Lady Mocs” will have the call live on ESPN 105.1 FM “The Zone”. Live stats will be available at GoMocs.com.
Western Carolina 51, Furman 48
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Western Carolina women’s basketball (11-14, 6-10 Southern Conference) gutted out a win, on the back of their oppressive defensive pressure, defeating the Furman Paladins (12-12, 8-7 SoCon) 51-48, in overtime, Monday at Timmons Arena.
Senior guard Kaila’Shea Menendez led all scorers with 23 points, but there is no question the final seven points she scored in the game were the most important. Menendez scored all of Western Carolina’s points in the five minute overtime, hitting one field goal and going 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.
It was the Catamounts fourth consecutive win, the most wins in a row since Western Carolina started the season, in November 2011, 4-0. Western Carolina earned its first series split, as Furman won in Cullowhee 57-54, and the third straight road win for the Catamounts.
The win against the Paladins was accomplished through grit, through execution and plain and simple heart. Sophomore forward Alex Abraham was the epitome of the Catamounts’ ever increasing heart, as she calmly drained two free throws, with eight seconds left in regulation, to tie the game at 44.
Western Carolina, who had led since the 19:39 mark in the first half when Menendez hit a three-pointer to put the Catamounts up 3-2, found itself trailing late in the second half. With 30 seconds left in the game, Furman’s Regan Thompson drained a three-pointer to give the Paladins’ only their second lead in the game, 44-42.
With less than 10 seconds left, Menendez missed a jumper and Abraham ripped down the rebounds. She attempted the put-back, but was fouled, setting up the game-tying free throws.
In the stat sheets the overtime belonged to Menendez. Her seven extra period points along with a monster blocked shot of Furman’s Thompson’s three-point attempt, which if she had hit would have cut the Catamounts’ four-point lead to one with 12 seconds left. But the hustle stats can be laid at the feet of Diamond Hunnicutt and Janae’ McKinney who continued what they had done all game, hustle for rebounds and loose balls. McKinney ended the game with six rebounds and four steals, Hunnicutt also had six rebounds and had two steals.
Western Carolina ran Furman ragged in the first half, building a 12 point lead into halftime, 29-17.
The Catamounts struggled in the second half, offensively, and had to rely on their defensive pressure to stay in the game. Furman out-scored Western Carolina 27-15 in the second half, as WCU hit just four field goals and shot 18.2 percent from the field. Western Carolina stayed in the game by hitting 6-of-8 free throws.
Western Carolina also kept the ball on its side of the court, pulling down 21 offensive rebounds for a total of 39 in the game. Furman had just 13 offensive rebounds and ended the game with a total of 35.
The Catamounts had 14 steals in the game ,scoring 21 points off Furman miscues. WCU also had five blocks in the game, including two from sophomore Shauna Terry who is now tied for 10th place for blocks in a career with 61.
Eight of the Western Carolina players who played score in the game. Along with Mendendez’s 23 points, Hunnicutt added nine and Makensey Campbell poured in eight.
Western Carolina returns for a three-game home stand beginning Saturday February 18 hosting Chattanoga. Tip-time in the Ramsey Center is set for 2 p.m.
Samford 70, College of Charleston 56
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Samford women’s basketball team earned a 70-56 Southern Conference win over College of Charleston Monday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.
With the win, Samford improves to 15-9 overall and 10-5 in Southern Conference play. College of Charleston falls to 6-20 overall and 5-12 in league play.
Samford was led in scoring by senior guard Paige Anderson with 22 points. Sophomore guard Shelby Campbell scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds. Freshman forward Taylor Reece added 11 points for Samford. Senior guard Jazmine Powers dished out a career-high 10 assists, to go along with her six points and seven rebounds.
Charleston was led by Latisha Harris with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Megan Fischer added 12 points for the Cougars.
In the first half, Samford took an early 8-3 lead with 16:07 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Reece. College of Charleston then fought back to cut the lead to one point at 8-7 with 13:41 to go in the half after a pair of free throws by Harris.
Samford then went on a 22-4 run to push its lead out to 19 points at 30-11 with 4:34 left in the opening period following a three-pointer by Campbell. Charleston answered with a 9-0 run to cut the lead back to 10 points at 30-20 with 2:22 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Fischer.
A pair of layups by Anderson pushed the lead back out to 14 points at 34-20, but Charleston scored the final four points of the half to make it a 10-point game at 34-24 heading into halftime.
In the second half, Samford pushed its lead back out to 17 points early in the half at 41-24 with 18:15 to go after a jumper by Hannah Dawson. With Samford leading, 47-31, the Cougars went on a 7-0 run to pull to within nine points at 47-38 with 11:10 to go after a three-pointer by Alyssa Frye.
College of Charleston cut the Samford lead to seven points at 50-43 with 9:15 to go after a layup by Harris. However, that was as close as Charleston could get, as Samford pushed its lead back out to 14 at 66-52 with 1:10 to go after a pair of free throws by Anderson. Samford came away with the 70-56 win.
For the game, Samford made 43.4 percent of its shots overall and 41.4 percent of its three-pointers. Charleston made 26.2 percent of its attempts overall and 22.2 percent of its shots from beyond the arc. Charleston outrebounded Samford, 50-33, including a 23-6 advantage in offensive rebounds.
The game was Samford’s Play4Kay game to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research. Overall, over $1,000 was raised for the Kay Yow Foundation. The exact total will not be known until t-shirt sales are completed later in the week. The Samford cheerleaders raised $365 via their Backflips for Breast Cancer promotion, with the cheerleaders completing 636 backflips at the game.
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 18, when the Bulldogs play at Furman. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. (CT) start from Greenville, S.C.