Davidson 61, Appalachian State 54
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Katrin Chiemeka scored a career-high 19 points, including 13 in the last 7:21 of the contest, to lead Davidson to a 61-54 Southern Conference women's basketball victory over Appalachian State Saturday afternoon in Belk Arena in front of a season-high crowd of 1,271.
The win gives Davidson sole possession of first place in the SoCon, having swept the series vs. ASU, and it was the Wildcats' season-best eighth straight victory. They have won 17 of their last 20 games overall.
Chiemeka shot 6-for-7 from the floor in the second half and scored 16 points. Sophia Aleksandravicius collected 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots in the game.
Amanda Ottaway scored 11 points, including a pair of free throws that put Davidson (19-7, 15-2 SoCon) ahead by seven with 49 seconds left and effectively sealed the win.
Maryah Sydnor led Appalachian State (21-4, 15-2 SoCon) with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Courtney Freeman scored 13. Raven Gary chipped in with 10.
Davidson held the Mountaineers to 33 percent shooting in the game, including 2-for-15 from 3-point range. It was the 15th time this season the Wildcats have held their opponent to under 36 percent from the floor.
The Wildcats led by 11 early in the second half, but Appalachian State battled all the way back and tied the score, 48-48, on a pair of Sydnor free throws with 3:39 remaining.
Ottaway scored a layup for Davidson, and Chiemeka hit a triple to put Davidson ahead by five. After a Raven Gary jumper, Chiemeka hit another jumper, keeping the margin at five with 2:05 to play.
Freeman scored a layup for ASU, and Ottaway hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to make the score 56-52 with 1:27 left. Davidson got a defensive stop, and the Mountaineers fouled Laura Murray, who made a free throw to push the lead back to five.
After another Davidson defensive stop, Ottaway was fouled and canned both free throws to make the lead seven with 49 seconds left and put the game out of reach.
The Wildcats used a 9-2 run late in the first half, capped by a Jasmine Calin 3-point play, to open a 22-13 advantage with 4:31 remaining.
The Apps trimmed the margin to five on an Anna Freeman jumper with 2:22 to play, but Murray hit a pair of free throws and Aleksandravicius scored a layup to make the score 26-17 at the break. Davidson held the Mountaineers to 8-for-32 from the field in the frame and forced 10 turnovers.
Trailing by 11 early in the second period, Appalachian State used an 11-1 run to get back into the contest. Freeman scored six during the stretch, and Sydnor netted four.
The Wildcats return to action Monday in Belk Arena when they host Wofford at 7 p.m. Davidson will honor seniors Kristen Johnsen and Ottaway prior to tipoff.
Samford 42, Furman 40
GREENVILLE, S.C.-The Samford women's basketball team held off a late Furman rally to earn a 42-40 Southern Conference win over the Paladins Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
Samford was led by junior forward Hannah Dawson with 13 points and nine rebounds. Freshman forward Taylor Reece scored 11 points, and senior guard Paige Anderson added six points for the Bulldogs.
For Furman, Raegan Thompson led the Paladins with eight points. Kaitlin Murphy scored seven points, while Brittany Hodges, Teshia Griswold and Janice Roberts added six points each for Furman.
The game was close through most of the first half. With Samford leading, 11-10 late in the half, the Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run to push their lead out to seven points at 19-12 with 2:22 left in the first half after a jumper by Reece.
A basket by Furman's Griswold with 1:11 to go in the first half cut the Samford lead to five points at 19-14. Neither team was either to score for the remainder of the opening period and Samford took the five-point lead into halftime.
In the second half, Samford jumped out to an 11-point lead at 29-18 with 15:16 to go after a basket by Dawson. Furman battled back to cut the Samford lead to five points at 31-26 with 8:06 to go following a three-pointer by Thompson.
Samford then went on a 9-0 run to push its lead out to a game-high 14 points at 40-26 with 3:57 to go following a layup by Shelby Campbell. Furman, however, scored the next nine points in the game to cut the lead to five points at 40-35 with 1:43 to go after a three-pointer by Thompson.
After a basket by Anderson pushed the lead back to seven points at 42-35, a three-pointer by Murphy cut the lead to 42-38 with 47 seconds to go. A basket by Furman's Sarah Durdaller with nine seconds to go made the score 42-40. Furman's Hodges, however, missed a last-second shot to tie the game, and the Bulldogs held on for the two-point win.
Samford improves to 16-9 overall and 11-5 in Southern Conference play with the win. Furman falls to 12-13 overall and 8-8 in league play. Samford, currently in fourth place in the SoCon standings, increases its lead over fifth-place Furman to three games.
The Samford defense held Furman to just 31.5-percent shooting overall and 26.7 percent from three-point range. Furman outrebounded Samford, 39-31.
Samford will return to action on Monday, Feb. 20, when the Bulldogs play at Western Carolina. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Cullowhee, N.C.
Chattanooga 54, Western Carolina 40
CULLOWHEE, N.C. --- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga juniors Kayla Christopher and Kylie Lambert combined for 22 points to lead the Lady Mocs to a 54-40 win over Western Carolina Saturday in Southern Conference women's basketball action afternoon at the Ramsey Center.
Christopher scored nine of her game-high 12 points in the second half while Lambert got the scoring started early for Chattanooga with the Lady Mocs' first seven points. The win improves UTC to 19-7 overall and 14-3 in league play while the Catamounts fall to 11-15 on the year and 6-11 in the SoCon.
Western Carolina got the first bucket of the game, but a 3-pointer from Lambert gave Chattanooga the lead for good just 2:06 into the game. Her next four points came on free throws followed by a 3-pointer from sophomore Taylor Hall to give Chattanooga a 10-2 lead.
The Lady Mocs grew the lead up to 24-8 with 5:32 to play in the first, but the Cats' Rena Wakama sparked a 13-3 WCU run to cut Chattanooga's lead to 27-21 at intermission.
The second half started with the Lady Mocs jumping out to a 38-23 lead with 16:15 to play. Less than a minute later, WCU's Rena Wakama hit a layup to spark a 10-2 run over the next six minutes to cut Chattanooga's lead to 40-33.
That wouldn't last long as Chattanooga outscored Western Carolina 11-1 to take a 51-34 lead with 4:00 to play.
Christopher was 4-for-5 from the field with two 3-pointers and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Lambert was the second Chattanooga player in double figures with 10 points on 2-of-5 shooting, two 3-pointers and was 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
Sophomore Alex Black had a game-high and career-best nine rebounds to go along with five points and three assists. Senior Tenisha Townsend pulled down seven rebounds, tying her career-high, and had two assists and a blocked shot. Sophomore Faith Dupree had seven points and three rebounds while classmate Taylor Hall had five points, seven boards and a blocked shot.
Kaila'Shea Menendez had a team-high 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Wakama was the only other Catamount in double figures with 10 points and three boards and Alex Abraham had five rebounds for WCU.
Chattanooga outrebounded the Catamounts 50-31 and had 10 points off 15 offensive rebounds compared to the Cats' two points off 10 offensive boards. Chattanooga shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51) for the game and was 7-of-20 (35%) from the 3-point line.
The Lady Mocs will travel to Birmingham Wednesday to take on Samford at the Pete Hannah Center. The game will tip at 8 p.m. Eastern Time and carried live on ESPN 105.1 "The Zone".
UNCG 60, College of Charleston 54
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Breonna Patterson finished two points shy of her career high with 21 and UNCG went 9-for-10 from the free throw line in the final minute of play as the Spartans snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 60-54 win over College of Charleston at the Cougars' TD Arena on Saturday.
The Spartans (4-22, 3-15 Southern Conference) never trailed in the second half in picking up their first road win in league play. Patterson gave UNCG a big lift with 17 second-half points, including eight in the final three minutes of the contest.
Janae' Stevenson posted 12 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season and Natalie Headley added 11 points as UNCG had three in double figures.
College of Charleston (6-21, 5-13 SoCon) erased all of a 10-point deficit to tie the game at 39 with 9:17 to play, but the Spartans quickly regained the lead on a Patterson layup just seconds later.
The Spartans were up by just one at 45-44 with less than three minutes to play before a Patterson 3-pointer made it a two-possession game. After a defensive stop, Sidnei Harmon corralled a Patterson miss in the paint and laid it in to make it 50-44 and force a Cougar timeout.
With only two team fouls to that point, CofC started fouling UNCG in order to stop the clock and eventually send the Spartans to the line. Patterson hit the back end of a two-shot foul with 1:02 left before the Megan Fischer nailed a 3-pointer to pull the Cougars back within four.
CofC continued to put UNCG on the line and the Spartans made sure the strategy didn't work, turning in a nearly perfect mark with less than a minute to play. Patterson was 4-for-4, Stevenson was 2-for-2 and Headley was 3-for-4 in the waning seconds to salt away the win.
The Cougars led by as many as nine points early, rattling off an 11-0 run after Patterson scored the game's first bucket. The Spartans would crawl back into it, and Jazz Weaver's jumper with 8:47 to play in the first half shaved their deficit to just one at 13-12.
Alyssa Frye answered with a 3-pointer on the other end to make it a two-possession game again, and after the teams traded baskets, Patterson and Stevenson hit jumpers on consecutive possessions to tie the contest at 19. A Headley free throw put UNCG on top again before Latisha Harris gave the Cougars what would prove to be their final lead of the day.
Headley countered with a layup to make it 22-21 in UNCG's favor with 2:18 to go in the half. Neither team would score again before the break.
The Spartans came storming out of the locker room on a 16-7 run to open up a 10-point lead. Patterson had five points in the spurt, which came to an end with Frye's second 3 of the game.
Frye's basket jumpstarted an 11-1 CofC run that tied it at 39.
UNCG led at the half for just the sixth time this season and improved to 4-2 in games in which it leads at the break.
Patterson matched her career high with six rebounds as she surpassed the 20-point plateau for the second time in her career. She also dished off five assists.
For the second time in her career, Headley played all 40 minutes. She had three assists and four rebounds with her 11 points and went 7-for-9 from the free throw line in the contest.
Fischer led CofC with 19 points off the bench, while Harris had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
UNCG returns to action at Georgia Southern on Monday at 4:30 p.m.
Elon 83, Georgia Southern 53
STATESBORO, Ga. – A 17-0 second-half run and a career night from Aiesha Harper lifted the Elon women’s basketball team to a key Southern Conference road win on Saturday, Feb. 18, as the Phoenix defeated the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles, 83-53, inside Hanner Fieldhouse.
Elon evens its record to 13-13 overall and 9-8 in conference play with the win – its largest margin of victory over a SoCon opponent since joining the league. The win marks the Phoenix’s first at Georgia Southern since Jan. 12, 2004.
After going into the locker room at the half with a 10-point lead, the Phoenix broke the game open in the first five minutes of the final frame after going on a 17-0 run to take a 27-point lead.
Elon went up by as many as 36 points in the second half, as the team shot 50 percent from the field for the game, its best shooting percentage against a conference opponent all season.
Harper led the Elon attack, going for a career-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. Harper also went for four boards, four assists and four steals.
Kelsey Evans chipped in 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and six rebounds in the win.
The Phoenix turned the ball over a season-low nine times, while forcing the Lady Eagles into 20 miscues that led to 23 points.
Elon forced an early GSU timeout with 12:52 to play in the first half after Ali Ford found Kelsey Harris near the free throw line for an easy jumper to put the Phoenix ahead, 15-10.
The Phoenix led by as many as 11 in the first half and claimed a 38-28 advantage at intermission. Harper led all scorers with 13 points in the first 20 minutes, as Elon shot 52 percent from the field. The maroon and gold limited the Lady Eagles to 35 percent shooting in the opening frame and forced 10 turnovers leading to nine points.
Elon kept its foot on the gas to open the second half, going on a 17-0 run to go up by as many as 27 points. The Phoenix held the Lady Eagles without a field goal make for the first 5:37 of the second half.
Kallie Hovatter put Elon ahead by 30 points with less than 12 minutes remaining after completing an old-fashioned three-point play to make it a 65-35 game.
Georgia Southern put two in doubles figures, as Meredyth Frye and MiMi DuBose finished with 13 and 12 points respectively.
The Phoenix put 11 players in the scoring column in the win.
The Phoenix shuffles off to Charleston, S.C., on Monday night for a 7 p.m. tip at College of Charleston. The game, which is CofC’s Play4Kay event, will be featured on ESPN3.com.