Appalachian State 85, Furman 70
BOONE, N.C. – Chakeitha Weldon saved one of her best efforts for her final home game as Appalachian State University women’s basketball cruised to an 85-70 win over Southern Conference rival Furman on Monday night.
Weldon, one of four ASU seniors, finished with 20 points as the Mountaineers (22-4, 16-2 SoCon) completed the season-sweep of the Paladins (12-14, 8-9) for the first time in 14 years.
Furman struck first when Teshia Griswold connected from long range just 32 seconds into the contest, but the Apps reeled off a 17-2 run over the next five minutes to grab a 17-5 lead with just over 14 minutes left to play.
The run, during which Weldon scored eight points, gave the Mountaineers the lead for good as they never trailed the rest of the way to pick up their 11th home win of the season.
Appalachian State moved ahead by 21 points (33-12) on Weldon’s jumper with 6:25 left in the first half, but the Paladins were able to close the gap to 42-26 at the half.
Furman would use the swing in momentum to its advantage as it posted a 12-4 run to begin the second half and cut the deficit to just eight points (46-38) with 16:49 left to play.
The Mountaineers would see their lead hover near the 10-point mark during the early stages of the half before opening things up with a 13-1 run to extend the lead to 19 points (63-44) with just under 13 minutes remaining.
Appalachian would never lead by less than 13 points the rest of the way and led by as many as 24 points (75-51) before closing things out for its seventh-straight home victory.
Weldon, who led all players in scoring, also dished out six assists, pulled down five rebounds and collected four steals. Maryah Sydor scored 18 points and ripped down four boards.
Raven Gary set a new career-high with 12 points off the bench and Anna Freeman fell just shy of a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds while posting six blocks.
Griswold led the Paladins with 17 points but was the only Furman player to score in double-figures. Raegan Thompson nearly had a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.
As a team, Appalachian State shot 47.2 percent (34-for-72) from the floor while Furman connected on 47.1 percent (24-for-51). The Apps won the battle of the boards by a 42-31 margin and forced 28 Paladin turnovers.
The Mountaineers finish out the regular season with two road games, the first of which takes place at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Samford before a 7 p.m. contest with Chattanooga on Monday.
Elon 64, College of Charleston 50
CHARLESTON, S.C. – College of Charleston women’s basketball head coach Nancy Wilson coached what will likely be her last game at TD Arena as the Cougars fell against Elon 63-50. Wilson, in her 30th year of coaching announced earlier this season she will retire at the conclusion of the season.
Junior Latisha Harris recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Alyssa Frye also scored in double figures with 12 points.
Wilson said after the game that although they have had a losing season in terms of their record it’s been a joy to be around the group and it doesn’t feel like a losing season.
The Cougars (6-22, 5-14) led by two points in the opening minutes, but the first half was largely controlled by Elon (14-13, 10-8) as they raced to a 29-19 halftime lead.
The Phoenix led by as many as 19 points in the second half, but the Cougars cut the gap to eight points at 46-38 with 8:37 remaining in the game. Elon would go on a 9-2 run as the deficit swelled to 15 for the Cougars.
CofC out rebounded Elon 50-43 and held a 19-13 advantage in second chance points as a result. Junior Cathryn Hardy had seven points and eight rebounds, including seven offensive boards.
The Cougars will finish the regular season on the road at Furman on Saturday Feb. 25 in a 2:00 p.m. game. CofC will open play in the Southern Conference Tournament on March 2 in Asheville, N.C.
Davidson 65, Wofford 39
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Sophia Aleksandravicius, Laura Murray, and Shneeka Center each scored 10 points, and Davidson held Wofford to 23 percent shooting from the floor to earn a 63-39 Southern Conference women’s basketball victory over the Terriers Monday night in Belk Arena.
It was the 20th victory of the season for the Wildcats (20-7, 16-2 SoCon), which is the second most in a season in school history. They also rattled off their ninth straight win in a row, one off the school-best of 10 set by the 2006-07 team.
Aleksandravicius corralled 10 rebounds for her 30th career double-double, and Center had six. Sarah Davis netted seven points, and scored seven off the bench.
Daniella Motley led Wofford (11-14, 4-13 SoCon) with 10 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Morgan Wrightson scored nine.
The Wildcats held Wofford to 12-of-53 from the field and 3-for-14 from 3-point range. The ‘Cats also held a 49-33 edge on the glass, turning a season-high 20 offensive boards into 20 second-chance points. The ‘Cats outscored Wofford 42-14 in the paint.
Leading by 12 early in the second half, the Wildcats went on a decisive 17-5 run to open a 24-point cushion with 8:28 remaining. Ottaway scored all seven points of her points during the stretch, and Murray netted four.
Davidson capped the first half with a 9-3 run to gain a 29-17 lead at the break. Barbara Sitton scored four points during the stretch, and Murray capped it with a runner off the window as the shot clock expired.
The ‘Cats held the Terriers to 24 percent from the field in the half, and Wofford committed 11 turnovers. Davidson shot 48 percent in the period.
The Wildcats cap the regular-season campaign with a pair road SoCon games this weekend. Davidson travels to Chattanooga, Feb. 25 and Samford, Feb. 27.
Georgia Southern 59, UNCG 47
STATESBORO, Ga. - Behind strong performances from seniors Janay Wilson and Samantha Williams the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles picked up their 200th all-time Southern Conference victory with a 59-47 win over UNCG on Senior Night. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak that started back in January.
Georgia Southern (8-19, 4-14), who honored their two seniors prior to the start of the contest, had three players reach double figures including both seniors. Meredyth Frye helped the Lady Eagles get off to a hot start in the first half and totaled 11 points in the period. She finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, the third-straight game for her with 10 or more points. Williams added 15 points behind a season-high four threes. She also tied a career-best 4 steals, and fellow senior Wilson added 13 points.
UNCG (4-23, 3-16) shot 34.6% behind 11 points from Breonna Patterson and 10 points from Sarah Folwell. The Spartans connected on five threes but shot just 31.3% from behind the arc. GSU held UNCG to just 12 points in the paint and scored 24 themselves.
Georgia Southern opened the first half with a three from Frye and after trailing by one point with 9:32 to play went on a 12-1 run. The Lady Eagles took a 10 point lead on a jumper from Wilson with 5:09 to go. GSU outscored UNCG 6-5 to finish the first half and went to the locker room with a 34-23 lead. Frye, who scored seven points over 1:03 in the middle of the half, reached double figures in the first half on a layup and foul shot.
A layup from Wilson opened the second half and a quick 7-2 run in under three minutes put Georgia Southern on top by 16 points. The fourth trey from Williams put the Lady Eagles on top 46-27 with 14:37 to play. The Spartans pulled to within 10 points on a 16-7 run that lasted nearly 11 minutes. The Lady Eagles weathered the storm and made six free throws in the final minute to secure the 12 point victory.
Georgia Southern opens a doubleheader next Saturday at Western Carolina and concludes the regular season at Furman on Monday. Tip-off from the Ramsey Center is set for 4:30 p.m. and audio from the game will be carried on GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
Western Carolina 52, Samford 44
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina women's basketball (12-15, 7-11 Southern Conference) held Samford (16-10, 11-6 SoCon) to just 18 points in the second half powering its way to a 52-44 victory Monday in the Ramsey Center.
It was the first time the Catamounts have defeated the Bulldogs in Cullowhee since Samford joined the league in 2008. The win also snaps a six-game losing streak Western Carolina had against Samford.
Down 26-17 at the half, Western Carolina turned it up offensively scoring 35 points in the second half. Samford was plagued by the Catamounts stifling defense, shooting 28.3 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.
In the opening 13 minutes of the second half, the Catamounts held the Bulldogs to just nine points. Samford hit just two field goals, in that stretch, getting the reaming of the nine points at the free throw line. This allowed Western Carolina to overcome a nine point half-time deficit and take its first lead of the half, with 10:26 remaining, when Makensey Campbell hit her third three pointer of the game.
After taking the lead, Western Carolina never relinquished it. The Catamounts pushed its lead to double figures, 48-38, on a three pointer by Rena Wakama with 4:02 left on the clock. Samford's Paige Anderson drained a three pointer to make things interesting cutting the Catamount lead to seven, 48-41.
Campbell hit 1-of-2 free throws to push the lead back to eight, 49-41. In the final two minutes, Western Carolina was 3-of-4 from the free throw line to offset a Samford field goal and 1-of-2 free throws to pull out the win.
Nine Western Carolina players saw action in the game and eight got into the scoring column. The Catamounts got 27 points off the bench to Samford's eight.
Campbell came off the bench to lead Western Carolina with 10 points, hitting 3-of-4 from behind the three-point line. Sophomore forward Shauna Terry was solid offensively and defensively with a balanced eight points, seven rebounds and tacked on two blocks to her career total. Terry is now tied for seventh place in the Catamount record books for blocks with 65.
Anderson led Samford with 11 points.
Of Western Carolina's 38 rebounds, 27 of them were from the defensive end. Samford had 30 rebounds and just 14 were on defense.
Western Carolina plays its final home game of the season on Saturday in the second game of a doubleheader facing Georgia Southern at approximately 4:30 p.m. The Catamounts will honor seniors Laura Sanchez, Catilin Hollifield and Kalia’Shea Menendez.