Furman 72, Wofford 53
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Brittany Hodges scored 21 points to power Furman past Wofford, 72-53, in women’s Southern Conference basketball action Wednesday evening at Ben Johnson Arena.
Hodges, a 6-foot-1 forward and the Southern Conference’s top scoring (10.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.0 rpg) freshman this season, converted 9-of-10 field goal attempts and 3-of-4 free throws in 26 minutes of action to help Furman (13-14, 9-9 SoCon) snap a three-game losing streak and close out its 2011-12 road schedule on a winning note.
The Paladins wrap up the regular season with a pair of home games, taking on the College of Charleston at 2:00 p.m. Saturday and Georgia Southern on Monday at 7:00 p.m. for senior night.
The triumph over Wofford (11-16, 4-14 SoCon) completed the Paladins’ regular season sweep of the Terriers.
Furman used an 11-2 in the first half to extend a 20-16 advantage, getting points from five different players to take a 31-18 lead following a pair of free throws from Alexis Peterson with 2:26 left in the opening period.
A basket by Wofford’s April Moorhouse to begin the second half cut Furman’s lead to 31-22, but the Paladins quickly countered behind Hodges, whose two buckets and free throw fueled a 7-0 spurt that put the Paladins up 38-22 less than two and a half minutes into the period.
A Raegan Thompson 3-pointer with just under eight minutes to go gave the Paladins a 28-point margin, 64-36, their largest of the game as Furman cruised to its biggest winning margin of the season.
Thompson joined Hodges in double figures with 13 points.
Moorhouse and Rachel Brittenham scored 11 points apiece for the Terriers, who were harried into 26 turnovers by Furman’s pressure defense.
The Paladins finished the game shooting 44.6 percent (25-of-56) while Wofford converted 17-of-43 field goal attempts (39.5 percent).
Samford 58, Chattanooga 48
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford senior guard Paige Anderson scored 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting to lead the Bulldog women's basketball team to a 58-48 Southern Conference win over Chattanooga Wednesday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.
With the win, Samford improves to 17-10 overall and 12-6 in Southern Conference play. The win moves fourth-place Samford to just two games behind third-place Chattanooga in the league standings. The Lady Mocs are now 19-8 overall and 14-4 in league play.
Behind Anderson for Samford, fellow senior guard Ruth Ketcham scored 14 points. Ketcham made 6-of-13 shots from the floor. Senior guard Jazmine Powers added nine points to the winning effort. Senior forward J'Quita Babineaux, making her first start, had five rebounds and four assists, to go along with her three points.
In addition to the seniors for Samford, junior forward Hannah Dawson had eight points and eight rebounds.
Chattanooga was led by Whitney Hood with 16 points. Taylor Hall had eight points, while Kylie Lambert scored seven points and grabbed eight rebounds.
In the first half, after Samford scored the first four points of the game, Chattanooga fought back to cut the lead to two points at 7-5. Samford then went on a 10-0 run to push its lead out to 12 points at 17-5 with 13:00 to go in the first half after a layup by Dawson.
Chattanooga fought back to cut the lead to five points at 21-16 with 7:20 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Hall. Samford pushed its lead out to as much as 13 points in the first half at 34-21 with 1:35 to go in the half after a jumper by Ketcham. Samford took a 34-23 lead into halftime.
Samford increased its lead to 16 points early in the second half at 41-25 with 16:57 to go after a three-pointer by Ketcham. Chattanooga, however, went on a 14-4 run to cut the lead to six points at 45-39 with 10:36 to go after a jumper by Meghan Downes.
Chattanooga closed to within four points at 47-43 with 5:50 to go after a pair of free throws by Hood. Anderson, however, made three-pointers on Samford's next two possessions to push the lead back out to 10 points at 53-43 with 4:11 left in the contest.
After a pair of free throws by Alex Black cut the Samford lead to eight points at 53-45, Samford scored five of the next six points to take a 12-point lead at 58-46 with 1:23 to go after a free throw by Anderson. A late layup by Downes made the final score 58-48.
As a team, Samford shot 45.1 percent, including a 39.1-percent effort from three-point range. Chattanooga made just 29.8 percent of its shots and 21.1 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc.