Davidson 46, College of Charleston 23
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Davidson started its two-game road trip in impressive fashion, allowing just four first-half points and holding College of Charleston to a season-low 10 percent shooting for the game in rolling to a 46-23 Southern Conference victory in women’s basketball action at TD Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The 23 points allowed were the least amount scored against Davidson in school history, snapping the 25 scored by Sacred Heart back on Feb. 7, 1974. The Wildcats (14-7, 10-2 SoCon) snapped a three-game road skid at CofC as it picked up 10 league wins for the eighth time in the past nine years.
From tip to finish, the ‘Cats never trailed despite shooting just 26 percent themselves. Laura Murray paced the attack with 13 points, while Barbara Sitton had her second double-digit scoring game with 11 points.
Reigning SoCon Player of the Week and Player of the Month Sophia Aleksandravicius was held to just one point, but did haul in a game-best 10 rebounds to go with a couple of blocks and three steals.
Charleston (6-17, 5-9 SoCon) was led by Latisha Harris with eight points and six rebounds.
The first half saw Davidson race out to a quick 9-0 lead behind a couple of triples from Murray, who had 11 points in the half. The lead would grow to 24-4 going into halftime after a pair of Kristen Johnsen free throws. Johnsen had a nice game of four points, nine rebounds and three assists.
Though the offense was not clicking on all cylinders, the ‘Cats defense was stout and sharp. They held the Cougars to just two field goals on 33 attempts in the first half, including an 0-for-11 start to the game. Davidson forced 10 turnovers in the half and held CofC scoreless until the 13:09 mark, and then shut the Cougars down in the final 10:40 of the first period.
The second half was much the same as Davidson held CofC to just 4-of-27 shooting and forced another 10 turnovers in outscoring the Cougars, 22-19.
Seeing solid minutes off the bench was Mason Jeffries and Mellissa Giegerich, who each played a season-high 17 and five minutes, respectively. Jeffries tallied a pair of points, while Giegerich had a pair of rebounds.
The Wildcats travel to Georgia Southern for a 5 p.m. contest, Feb. 6. They defeated GSU 72-48 earlier this year at home.
Western Carolina 46, UNCG 35
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Western Carolina women’s basketball (9-14, 4-10 Southern Confernece) picked up a seasonal sweep of UNCG (3-18, 2-11 SoCon) with a 46-35 victory over the Spartans Saturday at Fleming Gymnasium.
The win over UNCG is the Catamounts’ first Southern Conference road victory of the season. It is also the first back-to-back victories in the SoCon and Western Carolina’s first series sweep over a conference opponent.
Senior guard Kaila’Shea Menendez paced Western Carolina with a game-leading 14 points. She also moved into 10th place in the Catamount record books, for free throws in a season. Menendez went 4-of-6 from the free throw line, to add to her career free throw total, and now has 317 in her time as a Catamount.
The charity stripe was the catalyst for Western Carolina, as the freebie line was a friend to the Catamounts and a foe to the Spartans. WCU was 13-of-17 from the free throw line, shooting 76.5 percent, while UNCG was just 8-of-18, for an anemic 44.4 percent from the line.
Offense was at a premium for both clubs, but just like the last handful of games, Western Carolina relied on its oppressive defensive pressure to stay in the game. The Catamounts forced UNCG to cough up the ball 22 times, scoring 15 points off Spartan turnovers.
Combined, Western Carolina and UNCG scored just 26 points in the first half. The Catamounts entered the locker room leading the Spartans 15-11.
The game was hotly contested in the second half. Western Carolina looked to have the game in hand when the Catamounts held an eight point lead, 29-21, with 10:38 remaining.
UNCG went on a 13-5 run, in a six minute span, to tie the game twice. Tied for the fourth time in the game, at 34, Western Carolina took the lead for good with 4:34 left. Menendez sliced through the lane, getting the finger tip roll, to score and give Western Carolina the 36-34 lead.
Western Carolina rolled on to an 11-1 scoring run, in the final four minutes of the game, to keep the Spartans at bay. In that span, Menendez hit a pair of field goals, and WCU was 8-of-10 from the free throw line to ice the game.
The Catamounts had 11 steals in the game and also had seven blocks.
Western Carolina will have six days off before heading back on the road, on February 11, to face Wofford.
Elon 76, Furman 58
ELON, N.C.--Ali Ford and Kelsey Evans each scored 20+ points to help the Elon women’s basketball team to a 76-58 victory over the Furman Paladins on Saturday, Feb. 4, in its annual Play4Kay game in Alumni Gym.
Both squads now sit at 11-11 overall and 7-6 in Southern Conference play.
Ford, who was honored before the game for breaking Elon’s all-time three-point record last week, scored a game-high 26 points on 10-of-21 shooting, including a 5-of-12 clip from beyond the arc.
Evans finished the night with 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting to go along with eight boards.
After Furman made it a one-point game with 13:20 left in the second half, the Phoenix answered with a 17-2 run over the next six minutes to take a 63-47 lead on an old-fashioned three-point play by Aiesha Harper.
It was all Elon from there, as Furman could pull no closer than 11 points in the game's final five minutes.
Kallie Hovatter provided a spark off the bench for Elon in the win, scoring nine points and hauling down five boards in career-high 28 minutes. Hovatter also ended the night with a career-best five steals to lead the Elon defense.
The Phoenix dominated the Paladins in the paint, 44-18, and turned 24 Furman turnovers into 33 points. Elon turned the ball over 15 times, leading to just 13 points for the Paladins.
Ford scored 18 first-half points, including a fast-break layup with less than seven seconds remaining, to give Elon a 39-34 lead at intermission.
Turnovers proved to be the difference in the first half, as the Phoenix turned nine Furman miscues in 14 points. Elon committed just three turnovers in the opening frame.
After the Paladins made it a one-point game with less than 13 minutes remaining, Jermile’ Batten completed an old-fashioned three-point play with 12:22 to play to give the Phoenix a four-point edge, 49-45.
The Phoenix capped its 17-2 run with 7:37 to play in the game after Harper slashed to the basket for a layup and foul, forcing a Furman timeout. Harper hit the ensuing free throw to complete the old-fashioned three-point play and give Elon a 63-47 lead.
Elon returns to action on Monday night, Feb. 6, when it makes the short trip to Greensboro to face UNCG at 7 p.m.
Appalachian State 57, Georgia Southern 46
STATESBORO, Ga. –Appalachian State University women’s basketball downed Southern Conference rival Georgia Southern, 57-46, on Saturday at Hanner Field House.
The Mountaineers (17-3, 11-1 SoCon) defeated the Lady Eagles (7-15, 3-10) for the second time this season, picked up their sixth-straight win and won in Statesboro for the first time since 2007.
Appalachian State scored the first points of the contest on a layup from Courtney Freeman just 23 seconds into the game. GSU responded with a three-pointer from Meredyth Frye at the 18:47 mark to give the Lady Eagles an early lead.
Georgia Southern was able to extend its lead to as many as seven points (17-10) before the Apps reeled off a 10-0 run to take a 20-17 lead with 8:47 left on the clock. The Mountaineers held GSU without a field goal for over five minutes (11:51-6:32) before Frye converted a layup to give the Lady Eagles a 23-22 lead.
The teams would trade buckets on the next two possessions, but the Mountaineers were able to take the lead back with six-straight points in the final two minutes before Georgia Southern scored the final bucket of the half to cut ASU’s lead to 30-27 at the break.
Appalachian State would maintain a slim lead throughout the second half as the Lady Eagles had a chance to tie the game seven minutes into the half, but Tashayla Steede missed a free throw and the Apps clung to a 40-39 lead.
Back-to-back layups from Canesha Edwards and Chakeitha Weldon extended the Mountaineers’ lead to five points (44-39) with 13:09 left to play.
ASU saw is lead diminish to just two points on two occasions over the next five minutes, but was able to find some breathing room (48-44) on Anna Freeman’s layup with 6:26 left on the clock.
Georgia Southern was able to keep the game close in the final moments, but C. Freeman extended the lead to 53-46 with a layup in the final minute and A. Freeman converted four-straight free throws to cap off a 57-46 win.
Appalachian State shot 43.9 percent (25-for-57) from the floor including a 7-for-9 mark from the charity stripe. Georgia Southern shot just 32.1 percent (18-for-56) and was just 5-for-11 from the free-throw line.
The Mountaineers coughed the ball up 23 times while the Lady Eagles turned it over 16 times. ASU finished with 15 assists, 10 steals and two blocks while GSU countered with 11 assists, 10 steals and two blocks.
C. Freeman led all players with 19 points while A. Freeman notched 12. Maryah Sydnor scored 10 points while Catherine Williams pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to go with six points.
Georgia Southern saw two players score in double-figures as Mimi DuBose (14) and Anna Claire Knight (10) each accomplished the feat. Aishya Wofford was GSU’s leading rebounder with six boards.
The Mountaineers return to action on Monday when they travel to College of Charleston for a 7 p.m. contest against the Cougars.
Chattanooga 51, Wofford 39
SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team recorded its 30th straight win over Wofford with a 51-39 victory at Benjamin Johnson Arena Saturday night in Southern Conference action. The Lady Mocs improve to 16-6 overall and 11-2 in league play while the Terriers fall to 10-12 and 3-10.
Senior Whitney Hood lead the Lady Mocs with 10 points and had seven rebounds and junior Kylie Lambert just missed a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.
Chattanooga shot 41.9 percent (13-of-31) in the first half, but struggled to find the bucket in the second making just 6-of-23 (26.1%) from the field. Wofford shot just 26.4 percent from the game making 14-of-53 for the game and went 0-for-10 from the 3-point line.
The game started with three lead changes and three ties before Chattanooga took the lead for good on a layup by sophomore Faith Dupree with 13:39 to play in the first half. That sparked a 13-2 run by the Lady Mocs capped off by a layup by sophomore Alex Black at the 7:27 mark of the first half to give UTC a 20-9 lead.
Wofford would get no closer than seven points the rest of the half and Chattanooga would grow its lead to 30-17 at the break.
The second half saw the Terriers outscore UTC 14-6 over the first half of the latter stanza getting to within five, 36-31, with 10:08 to play.
The Lady Mocs responded with an 11-2 run started with a pair of free throws from Hood at the 9:49 mark and wrapped up with junior Kayla Christopher's 3-pointer with 5:14 to play.
Chattanooga outscored the Terriers 36-8 in the paint and got 18 points to Wofford's eight from the bench. UTC saw all 10 players in the game score and head coach Wes Moore spread out the playing time with no one playing less than 10 minutes.
Chattanooga returns to action Monday, Feb. 6 at Furman. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. Live stats and streaming video will be available at GameDay Central on GoMocs.com. Larry Ward, the "Voice of the Lady Mocs" will have the call live on ESPN 105.1 FM "The Zone".