Elon 71, UNCG 60

ELON, N.C. – After trailing by 10 points with less than four minutes to play in the first half, the Elon women’s basketball team came back to take a 71-60 win over UNCG tonight, Jan. 14, in Alumni Gym. The Phoenix has now won four straight games and improves to 8-7 this season and 5-1 in Southern Conference play, while the Spartans fall to 3-11 (0-6 SoCon).

The Phoenix shot 62 percent from the field in the second half, including 55 percent from beyond the arc, while holding the Spartans to a 21 percent shooting clip.

Ali Ford scored a game-high 21 points with 15 coming from a 6-of-10 performance in the second frame. Kelsey Harris recorded the first double-double of her career with 14 points and 10 boards. Kelsey Evans also scored in double figures with 12 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

Overall, Elon finished 29-of-60 for a 48 percent mark and had its second best three-point percentage in a game this season of 43. UNCG finished 19-of-64 from the field and shot 29 percent after failing to make a three in the second half. The Phoenix bested the Spartans on the glass, hauling down 45 boards to UNCG’s 36.

UNCG led by eight early in the game before a three by Ford cut the deficit to three, 16-13, with 10:38 to play. Elon took its first lead at the 7:03 mark off a Shon Redmond jumper that made it 22-21. The Spartans then used a 10-2 run to take its largest advantage of the game, 34-24. A jumper by Evans ignited a spark of eight straight for the maroon and gold in the last three and a half minutes of the first half to pull within two at the break, 34-32.

Both teams shot 38 percent from the field and brought down 22 boards in the first frame. The Spartans went 4-for-9 from three-point range to shoot 44 percent.

Just nine seconds into the second half, Ford hit a three to keep the momentum going for Elon and added to a 16-2 run, which started with under four minutes to play in the first, that eventually put the Phoenix up by four, 40-36.

After two baskets by Shannen Cochraham, a block and defensive rebound by Jessica Farmer set up a layup by Ford, which she followed up with back-to-back threes to give the maroon and gold an 11-point advantage, 54-43, with 11:30 left in the game.

The Phoenix never lost control from there, going up by as many as 14 before finishing with the 11-point victory.

Chattanooga 64, College of Charleston 53

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior forward Ashlen Dewart missed her second free throw in the final seconds, dashed into the lane to grab the rebound and get the put back as time expired to lead the Lady Mocs to a 64-53 Southern Conference women’s basketball win over the College of Charleston at the McKenzie Arena Monday night. Dewart posted a game-high 26 points, her seventh 20+ scoring game this season, and pulled down eight rebounds.

Chattanooga improved to 12-3 overall and 5-1 in SoCon action while the Cougars dropped below.500 to 7-8 on the year and 3-3 in league play. The win is Chattanooga’s 20th straight at McKenzie Arena. Chattanooga went 13-0 in the Roundhouse last year and is currently 6-0 on its home court this season.

The Lady Mocs led wire-to-wire for the second straight game and were up by as much as 21 points twice at the start of the second half. UTC started the game on a 10-2 run then closed out the opening frame on an 18-4 sprint to lead 35-17 at the break.

Chattanooga started the latter period making all four of its attempts with Dewart scoring six in the run to put UTC up 43-22 with 16:18 to play. UTC then went 1-4over the next 2:50 with junior Taylor Hall putting in a short jumper at the 13:28 mark. That would be the Lady Mocs last field goal for the next 11:25. Dewart and seniors Kayla Christopher and Kylie Lambert combined for six free throws in that time before Dewart made a layup with 2:03 to play, ending the field goal drought.

While Chattanooga went cold, the Cougars put together a 21-4 run to get to within two points. Cathryn Hardy hit a jumper at the 13:17 mark of the second half to spark the run that was capped off with 3:35 to play with a layup from Christy Hewatt to cut Chattanooga’s lead to the closest since early in the first half at 51-49.

Over the final minutes of the game, Chattanooga’s effort at the free throw line paid off as the Cougars put Chattanooga at the line 12 times. UTC was 9-of-12 from the charity stripe over the final three minutes and Christopher made all six of her attempts in the final minute while going 8-of-8 for the game.

The two teams were evenly matched in the paint with Chattanooga gaining a slight 26-24 edge. The Cougars’ bench outscored the Lady Mocs 10-5 and CofC had six fast break points. Chattanooga outrebounded Charleston 42-37 who average a conference-best 45.6 per game. The Lady Mocs edged College of Charleston 11-10 on the offensive glass and outscored them 13-11 on second chance points. Chattanooga forced 18 CofC turnovers and had nine points off the miscues. The Lady Mocs dished out 15 assists to 14 turnovers and had a season-high tying six blocked shots.

Dewart was 9-of-19 from the field and 8-of-12 from the free throw line. Christopher was 3-of-7 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers and 8-of-8 from the free throw line while grabbing six boards, dishing out a team-high five assists and grabbing three steals.

Hall was the third Chattanooga player in double figures with 12 points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Lambert pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds for the second straight night. It is her third game with 10 rebounds this season. Freshman Alicia Payne dished out four assists and grabbed two boards while classmate Tatianna Jackson had five rebounds.

Chattanooga shot 45.5% (15-33) in the first half but struggled in the second making just 7-of-24 (29.2%)  and was 3-of-12 from beyond the arc. After shooting 49 percent (24-49) from the free throw line over the last three games, the Lady Mocs were 17-of-23 (73.9%) Monday night.

The Cougars had three players in double figures led by Latisha Harris with 13 points and seven rebounds. Cathryn Hardy had 12 points and a team-best nine rebounds while Alyssa Frye put in 11 points making 3-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arc. Jillian Brown, playing 39 minutes, had a game-high six assists. College of Charleston shot 26.9 percent (7-of-26) in the first half, but rebounded with a 40.6 percent effort in the second half making 13-of-32 from the field. The Cougars were 10-of-16 from the free throw line and made 3-of-17 from the 3-point line.

Samford 56, Georgia Southern 41

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Samford women’s basketball team held Georgia Southern to just 24.5 percent shooting overall and 14.3 percent from three-point range to take a 56-41 Southern Conference win over the Eagles Monday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.

Samford shot 44.0 percent overall and 38.9 percent from three-point range in the win. The Bulldogs committed just 11 turnovers, down from 17 in Saturday’s win over College of Charleston.

“I was pleased with the fact that, from an offensive standpoint, we only had 11 turnovers, and our point guards didn’t have any turnovers,” Morris said. “We didn’t turn the ball over and we shot the ball well.”

Samford was led in scoring by sophomore Taylor Reece with 20 points. Freshman Krista Stricklin tied a career high with 12 points, and junior Christy Robinson added 10 points. Stricklin also had eight rebounds in the win.

Senior Hannah Dawson grabbed 13 rebounds, marking the third-straight game she has reached double figures in rebounds, including a career-high 15 in Saturday’s win over College of Charleston. Dawson is now sixth in school history in career rebounds with 497 in her three-plus seasons in a Samford uniform.

For Georgia Southern, MiMi DuBose led the way with 16 points. Meredyth Frye added 12 points for the Eagles. Aishya Wofford led GSU in rebounding, grabbing nine boards in the loss.

For the second-straight game, Samford got off to a hot start, jumping out to a 12-2 lead with 14:12 to go after a jumper by Reece. Samford pushed its lead out to 13 points at 18-5 with 11:33 left in the first half after a three-pointer by Stricklin.

After Georgia Southern fought back to cut the lead to nine points at 18-9, Samford scored the next five points in a row to push its lead out to 14 points at 23-9 with 7:22 left in the half after a jumper by Jazmine Martin. GSU closed the half with a 14-4 run to cut the Samford lead to four points at 27-23 heading into halftime.

Samford scored the first seven points of the second half to take an 11-point lead at 34-23 with 16:36 left in the game after a pair of free throws by Martin. With Samford leading, 39-28, the Bulldogs went on an 8-1 run to push their lead out to 18 points at 47-29 with 9:25 left after a layup by Robinson.

Georgia Southern fought back to cut the Bulldog lead to 13 points at 52-39 with 3:01 to go after a three-pointer by Frye. The Eagles, however, could get no closer as Samford came away with the 56-41 win.

The win was the third-straight for Samford and it improves the Bulldogs’ record to 8-7 overall and 5-1 in SoCon play. Georgia Southern drops to 2-14 overall and 1-6 in league play with the loss.

Appalachian State 68, Wofford 65 (2OT)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Maryah Sydnor scored 23 points and Katie Mallow added 14 Monday as Appalachian State women’s basketball held on for a 68-65 double-overtime victory over Wofford.

Sydnor added 14 rebounds, four steals, and three blocked shots and Anna Freeman grabbed 14 rebounds for the Mountaineers (10-3, 4-1 SoCon), who fought their way through a physical matchup to their 11th consecutive victory against the Terriers (5-9, 0-6 SoCon) in their first double overtime contest since defeating Davidson 78-75 on January 18, 2003.

Appalachian State jumped to a quick 4-0 lead with 18:14 left in the first half, but a pair of Wofford layups seconds later would tie the Terriers. Michelle Merritt provided Wofford their first lead (6-4) with a layup at 16:16.

The Terriers would trade baskets with the Mountaineers before App State entered a 6:21 run (20-9). Wofford’s Daniella Motley would snap the streak with a layup at 6:42, and pull the Terriers within nine (20-11).

It became a game of threes as Appalachian and Wofford traded field-goals. Four different Terriers accounted for four three-pointers in the final four minutes of the half. Mallow and Sydnor would answer for Appalachian with field goals of their own, leading the Mountaineers into halftime tied at 26.

The second half would seem like deja-vu when Appalachian, again, took a quick four-point lead and continued in a physical matchup against Wofford, as the two squads traded baskets resulting in a knotted game five times, with eight lead changes.

Raven Gary fouled out of the game at the 4:54 mark, but not before leaving the Mountaineers ahead by two (46-44). Jordan Frazier would lay in a basket with 4:32 remaining to edge the Terriers ahead by one (46-47). Sydnor responded with four more points setting the Apps ahead by one (52-51) with 1:39 left on the clock. A. Freeman would head to the line with 17 seconds remaining, and placing App ahead by three (54-51). The Terriers, however, just weren’t ready to call it quits as Morgan Wrightson nailed a three with 11 ticks on the clock, sending the game into overtime.

A Katie Mallow foul with 4:03 remaining in overtime sent Rachel Brittenham to the line, where she marked two free-throws and edged Wofford by two (54-56). Courtney Freeman would knot the score at 56 with a pair of free-throws at the 2:25 mark, while Sydnor laid in a basket for the Appalachian lead with six seconds remaining (58-56). Morgan Wrightson would step up for the Terriers, releasing a jumper with a second remaining to tie the Mountaineers and send the game into a second overtime period.

In the fourth period, Sydnor added two more for the Mountaineers with a quick layup, but Wofford’s Motley managed to tie the game at 60 with a layup of her own. Appalachian’s next six points would come from three trips to the charity stripe, putting Appalachian ahead by three (66-62) with just 27 seconds left. Jordan Frazier would swish a three to pull Wofford back within one (66-65) as seven seconds remained, but a Morgan Wrigthson foul would send A. Freeman to the line for two and a final score of 68-65.

Sydnor led all players in scoring with 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Anna Freeman tallied nine points to go along with 14 rebounds, six assists, five blocks, and four steals. Katie Mallow and Courtney Freeman both finished in double digits with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Morgan Wrightson paced the Terriers with 21 points, alongside Daniella Motley, who added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Combined, Appalachian shot 40.4 percent (23-57) from the floor including 18-20 from the free throw line. Wofford managed 35.7 percent (25-70) on the night and was just 8-of-18 from the line.

The Mountaineers grabbed 49 rebounds to Wofford’s 35 and forced the Terriers into 26 turnovers. Five-of-six Mountaineers were perfect from the line. Sydnor, A. Freeman, C. Freeman and Mallow all shot 4-4 on the night, while Raven Gary marked 2-2.