Wofford 56, College of Charleston 55

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Danielle Motley made a free throw with 4.1 seconds to play to give the Terriers a 56-55 win over the College of Charleston Wednesday afternoon in the Benjamin Johnson Arena in a Southern Conference game.

Wofford picked up their first SoCon win and snapped a seven-game slide as they improved to 6-10 and 1-7.  It was also their third straight game that was decided on the final possession and seven-game decided by less than five points.  The College of Charleston falls to 7-11 overall and 3-6 in SoCon play.

Wofford flipped a 6-2 deficit into a 9-8 lead on seven straight points from Morgan Wrightson with 13:50 on the clock, but Alyssa Frye answered on the next College of Charleston possession with a three to take an 11-9 lead.  Wofford tied the game at 11 on a layup from Rachel Brittenham on the Terriers next possession with 12:13 left in the half.

The teams alternated baskets until Shannon Hines knocked down a three from the top of the key to send the Cougars on a 5-0 run and an 18-13 lead, but Motley ended the run with a basket in the paint to cut the lead to 18-15 with 8:27 before the half.

Wofford used a long three from Wrightson as the shot clock expired to spark their own 5-0 run and take a 20-18 lead at the six-minute mark. Frye gave the lead right back to CofC, 21-20, with a three with 4:42 left as the teams continued to trade points.

Frye took the Cougar lead out to 27-25 with her fourth three of the first half with just over a minute remaining, but Masalin answered the Terriers with the final basket of the half, a three from the corner, to give Wofford a 28-27 edge.

Frye made the first basket of the second half, her fifth three of the game, to give the Cougars a 30-28 lead two minutes into play.  Wofford responded with a three from Wrightson and a fast break layup by Frazier to mount a 6-0 run a take a four point lead, 34-30, with 16:43 on the clock.

Trailing 36-32, The College of Charleston used a 14-0 run highlighted by Frye's sixth and seventh threes to give the Cougars a 44-36 lead with 9:55 remaining.  Wrightson ended a five minute and 30 second scoreless streak with a fast break three to send the Terriers on a 10-0 run and give Wofford a 48-44 lead with under six minutes to play.

Cathryn Hardy ended a four-minute scoring drought for CofC with two free throws at 5:33 to cut the lead to 48-46. Two minutes later, the Cougars tied the game at 50 on a basket by Jillian Brown.

Down 52-50, Latisha Harris made five free throws over a three-minutes span the give the Cougars a 55-52 lead with 49 seconds remaining in the game.  Logan Morris grabbed an offensive rebound and tied the game with a three-point play with 32 seconds on the clock.

Wofford got a stop on the defensive end and grabbed an offensive rebound.  Motley was fouled going up for shot sending her to the line with 4.1 seconds showing.  Motley made the first of two free throws, and the College of Charleston last second heave hit off the backboard as the Terriers earned the 56-55 win.

Wofford went 35 percent from the floor and 38 percent from three, while the College of Charleston was 32 percent overall and 39 percent from behind the arc.  Wofford held an advantage on the glass, 46-35, including 17 offensive rebounds to led to 15 second chance points.

Wrightson led Wofford with 19 points including four threes.  She was the only Terrier in double-figures.  Motley followed with eight points, and Frazier and Ashton Fleming scored seven points each.  Motley grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds and had four steals.

Frye’s seven threes led the Cougars.  She was two threes shy of the Southern Conference record for threes in a game.  Harris scored 16 point and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds.  Brown had a game-high eight assists for CofC.

Davidson 88, UNCG 48

DAVIDSON, N.C. –  The Davidson women’s basketball team put three scorers in double figures and tied a school record with 28 assists in rolling to its second 40-point win of the season, 88-48, over UNCG Wednesday night in Southern Conference action at John M. Belk Arena.

The Wildcats shot 50.7 percent from the floor, including 52.9 percent in the second half, as they improved to 10-8, 7-1 in SoCon action. It’s the largest win in the all-time series against the Spartans as the ‘Cats won for the 10th time in the last 13 meetings.

The 28 assists tied the school mark set Dec. 9, 1995 vs. Barber-Scotia. The Wildcats hit also season-best 34 field goals and went 15-for-18 from the charity stripe on its way to a season-best 88 points.

Sophia Aleksandravicius and Laura Murray led the way with 14 points each. Aleksandravicius added eight rebounds, three assists and four blocks, and Murray dished out four dimes to go with five steals.

Sarah Davis was perfect from the floor, going 5-for-5 and added a free throw to give her a season-high 11 points. In all, 11 Wildcats scored at least four points, including Mellissa Giegerich who had a career-best six points on 3-for-3 shooting.

UNCG (3-14, 0-8) was led by Janae Stevenson’s and Breonna Patterson’s 14 points apiece. Stevenson added a game-best 14 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end. The Spartans as a team had 23 offensive boards.

After UNCG held the early lead, Davidson started to pull away. Up 12-11, the Wildcats rolled off a 16-3 run with Katrin Chiemeka scoring five points in the spurt and the lead grew to 28-14 with 6:18 to go before the Spartans burned a timeout.

A three-ball later by Shneeka Center and two free throws with 44 ticks left in the half from Barbara Sitton make it 40-21 going into the break. Six ‘Cats scored at least four points in the half, led by Murray’s nine.

It was much the same in the second period as Murray hit a triple early and then pocketed a steal and finished it off with a fastbreak layup, while Dakota Dukes hit a pair of free throws for a 51-21 advantage. Another shot from behind the arc, this time from Lillian McCabe, a few minutes later made it 58-25 with 15:04 left.

The second-half lead grew to as many as 42 points (88-46) on Giegerich’s last bucket of the game.

Western Carolina 88, Furman 83 (3OT)

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Freshman guard Lindsay Simpson paced four players in double figures, with career-high 25 points, as Western Carolina women’s basketball ( 5-12, 3-5 Southern Conference) defeated Furman (6-11, 2-6 SoCon) 88-83 in a three overtime thriller Wednesday in Timmons Arena.

Along with Simpson’s 25 points, where she was 8-of-15 from the field, a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line and drained three three-pointers, Rena Wakama added a career-high of her own with 23 points. Ali Lane had 11 points and Janae’ McKinney poured in 10 points to round out the double figure scorers for Western Carolina.

After two overtime periods, in which Western Carolina and Furman matched baskets, the Catamounts finally pulled away in the third five minute period. The Catamounts outscored the Paladins 9-4 in the third overtime to ice the game.

Simpson hitt a buzzer-beating floater, to end the half, and Western Carolina led Furman 36-26 heading into the locker room. The Catamounts came out tenacious and with fire to start the second half, scoring the first five points. They parlayed that quick start to a 21-point lead, 49-28, with 16:41 left in regulation.

Furman took the knocks but wasn’t on the mat, as the Paladins slowly began to chip away at the Catamount lead. In a three minute span, Furman quickly cut the Western Carolina lead to nine with an 18-2 run. It would be the prelude to an epic mid-week game between the two teams.

Western Carolina built its lead back to 13 points, 59-46 with 8:17 left, off a three-pointer by Simpson. Down the stretch, leading by 12, 67-55, with 3:34 remaining Western Carolina hit a scoring wall as Furman heated up. Furman reeled off 10 consecutive points, holding the Catamounts scoreless, to pull within one, 67-66, with 48 seconds remaining in regulation.

Lane was fouled with 22 seconds left, hitting 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, to put Western Carolina up 68-66. The Paladins’ Brittany Hodges nailed a jumper, with six seconds left, to the game at 68 sending the game to the first overtime.

Simpson hit a jumper to start the first overtime to give Western Carolina the early lead. A pair of free throws by Hodges tied the game again and Wakama answered with two free throws of her own to take the lead at 72-70. Kaitlin Murphy’s three-pointer see-sawed the lead back to Furman. Wakama’s 1-of-2 free throws tied the game for the sixth time in the contest and send the game to the second overtime.

It was Furman’s turn to take the lead in the second overtime, off a lay-up by Teshia Griswold. Western Carolina had the lead again, down the stretch, when Wakama eyed and connected on a three-pointer with 2:26 left in the second overtime as the Catamounts led 79-77. With 55 seconds left, Janice Roberts lay-up tied the game at 79.

Western Carolina scored a season-high 88 points and snapped a four-game losing streak. The Catamounts shot 47.5 percent from the field and was 24-of-30 from the free throw line. Western Carolina also outrebounded Furman 47-43 ripping down 31 defensive rebounds. The win at Furman was also the Catamounts first Southern Conference road win of the season.

Chattanooga 66, Samford 60

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- Three University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball players combined for 36 points and held off a second half Samford charge to get a 66-60 win over the Bulldogs Wednesday night at the Pete Hanna Center.

The Lady Mocs improve to 15-3 on the year and take over sole possession of first place in the Southern Conference at 8-1 as Elon (7-1) did not play tonight. Samford evens out its record at 9-9 overall and 6-3 in league play.

Junior Ashlen Dewart had a team-high 14 points for the Lady Mocs with senior Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) and junior Taylor Hall (New Tazewell, Tenn.) each tossing in 12 points. Dewart was 5-of-14 on the night making eight of Chattanooga’s final 11 points and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line in that stretch.

Hall was 5-for-10 from the floor and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc with two rebounds. Christopher moved into 18th place at UTC with 1,183 career points. She had six rebounds, five assists and three steals and has scored in double figures in four straight games.

The Lady Mocs got control of the ball to start the game and Hall took advantage sinking the first of her two 3-pointers. She and junior Meghan Downes (Newnan, Ga.) each drained the next two to make it 9-0 and Chattanooga was off to a 15-0 start.

Jazmine Martin, who had 22 second half points, led the Bulldogs on a 7-2 run over the next 4:23 and Samford would get as close as 22-14 at the 4:47 mark of the half on a 3-pointer from Hannah Dawson. After the Lady Mocs got up 30-16 with six straight points, the Bulldogs closed out the first half with a 3-pointer from Dawson in the corner to make it a 30-19 advantage for UTC at intermission.

Samford came out strong to start the second half and went on a 13-4 run over the first 3:23 to cut Chattanooga’s lead down to 34-32 with 16:37 to play. The two teams traded points over the next four minutes and the Bulldogs remained just two points behind at 38-36 with 12:11 to play.

After a pair of Samford free throws, UTC’s Ka’Vonne Towns (Lilburn, Ga.) drained a 3-pointer sparking an 11-2 Chattanooga run capped off by a layup from junior Faith Dupree (Knoxville, Tenn.) to put the Lady Mocs up 49-38 with 9:36 to play. However, Chattanooga would only see a double-digit lead once more in the half and Samford would get as close as two points three times more.

Over the final three minutes, Chattanooga would score eight points and allow just four to the Bulldogs for the 66-60 margin.

Martin scored a game-high 31 points for Samford and Hannah Dawson recorded a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds along with four assists and two steals.

Chattanooga freshman Tatianna Jackson (Atlanta, Ga.) playing a career-best 26 minutes, just missed a double-double of her own with nine points and led UTC with a career-high nine boards while dishing out two assists and grabbing three steals.

Downes, making her second career start, had seven points and two rebounds in 17 minutes. She started in place of senior Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) who was unable to play.

Chattanooga led wire-to-wire and outrebounded Samford 32-28, allowing the Bulldogs just two offensive boards to UTC’s 12. That led to a 9-3 advantage in second chance points. The Lady Mocs had eight fast break points to none for Samford and the bench outscored SU 17-9. In the paint, Chattanooga outdid Samford 34-20 and scored 17 points off 23 Bulldog turnovers.