Davidson 65, Appalachian State 49

DAVIDSON, N.C. – In addition to strong all-around efforts from Sophia Aleksandravicius and Laura Murray, Davidson broke open a tie game with a lengthy second-half run to cruise by Appalachian State, 65-49, in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Belk Arena.

The win was Davidson’s eighth straight at home, second-longest in program history, while the Wildcats won its sixth SoCon game in a row at home. Dating back to last year, the ‘Cats have won 14 of their last 16 league games overall.

Aleksandravicius led all players with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds in 39 minutes of action for her 36th career double-double. Murray was just as impressive as the junior guard recorded 14 points, a season-high eight rebounds, five assists and a career-best six steals for the Wildcats.

Katrin Chiemeka added nine points, all from long range, to go along with six rebounds and four of Davidson’s 14 steals.

Maryah Sydnor was the lone Appalachian State (7-3, 1-1 SoCon) player in double figures with 15 points, while teammate Anna Freeman led her club with 11 boards.

Davidson (5-7, 2-0 SoCon), which held the Mountaineers to just one field goal over a nine-minute stretch, opened the second half on a 23-4 run to go up, 55-36, and put the game out of reach.

The Wildcats held a 43-32 advantage on the glass and turned 20 Mountaineer miscues into 23 points at the other end.

After Appalachian State scored eight unanswered to go up 26-20, the Wildcats closed the first half on a 12-6 spurt capped off by an Aleksandravicius’ layup with five seconds remaining to tie the score, 32-32.

Davidson finished the contest with a season-high 45.6 percent shooting clip, while limiting the Mountaineers to just 16.7 percent (5-30) in the second half and 31.7 percent (19-60) overall.

Chattanooga 76, UNCG 46

GREENSBORO, N.C. --- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga head coach Wes Moore cleared his bench early and often Saturday at Fleming Gymnasium and all 10 players found the basket as the Lady Mocs put together a 76-46 Southern Conference win over the Spartans. Chattanooga improves to 10-2 overall and 3-0 in SoCon action while the Spartans fall to 3-9 on the year and 0-3 in league play.

Senior Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) led all scorers with 19 points making 8-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-7 from beyond the arc while posting game-highs for assists (3) and steals (3). Junior Ashlen Dewart (Spartanburg, S.C.) scored early in the first half with six of Chattanooga’s first nine points and closed out with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists, a pair of blocked shots and two steals in 19 minutes.

The Lady Mocs never trailed in the game and the score was tied just once in 40 minutes. Dewart put in the first shot for Chattanooga but it was quickly tied up on a layup from UNCG’s Sidnei Harmon. Junior Alex Black (Memphis, Tenn.) drained the first of her three 3-pointers to give Chattanooga the lead for good less than 80 seconds into the game.

The first half was filled with runs including a 15-0 run by UTC to take a 24-8 lead followed by a UNCG 10-0 run to cut it to 24-18. However, Chattanooga scored 12 straight points in the closing minutes of the second half to make it 36-20 at the half.

In the second half, the closest the game would get would be a 15-point margin as the Lady Mocs maintained a double-digit lead through the period. UTC pushed its lead further out with a 13-0 run fueled by Dewart and junior Meghan Downes (Newnan, Ga.) who combined for eight points while freshman Alicia Payne (Memphis, Tenn.) made her first jumper this year with a pull-up from 15 feet. That run put the Lady Mocs up 68-39 with just 4:28 to play.

On the boards, the Lady Mocs outrebounded UNCG 38-35 and had 12 offensive boards to the Spartans 13, but outscored them 13-11 on second chance points. The bench saw more action in the second half as Chattanooga pulled away and freshman Tatianna Jackson (Atlanta, Ga.) scored all eight of her points in the second half and had a team-high seven rebounds in the game.

Elon 65, Samford 41

ELON, N.C. – The Elon women’s basketball team (5-7, 2-1 SoCon) snapped a three-game losing skid with an impressive 65-41 win over reigning Southern Conference champion Samford (5-7, 2-1 SoCon) today, Jan. 5, in Alumni Gym. Elon saw three players reach double figures, including a season-high 15 points from Kelsey Harris.

Elon held the lead through the entire game as the Phoenix shot 48 percent from the field, including 38 percent from beyond the arc, and held Samford to a 34 percent clip. The Phoenix forced a season-high 26 turnovers and also won the rebounding battle, 34-24.

Kelsey Evans fell just short of the double-double with 12 points and a game-high nine boards, while Ali Ford finished with 11 points.

With Elon leading 11-9 with 10:52 left in the first half, a three by Zora Stephenson sparked a 10-0 run for the Phoenix to take its first significant lead of the game. The maroon and gold closed the first frame on a combined 10-point run by Evans and Harris to take a 36-19 advantage at the break.

Elon kept its foot on the gas at the beginning of the second half with a 9-0 run within the first six minutes to move ahead by 26, 45-19. The Phoenix went up by as much as 32 with 10:37 left in the game before winning by the 24-point advantage.

The Phoenix saw action from 12 players and put nine players in the scoring column.

College of Charleston 58, Georgia Southern 56

CHARLESTON, S.C. –  Down by one point with 45 seconds left to play senior Latisha Harris made a layup and senior Cathryn Hardy took a charge with seven seconds left as the College of Charleston women’s basketball team escaped with a 58-56 victory over Georgia Southern Saturday at TD Arena. 

Harris led the Cougars (7-5, 3-0) with 14 points and 10 rebounds, her fifth double-double of the season. Fellow senior Cathryn Hardy nearly had a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Junior Jillian Brown recorded her third straight double-digit assist game with 11 assists.

For the Cougars with the win over Georgia Southern they equaled their win total from all of last season, a season which saw them finish 7-23 in 2011-12. 

The Eagles (1-11, 0-3) got off to a good start as their leading scorer MiMi DuBose, who finished with 27 points for the game, hit a three-pointer to put her team up 5-2 in the early going.

The Eagles would keep the lead until Hardy knocked down a three-pointer to put the Cougars up 10-7 with 14:31 to play in the half.

Georgia Southern would keep it at a two possession game until the Cougars closed the half on a 14-5 run to go up 32-17 at the break.

Harris and sophomore Christy Hewatt scored back-to-back baskets to get the Cougars going in the second half as they led by as many as 19 at 36-17 with 18:16 to play in the game.

DuBose, who scored 20 of her 27 points in the second half brought the Eagles back, leading a 14-0 run as she scored 11 straight points for the Eagles to put them up one at 56-55 with 45 seconds remaining in the game.

CofC head coach Natasha Adair called a timeout and out of the timeout the Cougars ran a play to get Harris the ball in the post and she hit a turnaround layup to put CofC up 57-56 with 32 seconds left.

The Cougars pressured the ball and forced the Eagles to call a timeout with 17 seconds left. Out of the timeout, Meredyth Frye drove to the hoop and Hardy took a charge, drawing a foul on Frye with seven seconds left.

The Cougars got the ball into Brown, who was fouled. Brown hit one of two free-throws and the Eagles had one last chance as DuBose missed a jumper as time expired and the Cougars prevailed 58-56.

Western Carolina 54, Wofford 40

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women’s basketball (4-8, 2-1 Southern Conference) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 54-40 victory over Wofford (5-6, 0-3 SoCon) Saturday in the Ramsey Center. More importantly, the Catamounts improved to 2-1 in the Southern Conference with the win over the Terriers.

The Catamounts were paced by junior forward Shauna Terry who poured in a career-high 13 points, leading all scorers.

Redshirt senior Diamond Hunnicutt’s three point play, hitting the field goal and connecting on the free throw after being fouled, set the tone for Western Carolina. Hunnicutt’s points, to open the game, put the Catamounts up 3-0 and the team never trailed against the Terriers.

Western Carolina shot a red-hot 52.4 percent from the field, in the first half. The Catamounts were aided inside by Terry who scored eight of her career-high 13 points in the opening 20 minutes.

The Catamounts looked to be taking a new year, new approach to the game, in the first contest of 2013. Western Carolina was scrappy and offensive minded against Wofford, with 26 of its 54 points, in the game, coming from inside the paint.

Wofford kept the game tight in the first half with Western Carolina’s largest lead only being seven points, 13-6 at the 13:55 mark. The Terriers cut the Catamount lead to one, 17-16 with 6:59 left, off a three pointer by Jordan Frazier, the first in the game for either team. Western Carolina answered Frazier’s three-pointer, with a jumper by redshirt senior Janae’ McKinney, to push the lead back to three, 19-6.

Junior guard Hana Haden hit the only three pointer of the game for the Catamounts to open the second half, to push Western Carolina’s lead to 29-21. Western Carolina built its first double digit lead of the game off a jumper by Ali Lane to give the Catamounts’ a 33-23 advantage over the Terriers.

Leading by 10, 35-25, for the second time in the game, Western Carolina hit a bit of a lull which allowed Wofford to attempt a run with 15:48 left in the game. The Terriers scored six unanswered points to trim the Catamount lead to 35-31 with 12:22 left. It was the first of two times Wofford would trail by just four points, with the second time coming when Chanel Stokes hit a lay-up with 10:44 remaining and Western Carolina led 37-33.

Just like most of the game, Western Carolina stepped up and had an answer to Wofford’s buckets. Terry hit a jumper which proved to be a catalyst for a 6-0 run by the Catamounts to build its lead back 46-33 with 4:25 remaining in the game.

Wofford would never cut the Catamounts lead to single digits again. Western Carolina built its largest lead of the game, 54-38, when Haden nailed a pair of free throws with 24 seconds remaining. Wofford’s Logan Morris connected on a lay-up with eight seconds left to catapult the Terriers to 40 points.  The 40 points scored by Wofford is the lowest point total allowed by Western Carolina this season.

Western Carolina held Wofford to just 19 points in the second half, while doubling up on them in scoring with 28 in the final 20 minutes. The Catamounts ended the game shooting 43.2 percent from the field and holding the Terriers to 28.3. The Catamounts also took advantage of its trip to the free throw line hitting 15-of-20 for 75 percent.  On the rebounding front, the Catamounts had 34 boards, 28 on the defensive end, while Wofford had 32 – 11 offensive and 21 defensive.

Western Carolina had two players just miss scoring in double figures with Terry. Haden had nine points and Alex Abraham ended the game with eight.