Appalachian State 86, Lees-McRae 57
BOONE, N.C. — Led by 29 points from Maryah Sydnor, Appalachian State University women's basketball routed Lees-McRae, 86-57, for its first win of the season on Friday evening at the Holmes Center.

Sydnor poured in 29 points on 13-of-20 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 mark from three-point range. Her 29 points were one shy of a career high while the three three-pointers matched a personal best. She also set a new career high with five assists.

Lees-McRae (1-2) proved to be a worthy adversary in the early going as it jumped out to a 4-0 lead and led 13-11 midway through the first half. However, sparked by 13 points from Sydnor, Appalachian State (1-2) went on a 26-12 run over the final 9:38 of the opening period and took a comfortable 37-25 lead into halftime. The advantage never shrunk below 12 in the second half.

Katie Mallow and KeKe Cooper joined Sydnor in double-figures with 11 points apiece. In addition to the career-high 11 points, Cooper also set personal bests with 10 rebounds and five blocks. Mallow's five assists were also a career high. Freshman Amber Doniere and sophomore Bria Huffman also tallied career highs with nine and seven rebounds, respectively.

As a team, Appalachian shot 53 percent (35-of-66), including 45.5 percent from three-point land (5-of-11). The Mountaineers out-rebounded the Bobcats, 51-31, and held a whopping 25-9 advantage in assists.

Layana De Souza led LMC with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

 
UNCG 72, South Carolina State 63
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women’s basketball team raced out to an early advantage Friday afternoon and did not look back, posting a 72-63 victory in its home opener at Fleming Gymnasium.

The Spartans led wire-to-wire and led by as many as 15 in the second half before closing out the win at the foul line. A trio of UNCG players scored in double figures led by sophomore guard Lucy Mason who netted 17 and hit six of her seven free throw attempts to go along with six assists. Senior forward Janae’ Stevenson notched her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds while senior guard Breonna Patterson  added 13 points and handed out three assists. Additionally, freshman forward Jade Scaife tallied nine points, nine rebounds and two steals.

UNCG out-shot the Bulldogs, .431-.397 and limited the visitors to just nine percent (1-for-11) from beyond the arc while knocking down six of their own 15 attempts. The Spartans also won the rebounding battle by one at 42-41 and recorded 20 assists on 25 made baskets. UNCG fired at a 54-percent clip in the first 20 minutes and drained five of six free throws in the period while also knocking down five of 10 from range.

It was all Spartans at the beginning as freshman guard Shanese Harris took the opening tip and raced down the floor for a layup. UNCG quickly extended its lead to 8-0 in the first two minutes and forced the Bulldogs to take a timeout. A layup by DayShaun Richbow cut the Spartan lead to 8-4 before a pair of three pointers by Patterson capped an 11-0 run which put UNCG in front by 15 with 14:31 left on the clock.

South Carolina State cut its deficit under 10 points a couple of times, but a layup and free throw by Mason pushed the lead back to 13 as the clock ticked under eight minutes. Another triple by Patterson helped the Spartans maintain that advantage into the half as UNCG took a 40-27 lead into the locker room.

Mason netted 14 points in the first 20 minutes while Patterson added 11. Scaife paced the rebounding efforts with four boards and three players were credited with three assists apiece. Richbow was the high scorer for the Bulldogs in the period with seven points.

The teams traded buckets as the second stanza commenced and a layup by Stevenson with 15:55 remaining in the contest kept UNCG’s cushion at 48-35. The Spartans took their biggest lead of the half after a layup by sophomore guard Jazmine Missouri  made it 53-39 at the 12:57 mark. However, South Carolina State began to rally – taking advantage of some costly UNCG turnovers.

A layup by Cabriel Duran had the Bulldogs all the way back to within five at 57-52 as 6:17 remained in the game. The Spartans built the lead back to nine on two occasions before a layup by Persephone Goodwin made it a five-point affair once more, 63-58, with 3:36 left. It was a freshman who came up big for the Blue and Gold on the next possession, as guard Bailey Williams  stepped back and nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Spartans a 66-58 lead. The Bulldogs would not come any closer than seven the rest of the way.

 

Winthrop 91, Davidson 76
DAVIDSON, N.C. –  Winthrop’s Dequesha McClanahan and Erica Williams scored 29 and 26 points, respectively, as the duo helped the Eagles spoil Davidson’s home opener Friday night, 91-76, at Belk Arena in women’s basketball action.

The Wildcats (2-1) dropped their first game of the young season as they were unable to overcome a hot-shooting Winthrop (2-0) squad that raced out to a 14-point halftime lead and led by as many as 17 in the game.

Davidson put three players in double figures, led by Dakota Dukes’ career-high 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting to go with seven boards.

Hannah Early followed with a 19-point effort, while Laura Murray scored 16 to go with her five assists. Shneeka Center pulled in a personal-best 12 rebounds and dropped in nine points off the bench.

Joining the Eagles’ McClanahan and Williams in double digits was Schaquilla Nunn with 11 points and Samiya Wright with 10. Nunn had a double-double adding 13 rebounds, while Taylor Calvert also hit double digits with 10 boards.

Winthrop finished the game shooting 53 percent, including 62.9 percent (22-35) in the first half as it led 52-38 at the break.

After Early drained a three-pointer to tie things up at 12-all, the Eagles went on a 16-2 spurt and grabbed a 28-14 led with 11:51 on the clock. The lead would remain double digits the rest of the way. Davidson cut the deficit to 10 (46-36) on a Dukes’ layup at 1:54, but Winthrop pushed it to 16 a minute later on a CiiCii Buford free throw and led by 14 at halftime.

Davidson tried to mount a comeback in the early stages of the second half, getting six points from Early, with her last bucket making it 58-49 with 15:16 on the clock. Shortly thereafter, Dukes’ layin in the paint off a pass from Murray cut the Eagle lead to seven.

But it was short lived, as Winthrop’s McClanahan pushed it back to ten (66-56) later on a jumper at 10:30. Davidson would come right back though, cutting it to six twice on Early’s and Murray’s jumpers over the next minute.

The Wildcats kept the deficit at single digits, getting to within seven on Dukes' jumper at the right elbow to make it 73-66 with 5:54 remaining. It would be as close as the ‘Cats got as Winthrop rattled off a 13-4 run over in the next four minutes to put the game out of reach.

Both teams scored 44 points in the paint and dished out 16 assists apiece. Winthrop held a 44-37 edge on the glass.