Gardner-Webb 69, Appalachian State 63
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball dropped an exciting game to Big South opponent Gardner-Webb at Paul Porter Arena on Tuesday evening, falling 69-63.

The game began with a quick 5-2 lead for Appalachian as Maryah Sydnor hit a lay up and a three-pointer in the first 3 minutes of the contest. The Mountaineers would continue to lead, getting as much as ten points ahead in the first half.

The Bulldogs would score 16 points in the last ten minutes of the half to tie the game at 32 with 34 seconds left. With three seconds left on the clock before the break, Joi Jones would hit a jump shot and get fouled for the Mountaineers to take a 35-32 lead going into halftime.

Katie Mallow led the Apps at the half with nine points as the team shot 40 percent from the floor.

The Bulldogs began the second half with determination as they scored the first 11 points. The Mountaineers would not find a point until four minutes in with an offensive rebound and jumper from Amber Doniere.

From there the Black and Gold would regain their composure and take the 49-48 lead off a jumper from Sydnor with 10:18 to play.

The lead changed five times until 1:42 seconds remained in the game and the Bulldogs led 63-61. With 1:11 to play the Mountaineers forced a turnover to get possesion of the ball. Jones would hit another crucial shot to tie up the game 63-63 with 44 seconds to play.

Gardner-Webb's Mayhana Dunovant scored four points in 20 seconds to give the Bulldogs a permanent lead. With no answer from Appalachian, GWU took the game with a final score of 69-63.

Sydnor notched her second double-double of the season, recording 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Mallow added 17 points of her own in the game. Jones chipped in a career-high of 13 points for the Mountaineers while dishing out four assists and recording five steals.

The Bulldogs had three players score in double-figures with Catrina Green leading the way with 23 points. Olivia Parker tallied 15, while Jasmine Dale had 10 points for GWU.

As a team, the Mountaineers shot 36.8 (25-68) percent from the floor, while holding Gardner-Webb to a similar 35.4 shooting percentage (23-65). The Bulldogs got the edge in team rebounds, recording 53 on the game, while Appalachian grabbed 40.

 

Cal State Northridge 70, Georgia Southern 58
STATESBORO, Ga. – Cinnamon Lister tallied 19 points, four assists and two steals, and Cal State Northridge outscored Georgia Southern by 15 points in the second half to post a 70-58 women’s basketball victory over the Eagles Tuesday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Anna Claire Knight netted a career-high 28 points to go along with five rebounds for Georgia Southern (1-3). The junior was 10-for-20 from the floor and 5-for-9 from 3-point range. Lacie Dowling collected eight points and five rebounds, and Briana Jones corralled a team-high 11 rebounds. 

Ashlee Guay contributed 16 points, four rebounds and four assists for Cal State Northridge (2-2), and Camille Mahlknecht posted 10 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Mikayla Thielges grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds.

With the Matadors trailing by three at halftime, Lister sparked a 12-2 run to open the second half as Guay and Mahlknecht each scored four. Back-to-back triples by Knight trimmed the margin to one point, but it was the last basket the Eagles would score for the next 9:26 as the Matadors pulled away with a 20-4 run.

The Eagles held the Matadors to 23.3 percent shooting in the first half, including 2-for-14 from long distance. CSUN turned the tables in the second half, holding Georgia Southern to 26.7 percent shooting and a 2-for-8 mark from 3-point range.

Triples by Knight and Dowling ignited an 8-2 Eagle run to start the game, and the duo combined for another eight points as Georgia Southern pushed a one-point lead to 28-19 with 4:27 remaining, prompting the Matadors to call a timeout. A Guay triple out of the timeout cut the lead to six points, and the Matadors scored the final four points of the frame to get within three, 31-28, at the break. 

 

No. 23 Georgia 72, Furman 48
ATHENS, GA. --  Tiaria Griffin scored 21 points and ignited a 26-0 Georgia run that helped the 22nd-ranked Bulldogs overcome a 15-point first half defict on the the way to a 72-48 win over Furman in women’s basketball action Tuesday evening at Stegeman Coliseum.

After Furman used hot shooting to build a 31-14 lead over the first 15-plus minutes of the first half, Griffin and Georgia mounted their comeback.  The 5-foot-7 guard from Monticello, Miss., delivered a pair of layups over the final 30 seconds of the first half to cap an 8-0 spurt that pulled Georgia to within nine points, 31-22, at intermission.

The Bulldogs continued their furious comeback in the second half, fashioning an 18-0 scoring spree to take a 40-31 lead following a Halle Washington three-point play with 13:25 to play.

Furman finally halted the prodigious Georgia run — and a 12 minute scoring drought — with a Brittany Hodges layup at the 12:30 mark to make it a 40-33 game.

Georgia, which shot just 31 percent from the field against Furman’s 2-3 zone defense in the first half,  canned 50.0 percent of its shots (18-of-36) over the game’s final 20 minutes to finish at 41.5 percent.

Krista Donald followed Griffin in the scoring column ith 13 points and Khaalidah Miller added 13 for the Buldlogs, who fashoined a 45-30 rebounding advantage, led by Donal’s game high 10 caroms,

Furman was paced by Erica Norwood with 14 points and Sarah Durdaller’s nine points.

Norwood scored the game’s first five points with a 3-pointer and layup, and a Hodges layup gave Furman an early 7-0 lead.

The Paladins led 9-8 five minutes into the contest before putting together a 10-2 run to go up 19-10 on an Allison Beasley 3-pointer midway through the first half.

Furman extended its lead with a 13-4 scoring stretch to take a 31-14 advantage on a pair of Whitney Bunn free throws with 4:32 remaining in the first half, but the Paladins wouldn’t score again until nearly eight minutes had run off the second half clock and Georgia had surged to a 40-31 lead.

The Paladins canned 12-of-27 field goal attempts in the first half (44.4 percent) before falling off sharply in the second period under heavy Georgia defensive pressure that limited Furman to just six makes on 25 shots over the final 20 minutes of play.

 

Wake Forest 69, Davidson 66
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. –  Despite putting three players in double figures for the fourth straight game, including a double-double by Hannah Early, Davidson fell just short in their comeback bid at Wake Forest as the ‘Cats fell 69-66 Tuesday evening at Joel Coliseum in women’s basketball.

The Wildcats (2-2) fell in another close affair with Wake Forest (2-2) on the road. Two years ago, the game went down to the wire with the Demon Deacons holding on for a 68-66 decision.

Early registered her first career double-double on the strength of a game-high 18 points and pulled in a personal-best 11 boards. She also blocked three shots.

Laura Murray followed with 17 points, going 8-for-10 at the charity stripe, and Dakota Dukes just missed her second double-double in a row with 14 points and nine boards. She also pocketed a career-high five steals on the evening.