Western Carolina 62, UNC Asheville 51CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women’s basketball (1-3) won its home opener 62-51 against UNC Asheville (2-2) Wednesday in the Ramsey Center.
The Catamounts trailed 30-23 at the half. Western Carolina came out in the second and outscored the Bulldogs 39-21 in the final 20 minutes to claim the lead and the win. Western Carolina shot a scorching 50 percent in the second half, ending the game at 40 percent.
Western Carolina scored eight unanswered points to erase UNC Asheville’s halftime lead and claim the lead 31-30. Justin Taylor’s jumper at 17:47 handed the Catamounts its second lead of the game, after scoring the first bucket in the opening minutes of the first half.
UNC Asheville’s Brittany Gwynn answered for the Bulldogs on a jumper to give UNCA a 32-31 lead. The Bulldogs would keep a grasp on the lead, holding as much as a six point advantage, for the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Trailing by two, 41-39, after a jumper by Lindsay Simpson, Western Carolina tied the game for the first time at 41 on a jumper by Makensey Campbell at the 9:42 mark. The seesaw would begin with both teams trading baskets and garnering the lead.
Trailing by three, Rena Wakama’s lay-up trimmed the UNC Asheville advantage to one, 46-45, with 6:37 remaining. After a Bulldog turnover, Taylor turned it into a three-pointer for the Catamounts and gave WCU the lead for good, 48-46. It was the first and only three-pointer in the game for WCU.
Taylor’s trey spurred a 12-0 run by Western Carolina capped off by 1-of-2 free throws by Campbell to give the Catamounts a 57-46 advantage with 1:29 remaining. In the final minute, Western Carolina was 3-for-6 from the free throw line to stave off the Bulldogs.
Western Carolina got 20 points off UNC Asheville’s 19 turnovers and also scored 34 points in the paint. The Bulldogs did have an advantage on rebounds ripping down 49 to the Catamounts’ 43.
Taylor led the Catamounts with 12 points, her second straight double figure scoring performance. She also had eight rebounds and dished out five assists.
Senior forward Shauna Terry had 10 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Terry also had three blocks and now has 112 in her career, needing 19 to break the Catamount career blocks record of 130.
Campbell just missed scoring in double figures with a season-high nine points. Ten of the 11 players who saw action scored for the Catamounts.
UNCG 73, Norfolk State 66NORFOLK, Va. – Senior forward Janae’ Stevenson exploded for career highs of 24 points and 15 rebounds and the UNCG women’s basketball team ended the game on a 31-12 run to notch a 73-66 road win over Norfolk State Wednesday night at Echols Hall. The Spartans improve to 2-2 overall and drop NSU to 1-2.
In addition to Stevenson’s efforts, sophomore guard Lucy Mason went off for 13 points while sophomore guard Jazmine Missouri posted the first double-figure scoring performance of her career with 10 points. The two guards combined to go 12-for-14 from the free throw line as well.
UNCG shot nearly 50 percent in the second half to end up at 36.4 percent for the game. The visiting Spartans also out-rebounded Norfolk State by five at 43-38 and picked up a whopping 17 offensive boards. The Blue and Gold held NSU’s leading scorer Rachel Gordon to just four points in the contest while hitting 22 of 31 free throw attempts to finish 71 percent from the line. UNCG also committed a season-low 15 turnovers while forcing 21 by Norfolk State.
The teams traded buckets to begin the game before a three by freshman guard Bailey Williams gave UNCG an 8-4 lead. A layup by freshman guard Shanese Harris with just under 17 minutes on the clock put the Blue and Gold ahead 10-8 before both sides hit a small scoring drought. Norfolk State was able to tie the score at 10 after a layup by Ebony Brown at the 13:39 mark.
The NSU Spartans began to push ahead in the middle minutes of the half, going on a 10-3 run capped off by two Rae Corbo free throws and taking a 20-13 lead. UNCG would answer, however, as a layup by freshman forward Jade Scaife knotted the proceedings at 22 and ended a 9-2 run for the Blue and Gold.
Norfolk State was the first to 30 points in the period thanks to a Rachel Gordon layup which made the score 30-26 with under three minutes left on the clock. Sophomore guard Jazmine Missouri afforded UNCG a slight 32-30 cushion at the 1:50 mark, but a lack of transition defense led to a pair of uncontested layups for NSU down the stretch as the homestanding Spartans took a 36-32 halftime advantage into the locker room.
Stevenson paced UNCG with seven points and eight rebounds in the first 20 minutes while sophomore guard Lucy Mason dropped in seven points of her own. The visiting Spartans struggled from the field- shooting just 28 percent (10-of-36) while Norfolk State fired at a 48-percent clip (14-of-29). UNCG out-rebounded NSU 24-20, thanks in big part to 13 offensive rebounds, and forced 13 Spartan turnovers which resulted in 11 points. Norfolk State had the advantage down low in the paint 18-11.
The squads traded runs as the second half began and Norfolk State would lead the game 42-40 with 15:42 remaining on the clock. UNCG went cold from the field for the next five minutes and allowed NSU to amass a large lead at 52-40. After both teams scored back-to-back, the Blue and Gold made its push. A steal by Mason and a three-point play by Stevenson made the score 54-45 before a 13-4 run fueled by Stevenson allowed UNCG to come all the way back and knot the score at 58 – a jumper by freshman forward Jade Scaife providing the tying points.
As it turns out, UNCG would not trail again despite the home team’s best efforts. Two free throws by Corbo tied the score for the final time at 62 and a layup by Stevenson pushed the visitors ahead by four points. The Blue and Gold put the game away at the line, hitting five of its final six free throws.
Charleston Southern 68, Wofford 45CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wofford women’s basketball team suffered a 23-point loss to Charleston Southern, 68-45, Wednesday night in non-conference action inside CSU’s Buccaneer Fieldhouse.
Wofford (1-2) was led by sophomore guard Jordan Frazier, who scored a career-high 17 points and tied another career-high with five steals. Frazier was 3-of-10 shooting, 2-of-5 from 3-point range and 9-of-12 from the charity stripe.
The Terriers trailed by just eight at halftime, despite shooting 24 percent, and cut the Charleston Southern (2-2) lead to six with a quick steal and bucket by Frazier eight seconds into the second half. It fell apart from there, as the Terriers could not find their groove and shot under 30 percent again in the second half. CSU ended the game 43.6 percent from the field and outrebound the Terriers 44-29 to run away with its first Division I victory of the season.
CSU’s D.J. Fowler finished with a game-high 22 points and tied Frazier’s game-high five steals. Fowler was 8-of-9 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Erin Bratcher added 16 points for the Buccaneers, including four made 3-pointers.
The Terriers got off to a good start, scoring seven of the first nine points. Junior Lauren Kirby, who finished with 10 points, got it going early with the first bucket of the game and Frazier followed with her first made 3-pointer of the season. Frazier then got a steal and found Ashton Fleming for a basket, giving Wofford a 7-2 lead at the 18:30 mark.
CSU got hot and Wofford went cold, resulting in a 17-3 Buccaneer run that resulted in a 19-10 Charleston Southern lead at the 11:29 mark. CSU’s Bratcher made two 3-pointers and scored nine points during the run. The Terriers ended a drought of over seven minutes without a field goal to cut the lead to five, 19-14, but CSU fired right back with an 8-0 run to grab its biggest lead of the half of 13.
By halftime, Wofford had cut the margin to eight, trailing 31-23. The Terriers held CSU without a point for the last 2:44 and eight points from Kirby helped narrow the deficit. CSU made 12 field goals and shot 48 percent in the half, while Wofford was 6-of-25 to shoot 24 percent. Free throws kept Wofford in the ball game. The Terriers were 10-of-14 from the line in the half while CSU was just 3-of-4.
Out of the locker room, Wofford went right to work as Frazier came up with a steal and turned it into a layup on the other end to get the Terriers within six.
It was as close as the game would get. Leading by eight at the 17:20 mark, Charleston Southern went on a 20-4 run over a nine-minute span to lead by 24, 55-31. The Buccaneers extended the lead back to 24 on five more occasions and took their biggest lead of the ball game with 51 seconds to play ahead by 25, 68-43.
Wofford made seven field goals to CSU’s 12 in the second half and were outshot 40.0 percent to 29.2 percent.