Minnesota 63, Chattanooga 62
HONOLULU, Hawaii --- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Taylor Hall and sophomore Tatianna Jackson combined for 35 points but couldn’t pull the Lady Mocs out of the fire as Minnesota snared a 63-62 win in the opening game of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Classic Friday afternoon at the Stan Sheriff Center. Chattanooga drops to 4-2 on the year while the Gophers improve to 6-1 overall.

Hall posted her second double-double of the year with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Jackson, playing a career-high 38 minutes, also topped her career-high in scoring with 16 points. Senior Ashlen Dewart put in nine points and grabbed seven boards while classmate Faith Dupree added seven points and seven boards to the effort.

Trailing 63-59 with 36 seconds to play, Hall forced a turnover and converted the steal into a fast break layup to make it a two-point game, 63-61 with 34 seconds on the clock. Minnesota’s Rachel Banham missed a short jumper and Dupree gathered in the rebound. Chattanooga head coach Jim Foster called for a full time out with 3.2 seconds to play to set up the final play.

On the inbounds from in front of the Minnesota bench, Dupree lobbed a pass down the court to Jackson who was alone headed toward the basket. On her layup attempt, she was fouled and sent to the line. With just 1.5 seconds remaining, she drained the first free throw but came up short on the second and the Gophers picked up the rebound and let the clock expire.

Chattanooga struggled to start the game but were about to mount a comeback to knot it up 28-28 at the half. After trailing 20-6 with 12:04 to play in the half, UTC outscored Minnesota 22-8 over the final 7:56. Hall and Jackson combined for 17 first half points including 15 of UTC’s 22 points in the run.

However, UTC didn’t have an answer for Banham who scored a game-high 36 points, 22 in the second half alone, and led the Gophers to the narrow win. Banham, who averages a team-high 18.2 points per game, was 11-of-19 from the field and made all three of her 3-point attempts. Her effort at the free throw line was the difference maker for Minnesota. She went 11-of-12 from the charity stripe including a pair of free throws on a technical foul in the first half when it was determined a UTC player did not check into the game.

The Lady Mocs shot 25-of-61 (41%) from the field and were 3-of-14 from the 3-point line while making just 9-of-16 from the free throw line. The Gophers were 22-of-57 (38.6%) for the game and 6-of-11 from beyond the arc while making 13-of-17 from the charity stripe.

 

Rice 57, Samford 52
BOULDER, Colo. – The Samford women’s basketball team dropped a 57-52 decision to Rice on the first day of the Omni Hotels Classic, hosted by the University of Colorado, Friday night.

Samford falls to 1-4 with the loss. Rice improves to 4-4 with the win. Samford will play Saturday in the consolation game of the tournament at 6 p.m. (CT) against the loser of the late game tonight between Colorado and South Alabama. Rice advances to take on the winner of the late game in the championship game at 8:30 p.m. (CT).

In the loss, Samford was led by Krista Stricklin with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Christy Robinson also scored 12 points, while Ellen Riggins had nine points and six rebounds.

Jessica Kuster led Rice with 14 points and seven rebounds. Jasmine Goodwine led all rebounders with 11 for the game. Christal Porter had nine points and seven rebounds for the Owls.

Back-to-back baskets by Robinson and Lydia McGee gave Samford a 4-0 lead in the early minutes of the first half. Rice, however, answered with a 10-0 run to take a 10-4 lead with 15:06 to play in the first half after a three-pointer by Nakachi Maduka.

Rice eventually pushed its lead out to 10 points and 22-12 with 7:16 left in the first half after a jumper by Megan Palmer. With Samford trailing, 31-22, the Bulldogs closed the half on a 6-1 run to cut the Owls’ lead to 32-28 at halftime.

Samford scored the first six points of the second half to take a 34-32 lead with 17:05 to go after a layup by Robinson. Rice fought back to take a six-point lead at 43-37 with 11:02 remaining following a jumper by Breion Allen.

Samford answered with a 9-0 run to take a 46-43 lead with 7:31 to go after a basket by Riggins. With Samford leading, 48-45, Rice went on an 8-0 run of its own to take a 53-48 lead with 3:40 to go after a pair of free throws by Kuster. Samford cut the lead to three points twice down the stretch, at 53-50 and 55-52, but the Bulldogs were unable to get any closer, eventually falling by a score of 57-52.

As a team, Samford shot 35.1 percent for the game, compared to 30.8 percent for Rice. The Bulldogs made just 7.1 percent of their three-point attempts (1-of-14), while the Owls made 33.3 percent (3-of-9) from beyond the arc.

 

Vanderbilt 88, Elon 66
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt (5-2) hit 11 threes against the Elon women’s basketball team (2-3) today, Nov. 29, to claim a 88-66 win over the Phoenix in Memorial Gym in the first game of the Commodore’s Thanksgiving tournament.

The Commodores shot 49 percent from the field, going 34-of-69, including its 11 threes for a 52 percent clip from beyond the arc. Elon finished with a 43 percent shooting mark, hitting 23-of-54 shots from the field. The Phoenix was successful in 15 of its 17 trips to the line to reach a team season-high 88 percent from the charity stripe. On the boards, Vanderbilt finished with 41 rebounds to Elon’s 28.

Despite the losing effort, Elon put four players in double figures. Shannen Cochraham posted two new career highs with 16 points and six field goals, while also leading the team with seven boards. Rookie Lenaira Ruffin scored in double digits for the first time in her young career with 10 points, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Zora Stephenson recorded 14 points, while Sam Coffer finished with 10.

With Elon trailing the Commodores by just three, 8-5, after a Coffer jumper early in the first half, Vanderbilt hit three triples in a row in less than 90 seconds to jump out to a 12-point lead, 17-5. With 20 seconds left in the first frame, Vandy’s Jasmine Jenkins was called for a technical foul, sending Stephenson to the line to knock down two shots to make it a 55-31 game at the intermission.

The Commodores finished the first half with a 59 percent shooting mark from the field, including a blistering 64 percent from beyond the arc after making 9-of-14 threes. The Phoenix shot 38 percent from the field in the first half, knocking down three threes to go 11-of-29.

Vanderbilt continued its strong play into the second half, opening up as much as a 29-point lead, 68-39, with 15:26 on the clock. Elon closed the gap to 14 after an old-fashioned three point play by Ruffin sparked an 8-0 run by the Phoenix to move the score to 74-60 with under six minutes to play. It was too little too late as the Commodores closed out the game with a 22-point advantage.

 

Florida Atlantic 82, Georgia Southern 58
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Chenise Miller and Kimberly Smith each netted 11 points, and Florida Atlantic scored 34 points off turnovers to post an 82-58 women’s basketball victory over Georgia Southern in the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament at FAU Arena Friday afternoon.

MiMi DuBose led four Eagles in double figures in the scoring column with 14 points to go along with four rebounds, and Danielle Spencer tallied 11 points and seven rebounds. Lacie Dowling collected 10 points and five rebounds, while Anna Claire Knight scored 11. 

Shanequa Schrouder scored 10 for the Owls (4-2), while Latavia Dempsey, Briah Blakely and Takia Brooks each scored eight points.

The Owls used their full-court pressure defense to force 27 turnovers, which they turned into 34 points. FAU scored 38 points in the paint and shot 47 percent for the contest, and the Eagles (1-5) won the battle of the boards 47-32, turning 13 offensive rebounds into 11 second-chance points.

Schrouder ignited a 14-2 run in the first half, and Dotson scored four points during the stretch as FAU pushed a 13-7 lead to 27-9 with 8:50 remaining. The margin would grow to as many as 32 points at 47-15 with 2:30 to play after Robinson scored five straight for the Owls.

The Eagles got into their offense with more success in the second half and shot 50 percent in the frame, going 15-for-30 from the floor.