Davidson 78, Gardner-Webb 74
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Hannah Early and Dakota Dukes each registered a double-double, and Davidson held off a late-charging rally by Gardner-Webb to earn a 78-74 victory in the first of six straight home games Saturday afternoon at John M. Belk Arena in women’s basketball.

Early and Dukes each tallied 14 points and 12 rebounds to become the first Wildcat duo to have a pair of double-doubles in a game since January 15, 2012 at Appalachian State. The 12 rebounds each were career highs for the pair, who combined to go 12-for-14 from the charity stripe.

Davidson (3-5), which won its sixth game in a row in the all-time series, put four players in double digits. Laura Murray netted a game-high 20 points and Lillian McCabe scored a career-best 16 to join Early and Dukes.

Gardner-Webb’s Catrina Green was the lone Runnin’ Bulldog to hit double figures with 19 points.

Leading by 20 (65-45) with 11:13 left in the game after Shneeka Center swished home a pair of free throws, Davidson had to hold off a rally by GWU.

The Wildcats’ advantage started to shrink in the final three minutes. After a Murray free throw to make it 73-59, the Runnin’ Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes to close within four on a Green lay-in with 36 seconds left.

Murray stopped the run with another free throw, but Green hit another layup on the other end to make it 74-71. Shannon Eriksson sealed the win with four straight free throws in the final 10 seconds to counter a three-ball by GWU’s Candace Brown with 2 ticks left.

Davidson raced out to a 19-6 lead behind eight points from McCabe to open the game. The defense held Gardner-Webb to 2-for-17 shooting to start and 34.2 percent for the first half.

A Murray shot from three-land made it 28-14 with 6:20 to go in the half and the Wildcats went into the break up 42-32.

The Wildcats hauled in a season-high 53 rebounds and dished out a season-best 19 assists on 25 field goals. They were also a season-best 23-for-30 from the charity stripe, including 17-of-20 in the second half.

 

Furman 78, Anderson 67
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Sophomore Holli Wilkins poured in a career-high 30 points to lead the Furman women’s basketball team past Anderson, 78-67, Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.

Wilkins drained 11 of 16 field goals and was seven for 10 from the free throw line to help the Paladins to a 49 percent field goal percentage on the day.  Sophomore Erica Norwood added 13 points for Furman, while leading the team with six rebounds.  

The Paladins went up by ten, 72-62, with three minutes left in the game following two free throws by Norwood.  Wilkins added two free throws a minute later to stretch the Furman lead to 12 then scored a layup with 1:31 remaining to maintain the 12-point lead.  The Trojans hit two free throws to come within ten, but free throws down the stretch by senior Brigid Morrissey and freshman Allison Beasley sealed the win for Furman.

Anderson (6-3) was led by junior Jasmine Franklin, who recorded 17 points, while freshman Alexis Dillard and sophomore Jennifer Monroe each added 13.  The Trojans were paced on the boards by junior Sierra Simpson, who grabbed nine rebounds.

 

Samford 70, South Alabama 49
BOULDER, Colo. – Samford senior guard Shelby Campbell scored 16 points to lead three players in double figures as the Bulldog women’s basketball team earned a 70-49 win over South Alabama on the second day of the Omni Hotels Classic, hosted by the University of Colorado Saturday evening.

With the win, Samford improves to 2-4 on the young season. South Alabama falls to 0-6 with the loss.

Campbell made 6-of-10 shots from the floor and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line for her game-high total. Campbell also led the team with nine rebounds. Behind Campbell, Keke Fletcher scored 14 points and Krista Stricklin added 10 points for the Bulldogs.

South Alabama was led by Jennifer Johnson with 12 points. Colby Davis added 10 points for the Jaguars.

The game was close through most of the first half. Neither team could build more than a four-point lead until Amara Mayers’ three-pointer gave the Bulldogs a 17-12 lead with 11:11 to go in the first half.

South Alabama closed to within two points at 17-15 with 9:22 to go in the half. With Samford holding a narrow 25-23 lead, the Bulldogs closed the half on a 7-0 run to take a 32-23 lead into halftime.

Samford scored six of the first eight points in the second half to push its lead to 13 points at 38-25 with 15:10 to go after a layup by Fletcher. Samford went on to take a 19-point lead at 47-28 with 10:57 to go after a three-pointer by Fletcher.

South Alabama fought back to cut the lead to eight points at 49-41 with 7:00 to go after a three-pointer by Johnson. With Samford leading, 51-43, the Bulldogs went on a 19-4 run to push its lead out to 23 points at 70-47 with 30 seconds to go after a pair of free throws by Campbell. A pair of late USA free throws made the final score 70-49.

As a team, Samford shot a season-high 55.3 percent overall and 50 percent from three-point range. South Alabama made 35.6 percent of its shots overall and 22.2 percent from beyond the arc.

 

Detroit 82, Georgia Southern 79
BOCA RATON, Fla. –Detroit’s Megan Galloway made a layup with 29 seconds left, and Megan Hatter went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line inside the final 11 seconds as the Titans defeated the Georgia Southern women’s basketball team, 82-79, in the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament at FAU Arena Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles called a timeout with 56 seconds left after Anna Claire Knight drove to the bucket for a layup to trim a Titan lead to 75-73.

Detroit let the shot clock run down with passes around the perimeter until Ellisha Crosby got the ball on the wing and drove to the basket, drawing a help defender and dumping it off to Galloway for a layup.

Knight missed a jumper on the Eagles’ next possession, and forced to foul, Georgia Southern (1-6) put Crosby on the line, where the junior made 1-of-2. Knight took the ball to the basket and made a conventional 3-point play, trimming the lead to 78-76 with 13 seconds left.

Hatter made two free throws to push the margin back to four points for Detroit (2-6), but Lacie Dowling answered with a triple for the Eagles to make the score 80-79 with six seconds left. It was the senior’s school-record tying eighth of the game.

Hatter again made two free throws, and the Titans elected to foul Knight and give up the 1-and-1 free throw attempt with 1.5 seconds on the clock rather than risk a 3-point attempt. Knight missed the free throw, and time ran out.

Dowling finished with a career-high 26 points and added four assists to earn all-tournament honors, and Knight finished with 16 points, five assists and six rebounds. Briana Jones notched 12 points and 10 rebounds for her second career double-double.

Shearer scored 22 points to lead Detroit, while Hatter and Crosby each scored 17. Galloway finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Shearer netted a long triple from the corner, her only 3-pointer of the second half, to put the Titans on top 68-59 with 4:32 remaining.

The Eagles came roaring back as Jones got a putback, Danielle Spencer scored a layup and Dowling netted a triple to cut the margin to 68-66.

The teams traded baskets from there, but the Eagles could not get the defensive stops they needed.

The Eagles shot a season-high 46 percent from the floor, despite working their way through some cold snaps, and recorded 19 assists with just 12 turnovers. Detroit shot 52 percent and made 8-of-17 from 3-point range.

 

Mercer 68, Elon 56
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Elon women’s basketball team suffered a 68-56 setback against Mercer today, Nov. 30, in the consolation game of Vanderbilt’s Thanksgiving Tournament. The Phoenix falls to 2-4 on the season, while the Bears are now 4-3.

Elon was held to a 39 percent shooting clip after hitting 22-of-57 shots from the field. Mercer shot 44 percent, going 31-of-70, scoring 12 points in fast-break situations. The Phoenix hit 9-of-13 from the charity stripe to shoot 69 percent, while the Bears struggled at the line only scoring four points in their seven trips (57 percent).

Most of the day’s points came from inside the arc as the two teams combined for only five threes in the game. The Bears scored 32 points in the paint, while Elon also tallied 30 of its points in the paint.

The difference came on the boards with Mercer claiming a 50-29 advantage in rebounds.

Shannen Cochraham recorded the only double-double in the game, scoring a team-high 14 points and 11 rebounds. Zora Stephenson knocked down all three of Elon’s scores from three-point land to tally 13 points, while Kelsey Harris finished with 12 points.

Elon cut a Mercer lead to four, 22-18, with 7:28 to play in the first half after a jumper by Harris. The two teams would trade a few baskets before the Bears managed a 10-point run to grab a 34-20 advantage with just over four minutes left in the half. A steal by Cochraham set up a jumper by Lauren Brown with 41 ticks on the clock to make it a 36-24 game at the half.

Elon shot 40 percent from the field in the first half (12-of-30), while Mercer hit a 50 percent mark (17-of-34). The advantage for the Bears came on the boards with a 24-13 edge for Mercer.

After a three by Stephenson in the second half, Harris banked two free throws to cut the deficit to just nine, 43-34, with just under 14 minutes to play in the second half. But the Bears responded with a 12-4 run in the next six minutes to take a 19-point lead.

With under two minutes to go, a pair of free throws and a three by Stephenson within the span of 16 seconds pulled the maroon and gold within 10, 66-56. However, the Phoenix was not able to make up the deficit in the time remaining as the Bears walked away with the victory.

 

North Carolina Central 53, Wofford 44
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College women’s basketball team was plagued by another rough shooting game and fell, 53-44, to North Carolina Central on Saturday night from Benjamin Johnson Arena.

Down 11 in the second half and having trailed by as many as 13, Wofford (1-4) put together an 8-0 run to cut the NC Central (4-2) lead to three with 4:12 remaining, and again to three at 47-44 with 1:34 to play. The Eagles then went a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line and Wofford could not score, suffering its first home loss of the season.

The Terriers shot 26.9 percent (18-67) on the evening en route to its lowest point total of the season. NC Central was not much better at 29.6 percent (16-54), but the Eagles won the turnover battle, 21-17, and hit their free throws in the final minutes to hold off a Wofford comeback.

Senior Logan Morris led the Terriers in scoring with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Morris added five rebounds, two steals and a block, and was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Junior post player Lauren Kirby grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds and was two points short of notching her first career double-double, scoring eight with three steals and a block. Sophomore Jordan Frazier scored nine points with four assists and three steals.

For the Eagles, Jessica Freeman tallied a game-high 16 points. Freeman was only 4-of-12 from the field but a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Khyra Conerly was also in double figures with 13 points, while Tisha Dixon had a team-high 10 rebounds.

Wofford looked good in the opening minutes, scoring 10 of the game’s first 14 points. Morris hit a 3-pointer on her first shot to give the Terriers the initial lead, and later hit her second trey at the 13:40 mark to put Wofford ahead by eight, 13-5.

A drought ensued that lasted the remainder of the half with Wofford scoring just four points. NC Central took advantage, using a 7-0 run to get within a point. Morgan Jones then lit up from deep, nailing back-to-back treys, and followed that with a layup to score eight straight Eagle points and give her team its first lead of the game at 20-15.

Sophomore Khadijah Joyner put down the last two Terrier points of the half before Freeman’s layup in the final minute gave NCCU a 23-17 at the intermission. NC Central scored 13 of its points off the bench and had eight turnovers to Wofford’s 12.

Freeman got the Eagles off to a good start out of the locker room with a 3-pointer off a Terrier turnover in the first minute. The lead then grew to double digits for the first time on a fast-break layup from Conerly, 30-19, and NCCU grabbed its largest lead of 13 points 30 seconds later, 32-19, on a pair of Conerly free throws.

The two sides went on to trade baskets through a good portion of the second half. Wofford cut the lead to six with an 11-4 run that included back-to-back 3-pointers from Chanel Stokes and Frazier, but NC Central hiked its lead right back to double digits and led 45-34 with 7:58 remaining.

The Terriers gave it one last effort. Morris made a jumper in the paint and was fouled for three points the old-fashioned way, and followed with another jumper a minute later to get Wofford back within six. Frazier then went to work, grabbing a rebound a racing down the court to cut the margin to four.

At the 4:12 mark, Stokes was fouled and made 1-of-2 from the line, getting Wofford within a basket for the first time since five minutes remained in the first half. Neither side scored on multiple possessions over the next minute and change until Raquel Davis was fouled and made her free throws, extending the NCCU lead back to five, 47-42. Frazier got Wofford back within three, scoring a layup with 1:34 to play, and the Terriers took a timeout down 47-44.

Out of the stoppage, Conerly missed a layup but came up big by getting her own rebound and was fouled by sophomore Ashton Fleming. Conerly made both free throws and the Terriers were unable to put up any more points through the final minute.

 

Hawaii 60, Chattanooga 55
HONOLULU, Hawaii --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball mounted first-half comeback for the second straight day, but came up short once again fallinig 60-55 to host Hawaii Saturday afternoon at the Stan Sheriff Center.

After trailing 26-11 with 8:08 to play in the first half, Chattanooga went on a 15-0 run to knot the game 26-26 at the half. UTC started the second half with a layup from junior Ka’Vonne Towns (Lilburn, Ga.) to extend the run to 17-0 and give the Lady Mocs their first lead of the game. However, Hawaii cut it off with back-to-back jumpers to go up 31-28 just two minutes into the latter period.

UTC retook the lead when Towns banked in a 3-pointer from high on the right to make it 33-32 with 17:20 to play. After Hawaii tied it up with a free throw, Towns put UTC on top again with an old-fashioned 3-point play to make it 36-33 with 14:32 to play.

Over the next 3:30, Hawaii would retake the lead for good on a 12-0 run. Chattanooga snapped the scoring streak with a 3-pointer from freshman Chelsey Shumpert who hit the first of her career-high three 3-pointers to make it 45-39.

Hawaii built its lead back up to 12 points, 51-39 with 6:46 to play and held onto a double lead for another two minutes before the Lady Mocs once again tried to mount a comeback.

Shumpert drained her third 3-pointer with 4:25 to play and Chattanooga capped off a 7-2 run on a trey from senior Taylor Hallto make it 57-55 with 1:31 to play. Hawaii would hold UTC scoreless over the final stretch, adding three more points for the final tally.

Hall recorded her second double-double of the year with 12 points and a career-best 16 rebounds. Towns scored a career-high 14 points in the loss with three steals while Shumpert topped her career-best for 3-pointers with three on the day.

Chattanooga shot 28.8 percent on the day making just 19-of-66 and was 5-of-24 (20.8%) from the 3-point line. However, UTC’s performance at the free throw line drastically improved with a 12-of-14 showing. In the paint, the Lady Mocs outscored Hawaii 28-24 and had 16 points off 16 Wahine turnovers. Chattanooga had 14 points off 13 offensive boards, but were outrebounded 44-39 by Hawaii. The Lady Mocs bench, led by Towns and Shumpert, by a 31-10 margin.

Kamilah Jackson had a double-double with a game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds. Teammate Ashley Karaitiana also posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards while Destiny King was the third Wahine in double figures with 11 points.