Chattanooga 59, Colorado State 57
HONOLULU, Hawaii --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshmen saw a majority of the playing time in the second half and rookie Chelsey Shumpert drained two free throws with 2.1 seconds to play to lead Chattanooga to a 59-57 win over Colorado State on the final day of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Showdown. UTC improves to 5-3 overall and the Rams drop to 4-3.

Senior Taylor Hall, playing all 40 minutes Sunday, converted a 3-point play to give Chattanooga a 57-56 lead with 1:20 to play. On the other end, senior Alex Black was called for her fifth foul, sending CSU’s Gritt Ryder to the line. After missing the first shot, Ryder converted on the second for the third tie of the game with 51 seconds on the clock.

Chattanooga missed a jumper, and after an offensive rebounds, the Lady Mocs missed again with Ryder grabbing the defensive board and the Rams called for time to set up their final shot with just 16 seconds to play. Colorado State’s A.J. Newton held the ball in the back court for a few seconds before driving to the basket for a final shot. However, she was out of control and fell to floor and lost the ball out of bounds under her basket.

Chattanooga took over and head coach Jim Foster called for back-to-back timeouts to set up the final play. Shumpert cut in front of the defenders in a full court press with 4.8 seconds to play and fielded the inbound pass. She cross the center line and headed to the middle of the court when Newton was called for a flagrant foul for grabbing her arm and holding on.

Shumpert calmly took the line and drained both free throws. Chattanooga got the ball back and was fouled on the inbounds pass, but failed to convert the first of a 1-and-1. With 2.1 seconds on the clock, Foster put senior Faith Dupree  and freshman Jasmine Joyner on the endline to shield the inbounds pass. A last ditch effort by Ellen Nystrom fell short and the Lady Mocs came away with the win.

Hall recorded her third double-double of the year with 10 points and 12 rebounds to go along with three assists, two blocked shots and two steals. Also in double figures was Joyner with a career-high 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and a pair of free throws. Freshman Moses Johnson was 4-of-8 on the day and 2-of-3 from the 3-point line for 10 points and six rebounds. Shumpert chipped in eight points and three assists.

Colorado State had three players in double figures. Elin Gustavsson just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds while Sam Martin nearly hit for doubles as well with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds. A.J. Newton tossed in 12 points and Ellen Nystrom had 11 points and six rebounds.

Chattanooga was outscored in the paint 20-16 but had 15 points off 12 Ram turnovers while committing just six of their own. The Lady Mocs bench contributed 33 points and the freshmen accounted for 28 of UTC’s 36 second half points.

The Lady Mocs were forced to make a comeback for the third straight day after trailing by 15 points with 13:32 to play in the game. Chattanooga’s largest lead of the game was a three-point lead at the 18:26 mark of the first half.

 

Western Carolina 58, ETSU 56
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women’s basketball (4-3) held off a late surge from East Tennessee State University (ETSU) (2-4) to defeat the Buccaneers 58-56 Sunday in the Ramsey Center.

The Catamount victory is its fourth straight. Western Carolina has  won three of its last four at home.

With 2:34 left in the game, ETSU’s Brianna McQueen drained a three-pointer to trim the Catamount lead to one, 57-56. Both teams suffered from missed chances in the final minutes. Western Carolina had a chance to add points but junior Ali Lane missed the front-end of a one-and-one with 12 seconds remaining .

Junior Justin Taylor ripped down the rebound from Lane’s missed free throw and was promptly fouled. Taylor hit 1-of-2 free throws to all but ice the game. Cara Bowling launched a three-pointer for ETSU with three seconds remaining but it was off the mark and Western Carolina took the game.

It was a full blown battle between Western Carolina and past and future Southern Conference opponent ETSU. The game was tied seven times and the lead changed eight.

Senior guard Kristen Lyon sat out the first six games on the year due to an injury but made the most of her first appearance in a game this season. Lyon came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points, 12 of those in the first half. Lyon came off the bench with 16 minutes left in the first half and scored six straight points for Western Carolina.

Western Carolina also got key bench points from senior guard Rena Wakama who led all scorers with 17 points. She scored nine points in the first half and eight in the second.

Wakama gave Western Carolina a huge momentum boost at the end of the first half as she nailed a three-pointer as time expired. With the scored tied at 33, Wakama launched a three-point attempt as the buzzer sounded at it sailed through the goal to give the Catamounts a 36-33 lead heading into the locker room.

The Catamounts shot 40.4 percent in the game and held ETSU to 35.6 percent. Western Carolina ripped down 41 rebounds, 29 on the defensive side, and the Buccaneers had 38. The Catamounts had two first-half three-pointers but failed to connect on one in the second half.

 

UNCG 81, High Point 76
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women’s basketball team faced a sizable early deficit Sunday afternoon against Triad rival High Point, but the Spartans were able to rally back and post an 81-76 non-conference victory inside Fleming Gymnasium. The Blue and Gold has won three of its last four after opening the season 0-2.

Senior forward Janae’ Stevenson set a program record with her fifth consecutive double-double as she ended the game with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Exactly half of her boards were on the offensive glass and she helped UNCG finish with an 18-9 advantage in second-chance points.

The Spartans put five players in double figures offensively for the first time this campaign with sophomore guard Lucy Mason the way with 17 points. Freshman guard Bailey Williams scored in double figures for the first time in her career with 10 points and she also added three assists. Posting a career day was junior guard Jarae Savage who netted a personal-best 16 points to go along with nine rebounds. Senior guard Breonna Patterson was the fifth double-digit scorer for the Blue and Gold as she went off for 15 points and was 7-of-8 at the charity stripe.

UNCG won the rebounding battle by a 42-30 margin and shot a season-best 52.7 percent from the field – knocking down 29 of 55 attempts. The Spartans also hit for 67 percent from three-point range as they drained four of six. The Blue and Gold out-scored High Point 38-28 in the paint and 14-6 on the fast break. Both benches played a large factor in the outcome as the teams’ reserves accounted for 75 points.

High Point raced out to a 6-0 lead just two minutes into the game before a jumper by Mason made it 6-3 with 16:28 on the clock. UNCG would go ice cold from the field over the next four minutes as a layup by Jaztmin Johnson capped a 12-2 run which made the score 18-5 at the 12:40 mark.

A three-point play by Stevenson drew the Spartans to within 18-10 with 9:23 left before halftime and a layup by junior guard Jessica Collins capped an offensive flurry for the home team – pushing the score to 20-18 with 7:51 on the clock. A three-point field goal by Mason afforded UNCG its first lead of the game at 21-20 and the Spartans would extend the cushion to 27-20 on a three by Williams. All told, the Blue and Gold turned the 13-point deficit into a seven-point advantage thanks to a 22-2 run.

The Panthers would answer the surge as a triple by Lexi Patterson knotted the score at 29. A pair of layups by Stevenson would put the lead back on UNCG’s side at 33-32 with 21 seconds left, but Stacia Robertson put in a layup of her own inside of 10 seconds remaining to give High Point a 34-33 halftime advantage.

Stevenson led the way for the Spartans in the first 20 minutes with seven points and seven rebounds while Kaylah Keys dropped in 13 points and a pair of Panthers corralled five rebounds. High Point shot 45 percent (14-of-31) from the field and held UNCG to 41 percent (12-of-29). The Blue and Gold held the upper hand on the glass, pulling down 26 rebounds as compared to the Panthers’ 26.

The second stanza was a nip-and-tuck affair for much of the early portion until a jumper by Keys gave High Point a 55-50 edge with 11:49 to go. The Spartans would clamp down on defense from there, however, putting together an 8-0 run capped by a Savage layup which made the score 58-55 in favor of the home team.

High Point would fight back, knotting the proceedings at 64 apiece at the 6:30 mark, but two baskets by Savage helped UNCG maintain control. As it turns out, the Spartans would not trail again. A jumper by Keys pulled the visitors to within one, 69-68, with 4:22 remaining, but the Blue and Gold held on down the stretch and scored 12 of the game’s final 20 points.