Furman 76, Charlotte 75CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Sarah Durdaller converted a 3-point play with a little over a minute remaining to cap a late surge and lift Furman to a 76-75 win over Charlotte in women’s basketball action Sunday afternoon at Halton Arena.
Furman trailed 74-70 with just under three minutes remaining but cut it to 74-73 with a Brigid Morrissey 3-pointer with 2:25 to go. Following a pair of missed shots by the 49ers, Durdaller put the Paladins ahead, 75-74, with a driving layup and completed the three-point play with a free throw for a 76-74 advantage.
Later, after a Charlotte missed shot and Furman turnover, the 49ers’ Ny Hammonds drained one of two free throws with 17 seconds on the clock to pull Charlotte to within a point. A missed Paladin free throw gave Charlotte one final chance, but Furman’s Brittany Hodges rejected Hammonds’ game winning shot attempt with three seconds left and claimed the rebound to preserve the win.
Holli Wilkins led Furman (7-6) with 19 points, headlining a strong 50.8 percent shooting performance by the Paladins, who found the mark on 30-of-59 attempts from the field, including 8-of-15 from 3-point range (53.3 percent). Hodges followed with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks, and Whitney Bunn contributed a season high 13 points on the strength of 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
Brigid Morrissey rounded out the Paladins’ double figure scoring parade with a superb performance that included 11 points and career high 12 assists — one shy of the school standard. The Paladin senior, who drained 2-of-3 treys, also tacked on three rebounds while playing all 40 minutes.
Hammonds led all scorers with a game high 25 points, and Gabby Tyler claimed a game high 14 rebounds to along with 12 points for the 49ers.
Charlotte converted 29-of-66 shots from the field (43.9 percent) but struggled at the free throw line, making just 12-of-23 attempts (52.2 percent), well below their 74.0 percent season rate entering the game. The 49ers forged a 43-34 rebounding advantage, much of which came in the game’s first few minutes when a flurry of offensive boards helped Charlotte grab a 12-4 lead seven minutes into the contest.
Furman rallied with a 12-0 burst to go up 16-12 following at Morrissey 3-pointer midway through the first half, and the Paladins finished the opening frame on a strong note with a pair of Bunn 3-pointers in the final minute to take a 36-35 lead into intermission.
The Paladins twice led by seven points before a Hillary Sigmon 3-pointer tied it at 50-50 six minutes into the second half.
A Bunn 3-pointer at the 8:30 mark gave the Paladins a 64-60 advantage, but the 49ers responded with a 12-4 run over the next four minutes to go up 72-68 on a Hammonds jumper.
Hammonds’ two free throws with 2:43 left stake Charlotte to a 74-70 lead before Morrissey burned the net with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to make it a one-point game and set up Durdaller’s game deciding 3-point play with 1:25 remaining.
Western Carolina 82, Morgan State 54CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Western Carolina women’s basketball (7-5) defeated Morgan State (2-9) 82-54 Sunday to place third in the Holiday Tournament, hosted by Miami, at BankUnited Center.
Three players scored in double figures paced by senior forward Shauna Terry with 13 points. Terry just missed a double-double with eight rebounds. Guards Rena Wakama and Justin Taylor each had 12.
Western Carolina had to fend off a tenacious Morgan State team for most of the first half as the Bears kept the Catamount lead to single digits over 15 minutes. Up by six, 30-24, back-to-back three pointers by Hana Haden and Taylor handed WCU its first double digit lead, 36-24, of the game.
In the final three minutes, of the half, Morgan State would cut it to single digits again. A pair of jumpers by Taylor and Terry, to close out the half pushed the Catamount lead to 13, 44-31.
The Catamounts opened the second half with five unanswered points to force Morgan State to call timeout. After recapturing the double-digit lead in the first half Western Carolina would enjoy a double digit lead through the rest of the game.
Morgan State was held to just 25 second-half points. In the final 10 minutes of the game, Western Carolina outscored the Bears 20-12.
Morgan State had a pair of players score in double figures led by Tracey Carrington with a game-high 18. Danielle Forrest added 10.
Western Carolina forced Morgan State to turn the ball over 25 times and got 30 points off Bear turnovers. The Catamounts shot 43.1 percent from the field and 31.8 from the three point line. WCU ripped down a season-high 55 rebounds, 27 offensive and 28 defensive, and held the Bears to 35 boards, 14 on offense.
Howard 63, Wofford 55COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Wofford College women’s basketball team was defeated by Howard University, 63-55, in the consolation game of the Terrapin Classic on Sunday from Maryland’s Comcast Center.
The Terriers (2-10) were hurt most by 24 turnovers while Howard (4-8) took care of the basketball with just 13. It helped the Lady Bison put up 14 more shots and use a 9-0 run to take a 46-33 lead midway through the second period. The Terriers got back within six with a minute to play, but could not close the gap any further and suffered its sixth straight defeat.
For Wofford, sophomore Ashton Fleming recorded her first collegiate double-double. Fleming posted career-highs in both points and rebounds, putting down 10 points and collecting 14 boards. She shot 4-of-5 from the field and filled up the stat sheet with two steals, one block and one assist.
Classmate Jordan Frazier tied Fleming’s team-high 10 points, marking her ninth double-figure scoring game of the season. Frazier scored 19 against Maryland on Saturday and was named to the Terrapin Classic All-Tournament Team following the conclusion of the championship game between the Terps and College of Charleston. Khadijah Joyner, another sophomore, grabbed a career-high eight rebounds, seven of which came in the second half, and posted her fourth multi-block game of the year.
Howard’s Te’Shya Heslip scored a game-high 16 points, also recording eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals. Cheyenne Brown scored in double figures with 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting and grabbed five boards. Shavonne Duckett had a team-high nine rebounds.
Brown came out ready for the early 11 a.m., tip and scored on each of Howard’s first two possessions. A few minutes later, she downed her sixth point to get the Lady Bison off to an 11-2 start and force an early Terrier timeout. Rebounding was hurting Wofford early on, as well as not being able to get a few open jumpers to fall.
Down 13-5, Wofford scored the next five points to make it a one possession game. Redshirt senior Erin Frost got fouled on a drive to the basket and made both free throws, and sophomore Chanel Stokes went 1-of-2 from the line on Wofford’s next trip down the floor. Out of a media timeout, freshman Kentra Washington hit a layup to get the score to 13-10.
Frost went on to score Wofford’s next five points, hitting a jumper and a 3-pointer to cut the gap to two, 17-15. Meanwhile, Howard was having trouble from the field, unable to sink a basket for nearly seven minutes.
Howard ended the drought and with the two sides trading points, the Terriers remained behind by one to two possessions. Buckets by senior Logan Morris and junior Lauren Kirby brought the Terriers within just one point, 22-21, at the 4:06 mark.
Howard scored six of the half’s last seven points to get some breathing room heading into the break. Wofford trailed 24-22 with less than a minute to play, but Brown sank a layup, followed by a jumper with 10 seconds on the clock to give the Lady Bison a 28-22 halftime lead.
At the half, Wofford was shooting 28.6 percent (8-28 FG) while Howard was at 36.4 percent (12-33 FG). The Lady Bison held a 26-20 rebounding edge and were sharing the ball well with seven assists on their 12 baskets. Brown led the game with 12 points (6-8 FG), while Frost headed Wofford with 7 points (2-5 FG, 1-2 3FG, 2-2 FT).
Wofford head coach Edgar Farmer went with a bigger lineup to begin the second half, starting 6-foot-2 Joyner in favor of 5-foot-2 Frazier. Kirby scored 14 seconds into the half and with a made free throw from Fleming the Terriers were within a basket, 29-27.
It remained a one possession game until Imani Bailey, Victoria Gonzalez and Heslip scored the next six points to put Howard up eight. Wofford cut it to four on buckets from Frazier and Morris, but Howard responded with the game’s biggest run, scoring nine consecutive points and burning another Wofford timeout with 11:45 to play ahead 46-33.
Kirby, Morris and Fleming got the margin to seven with a made field goal apiece, but Heslip killed the momentum with a trey to get her team back ahead by double digits. Joyner and Fleming were doing a good job on the glass to make sure Howard didn’t get second and third chances, but the Terriers hurt themselves by going 1-of-2 from the free throw line on three consecutive trips. Instead of a four-point game, the missed attempts kept Howard ahead by seven, 51-44. Two Lady Bison baskets later, Wofford trailed by 11 with less than four minutes remaining.
The Terriers gave it one final push. Down by 10, Washington got to the line for a pair of free throws and sank both. Fleming stole the ensuing in-bounds pass and hit a quick layup, making it a six-point game, 57-51, with 1:05 showing on the clock.
It was not to be. Howard hit its free throws and after Wofford got the margin back to six, Cabria Johnson found Heslip wide open down court on an in-bounds pass. Heslip sank an easy layup to leave the game out of reach.
Fordham 79, UNCG 48
THE BRONX, N.Y. – The UNCG women’s basketball team opened the Fordham Holiday Classic with a 79-48 loss to the host Rams Sunday afternoon inside Rose Hilli Gymnasium. The Spartans fall to 4-8 with their fifth-straight loss while Fordham improves to 10-2 with its ninth-straight win.
Senior forward Janae’ Stevenson scored 14 points to lead UNCG while freshman guard Bailey Williams netted 10 to end up in double figures for the second time this season. Stevenson added eight rebounds and was 6-of-10 from the free throw line. Erin Rooney led the Rams with 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
Fordham shot 50 percent from the field, making 30 of 60 field goals attempts while the Spartans ended up at 35.2 percent (19-of-54). The Rams also won the rebounding battle 39-34 and out-scored the Blue and Gold in the paint 34-24.
Fordham came out of the gate quickly, ringing up an 8-0 lead and forcing UNCG to call for a timeout. The Spartans crept within 12-5 after Stevenson knocked down a foul shot with 13:26 on the clock, but the Rams answered with a Briana Jordan three-point field goal to extend their advantage to 15-5 with 11:35 to go before the half.
Stevenson hit a layup and was fouled at the 10:07 mark and she would complete the three-point play to make the score 15-10. A layup by Mason kept the Blue and Gold within shouting distance at 21-14 as the clock ticked to 8:02 but Fordham took off from that point. The Rams ended the period on an 18-6 run to enter the break with a 39-20 edge.
Fordham dominated the glass in the first 20 minutes by a 26-16 count and shot 45.5 percent (15-of-33) from the field, limiting the Spartans to 16 boards and 25 percent shooting (7-of-28). Stevenson paced UNCG with six points and seven rebounds in the half while Emily Tapio netted 12 points and Rooney had seven rebounds for the Rams.
The teams traded layups to start the second half before Fordham went on a 10-2 run to essentially put the game out of reach. Fordham led by as much as 33 in the period before closing out the game with the 31-point final margin.
West Virginia 89, Elon 56MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Elon women’s basketball team (5-7) played its last non-conference road game of the season today, Dec. 29, falling to West Virginia (11-1) by a final of 89-56 in the WVU Coliseum.
Kelsey Harris and Sam Coffer led the Phoenix with 11 points each, while Jenifer Rhodes also put up double figures with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
WVU saw four players in double figures, including a game-high 18 points from Asya Bussie, who went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and knocked down 8-of-12 free-throw attempts.
Elon shot 38 percent from the field on 23-of-61 attempts, while WVU shot an impressive 50 percent after knocking down 32-of-64 shots from the field, scoring 44 points in the paint. The Mountaineers controlled the boards, 46-33, and scored 24 second-chance points.
After the Mountaineers took an early 12-2 lead in the first 20, back-to-back baskets by Rhodes pulled the Phoenix within six, 12-6, before the first media timeout. WVU managed a 25-9 run through most of the half to pull ahead by 23, 38-15, with 5:53 left on the clock. Coffer converted an old-fashioned three-point play to put Elon back within 20, 40-20, with just over four minutes to play. The Mountaineers closed out the half with a 51-26 lead.
WVU shot 56 percent from the field in the first frame compared to Elon’s 31 percent, while also holding a 26-15 advantage on the boards.
The Mountaineers continued to surge in the second half, taking as much as a 37-point lead, 79-42, with just over eight minutes to play.
Oklahoma 66, Samford 35NORMAN, Okla. – The Samford women’s basketball team shot just 25 percent overall and 18.2 percent from three-point range in a 66-35 loss at 24th-ranked Oklahoma Sunday afternoon at Oklahoma’s Lloyd Noble Center.
In the loss, Samford was led by senior guard Shelby Campbell with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists. Redshirt freshman guard Lydia McGee scored seven points and five rebounds, while freshman forward Ellen Riggins added five points.
For Oklahoma, Nicole Griffin and Morgan Hook led the way with 12 points apiece. Derica Wyatt added 11 points for the Sooners.
Samford got off to a hot start in the first half, scoring the first five points of the half. The Bulldogs held an 8-4 lead with 16:41 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Keke Fletcher. Oklahoma, however, went on a 15-2 run to take a 19-10 lead with 7:47 to go in the first half after a basket by Griffin.
A three-pointer by Campbell cut the Oklahoma lead to six points at 19-13 with 7:30 to play in the opening half. Oklahoma then scored the next 10 points to take a 29-13 lead with 4:53 to go after a three-pointer by Hook. The Sooners took a 36-20 advantage into halftime.
The teams traded baskets for the first few minutes of the second half until, with Oklahoma holding a 41-25 lead, the Sooners went on a 10-1 run to make the score 51-26 with 10:58 to play following a layup by Kaylon Williams.
Oklahoma pushed its lead out to as much as 32 points at 62-30 with 4:35 to go following a jumper by Sharane Campbell. Oklahoma eventually finished the game with a convincing 66-35 advantage.
As a team, Oklahoma outrebounded Samford, 46-21. The Sooners turned the ball over 23 times, compared to 20 turnovers by Samford.