Western Carolina 42, Presbyterian 38
CLINTON, S.C. – Western Carolina women’s basketball (5-3) pushed its winning streak to five, defeating Presbyterian (1-6) 42-38 Wednesday in the Templeton Center.

The Catamounts were 5-of-6 from the free line, in the final 40 seconds of the game, to keep Presbyterian at bay. Leading by two, 38-36, junior guard Ali Lane was 4-for-4 from the charity stripe and Justin Taylor was 1-of-2 to ice the game.

The 42 points was the lowest scoring output of the season for Western Carolina and the 38 points allowed was also the lowest scored by an opponent this season. Both teams struggled from the field with WCU hitting 15 field goals to the Blue Hose 14.

Three-pointers and free throws were the difference in the game. After hitting just one three pointer in the first half, Western Carolina hit three treys in the final 20 minutes. Presbyterian had just one three pointer in the contest. At the charity stripe, Western Carolina hit 8-of-11 while Presbyterian connected on 9-of-13.

Western Carolina trailed 20-15 at the half. The Catamounts came out in the second half scoring five straight points to knot the game at 20. In the first five minutes of the second half, WCU outscored Presbyterian 10-4 to take its first lead of the game, 25-24, at the 14:50 mark.

Presbyterian would take its final lead of the game off a lay-up by Serece Smith with 14:07 remaining. Taylor answered with a lay-up of her own to give the Catamounts a 27-26 advantage and WCU would never trail in the game again.

Senior guard Rena Wakama’a three-pointer, with 9:08 left, gave Western Carolina its largest lead of the game, 36-28. Presbyterian scored five straight to trim the game to three, 36-33, with 7:43 left.

Neither team would score for the next four minutes. Western Carolina broke the scoring drought when senior forward Alex Abraham worked her way under the basket for the score at 3:13. Trailing by five, Presbyterian went 3-of-4 from the free throw line to make the score 38-36 with 45 seconds left. The Catamounts 5-of-6 free throw performance at the end of the game shelved the Blue Hose to end the game.

Taylor led the team with eight points and Hana Haden scored all seven of her points in the second half. It was Haden’s field goal, after Taylor’s pair of free throws that tied the game at 20 to open the second half.

Western Carolina held Presbyterian to 10 offensive rebounds but the Blue Hose out rebounded WCU 40-30. Smith, for Presbyterian, led all scorers with 13.

 

Georgia Southern 61, Mercer 54
MACON, Ga. – Anna Claire Knight and MiMi DuBose each scored 18 points, and Georgia Southern held Mercer to 30 percent shooting from the floor to earn a 61-54 women’s basketball victory over the Bears Wednesday night in Hawkins Arena.

Knight hit 6-of-14 from the field and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe for the Eagles (2-6), while DuBose knocked down 3-of-5 from 3-point range and 7-of-11 from the free-throw line. Lacie Dowling scored 12 points, and Briana Jones finished with seven points and eight rebounds. Danielle Spencer snared 12 rebounds and added four points.

Precious Bridges, who entered the game averaging 18 points, scored 15 to lead the Bears (4-4) but went 7-of-24 from the floor. Teanna Robinson collected 14 points, 20 rebounds and seven blocked shots, while Alicia Williams and Kendra Grant each scored 10.

The Eagles held the Bears to 23-of-77 from the field and 2-of-11 from 3-point range. Mercer also shot 6-of-16 at the foul line.

Georgia Southern used a 12-2 run  to end the first half and scored the first nine points of the second frame to open a 17-point lead. DuBose and Knight each scored six points during the stretch, and Dowling added five.

The margin grew to 19 points at 49-30 when DuBose hit a triple from the wing with 9:48 left. Mercer responded by outscoring the Eagles 16-4 over the next 8:03, and a Bridges jumper trimmed the lead to 53-46 with 1:45 to play. 

The teams traded points for a few possessions, and a jumper by Sharnea Boykin made the score 56-50 with 38 seconds left. The Bears fouled Knight, who made both free throws, and DuBose stole a Boykin pass on the next Mercer possession and went the distance for a layup with 18 seconds left to give the Eagles a 10-point cushion.

Mercer scored the first six points of the game with Robinson netting consecutive layups, but the Eagles responded by scoring the next 11 as Dowling and DuBose hit triples and Jones netted four points. The Eagles trailed 21-19 late in the first half but capped the frame with a 12-2 run to take a 31-23 lead into the break.

 

Wofford 63, Bluefield 44
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Behind a game-high 17 points from sophomore Jordan Frazier and another 13 from senior Logan Morris, the Wofford College women’s basketball team defeated Bluefield College of the NAIA, 63-44, Wednesday night from Benjamin Johnson Arena.

Frazier shot 5-of-14 on the evening and did a lot of work from the foul line, making 7-of-8 attempts. The sophomore guard entered the game ranked No. 6 in the country in steals per game (3.6) and tied a career-high with five, adding two assists. Morris shot 4-of-11, including a 3-pointer for the game’s first basket, adding six rebounds and tying her career-high with three steals. The double-figure scoring games were the third of the season for both Frazier and Morris, leading the Terriers. 

Wofford (2-4) led by four at halftime, 33-29, and held Bluefield (4-4 NAIA) to just 15 points and an 18.2 shooting percentage in the second half. The Terriers shot 39.2 percent (20-51) on the evening and were 18-of-24 (75.0 percent) from the foul line.

Asia Wheeler headed the Rams with a team-high 14 points off the bench and a game-high 10 rebounds to record a double-double. Monique Robson had 12 points, also off the bench. 

Wofford marked Bluefield’s fourth game against an NCAA Division I opponent this season. The Rams have lost all four.

Morris got the game off to a good start with a 3-pointer 20 seconds in. Bluefield earned its first tie at 5-5, but an 8-0 Terrier run followed, capped by a made put-back jumper from Khadijah Joyner. The Terriers turned it on once more after the Rams closed the gap to 13-9, scoring the game’s next six points and opening up their biggest lead of the half, 19-9.

Bluefield responded as Wofford went into a shooting lull, putting together a 17-2 run over the next five minutes and change. A made 3-pointer from Robson tied the score at 21, and Robson came back with another long-range field goal on Bluefield’s next trip down the court, giving the Rams a 24-21 lead. Wheeler put a layup in less than a minute later and Bluefield led by five, 26-21.

The Terriers got it together and took the lead back courtesy of a 10-0 run in which freshman Kentra Washington and senior Erin Frost buried 3-pointers. Frost’s capped the run to put Wofford up five and the Terriers took a four-point advantage into the locker room.

At the half, Frazier had nine points and junior Michelle Merritt had six. Washington led the Terriers in rebounds with four. Robson headed the game with 10 points and Wheeler had seven points and six rebounds.

It was a bit of a slow start for both teams offensively in the second half. The two sides combined for just three field goals in the first four minutes, but then the Terriers opened the game up with an 8-0 run to take a 43-31 lead. Wheeler got the lead back down to single digits with a made basket and free throw. 

After Wheeler put in another basket to cut the score to nine again, 45-36, Morris got to the line and made two free throws to put Wofford up by double digits for good. The lead grew to 16 when freshman Sarah Traynor made her first collegiate 3-pointer at the 9:09 mark. Frazier extended the lead to 18 a few minutes later, 58-40, putting down a layup. 

Wofford grabbed its biggest lead of the evening with a minute to play, as Frost was good from long range to put the Terriers up by the eventual final.

 

Alabama State 44, Samford 40
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Samford women’s basketball team dropped a heart-breaking, 44-40 overtime decision at Alabama State Wednesday evening in the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.

With the loss, Samford drops to 2-5 on the season. Alabama State improves to 4-1 with the win.

As a team in the loss, Samford made just 30.8 percent of its shots overall and just 18.2 percent from three-point range. The Bulldogs also made 63.6 percent (14-of-22) from the free-throw line.

Individually for Samford, Ellen Riggins scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds. Christy Robinson scored seven points, while Krista Stricklin led all rebounders with 13 boards in the contest.

For Alabama State, Nakiya Smith scored 12 points, while Taila Arrington added 10 points. Quentori Alford had nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds for the Lady Hornets.

After Alabama State made the first basket of the game, Samford went on an 8-2 run to take an 8-4 lead with 13:39 to go in the first half after a free throw by Stricklin. Alabama State fought back to cut the lead to two points at 10-8 with 10:13 left in the opening half.

Samford opened up a five-point lead at 13-8 and 15-10 late in the second half. With Samford leading, 17-15, Shelby Campbell hit a three-quarter court shot at the buzzer to send Samford to halftime with a 20-15 advantage.

Alabama State scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 22-20 lead with 13:02 to go after a three-pointer by Brittany Howard. After a layup by Robinson tied the game at 22-22, ASU scored six of the next seven points to take a 28-23 lead with 7:30 remaining after a layup by Alford.

Samford trailed for most of the rest of the second half. With ASU leading, 35-31, a pair of free throws by Riggins made it a two-point game at 35-33 with 1:24 to go. Hannah Nichols hit a layup with 17 seconds left to tie the score at 35-35. A last shot by Alabama State just missed and the teams headed to overtime knotted at 35-35.

Alabama State took an early 38-35 lead, but Samford cut the lead to one on a pair of Brittany Stevens free throws at 38-37 with 3:29 to go. ASU scored the next five points to push its lead to six points at 43-37 with 2:06 to go. Samford fought back to cut the lead to three at 43-40, but a late free throw by ASU made the final score 44-40.

 

Rutgers 66, Davidson 35
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Davidson was unable to break out of a game-long shooting slump and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights pulled away in taking a 66-35 decision Wednesday evening in women’s basketball at John M. Belk Arena.

Both teams were playing for the second straight year, with Davidson nearly knocking off Rutgers last year on the road before falling 55-49.

The Wildcats (3-6) were never able to get going, shooting just 21.1 percent on the evening and hitting just 10-for-24 at the free throw line, both season lows.

Laura Murray was the lone ‘Cat to reach double figures, scoring 15 points. Rachel Piles had a nice game off the bench, hauling in a season-high eight rebounds to go with six points.

Rutgers (6-2) put four in double digits, with Betnijah Laney registering a double-double on 15 points and 11 rebounds. First-year player Tyler Scaife had a game-high 16 points and Kahleah Copper added 11.

The Scarlet Knights finished the game shooting 45.2 percent and held a 56-38 edge on the glass. They used a 15-1 run in the first eight minutes of the second half to push a 32-21 halftime lead to a commanding 47-22 advantage. The lead grew to as much as 31 in the final minute of the game.

Davidson opened the game with a 5-1 lead on a three-ball by Murray and hung tough despite Rutgers grabbing the lead later on a 19-1 run that made it 30-15 with 2:36 on the clock. A Murray three-point play followed by Hannah Early’s put-back on an offensive rebound brought the Wildcats to within 30-21, before Scarlet Knights’ Ariel Butts hit a layup to make it 32-21 at the break.