Chattanooga 68, Davidson 59

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- After a two-year hiatus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team reclaimed the Southern Conference title outright with a 68-59 win over Davidson Monday night at the McKenzie Arena in front of 2,336 fans.

The Lady Mocs improve to 25-3 on the year and 18-1 against the SoCon to claim their 18th Southern Conference title and 12th of the Wes Moore Era. Davidson is 18-10 and 15-3 in league play.

Junior Ashlen Dewart posted her 10th 20-point game with 24 points and was just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds. She was 11-of-13 for the night and had four steals. Senior Kayla Christopher went 2-of-5 from beyond the arc for 11 points and three assists. Freshman Tatianna Jackson was 4-of-5 form the field for nine points and four rebounds while junior Taylor Hall had eight points and two boards.

The two teams played neck-and-neck throughout the first half with neither team getting out front by more than five points at a time. There were five ties in the opening stanza and five lead changes. Dewart converted a 3-point play with 3:17 to play in the first half to spark a small 8-3 run capped off by a 3-pointer by sophomore Ka’Vonne Towns to give UTC a 31-26 lead, it’s largest of the half and Chattanooga would never trail again.

Davidson started the second half with a steal and a jumper from Laura Murray to cut it to 31-30 with 19:06, but that’s the closest it would get for the Wildcats who shot 35.7% in the second half. Dewart scored 10 of the Lady Mocs next 25 points, including a layup with 6:32 to play to give Chattanooga its first double-digit lead of the game at 56-46.

Sophia Aleksandravicius scored 10 of the first 16 points to give the Wildcats’ a 16-11 lead midway through the first half. She would only have 11 at intermission and 18 for the game. She added 10 rebounds for a double-double with three assists and two steals. Murray added 16 points for Davidson making 7-of-15 and Barbara Sitton added another eight points with five assists.

Chattanooga outscored Davidson 44-28 in the paint and got 23 points from the bench compared to nine for the Wildcats. The Lady Mocs scored 16 points off 17 Davidson turnovers while the Wildcats had eight points to Chattanooga’s 13.

The win clinched the top seed for the Lady Mocs at the Southern Conference Tournament March 8-11 in Asheville, N.C.

Furman 57, Georgia Southern 48

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Sarah Durdaller and Patrice Butler both recorded double-doubles and Furman used solid defense and control of boards to down Georgia Southern, 57-48, in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Monday evening at Timmons Arena.

Durdaller tallied 13 points and matched a career high with 13 rebounds while Butler also tallied 13 points to go along with a career high 11 caroms to help Furman (12-15, 8-10 SoCon) to its second straight win and season sweep of Georgia Southern (6-21, 5-13 SoCon).

Teshia Griswold joined Durdaller and Butler in double figures with 12 points as the Paladins grabbed the lead six minutes into the contest and never trailed thereafter.

Furman closed a rugged, physical first half with an 11-4 run to take a 24-16 lead into intermission, limiting the Eagles to just 4-of-22 shooting from the field (18.2 percent) over the game’s first 20 minutes.

Georgia Southern opened the second half with a pair of driving baskets by Anna Claire Knight to make it a 24-20 game, but a 9-0 counter by Furman that included a basket by Brittany Hodges, two buckets by Durdaller, and a Griswold 3-pointer, stretched the Paladins’ lead to 33-20 a little over five minutes into the second half.

Furman maintained its double digit advantage the rest of the way until the Eagles twice cut it to nine in the final minute.

Durdaller connected on 5-of-11 shots and Butler 5-of-9 field goal attempts for the Paladins, who shot 35.2 percent from the field (19-of-54). 

Meredyth Frye registered a game high 15 points for Georgia Southern, and Mimi DuBose chipped in 13 for the Eagles, who were limited to just 27.1 percent shooting, converting just 13-of-48 shots in the contest.

The Paladins outscored the Eagles 22-8 in the paint and fashioned a decided advantage on the boards, claiming a 44-32 differential.

Kaitlin Murphy tallied a game high seven assist to improve her career tally to 374, good for third in Furman history.

Elon 75, Appalachian State 58

ELON, N.C. – The Elon women’s basketball team (15-12, 12-6 SoCon) picked up a defining 75-58 win over Appalachian State (18-7, 12-5 SoCon) tonight, Feb. 25, in Alumni Gym. Not only did the Phoenix win by 17 over the Southern Conference foe, but it also marked the first victory against the Mountaineers in over four years.

Elon finished 30-of-59 from the field to shoot an impressive 50 percent, marking its second highest output of the season. The Phoenix also made 6-of-14 shots from long distance (42 percent) and went 69 percent from the charity stripe. The maroon and gold also forced 20 ASU turnovers, which were turned into 30 Phoenix points

The Mountaineers were held to a 40 percent overall shooting clip (24-of-59) and 27 percent from three-point range.

Sam Coffer had a stellar night, going 6-of-8 from the field with a perfect 3-of-3 mark from beyond the arc to finish with 15 points and a season-high four assists. Ali Ford led the maroon and gold charge with 19 points, while Kelsey Evans tallied 18 points and a team-high eight boards.

Jessica Farmer was the fourth Phoenix player to reach double figures, recording 10 points, while also matching her career high of six assists. Kelsey Harris set a new career high after dishing out eight assists, helping Elon to a team season high of 23.

ASU’s Maryah Sydnor was the game’s leading scorer with 25 points, but Elon was able to hold conference scoring leader Anna Freeman to three points in her 31 minutes on the floor.

Trailing the Mountaineers by two, 11-9, at the 11:50 mark in the first half, the Phoenix used a jumper by Evans to spark a 17-2 run. Back-to-back threes by Ford capped the Elon surge to make it a 13-point edge, 26-13, forcing ASU to call a timeout with 6:39 to play.

App State pulled back within eight, 28-20, before Coffer nailed her third three of the night to put the maroon and gold advantage back to double figures. The first frame ended with Elon leading by six, 34-28.

The Mountaineers kept the game tight at the beginning of the second frame, cutting Elon’s lead to one, 40-39, at the 14:51 mark. Holding on to its slight edge, 44-43, the Phoenix then scored 12 straight, with seven points by Ford, as part of a 17-4 run to lead by 14, 61-47, with just over eight minutes remaining.

Elon never looked back, keeping a double-digit advantage through the rest of the contest, and controlling the game by as many as 21, 73-52, after an Evans layup with 2:27 left on the clock.

The last victory for the maroon and gold against ASU came on Feb. 9, 2009. This was the first Phoenix win in the last eight meetings.

College of Charleston 69, Wofford 60

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wofford women’s basketball could not overcome a 13-point halftime deficit in a 69-60 loss at the College of Charleston Monday night in the TD Arena.

Wofford outscored CofC 38-34 in the second half, but could not complete the comeback.

The College of Charleston opened the game with a 13-2 run highlighted by a Cathryn Hardy three-point play almost seven minutes into play.  Wofford responded with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 13-8 on a Chanel Stokes jumper with 10:53 on the clock.

Jazz Green knocked down a jumper for the Cougars to end a four and a half minutes scoring drought and send CofC on a 6-0 run as they pulled out to a 19-8 lead with seven and half minutes left in the half.

The Terriers trimmed the lead down to 19-12 on a Khadijah Joyner post move and basket, but the Cougars answered as they extended the lead out to 11 points, 23-12, on a Mikaela Hopkins basket in the paint with just under five minutes on the clock.

Wofford was unable to cut into the double-digit lead as CofC held a 35-23 lead at the half.

CofC came out of the half and pushed its lead out to 19 points, 47-28, following a jumper by Afeyea Tolbert with 15:30 on the clock. Six straight points from Motley sparked an 8-0 Wofford run that cut the lead down to 11 points, 47-36, at the 14-minute mark.

The Cougars regained control pushed the lead out to 19 points, 57-38, on a Tolbert jumper with ten minutes remaining, but Wofford again cut into the lead with a 10-0 run sparked by threes from Jordan Frazier and Rachel Brittenham to pull within nine points, 57-48, two minutes later.

Two free throws from Brittenham trimmed the lead down eight points, 60-52, with 4:43 left in the game, but two free throws from Hopkins and one from Alyssa Frye pushed the lead back to 11 points, 67-56, with two minutes to play.

Wofford picked up a basket by Motley, but CofC held on for the nine point win, 69-60.

Wofford finished the game 37 percent overall, 17 percent from three and 50 percent from the free throw line, 10-of-20, while the College of Charleston ended at 39 percent from the floor, 0-of-3 from behind the arc and 57 percent from the free throw line, 17-of-29.

Motley led Wofford with a career-high 23 point on 11-of-21 shooting from the floor.  She also grabbed 14 rebounds for her tenth double-double of the season.  Brittenham followed with 12 points, six rebounds and a team-high four assists.

Tolbert led the Cougars with 16 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double.  Latisha Harris followed with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Hopkins chipped in ten points and nine rebounds.

Samford 47, Western Carolina 41

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Samford seniors Hannah Dawson and Jazmine Martin both turned in strong performances in the final home game of their Samford careers, leading the Bulldog women’s basketball team to a 47-41 Southern Conference win over Western Carolina Monday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.

Martin led the team in scoring with 19 points, making 6-of-10 shots overall and 2-of-3 from three-point range. Dawson scored 11 points and led the team with eight rebounds, while also dishing out three assists.

Samford built a big second-half lead, leading by as much as 17 points. The Catamounts, however, came back to tie the score, but the Bulldogs were able to pull out the win in the closing minutes.

In addition to the two seniors, sophomore Taylor Reece scored 10 points and dished out four assists. Junior Kendall Schwantz added five points for the Bulldogs.

Western Carolina was led by Kristen Lyon and Rena Wakama with 11 points each. Shauna Terry had seven points and six rebounds.

Samford got off to a hot start, jumping out to a 7-0 lead with 16:07 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Reece. Western Carolina answered with a 7-0 run of its own to tie the score at 7-7 with 12:14 to go in the first half following a layup by Lyon.

The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes until, with the game tied at 15-15, Samford went on a 10-2 run to take a 25-17 lead with 1:38 left in the half after a three-point play by Martin. Samford carried a 27-19 lead into halftime.

Samford opened the second half with an 11-2 run to push its lead out to 17 points at 38-21 with 14:58 to go following a three-point play by Reece. Western Carolina, however, responded with a 17-0 run over the next 11 minutes to tie the score at 38-38. Samford took the lead again at 40-38 after a layup by Dawson with 3:29 to go in the game.

A pair of free throws by WCU’s Terry tied the score again at 40-40 with 3:06 to go. A three-point play by Martin put Samford up for good at 43-40 with 2:57 to go. A free throw by Terry cut the lead to 43-41, but Dawson’s three-pointer from the corner put Samford up, 46-41, with 1:27 to play. A late free throw by Schwantz made the final score 47-41.

As a team, Samford shot 37.8 percent overall and 21.1 percent from three-point range, while WCU made 25.0 percent of its shots overall and 18.8 percent from beyond the arc. Western Carolina out-rebounded Samford, 41-33.

With the win, Samford improves to 13-15 overall and 10-9 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina falls to 7-20 overall and 5-13 in league games.