No. 1 Chattanooga 72, No. 4 Appalachian State 67
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Top-seeded Chattanooga won a hard-fought 72-67 decision over Appalachian State in the first semifinal of the Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship on Sunday in ExploreAsheville.com Arena at U.S. Cellular Center. The Lady Mocs advance to the championship game for the first time since 2010 at 28-3, while the fourth-seeded Mountaineers await their postseason fate at 20-10.
Taylor Hall led UTC with 17 points and eight rebounds. Her clutch 11-for-11 performance at the free throw line cemented the win. Ashlen Dewart added 16 points, tying for team-high honors with eight boards of her own.
Raven Gary posted 19 points, four rebounds and four assists to pace the Appalachian State attack. Courtney Freeman chipped in a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.
It was a see-saw effort throughout. Even so, both teams took healthy leads at different points, UTC by eight in the first half, Appalachian State by five late in the second. All-in-all, there were 16 ties and 12 lead changes. Ten of the lead changes came in the second half alone and the lead was outside a single possession just twice over the final 24-plus minutes.
With the score tied at 55 with 6:49 to play, Gary went to work for the Mountaineers. She scored five straight points to put her squad up 60-55 with 5:31 remaining.
Hall scored on a layup and Kylie Lambert followed with a jumper to cut it to one. Hall then hit two free throws with 4:05 to go to put Chattanooga on top 61-60. The ebb and flow continued.
Kelsey Sharkey gave the Mountaineers the lead again, 62-61, on a put-back at 3:30. Dewart gave UTC the lead for good just 18 ticks later with a layup on a feed from Alicia Payne. It was still a nail-biter for the rowdy mix of Chattanooga and Appalachian State fans on hand.
Kayla Christopher hit one of two from the line to make it a four-point game with just less than 30 seconds to play, 68-64. Appalachian State’s Maryah Sydnor added to the intrigue, nailing a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left to cut the margin to one, 68-67.
Hall closed the game out at the free throw line. She hit two with 13 seconds to go making it a three-point affair. She then came up big on the glass, corralling Sydnor’s errant trey before icing the game with two more free tosses for the 72-67 final.
The Lady Mocs were 22-of-27 from the free throw line for the game, including a 16-for-18 effort in the second half (88.9%). Hall, Dewart (4-for-4) and Alex Black (3-for-3) combined to shoot 18-of-18 at the charity stripe, eclipsing Appalachian State’s upset-minded effort of 10-for-11 (90.9%).
History bodes well for Chattanooga. It is 13-0 all-time SoCon Championship title games with eight of the crowns coming under head coach Wes Moore’s tutelage.
The Lady Mocs await the winner of Davidson-Elon in the second semifinal Sunday. Monday’s championship game in ExploreAsheville.com Arena inside the U.S. Cellular Center will determine the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. The 3 p.m. tip airs on ESPN3.
No. 2 Davidson 71, No. 3 Elon 61
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Davidson held off Elon 71-61 in the semifinals of the Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship on Sunday in ExploreAsheville.com Arena at U.S. Cellular Center. The Wildcats, seeded No. 2, advance to the championship game for the first time since 1999 at 21-11, while the No. 3 seed Phoenix await postseason news at 18-13.
Laura Murray and Sophia Aleksandravicius combined for 46 of Davidson’s 71 points. Murray tallied a season-high 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Aleksandravicius had 21 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks and three assists.
Kelsey Evans paced Elon’s effort with 16 points, six boards and four blocks. Shannen Cochraham came off the bench for 14 points and six rebounds.
The Wildcats took control early and staved off several Elon charges. Davidson led by as many as 14 in the first half before taking a 38-29 lead into the break. It started the second half much as it did the first.
The lead swelled to 17, 48-31, on Murray’s jumper with 13:55 remaining. The Phoenix battled back. Ali Ford capped a 15-4 spurt with a jumper at 8:35 to cut the margin to six, 52-46. Ford made it a four-point game, 56-52, at 5:05.
It was a five-point game when Davidson closed out the Phoenix. Sarah Davis’ free throw with 33 ticks left ended a 13-5 Wildcats burst, which clinched the contest and a championship game date.
Davidson never trailed. Its dynamic duo combined to shoot 16-for-33 (48.5%) compared to 10-for-32 (31.3%) for the remainder of the squad. Murray’s four 3-pointers matched the Elon team effort from the arc. She and Aleksandravicius combined for 19 boards, leading a dominating plus-13 (47/34) effort on the glass.
The Wildcats and No. 1 seed Chattanooga meet in Monday’s championship game in ExploreAsheville.com Arena inside the U.S. Cellular Center. The two will vie for the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. The 3 p.m. tip airs on ESPN3.