College of Charleston 72, Northern Kentucky 70 – Women’s Basketball Invitational
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Three players scored in double figures led by junior Alyssa Frye, who scored 20 points and made six three-pointers as the College of Charleston women’s basketball team beat Northern Kentucky 72-70 in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational on Wednesday.
With the victory the Cougars (16-15), who are the five seed in the tournament and Northern Kentucky was the four seed, advance to the second round where they will play the winner of Detroit and Belmont, who square off tomorrow at 7:00 p.m.
With her six three-pointers, Frye tied the Southern Conference single season record for threes made in a season at 92. Senior Cathryn Hardy tied the Cougars DI record for offensive rebounds at 114.
Junior Afreyea Tolbert had 16 points and senior Latisha Harris added 14 points and seven rebounds. Junior Jillian Brown had nine assists as she moved into fifth on the SoCon single season record list and now has 197 assists this season.
The first half went back and forth and Northern Kentucky (15-13) led by as many as six points at 16-10 with 13:09 to play in the first half. The Cougars responded with a 15-7 run over the next six minutes to go up 25-23 and had a 33-32 lead at halftime.
The Cougars held Northern Kentucky scoreless for the first four minutes to start the second half as they used a 14-2 run to go up 13 at 47-34 with 14:34 left in the game.
Northern Kentucky would not go down without a fight as they cut the Cougar lead to three at 63-60 with 3:39 to go in the game.
A Harris basket and two Tolbert free-throws put CofC up 67-60, but Northern Kentucky converted a three-pointer and another jumper to get back to 67-65 with 1:57 to play.
The Cougars and Norse traded three-pointers and Brown made a free-throw to put the Cougars up 71-68 with 31 seconds remaining. Northern Kentucky made two free-throws to get to within one at 71-70 and Brown was fouled on the next Cougar possession.
Brown made one of two from the free-throw line and the Cougars got a stop on the last Northern Kentucky possession to secure the 72-70 victory.
Elon 68, Eastern Kentucky 61 – Women’s Basketball Invitational
ELON, N.C. – Ali Ford became the second player in Elon women’s basketball history to reach the 2,000-career point milestone tonight, March 20, as the fourth-seeded Phoenix (19-13) knocked off fifth-seeded Eastern Kentucky (18-12), 68-61, in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational in Alumni Gym. The victory extends Elon’s home winning streak to 11 games.
Kelsey Evans led all players with 26 points, connecting on 9-of-18 shots from the field and going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. The senior fell just short of a double-double with nine rebounds, which leaves her four away from reaching 1,000-career boards.
Ford finished with 14 points, seven assists and three steals, while Shannen Cochraham scored in double figures with 12 points for the second straight game. Shon Redmond pulled down a career-high tying seven rebounds and claimed four steals.
Elon finished 25-of-61 from the field to shoot 41 percent, scoring 36 points in the paint. The Phoenix shot a rare 10 percent from beyond the arc (1-for-10) and connected on 17-of-25 shots from the free throw line. EKU ended its season with a 33 percent shooting clip from the field (21-of-64) and 23 percent from long distance (6-of-26).
The Phoenix started the game off slow, falling behind the Lady Colonels by eight, 16-8, at the 11:47 mark in the first half. Elon then answered with a fast-break layup by Kelsey Harris, which snapped a three-minute scoring drought for the maroon and gold, and started 12-2 run. Evans capped the run and gave Elon its first lead of the game, 20-18, with 5:52 left in the half.
Ford’s 2,000th point came at the 4:30 mark with a jumper to make it a 26-21 lead for Elon. The Phoenix led by as much as seven in the first frame, 30-23, before taking a five-point lead into the break, 34-29.
The Phoenix held the Lady Colonels scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half, claiming an 11-point lead, 40-29. The maroon and gold took its largest advantage of the game, 47-33, with 12:37 to play after a three-pointer by Ford.
EKU would not give up and managed to slowly whittle down Elon’s lead, tying the game at 57 after two Jalisa Bryant free throws at the 4:39 mark. The Phoenix responded with six straight, including four from Zora Stephenson, which forced the Lady Colonels to foul to keep the game close.
The Phoenix knocked down five of its six attempts at the charity stripe in the final 70 seconds of the game to preserve the win and keep the season alive.
Elon will play the winner of Thursday’s Mercer/McNeese State game in the second round of the WBI this weekend. Date and time are still to be determined.