Elon 76, Georgia Southern 65
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Elon women's basketball team (17-12, 14-6) posted its third straight win tonight, March 4, by way of a 76-65 final over Georgia Southern (7-22, 6-14). Kelsey Evans posted a new career high of 31 points, marking the most points by a player in the maroon and gold this season. The victory closed out the regular season for the Phoenix and secured the third seed in the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament.
Evans also set another career high with 14 field goals, hitting 14-of-17, and posted five boards and two blocks. Her performance marked the first 30+-point game for a Phoenix since March 17, 2011.
Ali Ford and Kelsey Harris each finished with nine points, while Harris led the team on the boards with seven rebounds and also dished out five assists.
The Phoenix shot a blistering season-high of 56 percent from the field, going 31-for-55, and hit 41 percent from three-point range (5-of-12). Elon saw 21 points from its bench, while also claiming the advantage on the boards, 32-27. The Eagles finished with a 38 percent shooting clip from the field (20-of-52) and 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Elon got on the board quickly in the first half with two baskets by Harris and a three by Ford to lead 7-0 just one minute into the game. GSU responded and kept the score close until a Zora Stephenson three put the Phoenix back up by seven, 28-21, at the 8:35 mark.
A three by Ford followed by an Autumn Carter layup helped the maroon and gold to an eight point edge, 33-25, with just over four remaining until the break. A layup by Evans with 35 seconds left on the clock gave Elon its largest lead of the half, 38-29, before the Eagles' Anna Claire Knight hit a jumper to make it a 38-31 game in favor of the Phoenix at half.
Both teams shot well in the first frame with Elon hitting 16-of-32 to shoot 50 percent from the field, including 40 percent from long distance, and GSU claiming a 46 percent mark.
The Phoenix took control in the second half, using baskets by Evans and Carter to go up by 14, 49-35, with 16:42 on the clock. The Eagles pulled within eight of the Phoenix, 60-52, with just under eight minutes to go before Elon quickly regained its double-figure advantage with the next four points.
The maroon and gold took its largest lead of the game, 71-56, after a Ford three and free throws by Jessica Farmer with just over three to play. The Eagles were not able to threaten and the Phoenix held on to its advantage for the 11-point win.
College of Charleston 70, Furman 58
GREENVILE, S.C. -- Holli Wilkins matched a season high by scoring 16 points but it wasn't enough as Furman fell to the College of Charleston, 70-58, in Southern Conference women's basketball action Monday evening at Timmons Arena.
Furman (12-17, 8-12 SoCon) will carry the No. 7 seed into Southern Conference Tournament play and will face 10th seed UNCG in Friday first round action at UNC Asheville's Kimmel Arena. Tipoff is set for 1:45 p.m.
By virtue of the win over Furman, the College of Charleston (15-14, 11-9 SoCon) earns the No. 5 seed and will play on Saturday against No. 4 seed Appalachian State in a 2:15 game, also at Kimmel Arena.
Monday's victory earned the season split for College of Charleston, which fell to Furman, 80-71, in Charleston in late January.
Brittany Hodges was the only other Paladin in double figures with 10 points. Teshia Griswold tallied nine points but suffered through a 4-for-21 shooting performance from the floor.
The College of Charleston used a strong first half to take a 33-20 halftime lead, limiting Furman to just 22.9 percent shooting while posting a 38-18 rebounding advantage over the game's first 20 minutes.
Trailing 40-30 five minutes into the second half, the Paladins used a 9-4 run to cut the Cougar lead to 43-39 following a Wilkins 3-pointer with 12:19 remaining.
Furman stayed within striking distance at 53-48 after Kaitlin Murphy connected on a basket at the 6:24 mark but get no closer the rest of the way.
The Paladins finished the contest with 31.1 percent shooting (23-of-74) and were outrebounded 58-36 by the Cougars, who connected on 26-of-60 shots (43.3 percent).
Wilkins' 16-point effort tied her season high first set in an 85-80 overtime road win over USC Upstate.
Samford 63, Appalachian State 60
BOONE, N.C. - Another buzzer-beating shot from Samford sent Appalachian State University women's basketball to a heartbreaking 63-60 loss on Monday at the Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers (19-9, 13-7 SoCon) fell to the Bulldogs (14-15, 11-9) on a last-second shot for the second time this season in their final game before this weekend's Southern Conference Basketball Championships.
After Anna Freeman tied up the contest with 21 seconds left to play, Samford was able to run the clock down nearly all the way before Jazmine Martin connected on a three-pointer with just 0.3 seconds left to lift the Bulldogs to their third-straight win over Appalachian.
With the loss, the Mountaineers will enter the SoCon Tournament as the No. 4 seed and will face either College of Charleston or Samford in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. inside UNC Asheville's Kimmel Arena.
Appalachian led by as many as eight points in the first half, but the Bulldogs were able to battle back to grab a 33-32 lead at halftime before grabbing their largest lead of the game at eight points (40-32) early in the second half.
The Mountaineers regained the lead (50-49) on Kelsey Sharkey's layup midway through the second half, but the Bulldogs answered with a quick 7-0 run to take a 56-50 lead with just over six minutes left to play and never trailed again, despite a furious Appalachian rally in the closing moments.
A. Freeman led all players with 26 points while grabbing seven rebounds while Maryah Sydnor added 16 points, ripped down six boards and dished out four assists.
Taylor Reece paced the Bulldogs with 20 points and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line while Krista Stricklin (16) and Hanna Dawson (14) each reached double figures.
Samford was held to just 34.7 percent (17-of-49) from the floor but was nearly perfect from the free-throw line on the night, connecting on 22-of-25 shots from the charity stripe. Appalachian State connected on 39.0 percent (23-of-59) of its shots from the floor, but was just 9-of-15 from the free-throw line.
Davidson 72, Western Carolina 46
DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Davidson women's basketball team got back on the winning track led by Sophia Aleksandravicius and her four senior teammates as the Wildcats snapped a two-game skid with a 72-46 victory against Western Carolina on Senior Night in Southern Conference action in front of a crowd of 712 at John M. Belk Arena.
Aleksandravicius registered her seventh 20-point game of the season, dropping in 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting with a pair of free throws and added eight boards to go with four steals. The senior set a new Wildcat single-season record for rebounds, giving her 296.
Davidson closed out the regular season at 19-11 and 16-4 in SoCon play, which is the second-best mark in program history.
Hannah Early tallied her first career double-double with 11 points, canning three of the 'Cats' six treys, and pulled in a career-best 10 rebounds. Fellow sophomore Shannon Eriksson reached double-digits for the first time in her career, netting 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 2-for-3 from downtown.
Western Carolina (7-22, 5-15 SoCon) put a pair in double digits, led by Erika Joseph's 16 points and eight boards off the bench. Shauna Terry chipped in 11 points and matched Joseph with eight rebounds.
Davidson shot 48.3 percent for game and hauled in a season-best 50 rebounds, while dishing out 20 assists on 28 made field goals. The defense held the Catamounts to 31.7 percent shooting and just 32 boards.
The Wildcats' five seniors made sure they would leave their final home game in winning style. The senior led starting lineup jumped out to an 11-4 advantage behind Sarah Davis' five points before the first media timeout. Barbara Sitton and Jasmine Calin (7 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists) each assisted on Davis' buckets in the paint.
Davidson's lead would grow to 28-14 on Laura Murray's back-to-back three-point plays, and the Wildcats went into the break up 36-19.
The 'Cats defense highlighted the first seven minutes of the second half, holding WCU scoreless, while pushing its lead to 45-19 on a Katrin Chiemeka layup.
A Calin three-ball, the first attempt of her career at one, made it 64-34 at the 5:46 mark and Davidson never looked back in rolling to its fifth 20-point win of the season.
UNCG 68, Wofford 50
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Wofford women's basketball team ended its regular season with a 68-50 loss at UNCG Monday night in Fleming Gym.
Wofford took an early 10-4 lead following a Daniella Motley basket just over five minutes into play. Motley had six of the Terriers early ten points. UNCG cut the lead down to two points, 10-8, on a Sidnei Harmon layup, but Michelle Merritt scored on the next Terrier possession to give Wofford a four point lead, 12-8, at the 12-minute mark in the first half.
Following baskets by both teams, UNCG pulled within a point,14-13, after a Jessica Collins fast break layup with 10:37 on the clock, but Ashton Fleming made a jumper from the key a minute late to keep the Wofford lead, 16-13.
The Spartans answered with a 13-0 run to take a 26-16 lead with just over four minutes to play in the half. A Jarae Savage jumper in the paint sparked the run. Mariah Masalin ended a six-minute Wofford scoring drought with a mid-range jumper from the baseline as UNCG held a ten-point lead, 28-18, with 3:52 remaining. After a basket by each team, Wofford cut the lead down to eight points, 30-22, as Fleming scored the final basket of the half on an offensive rebound and put back.
UNCG came out of the half and pushed the lead out to 16 points, 42-26, on a Breonna Patterson jumper in transition with 15:18 showing on the clock. Wofford trimmed the lead down to 11 points, 46-35, on a three from the wing by Jordan Frazier three minutes later.
With seven and a half minutes to play, Wofford cut the gap to ten points, 51-41, following a Motley post move and basket, but UNCG scored the next four points to regain a 14 point lead, 55-41.
The Terriers cut the gap to 11 points, 59-48, on a free throw by Chanel Stokes with 2:21 to play, but the Spartans extend the margin with free throws down the stretch to earn the 68-50 win.
Wofford shot 45 percent from the floor, 17 percent from three and 27 percent from the line, while UNCG ended at 41 percent overall, 25 percent from behind the arc and 73 percent from the charity stripe.
Motley and Wrightson led the Terriers with 12 points each. Wrightson finished with three assists, three steals and two blocks in the game. Brittenham scored eight points, handed out six assists, earned four steals and had two blocks.
Patterson paced UNCG with 20 points, while Savage added 13 points.