No. 8 Georgia Southern 68, No. 9 Western Carolina 51
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Georgia Southern senior Meredyth Frye scored a game-high 22 points to lead the eighth-seeded Eagles past No. 9 seed Western Carolina, 68-51, in the first round of the 2013 Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship at Kimmel Arena on Friday.
With the win, GSU (8-23) advances to face top-seeded and regular-season SoCon champion Chattanooga (26-3) on Friday at noon. The Catamounts saw their season come to a close with a 7-23 record.
The Eagles’ win also avenged a pair of first-round losses to Western Carolina in each of the previous two years.
Western Carolina’s Janae’ McKinney scored the game’s first bucket, but Frye answered with the first of her three 3-pointers on the other end and the Eagles never trailed again, although the Catamounts would stay within striking distance until the closing minutes.
Anna Claire Knight added 16 points for the Eagles, who shot a season-high 51.2 percent (22-for-43) from the field.
Lindsay Simpson paced Western Carolina with 14 points, while Kristen Lyon finished with 10.
GSU took a 29-20 lead into the halftime locker room and extended its lead to 13 points early in the second half before a Simpson 3-pointer sparked a 10-4 Western Carolina run to pull the Catamounts back within seven at 41-34.
A pair of Frye free throws and a Ronnesha Smith layup put the Eagles back up by double figures at 45-34 but Makensey Campbell answered with a 3-pointer to keep the Catamounts close.
A Smith jumper later in the frame restored GSU’s 13-point margin at 50-37, but Western Carolina was again able to chip away at the lead, getting four straight points from Erika Joseph to get the Catamounts’ deficit back in single digits.
The teams would trade scores for the next four minutes before GSU finally closed the door. Knight hit a jumper and four straight free throws for a personal 6-0 run that put the Eagles up 64-49 with less than a minute to play. Georgia Southern iced the game at the free throw line, going 8-for-8 in the final 1:03 of play to seal the deal.
Frye was consistent throughout, scoring 10 points in the first half and added a dozen in the second.
No. 10 UNCG 73, No. 8 Furman 68
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Junior Janae’ Stevenson notched a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, pacing three Spartans in double figures, as 10th-seeded UNCG knocked off No. 7 seed Furman, 73-68, in first-round action at the 2013 Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship at Kimmel Arena on Friday.
UNCG improved to 8-22 on the season and will face No. 2 seed Davidson (19-11) on Saturday at approximately 4:30 p.m. Furman’s season ended at 12-18.
UNCG’s Lucy Mason, the league media’s pick for Freshman of the Year, finished with 15 points, while Breonna Patterson had 14.
Furman senior Teshia Griswold scored a game-high 20 points to pace three Paladins in double figures. Brittany Hodges and Holli Wilkins had 10 points each.
After trailing by 12 points with 6:13 to play, Furman closed to within three on Hodges’ three-point play with 15 seconds left. The Paladins applied full-court pressure on the ensuing inbounds play and immediately fouled Jazmine Missouri, and the freshman went to the line to drain both attempts to make it a two-possession game again.
Furman got two shots off on the other end in a desperate final push, but Stevenson corralled Wilkins’ errant 3-point attempt as time expired to lock up the win for the Spartans.
UNCG led by just five at the half and saw the Paladins pull to within three on a pair of Hodges free throws just three minutes in, but Patterson had a pair of baskets in a 9-2 Spartans run that opened up their first double-digit lead of the game at 46-36 with 11:29 to go.
Furman would claw back to within seven points on a pair of Wilkins free throws but UNCG answered with a 10-5 spurt over the next two minutes to take its biggest lead of the game, 64-52.
That was when the Paladins went to work, as Griswold hit a 3-pointer to make it a single-digit affair again. UNCG’s Jessica Collins hit a pair of free throws to put the Spartans back up by 11 but Samford’s Sarah Durdaller dropped in back-to-back layups and converted a free throw for a three-point play on the second one to make it a six-point spread.
The teams traded points for the next three minutes before Hodges hit a free throw and then a three-point play to set up a tense final 15 seconds.
Ten of Stevenson’s rebounds came on the offensive end of the floor, while the 15 were a school record in SoCon tournament play. UNCG outrebounded Furman 44-34 in the game and 21-11 on the offensive glass.
UNCG trailed for just 8 seconds in the contest, as Collins drained a 3-pointer 30 seconds into the game to counter Griswold’s opening triple. Stevenson added her first bucket moments later and the Spartans never trailed again. The five-point UNCG win avenged last season’s 63-58 loss to Furman in the first round of the tournament.
The Spartans committed a season-low five turnovers.
No. 6 Samford 59, No. 11 Wofford 56
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – No. 11 seed Wofford rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to pull within one point three times in the final two minutes, but No. 6 seed Samford held off the late rally to take a 59-55 win in the first round of the 2013 Southern Conference Women’s Championship at Kimmel Arena on Friday.
Samford, the two-time defending tournament champion, evened its record at 15-15 and advances to face No. 3 seed Elon in Saturday’s final quarterfinal contest. That game is slated to begin at approximately 6:45 p.m. Wofford finished its season with an 8-21 mark.
Sophomore Taylor Reece scored a game-high 24 points to lead Samford, while Jazmine Martin added 14 and Krista Stricklin pulled down 11 rebounds.
For Wofford, senior Morgan Wrightson scored 18 points in her final collegiate game and grabbed 10 rebounds for one of the Terriers’ two double-doubles. Classmate Daniella Motley followed with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
A Wrightson free throw five minutes into the second half pulled the Terriers within one at 28-27, but Samford rattled off a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to open up an 11-point lead. Kendall Schwantz got the spurt started with a 3-pointer before Motley hit a pair of free throws to make it a two-point spread. Stricklin then hit a 3-pointer, Keke Fletcher dropped in a layup and Reece converted a pair of free throws to stake the Bulldogs to the 40-29 advantage.
Wrightson helped Wofford chip away at the lead with seven points in an 11-4 Terrier spurt, but a jumper from Reece and a 3 from Stricklin pushed the Samford lead back to nine. Wrightson countered with a triple and Motley added a jumper before Martin stopped the bleeding with her second 3 of the game to make it 52-45 in the Bulldogs’ favor.
Wofford had one more run in it, getting a layup from Motley and a 3 from Rachel Brittenham to pull within two at 52-50 with 2:36 left. Reece got a layup to fall to make it a two-possession game again, but Logan Morris stroked another 3 to pull Wofford within one.
A pair of Reece free throws made it 56-53 with 50 seconds left, but Wrightson got a layup to fall high off the glass to again get the Terriers within a point with 31 seconds left. Wofford went for the steal as Martin brought the ball up the court but fouled her, and she hit two free throws to make it 58-55 with 26 seconds left.
Wrightson missed a potential tying 3 on the other end, and Stricklin knocked down the front end of a two-shot foul with 13 seconds left for the final margin.
Samford, which was playing in the first round for the first time in its five years in the SoCon, improved its all-time SoCon tournament record to 10-2. Entering this season’s tournament, Samford has reached at least the semifinals each year it has been in the league.
Saturday’s quarterfinal action tips off at noon with No. 1 seed Chattanooga taking on No. 8 seed Georgia Southern. That game will be followed by No. 4 seed Appalachian State vs. No. 5 seed College of Charleston at approximately 2:15 p.m. No. 2 seed Davidson will face No. 10 seed UNCG at approximately 4:30 p.m., followed by Elon vs. Samford.