No. 1 Chattanooga 78, No. 8 Georgia Southern 53
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Top-seeded
Chattanooga took the first step in its quest for a 14th Southern
Conference Women’s Basketball Championship title on Saturday, defeating No. 8
seed Georgia Southern 78-53 in the quarterfinal round of the tournament at
Kimmel Arena.
The
Lady Mocs (27-3) advance to Sunday’s semifinals at U.S. Cellular Center, where
they will face either No. 4 seed Appalachian State or No. 5 seed College of
Charleston at noon on ESPN3. Georgia Southern ended its season at 8-23.
Alex
Black led three Chattanooga players in double figures with 13 points, while
Kayla Christopher and Faith Dupree had 12 each.
Meredyth
Frye and Anna Claire Knight had 15 points each to lead the Eagles, with MiMi
DuBose adding 13.
Georgia
Southern hung with the regular-season SoCon champions early, and the game was
tied at 25 with 4:12 left in the first half. Chattanooga’s Ashlen Dewart
converted a three-point play to break the deadlock, and the Lady Mocs ended the
first half on a 17-7 run to open up a double-digit halftime lead. UTC was 3-for-3
from 3-point range in the spurt, with Christopher, Black and Kylie Lambert hitting
one each.
A
pair of Frye free throws to open the second half got GSU back within striking
distance at 42-34, but the Lady Mocs then turned in an 18-2 run to blow the
game open. Black was the catalyst this time, hitting a pair of 3s early in the
run to swing momentum back Chattanooga’s way.
The
Eagles got their deficit back under 20 points just once, on a Knight layup
midway through the frame that made it 62-43, but Chattanooga answered with a
Dupree bucket and maintained its 20-point cushion from there, eventually
leading by as many as 27 late.
Georgia
Southern, a 68-51 winner over ninth-seeded Western Carolina on Friday, had the
run of play early against Chattanooga, jumping out to 9-5 lead before the Lady
Mocs stormed back with a 15-3 run to seemingly take control at 20-12.
The
Eagles regrouped, however, as Knight had two baskets in a 10-0 run to knot
things up at 22. Christopher and DuBose traded 3-pointers before Chattanooga
made its decisive push to end the half.
Chattanooga
got a big lift from its bench Saturday, as the Lady Mocs’ reserves outscored GSU’s
bench 33-8. UTC won the rebounding battle 40-32 and shot 47.8 percent (11-for-23)
from 3-point range – better than the 43.6 percent (17-for-39) it shot from
inside the arc.
Next
up, No. 4 seed Appalachian State will take on No. 5 seed College of Charleston.
No. 2 seed Davidson will face No. 10 seed UNCG at approximately 4:30 p.m.,
followed by No. 3 seed Elon vs. No. 6 seed Samford at approximately 6:45 p.m.
No. 4 Appalachian State 74, No. 5 College of Charleston 60
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – No. 4 seed
Appalachian State finished the game on a 15-4 run to separate itself from No. 5
seed College of Charleston in a tightly contested quarterfinal affair at the
2013 Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, eliminating the
Cougars 74-60 at Kimmel Arena on Saturday.
With
the win, the Mountaineers (20-9) advance to Sunday’s semifinal round. There, Appalachian
State will take on top-seeded Chattanooga (27-3), a 78-53 winner over No. 8
seed Georgia Southern earlier Saturday. The Mountaineers and Lady Mocs will
square off at noon at U.S. Cellular Center in a contest that will be broadcast
on ESPN3.
College
of Charleston saw its season end at 15-15.
Anna
Freeman scored a game-high 21 points to pace four Appalachian State starters in
double figures, adding 10 rebounds for the game’s lone double-double. Maryah
Sydnor had 17 points, Raven Gary 14 and Courtney Freeman 11.
College
of Charleston was led by Alyssa Frye’s 12 points. Latisha Harris joined her in
double figures with 11, while Jill Brown had six points and a game-high eight
assists.
Appalachian
State led for the majority of the contest but couldn’t put the Cougars away
until late. A Jazz Green jumper pulled the Cougars to within three at 59-56
with 6:41 to play, but it was all Mountaineers from the point on.
Gary’s
steal and transition jumper started Appalachian State’s game-ending run, and
Anna Freeman scored four of the Mountaineer’s next five points to cap a 7-0
spurt and put their lead into double figures for the first time on the
afternoon at 66-56 with 2:57 left.
Four
straight points from Cathryn Hardy got the Cougars back within six points, but
a Bria Huffman jumper halted CofC’s comeback bid. Sydnor hit four straight free
throws in the final minute to put the lead back into double digits and Anna
Freeman iced the contest with a pair of her own with 13 seconds left for the
final margin.
Appalachian
State shot 49 percent from the floor, converting 24 of its 49 field goal
attempts. The Cougars kept the game close despite a cold shooting performance,
as CofC was 22-for-77 from the floor (28.6 percent).
The
Mountaineers got a big boost from the free throw line, where they converted 23
of their 26 chances (88.5 percent).
The
win put Appalachian State into the semifinals for the fourth straight season.
College of Charleston returned to the quarterfinal round after first-round
exits in each of the previous two years.
Up
next, No. 2 seed Davidson will face No. 10 seed UNCG, followed by No. 3 seed Elon
vs. No. 6 seed Samford at approximately 6:45 p.m.
No. 2 Davidson 70, No. 10 UNCG 47
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Southern
Conference Player of the Year Sophia Aleksandravicius scored 19 points and
pulled down 13 rebounds for her 17th double-double of the season as
No. 2 seed Davidson downed No. 10 seed UNCG 70-47 in the quarterfinals of the
2013 SoCon Women’s Basketball Championship at Kimmel Arena on Saturday.
The
Wildcats (20-11) advance to Sunday’s semifinals for the second straight season
and will face either No. 3 seed Elon or No. 6 seed Samford at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN3 at
U.S. Cellular Center. UNCG saw its season come to a close at 8-23 after
reaching the quarterfinals for the first time since 2010.
Davidson
got at least two points from all 10 players to see action, with Laura Murray
joining Aleksandravicius in double figures with 10. Aleksandravicius added five
blocked shots in her 24 minutes, pushing her SoCon-leading total to 90 on the
season. Her 13 boards and five blocks were both school records for a SoCon
tournament game.
UNCG
was led by Breonna Patterson, who finished with 16 points, and SoCon Freshman
of the Year Lucy Mason, who had 12.
Davidson
bolted out to 25-7 lead just 12 minutes in, with a pair of Aleksandravicius
free throws giving the Wildcats the 18-point advantage. The Spartans would
close to within 11 on a Janae’ Stevenson layup and again on a Patterson jumper,
but back-to-back Aleksandravicius buckets put Davidson back up by 15 late in
the first half. The Wildcats would take a 34-20 lead into the locker room.
The
Wildcats continued to build their lead after the break, with a Hanna Early
basket making it 53-29 just before the midpoint of the period.
A
pair of Shannon Eriksson free throws made it a 26-point game at 65-39 before
UNCG got consecutive 3-pointers from Patterson and Mason and a Patterson layup
to get the deficit back under 20. Davidson scored game’s last five points for
the final margin.
Davidson
led wire-to-wire and controlled the game in the paint, outscoring UNCG there
44-28 and outrebounding the Spartans 49-38.
Davidson
also held UNCG to just 24.7 percent shooting (18-for-73). The Wildcats shot
50.9 percent, hitting 28 of their 55 attempts.
No.
3 seed Elon and No. 6 seed Samford will wrap up Saturday’s quarterfinal slate.
No. 3 Elon 70, No 6 Samford 60
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The 2013 Southern
Conference Women’s Basketball Championship semifinal field is set, as No. 3
seed Elon downed two-time defending tournament champion Samford 70-60 on
Saturday’s final quarterfinal contest at Kimmel Arena.
The
Phoenix (18-12) advances to face No. 2 seed Davidson, a 70-47 winner over UNCG
earlier Saturday, in Sunday’s second semifinal at U.S. Cellular Center. The
contest will begin at 2:30 p.m. and air on ESPN3.
Samford,
the sixth seed in the tournament, finished its season at 15-16. The Bulldogs
put four players in double figures, with Jazmine Martin leading the way with a
game-high 20. Taylor Reece added 15, while Krista Stricklin had 13 and Hannah
Dawson 10.
Elon’s
Ali Ford scored 17 to pace three Phoenix players in double figures. Kelsey
Evans had 15 and Kelsey Harris had 10.
Elon
came out firing on all cylinders, jumping out to a 15-point lead 10 minutes
into the contest. After the teams were tied at 6, the Phoenix rattled off an
18-3 run – capped by a Ford 3-pointer – to take control.
The
Bulldogs clawed back into it, cutting the Elon to seven at 34-27 with a Martin
layup with 1:17 to go in the first half.
The
Phoenix pushed its lead back up to 15 points in the second half on an Evans
free throw with 11:56 to play, but Samford again answered the run, getting back
within single digits at 52-43 with nine minutes left.
A
Sam Coffer 3 put the Phoenix up 61-48 with just over six minutes remaining, but
Samford had one last run in it, outscoring Elon 9-2 over the next two minutes
as Martin’s 3 made it a two-possession game at 63-57 with 3:47 to play.
Ford
and Evans answered with consecutive layups to regain momentum for Elon, and
Samford would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Elon
will be making its second semifinals appearance in the last three seasons, with
eyes on making its first-ever championship game.
Sunday’s
first semifinal pits No. 1 seed Chattanooga against No. 4 seed Appalachian
State at noon on ESPN3. The final will be Monday at 3 p.m. on ESPN3.