Davidson 83, Samford 68
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Junior Hannah Early scored a career-high 25 points, 15 of them from behind the arc, and Davidson shot 51 percent for the game in remaining perfect in the Southern Conference with an 83-68 road win at Samford Saturday afternoon in Pete Hanna Center in women’s basketball.

The Wildcats (6-8, 3-0 SoCon) snapped a two-game skid and opened league play 3-0 for the third straight season. They also knotted the series up at 6-all vs. Samford, which fell to 3-11 overall and 1-2 in the SoCon.

Early hit 7-of-12 shots, including 5-for-7 from downtown, and swished home 6-of-7 free throws to top her pervious career-best by three points. She scored 13 points in the first half.

Three other ‘Cats hit the double-digit mark in points in the win, with Laura Murray dropping in 18, followed by Shannon Eriksson at 16 (career-best) and Lillian McCabe with 10.

The trio along with Early helped Davidson hit a season-best 11 three-pointers on 22 attempts, while they drained 16 of the ‘Cats’ 20 total free throws on the afternoon.

Davidson put the game away with a 29-11 run to open the second half in turning a three-point halftime advantage into a 69-48 lead with 6:35 left in the game. Early (11) and Murray (11) combined for 22 points during the big run, with Early finishing the spurt off with five straight points including the Wildcats’ last triple.

Samford tried to comeback, cutting its deficit to under 10 twice, but Davidson responded each time. The Wildcats sealed the win by going 10-for-12 at the charity stripe in the final minute and a half. Eriksson led the way with a 6-for-6 showing.

The Bulldogs’ put four in double figures with Christy Robinson scoring 19 points, 13 of them coming in the first half. Lydia McGee had 14 followed by Hannah Nichols and Krista Stricklin with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The first half featured five ties and seven lead changes in a back and forth affair. Early’s second three-ball of the half gave Davidson a 15-11 lead, but Samford countered with a 19-6 run to grab a 30-21 lead with 7:01 on the clock.

After a quick 30-second time following Samford’s run, Davidson got hot and responded with a19-7 rally to close the half for a 40-37 edge at halftime. Eriksson sparked the run with a couple shots from downtown and Early added her third triple of the half during the run. Davidson went 7-for-13 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes.

Davidson hit 52.5 percent in the second half after hitting an even 50 percent in the first half. The Wildcat defense shut Samford down in the second half, holding it to 37 percent shooting after the Bulldogs nailed 62.5 percent in the first half.

 

Furman 73, Appalachian State 54
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Brittany Hodges scored 17 points and Allison Beasley registered career highs with 13 points and seven rebounds to power Furman past Appalachian State, 73-54, in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.

The win, the seventh in the last nine games for Furman (8-6, 2-1 SoCon), halted a five-game series losing skid to Appalachian State (3-9, 0-2 SoCon) and marked the Paladins’ largest triumph over the Mountaineers since the 2000-01 season.

Hodges, a junior forward and the SoCon’s reigning player of the week, spiced her 17-point performance with nine rebounds, a block, and an assist in 32 minutes of action.  Her two free throws put Furman ahead, 13-12, midway through the first half and ignited a 15-0 run that gave the Paladins control of the contest they would never relinquish.

Beasley’s back-to-back 3-pointers, part of the Paladins’ 5-of-11 long range shooting effort over the game’s first 20 minutes, also fueled the spurt, which fellow Paladin freshman Whitney Bunn capped with a two free throws for a 26-12 advantage with six minutes remaining in the first half.

Senior guard Brigid Morrissey, coming off a career best 12-assist performance in Sunday’s 76-75 road win over Charlotte, delivered another superb effort with 11 assists, which she combined with five points, two rebounds, and two steals.

Janice Roberts, sidelined for the last two games with a ankle injury, returned to action in a big way, converting all eight free throw attempts on the way to 12 points in just 17 minutes of action, and Sarah Durdaller overcame first half foul trouble to finish with 10 points.

Appalachian State was paced by Joi Jones’ game high 19 points and Maryah Sydnor with 17 points.

The Mountaineers, plagued with foul trouble from the early going, saw Furman convert 26-of-32 free throws and post a 43-37 rebounding advantage after APP entererd the contest as the league’s top rebounding team.

Furman saw its 15-point first half lead grow to as many as 21 at 39-18 following a Bunn steal and assist on a Beasley layup with 1:04 to go.  The Mountaineers closed the half with a 5-0 run, using a Jones 3-pointer as time expired to make it 39-23.

Appalachian State managed to trim the lead to 61-51 on a KeKe Cooper layup with 5:19 remaining, but that would be as close as the Mountaineers would get, however, as a Hodges converted a pass from Morrissey into a layup on the game’s next possession to stave off App State.

Led by Hodges’ 7-of-10 shooting performance from the field, Furman finished the game at 36.2 percentage (21-of-58) while Appalachian State canned just 34.6 percent (18-of-52) of its attempts, including just one of eight from 3-point range.

Furman suffered only 12 turnovers in the contest, including just five miscues in the first half.

 

Wofford 61, Western Carolina 58
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford women’s basketball team played its first game of the new year and its first at home in exactly one month on Saturday, snapping a six-game losing streak by defeating Western Carolina, 61-58, in Southern Conference action inside Benjamin Johnson Arena.

Trailing by nine at halftime, the Terriers (3-10, 1-2 SoCon) began the second half on a 12-6 run and grabbed their first lead since the 10:14 mark of the first half, 45-44, with 8:22 remaining in the ball game. Western Carolina (7-6, 1-1 SoCon) responded with a 9-0 run to go back up eight, but Wofford chipped away and regained the lead with 1:13 to go, 57-55, on two made free throws by sophomore Ashton Fleming.

Justin Taylor attempted to put Western Carolina back on top with a 3-pointer on the next possession, but it missed and was rebounded by Wofford junior Lauren Kirby. With a 15-second differential between the shot clock and game clock, the Terriers looked to make it a two-possession game. Senior Logan Morris received a pass on the left wing from sophomore Jordan Frazier, shot-faked her defender, stepped inside the 3-point arc and buried a 15-footer to put Wofford up four with 15.3 seconds showing on the clock.

It all but put the game away as the Catamounts could not score on the ensuing possession and fouled Frazier on the rebound to send the Terriers to the line. Frazier buried both to make it a six-point game with five seconds left and seal the victory, improving Wofford to 3-1 on the year at home.

Frazier completed the afternoon with a game-high 20 points, marking her fourth 20-point performance of the season. The sophomore guard also posted a career-high six assists and went for three steals. Both Frazier and Morris were 6-of-14 from the field.

On the glass, Kirby had a game-high 10 rebounds to post her third double-figure rebounding game of the season. Fleming had seven boards and the Terriers outrebounded the Catamounts 46-36, including 23-11 in the second half.

For Western Carolina, Justin Taylor, Shauna Terry and Lindsay Simpson all finished in double figures. Taylor had a team-high 14 points, Terry had 13 and Simpson went for 10.

On the afternoon, Wofford shot 40 percent (22-55 FG) and had a big second half in which it shot 55.6 percent (15-27 FG). WCU won the turnover battle 17-13, but shot just 30.2 percent from the field (19-63 FG). 

Western Carolina scored on the game’s opening possession courtesy of an offensive board and put-back by Terry. The Terriers scored nine of the next 11 points, capped by a Frazier trey, to lead 9-4 through five minutes.

Wofford went without a field goal for over four minutes as WCU narrowed the deficit. Freshman Kentra Washington finally ended the drought at the 10:33 mark to put the Terriers back in front 11-10.

A 14-5 Catamount run ensued that spanned exactly four minutes. It began with a layup and-1 for Simpson, who then went on to drain the next WCU basket after a Terrier turnover. Terry was good for four of Western’s next five points, before Taylor buried a 3-pointer to extend the Catamount lead to seven. After another Wofford turnover, Alexis Carter went 1-of-2 from the line to complete the run with the visitors leading 24-16.

After the Terriers cut it back to five, Taylor drained another trey to put WCU right back up by eight. The basket came at the 5:05 mark and neither team made a field goal the rest of the half. It resulted in Western Carolina taking a 30-21 halftime lead.

Both teams were shooting under 30 percent at the break. The Terriers were 7-of-28 from the field (25 percent) while WCU was 9-of-34 (26.5 percent). Frazier led all scorers with 10 points and Kirby had five of her 10 rebounds in just nine minutes of action, getting sidelined early with two fouls. 

It was Western Carolina who scored the opening points of the second half on a jumper from Rena Wakama, but Chanel Stokes responded from long range. After the Catamounts went back up 10, Wofford put together its second 9-2 run of the game and was within a basket, 36-33, on a Frazier layup at the 15:27 mark.

The Catamounts rallied to go back up by seven, but Morris took matters into her own hands by scoring six straight Terrier points. Redshirt senior Erin Frost took control of the ball with Wofford down five and drove through the lane to lay-in her first points of the afternoon. Morris went back to work, putting down another layup to make it a one-point game and sinking a pair of free throws on the next Terrier possession to give Wofford its first lead of the half, 45-44, with 8:22 to play. The two free throws earned Morris 10 of Wofford’s last 12 points.

Western responded in a big way, going on a 9-0 run over two and a half minutes to go back ahead by eight. Hana Haden got it started with a big three after the Terriers had just regained the lead. Free throws from Taylor and Simpson made it a six-point game and Terry put in a layup to make it 53-45 in favor of Western Carolina.

Fleming stopped the bleeding and scored on consecutive possessions to get it back to four. Frazier then did the same, making a jumper at the 3:26 mark and bringing the game to its fourth tie, 53-53, with another jumper with 2:42 remaining, completing an 8-0 Terrier run.

Still tied with less than 90 seconds to play, Fleming got fouled underneath and went to the line for a pair. The sophomore drained both to put Wofford ahead and, after WCU came up empty, Morris drained the big jumper as Wofford earned its first Southern Conference victory of the season.

 

UNCG 73, Elon 62
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women’s basketball team out-scored local rival Elon 42-28 in the second half Saturday afternoon on the way to a 73-62 Southern Conference victory at Fleming Gymnasium.

The Spartans snap a six-game losing streak to improve to 5-9 overall and 1-2 in SoCon play while the Phoenix drop to 5-9 and 1-2 with their third-straight loss.  UNCG also defeated Elon for the first time since 2011, a span of four meetings.

The Blue and Gold hit 16 of 31 shots (51.6 percent) in the second period to end up at 43.1 percent (25-of-58) for the game. Elon shot the ball well, knocking down half of its attempts (28-of-56) from the field, but UNCG logged 15 offensive rebounds on the way to winning the battle on the boards 35-29. The Spartans also out-scored the visitors 19-10 on the fast break and neutralized a 40-28 advantage in the paint for the Phoenix by knocking down 19 of 23 from the free throw line (82.6 percent). Elon earned just five foul shots of which it drained three.

The Blue and Gold forced the Phoenix into 24 turnovers leading to 13 steals and 21 points off of the miscues. UNCG also shared the ball well recording 13 assists.

Sophomore guard Lucy Mason led three Spartans in double figures offensively with a season-high 22 points while senior forward Janae’ Stevenson and freshman guard Bailey Williams chipped in with 19 and 13 respectively. Freshman forward Jade Scaife was very active on the glass, pulling down a game-high nine rebounds of which four were on the offensive boards. Also doing some good things for UNCG was junior guard Jarae Savage who corralled seven rebounds (five offensive) and grabbed four steals.

The 13 points were a career high for Williams and the 22 scored by Mason marked the third time this season she has netted 20 or more points in a contest. Williams added five assists and two steals while Mason added three assists and two steals.

Elon looked to run away with the game early, scoring six quick points in the first 1:26 of the contest, but Stevenson netted four-straight points to pull UNCG back within two at the 17:19 mark. A triple by Williams afforded the Spartans their first lead of the contest, 11-10, with 14:24 remaining in the first half, but Shannen Cochraham answered with a bucket down low to swing the lead back to the Phoenix.

That advantage would not last long as Mason drilled a three-pointer off an assist from Williams to make the score 14-12 in favor of UNCG. Mason would then knock down two free throws to stretch the lead to 16-12 as the clock hit 12:13. The Spartans would stay ahead and eventually move six points clear of Elon at 22-16 as Savage grabbed an offensive rebound and found freshman guard Shanese Harris for a layup with 7:50 to play in the stanza.

The Phoenix would fight back and tie the score at 26 on a three by Lenaira Ruffin before Cochraham scored on a layup to put Elon back in front with time ticking down. Kelsey Harris put in a layup off an offensive rebound to push the visitors’ lead to 34-30 with 2:08 on the clock and Mason would close the scoring with a free throw at the 1:54 mark to leave Elon with a 34-31 edge at the break.

Mason led all scorers with 12 points in the first 20 minutes while Cochraham paced the Phoenix with 10 points. Scaife pulled down a team-best six rebounds in the half as UNCG held a 19-13 advantage on the glass. Elon shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the floor and limited the Spartans to 33.3 percent efficiency (9-of-27).

The Phoenix came out firing in the second half, building a 39-31 advantage behind Cochraham. UNCG refused to lay down, however, quickly knotting the score at 41 thanks to a 10-2 run fueled by good defense and scoring from four different players during the 10-2 run. Nicole Razor put Elon back in front 43-41 with 12:56 to go, but Stevenson hit two free throws on the Spartans’ next possession to create another deadlock. Senior guard Breonna Patterson came up big at the 12:22 mark as Mason grabbed a defensive rebound and threw the ball to Williams who found an open Patterson in the corner for a three which forced the Phoenix to use a timeout.

UNCG held Elon off the scoreboard the next three minutes and was able to stretch its lead to 49-43 after a free throw by Mason. Ruffin would attempt to keep the Phoenix close as she scored five points to slice the Spartan advantage to 52-50 and Lauren Brown would complete the rally with two free throws to leave the score tied at 52 with 8:15 left to play.

Harris gave UNCG the lead back at 54-52 when she stole the ball and took it down the floor for a layup, but Harris knotted the proceedings again with a layup of her own at the 6:43 mark. On the Spartans’ very next possession, Stevenson looked to be in trouble with the shot clock winding down, but she put a nice move on the Elon defense and found the basket just as the clock expired to make it 56-54.

UNCG would score eight of the next 16 points to assume a 64-60 lead with 3:09 remaining. Out of a Phoenix timeout, Stevenson came up big - scoring a basket and drawing the fourth foul on Cochraham. Stevenson calmly drained the and-one free throw to make the score 67-60 with 2:44 showing on the clock. Elon had two cracks at the bucket on its next possession, but could not convert and Stevenson pulled down the defensive rebound. Savage then scored on the fast break to push the UNCG lead to an ultimately insurmountable nine points (69-60). The Spartans out-scored the Phoenix 4-2 in the final 2:20 to seal the 11-point victory.

 

 

Chattanooga 69, Georgia Southern 60
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team kept its home court win streak intact Saturday night, but just barely. Chattanooga lost an 18-point lead but came away with a 69-60 win over Georgia Southern Saturday night at the McKenzie Arena to remain undefeated in league play. Chattanooga improves to 11-3 on the year and 3-0 in SoCon action. The Eagles drop the 3-11 overall and 1-2 against the conference.

 

After leading by as much as 18 points early in the second half, Chattanooga saw its 42-24 lead dissipate on a 12-3 run by the Eagles to make it 45-36 with 15:38 to play. UTC managed just four points over the next 3:48 and Georgia Southern knotted the game 49-49 with 10:19 on the clock.

 

Chattanooga would miss its next shot, but senior Taylor Hall forced a turnover and fed the ball down court to junior Ka’Vonne Towns who was fouled on her fastbreak attempt. She drained both free throws to spark a 10-0 Chattanooga run.

 

Towns would force the next Eagle miscue and was hit two free throws after she was fouled on her trip down the court. Hall grabbed a defensive rebound following a Georgia Southern miss  and hit the jumper to make it 55-49 with 8:31 to play.

 

Georgia Southern missed a couple of 3-point attempts and Chattanooga pushed the tempo with Hall connecting on a layup who forced another turnover on the ensuing GSU possession and getting the ball down court to sophomore Tatianna Jackson who put up a left-handed layup on the fast break to make it 59-49 with 6:14 on the clock.

 

Georgia Southern would only get as close as 61-55 over the final stretch and Chattanooga came away with the win to make it 31 straight at the Roundhouse. That is the second longest active win streak in the nation behind Baylor’s 67 consecutive home court wins.

 

Chattanooga was led in scoring by Hall who went 6-of-6 from the free throw line, four in the final 1:23 of the game. She had 15 points with five rebounds, 5 assists and a season-high six steals. That is the most steals by a Chattanooga player this season.

 

Senior Alex Black was 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and had 12 points with three assists while senior Ashlen Dewart scored 11 points with a pair of 3-pointers and five rebounds while Towns was 4-of-4 from the charity stripe and was the fourth UTC player in double figures with 11 points.

 

Chattanooga had 12 steals on the night, the most by the team this season and had 17 assists. UTC edged GSU 30-24 in the paint but was outscored 26-23 off turnovers despite forcing the Eagles into 19 miscues. Georgia Southern outrebounded Chattanooga 32-29 and scored 15 second chance points off 11 offensive boards compared to Chattanooga’s six points off eight boards. UTC’s bench stepped up with 27 points to GSU’s 10.

 

Chattanooga shot 58.8 percent in the second half, but shot just 17 times in the period with 12 turnovers. UTC was 24-of-48 for the game and 7-of-18 from the 3-point line. After making just 4-of-7 from the free throw line in the first half, UTC was 10-of-12 in the second.

 

The Eagles were 22-of-53 (41.5%) on the night and shot 8-of-15 from beyond the arc. Georgia Southern’s MiMi DuBose led all scorers with 16 points with four assists while Sierra Kirkland added 11 points and seven rebounds. Anna Claire Knight had nine points and five rebounds while Briana Jones added seven boards and six points with three steals.