Georgia Southern 64, Samford 61
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –Anna Claire Knight recorded the first triple-double in Georgia Southern women’s basketball history with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Eagles to a 64-61 Southern Conference victory over Samford Monday night in the Pete Hanna Center.

Knight broke a 59-59 tie when she drove to the bucket, laid it in and drew a foul with 1:01 to go. The junior made the free throw to put the Eagles up three. Hannah Nichols drew a foul on the Bulldogs’ trip down the floor to make it a 62-61 game with 50 seconds left.

After an Eagle timeout, Knight’s jumper from the right wing rimmed out with 24 seconds left, but Sierra Kirkland was there to collect the offensive rebound. The Bulldogs were forced to foul MiMi DuBose with 16 seconds left, and the senior calmly sank both free throws to make the score 64-61. Ellen Riggins put up a frantic 3-point try as the buzzer sounded, but the ball sailed out of bounds.

It was the Eagles’ first win at the Pete Hanna Center, where the Bulldogs have averaged 12 wins a season since the building opened in 2007.

Lacie Dowling scored 16 points for the Eagles (4-11, 2-2 SoCon) and hit 5-of-6 from behind the arc. DuBose, who played only 22 minutes because of foul trouble, scored eight, and Danielle Spencer tallied eight points and five rebounds. 

Nichols led the Bulldogs (3-12, 1-3 SoCon) with 16 points, and Krista Stricklin tallied 12 points, seven boards and three assists off the bench. Shelby Campbell scored 11, and Lydia McGee netted nine.

The Eagles trailed by 10 points following a Stricklin free throw with 7:20 to play, but DuBose sparked a 14-4 Georgia Southern run with a triple. Knight scored seven points during the stretch, and Dowling added a four-point play as the senior was fouled while sinking a long 3-pointer.  

A Spencer layup off a Knight assist gave the Eagles a 59-56 lead with 1:30 to go, but Nichols answered with a triple from the top of the key on the other end to tie the score.

The Bulldogs came out blazing and jumped out to a 21-7 cushion 11:13 into the game as Riggins and Stricklin each scored four points. Georgia Southern responded with a 20-5 run with the aid of two Dowling triples and another trey from Jordi Cook, and took a 27-26 advantage with 1:36 left in the half. 

McGee scored a layup and Campbell hit a long jumper as the buzzer sounded to give Samford a 30-27 cushion at halftime.

According to Georgia Southern school records, the closest to a triple-double prior to tonight’s game was Trina Simmons with 18 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists, Jan. 5, 1991, against Florida A&M.

 

Chattanooga 72, Davidson 64
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- With two minutes remaining in the game, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore guard Alicia Payne let loose a 3-pointer from about a foot beyond the 3-point line to give UTC a little breathing room and the Lady Mocs would go on to beat Davidson 72-64 to remain undefeated in Southern Conference action.

Payne’s 3-pointer, with 2:01 on the clock, broke a 58-58 tie and would be the final field goal for Chattanooga who went 11-of-13 from the free throw line down the stretch as Davidson tried to stay in the game. UTC outscored the Wildcats 14-6 over the final two minutes, beginning with Payne’s trey, garnering its 12^th win of the season.

After trailing 10-5 to start the game, Chattanooga freshman Chelsey Shumpert drove the lane and senior Alex Black banked in a 3-pointer on an inbounds play with three seconds on the shot clock to spark a 15-2 run, giving UTC a 20-12 lead with 6:22 to play in the first half. Chattanooga closed out the first half with a 3-pointer from Shumpert with just seconds remaining and led 32-21 at the break.

In the second half, Chattanooga’s lead would grow to as much as 15 points early on, but that would begin slipping away when Davidson began to find its offense. Senior Taylor Hall hit a jumper with 16:33 to play in the game to put Chattanooga up 42-27, but a layup by the Wildcats followed by a UTC turnover and a missed 3-pointer helped Davidson cut the lead to 42-32 on its first 3-pointer of the game at the 14:56 mark.

Chattanooga would get back to a 13-point lead on free throws from sophomore Tatianna Jackson (Atlanta, Ga.) with 13:27 to play, but it would be more than five minutes and just one free throw before the Lady Mocs would get another field goal.

In that time, the Wildcats would outscore UTC 10-1 and force three turnovers while Chattanooga missed its four shot attempts to make it 48-44 with 8:44 to play. Jackson connected on the Lady Mocs’ field goal to put UTC back up 50-44, but Davidson continued to push and took a 56-54 lead with 3:52 to play.

That would be their last of the game as Chattanooga back-to-back layups from seniors Taylor Hall and Faith Dupree to put UTC back out front 58-56. The Wildcats would tie it up once more on free throws from Dakota Dukes to make it 58-58 with 2:27 to play, but it would be Chattanooga’s game from there.

Davidson, the league leader for3-point shooting was held without a bucket from beyond the arc in the first half, making just four attempts and had just four in the game.

UTC Head Coach Jim Foster saw scoring from nine different players with the points spread out across the roster. Hall led Chattanooga with 15 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds and added five assists. She made a season-best 7-of-7 from the free throw line and played 39 minutes. Jackson was 4-of-7 from the field with 10 points and five boards.

Dupree had nine points and seven rebounds including four off the offensive glass while freshman Aryanna Gilbert added nine points of her own. Shumpert scored all eight of her points in the first half and Payne scored all eight of her points in the final two minutes making a 3-pointer and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.

Chattanooga outrebounded Davidson 40-25 and had 17 offensive boards. UTC outscored the Wildcats 38-24 in the paint and got 31 points from the bench compared to Davidson’s nine.

Davidson was 24-of-56 (42.9%) for the game and shot 47.1 percent in the second half. Dukes led all scorers with 18 points with an 8-of-8 performance from the free throw line. Shannon Ericksson scored 14 points and added eight rebounds and three assists while Hannah Early was 5-of-11 on the night with 12 points and three assists in 40 minutes.

Laura Murray, the No. 2 scorer in the league averaging 19.6 points per game, was held to just nine points on the night and was 0-of-6 from beyond the arc. Shneeka Center added nine points in the effort for Davidson.

 

Furman 76, Western Carolina 69
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Holli Wilkins scored 20 points and Furman used a strong second half start to grab command on the way to a 76-69 victory over Western Carolina in women's Southern Conference basketball action Monday evening at Timmons Arena.

The win marked the third straight triumph and eighth decision in the last 10 games for Furman (9-6, 3-1 SoCon), which will wrap up its three-game home stand on Saturday when it entertains Wofford in a 2:00 p.m. contest on YP Court.

Western Carolina (7-7, 1-2 SoCon), which got a game high 21 points from Lindsay Simpson, dropped its second straight contest.

With the score tied 34-34 at intermission, Furman opened the second half with an Allison Beasley 3-pointer and 9-0 Brittany Hodges scoring spree to go up 46-40.

A Wilkins 3-pointer stretched the advantage to 49-40, and two free throws from Beasley made it 51-40  with 16:05 remaining.

Western Carolina responded with an 8-0 run over the next minute to cut it to 51-48 on a Makensey Campebll 3-point play before Furman answered with layup and 3-pointer by Whitney Bunn to run the Paladin edge to 56-48.

The Catamounts got within five at 62-57 with 7:05 on the clock, but a Brigid Morrissey 3-point play, Sarah Durdaller 3-pointer, and Bunn layup capped an 8-0 Furman burst to effectively seal the game's result.

Hodges followed Wilkins in the scoring column for Furman with 15 points, and Bunn matched a season high with 13 points.  Hodges and Bunn led the Paladins with seven rebounds apiece.

Campbell and Rena Wakama rounded out Western Carolina's double figure scoring effort with 13 and 12 points respectively.

Brigid Morrissey notched a game high seven assists.

The Catamounts used sizzling 3-point shooting in the first half, converting 6-of-9 treys over the game's first 20 minutes, to help keep the Paladins in check.  Simpson, who drained 5-of-6 3-pointers on the way to 16 points in the first period, connected on only one 3-pointer the rest of the way.

Furman keyed its strong second half by connecting on 50.0 percent of its field goal attempts (12-for-24) and finished with a 43.6 percent clip (24-for-55).

Western Carolina shot 39.7 percent from the field (25-for-63) in the contest.

The Paladins forged a 44-35 rebounding advantage and outscored the Catamounts by 11 points at the free throw line, making good for 21 of 29 opportunities.

 

Appalachian State 63, Wofford 43
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball will find its first conference win of the season on Monday night, beating Wofford with a score of 63-43.

Maryah Sydnor led the Mountaineers (4-9, 1-2) past the Terriers (3-11, 1-3) by scoring her seventh double-double of the season, recording 21 points and 10 rebounds in the win.

The Mountaineers pulled ahead early on, making the score 4-2 with a jumper from Sydnor and would not give up the lead for the rest of the half.  Appalachian would lead by as much as nine points, but the Terriers closed the lead with two minutes left in the half, making the score 24-19 at halftime.

Appalachian shot 38.5 percent (10-26) from the floor in the first half, while holding the Terriers to just a 25.9 (7-27) field goal percentage. Sydnor led the Apps in the first with eight points while Jordan Frazier led Wofford in scoring with nine.

App State would immediately take charge in the second half, going on a 12-3 run, led by KeKe Cooper, who contributed six of the 12 points. Wofford would continue to find its way back into the game, only trailing by eight points with 10 minutes left to play.

The Mountaineers would go on a 17-2 run, starting at the 7:24 minute mark and would pull ahead, 56-37. From there the victory would by the Mountaineer's as they took the game against the Terriers with a final score of 63-43.

Sydnor led the Apps with her 21 points and ten rebounds, while Joi Jones scored in double-figures for the second-straight game, notching 10 points and six rebounds.

Cooper had a tremendous night on the boards, recording eight points and pulling down 13 rebounds for the Mountaineers.

Appalachian shot 42.6 percent from the floor on the game, while grabbing 48 rebounds and turning the ball over 17 times.

Wofford's Jordan Frazier led the team with 11 points in the game and Lauren Kirby led in rebounding with seven boards.

The Terriers shot just 27.6 percent on the game, tallying 33 rebounds and 16 turnovers.