UNCG 70, College of Charleston 68
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Down by 20 points with 12 minutes left in the game, the UNCG women’s basketball team made a furious rally with junior Lucy Mason hitting the game-winning jumper with less than a second left to give the Spartans a 70-68 comeback win inside TD Arena Sunday afternoon.
The Spartans finished with three players in double-figures as Mason led the way with 21 points (7-for-13), five rebounds and five assists. Seniors Jarae Savage and Jessica Collins each had 15 and 12 points respectively. Savage grabbed six rebounds and was 2-for-3 from three-point land. Collins had five assists and was 3-for-5 from three.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 39.3 percent from the field on 24-for-61 and was red-hot from three hitting seven threes to aid the come from behind win. The pressure defense forced 24 turnovers leading to 28 points for the Spartan offense. UNCG also had 14 fast break points holding the Cougars to just six.
With 12:02 remaining in the game, a layup by Shannon Hines gave the College of Charleston a 52-32 lead over the Spartans. UNCG would mount a comeback cutting the lead to 54-42 after a steal and layup by sophomore Shanese Harris capping a 10-2 run with under nine minutes left.
Just two minutes later, a Cougar turnover led to another layup for Harris plus the foul. Harris would make the free throw to cut the lead to 56-50.
A key moment in the second half came when the Spartans trailed by 13 points with four minutes left but Collins and Mason made back-to-back threes to make the score 65-58.
The Blue and Gold would not go away trailing 68-63 with a minute left when Savage drained a long-distance three to make it 68-66. The College of Charleston’s Erin Hall would step out of bounds giving the Spartans a chance to tie with 30 seconds left. Mason would get a look from three but was fouled giving UNCG a chance to take the lead. Mason hit two-of-three to tie the game at 68. Harris stole the ball off the inbounds leading to Mason hitting the game-winning jumper with 0.1 left on the clock.
The Spartans finished the game with 15 steals with Mason swiping five and Harris with four. Harris also had seven points and four rebounds.
In the first half, UNCG took a 10-4 lead thanks to five quick points from Mason on 2-for-2 shooting. Mason scored the first five points to give the Spartans an early lead.
College of Charleston would answer with a 9-2 run to take a 13-12 lead with 13 minutes to play capped by a layup from Jackie Luna-Castro.
Both teams continued to change the lead as the Spartans finished with 29 points but the Cougars used an 8-1 run to lead by nine at the break. The Cougars pulled down 25 rebounds in the first half, including 10 on the offensive end.
UNCG returns home to host USC Upstate in its home opener Thursday, Nov. 20 at Fleming Gym at 7 p.m.
South Florida 59, Chattanooga 57
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Ka’Vonne Towns put the team on her back in the final minutes Sunday afternoon to keep it close, but fell short on the final shot as the Mocs lost a nail-biter, 59-57 to South Florida.
Towns scored all 10 of Chattanooga’s final points including a pair of 3-pointers giving the Mocs a 57-52 lead with 3:52 to play. The Bulls charged back, however, to tie it up and won the contest with a pair of free throws from Shaleth Stringfield in the final minute.
After the USF free throws, UTC drove the court and sophomore Jasmine Joyner missed a 3-point attempt with 38 seconds on the clock but the Mocs forced a turnover by the Bulls on a shot clock violation with six seconds remaining.
Foster called a timeout the set up the final play, calling for Towns to take the last shot form beyond the arc.
Towns led all scorers with a career-high 18 points making 4-of-9 from beyond the arc, also a career-best. She was joined in double digits by freshman Keiana Gilbert with a career-high 11 points in just her second collegiate game.
Keiana teamed up with her sister Aryanna Gilbert to combine for 11-of-12 of UTC’s 17-of-21 performance from the free throw line.
In the first half, the Mocs gave up a 16-8 lead with 9:36 to play in the period when USF put together a 23-5 run to lead 31-21 at the break.
Chattanooga started the second half on a 9-7 run, including a 6-of-6 performance form the charity stripe by the Gilberts and capped off with a Towns 3-pointer to make it 33-30 South Florida with 17:36 to play.
Over the next 6:44, the Mocs managed to knot it up 43-43 on a fastbreak layup by sophomore point guard Chelsey Shumpert. South Florida pulled back out front, taking a 49-45 lead before the Mocs kicked it in again with Towns scoring all 10 of UTC’s final points.
Joyner, who led Chattanooga in scoring Friday night, spent much of the first half on the bench with a couple of fouls. She ended the game with six points, a team-high seven rebounds, three steals and adding in a pair of blocks to raise her career total to 58 in 25 minutes on the floor.
Aryanna Gilbert was 4-of-4 from the free throw line for nine points on the night with two rebounds and two blocked shots. Shumpert added in seven points with a team-high three assists and senior Destiny Bramblett was 2-of-3 from beyond the arc for six points.
South Florida’s Courtney Williams led the Bulls with 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting with a trio of 3-pointers while Alisia Jenkins dropped in 10 points combined with a game-high 13 rebounds for her second double-double in as many games.
South Florida shot 57.1 percent from the field in the opening period, but were just 8-of-21 in the second half, while the Mocs were 10-of-27 in the latter half after opening with a 25 percent shooting performance.
Chattanooga was 8-of-19 from beyond the arc, making four in each period and was 17-of-21 from the charity stripe. South Florida dropped in six treys and was 13-of-19 from the free throw line.
USF out rebounded the Mocs 39-24, but Chattanooga had the advantage on points off turnovers, converting 19 miscues into 20 points. The Bulls outscored UTC in the paint 24-16, off the bench 24-6 and on second chance points 11-2.
Chattanooga evens its record to 1-1 with its first loss at home since the end of the 2010-11 season, snapping a nation’s-best home court win at 40 games. South Florida stays perfect at 2-0.
Chattanooga will hit the road to take on Butler Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The game is set for a 7:00 p.m. start. Fans can log onto GoMocs.com for live video streaming and scoring. Butler is 0-2 on the year after falling to Valparaiso (91-57) in the opener and to Indiana State (66-51) Sunday afternoon.
Memphis 64, Samford 48
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Samford women’s basketball team dropped its season opener at Memphis, falling to the Tigers by a score of 64-48 Sunday afternoon at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
Samford head coach Mike Morris said fouls and turnovers cost his team in the season-opening setback.
As a team, the Bulldogs turned the ball over 20 times and committed 23 fouls in the contest. Four Samford players committed four fouls each.
Junior center Taylor Reece led Samford in scoring with 16 points. Freshman forward Destiney Elliott scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Memphis was led by Mooriah Rowser with 18 points. Breigha Cochran-Wilder added 15 points and six rebounds for the Tigers.
In the first half, Samford jumped out to an early 5-0 lead following a layup by Elliott with 18:15 to go in the first half. Memphis fought back to cut the lead to two points at 10-8 with 16:07 to go after a three-pointer by Cochran-Wilder. The Bulldogs pushed their lead back out to five at 15-10 with 12:57 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Ellen Riggins.
Memphis went on a 10-3 run to take a 20-18 lead with 8:50 left in the first half after a pair of free throws by Taylor Williams. Samford scored the next eight points to take a 26-20 lead with 5:41 left in the half after a layup by Riggins. The Tigers then went on an 8-0 run of their own to take the lead again at 28-26 with 2:46 left in the half after a layup by Rowser. Memphis took a 31-28 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Samford scored the first five points of the half to take a 33-31 lead with 18:48 to go in the game after a three-point play by Hannah Nichols. Memphis, however, went on an 11-0 run to take a 42-33 lead with 14:45 to play after a pair of free throws by Chochran-Wilder.
Memphis pushed its lead out to 14 points at 55-41 with 6:00 to go after a jumper by Asianna Fuqua-Bey. The Bulldogs fought back to close to within eight points at 56-48 with 3:57 to go after a pair of free throws by Reece. Memphis, however, scored the final eight points of the game to pull away for the 64-48 win.
Samford drops to 0-1 with the loss. Memphis improves to 2-0 with the win.
Samford will return to action on Friday, Nov. 21, when the Bulldogs play host to Alabama A&M. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.