Furman 73, Winthrop 55
ROCK HILL, S.C. - Kelsey Ellis scored a career high 18 points and ignited a strong half shooting performance to propel Furman to a 73-55 victory over Winthrop in women's basketball action Monday evening at the Winthrop Coliseum.
Ellis, a junior wing from Pooler, Ga., delivered a pair of 3-pointers in the first half and in the second period drained four treys in six attempts, part of the Paladins' 6-for-9 shooting effort from beyond the arc over the game's final 20 minutes, to help Furman (2-0) cruise to the win.
The Paladins converted just 12-of-40 shots in the first half (30.0 percent) but heated up to 53.3 percent in the second half, finding the mark on 16-of-30 attempts, including 6-of-9 treys.
Whitney Bunn tallied 13 points and a career high 11 assists, and Sarah Durdaller contributed 10 points and 14 rebounds, mostly in the first half after Paladin senior forward Brittany Hodges exited the game following two early fouls.
Freshman Cierra Carter also contributed 10 points in only her second collegiate contest, and Hodges' most effective replacement, sophomore Tiara Wood, tallied four points to go along with a career high 10 rebounds in 22 minutes of action.
Winthrop (1-1), with four starters returning off a 24-9 team that last year won the Big South Conference Championship and played in the NCAA Tournament, got a game high 19 points from Schaquilla Nunn, but the Eagles had no answer for Furman, especially in shooting and rebounding as the Eagles made just 28.6 percent of their shots and were outboarded 58-44 by the Paladins.
Furman grabbed control of the game six minutes into the second half, using an 18-0 run over a six-minute span to extend a 40-37 lead to a 58-37 advantage with 7:47 remaining. A Carter jump shot with 13:16 to go ignited the run, and a basket and three-point play by Bunn, two Ellis 3-pointers, and a Wood layup helped fuel the decisive stretch that put Furman in command.
Ellis, whose previous career high (12 points) had come against Auburn in WNIT action last season, finished off the long range shooting display with her final 3-pointer, from the left corner, at the 6:47 mark to give the Paladins a 61-38 lead.
In a contest that witnessed the Paladins' top two scorers, Hodges and Holli Wilkins, combine for just 10 points and 5-for-19 shooting, Furman's bench delivered in a big way, outscoring Winthrop 34-2.
The Paladins will play host to San Diego State this Friday at Timmons Arena, with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m.
ETSU 84, High Point 76
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – After leading by a second-half-high 13 points with five minutes to play, the ETSU women’s basketball team survived a late comeback from High Point to come away victorious, 84-76, on Monday evening inside Brooks Gym in its regular season home opener.
With the win, ETSU moves to 2-0 to begin the season while High Point drops to 1-1. The Bucs’ 2-0 record to start the season is the first time the team has been unblemished through two games since the 2010-11 season.
The Bucs’ hot offensive hand from Friday’s 81-68 win at UNC Asheville carried over to Monday with the team putting up half of a hundred in the opening period. The half did not quite start out favorably for the home team, though. ETSU fell behind briefly, 5-2, with 17:25 left in the period, but quickly found its flow on offense. Without the services of senior post players Destiny Mitchell and Serena Clark for much of the first half due to foul trouble, the Blue & Gold leaned on sophomore guard Shamauria Bridges for offensive production. Bridges responded with 13 points in the half including three three-pointers. Paced by the sophomore, the Bucs increased its lead to as many as 20 with 6:33 to go in the period. High Point answered the sizable deficit with a 13-7 surge over the final six minutes to go into halftime trailing, 50-36.
The Panthers came out of the break energized and quickly mounted a comeback. A 15-6 HPU run over the first four-and-a-half minutes of the second half shrunk ETSU’s advantage to only five points, 56-51. A Chandler Christopher jumper with 12:04 to go brought the Bucs’ advantage back up above double-digits to 11, 64-53, and the team kept a firm hold on the lead up until the three-minute mark. A pair of free throws from the Panthers’ Stacia Robertson with 1:28 left to play brought the game to the closest it had been since the 15 minute mark of the first half; 76-72. With 1:11 to go, the player who had set the offensive tone for the Bucs on the night – Bridges – buried a huge triple off of a Christopher assist to allow ETSU to pull ahead by seven. A couple of late free throws and a late bucket from Clark allowed the Blue & Gold to hold on for an 84-76 win.
The Blue & Gold featured four players in double-figures, led by a career-high 22 points from Bridges. Also in the win, freshman point guard Tianna Tarter added her first-career double-double with 15 point and 12 rebounds while Maria Bond and Christopher contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively. For HPU, Stacia Robertson recorded game highs of 29 points and 13 rebounds.
ETSU shot 46 percent from the field for the game and made 23 free throws in a matchup that featured 52 total fouls. The Bucs also converted 19 HPU turnovers into 20 points and turned 15 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points. With starters in foul trouble, the Blue & Gold got a contribution of 23 points from its bench which proved to be very valuable.
The Panthers hit from the field at a 47 percent clip and were strong in the paint with 46 points. HPU struggled behind the arc with only two makes (2-of-18), but did get 26 points from its reserves.
The Bucs will continue home non-conference play on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. when they welcome Appalachian State to Brooks Gym.
Western Carolina 66, Livingstone 55
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Freshman forward Sherae Bonner tied the Western Carolina school record for rebounds in a game, with 26, recording her second straight double-double with 17 points as Catamount women’s basketball defeated Livingstone College 66-55 Monday in the Ramsey Center.
The Catamounts improve to 1-1 on the season and the Blue Bears fall to 1-1.
Bonner’s domination on the glass, with 26 rebounds, ties a single-season Catamount women’s basketball record that has stood since 1977. The record was initially set by former Catamount Brenda Johnson against Mars Hill on Jan. 18, 1977.
As stated above, it was Bonner’s second straight double-double performance. She had 16 points and 13 rebounds in the 64-59 loss to North Carolina Central Nov. 14.
Bonner was one of three Catamounts to score in double figures. Senior guard Justin Taylor led the team with 18 points and just missed a double-double herself with eight rebounds. Fellow senior Ali Lane followed with 12 points.
It was slow going for Western Carolina to open the game against Livingstone. The Blue Bears scored nine unanswered points to open the game before the Catamounts got on the board. After being held scoreless for the first five plus minutes, Lane drained a three-pointer to cut the Livingstone lead to 6-3.
Western Carolina played from behind until the final three minutes of the half. Trailing by six with 3:48 left, freshman Emily Hatfield nailed a lay-up and drained a free throw to complete the three-point play. Hatfield’s scoring spurred a 9-0 run by the Catamounts to take the lead 24-23 capped off by a pair of free throws by Lane. Bonner hit 1-of-2 free throws to make the score 25-23 in favor of Western Carolina at the half.
It was all Western Carolina in the second half as the Catamounts scored 41 second-half points. Livingstone scored 32.
Sitting with five points and eight rebounds at the half, Bonner led WCU in the second half scoring 12 of her points and ripping down 18 of her rebounds in the final 20 minutes. Bonner also accounted for half of the Catamount team’s total rebounds as WCU ended the game with 52 boards.
Western Carolina also dominated at the charity stripe. The Catamounts were sent to the free throw line 42 times and hit 27, shooting 64.3 percent. Livingstone wasn’t so fortunate hitting just 9-of-17 from the free throw line.
Western Carolina plays the third of its four straight home games Saturday welcoming Presbyterian at 3:30 p.m.
Ohio 84, Wofford 37
ATHENS, Ohio - The stifling defense of the Ohio Bobcats proved to be too much, as the Wofford College women’s basketball team left the historic Convocation Center with an 84-37 loss on Monday night.
Wofford (0-2) never led during the game, as Ohio (2-0), opened the game on a 9-0 run and never looked back. A three pointer from sophomore Kentra Washington and a layup from senior Lauren Kirby brought the Terriers within six points, with the score 11-5 with 11:51 remaining in the first half. The six point gap was the closest Wofford had for the rest of the game.
The Ohio defense was stingy, preventing the Terriers from making any easy shots. Wofford shot 14-of-52 from the field, good for 26.9% on the night. Ohio shot 27-of-59 for 45.8%, lighting things up from downtown with 9-for-21 shots falling from three-point range. The Terriers were out rebounded 41-38, while turning the ball over 28 times in the contest.
Wofford found silver lining in a career day for sophomore guard Sarah Traynor. The Ontario native scored a team-high and career best 12 points, going 5-for-8 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Classmate Grayson Pinholster also had a career-high, pulling down six boards in the game.
The Bobcats’ Kiyanna Black led the team’s scoring efforts. Black put up 21, shooting 50% with 8-of-16 falling on the night. Black also posted a team-best nine rebounds. The Bobcats had three other double-digit scorers in Quiera Lampkins (16), Kelly Karlis (13) and Jasmine Weatherspoon (10).
The 47-point loss was the largest margin the team has suffered since last year’s 110-53 loss to No. 8 Maryland. The loss put’s the program at 1-2 all-time against Mid-Atlantic Conference opponents. The Terriers’ last win against a MAC opponent was in 1998 in an overtime victory, 70-69, against Ball State.
The game consisted mostly of Ohio runs, with the Terriers stringing their best offense together in the second half, opening up a 7-3 run during the last fifteen minutes if action.
The Terriers play again on Saturday, November 22nd, where they host Charleston Southern in their home opener. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m., at the Benjamin Johnson Arena.