Chattanooga 76, Davidson 62DAVIDSON, N.C. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga ran its win streak to 14 straight games in a 76-62 win over Davidson Saturday afternoon at Belk Arena. Chattanooga improves to 18-3 overall and 10-0 in Southern Conference action while the Wildcats drop to 10-11 on the year and 7-3 against the league.
Freshman Chelsey Shumpert got the scoring started with a layup in the first 30 seconds of the game sparking an 11-2 run capped off by a jumper from senior Taylor Hall with 16:19 on the clock. Davidson responded by outscoring UTC 16-15 over the next 5:57 to cut the lead to 26-18 with 10:11 to play in the half and that’s as close as it would get the rest of the way.
Chattanooga never trailed in the game and led by as much as 22 points, twice. The first came early in the second half on senior Alex Black’s fourth 3-pointer of the game to make it 52-30 with 17:18 to play. The second was less than three minutes on a fastbreak layup by sophomore Tatianna Jackson assisted by Shumpert with 14:35 to play.
Davidson used a 12-2 run over the 4:13 to cut into Chattanooga’s lead but it would get no closer than 12 points over the remainder of the game as UTC went on to claim its 26th straight SoCon win.
Hall led Chattanooga with 17 points, scoring nine in the final 15 minutes. She just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Black went 4-of-5 from the 3-point line just missing her career-high for points with 16 on the day. Shumpert had eight points, six rebounds and dished out a game-high five assists.
Freshman Jasmine Joyner played a career-high 24 minutes after senior Ashlen Dewart drew a third foul early in the second half and senior Faith Dupree out with an injury moments later. Once into the lineup, Joyner made her mark tying the school record for blocked shots in a single game with seven. She added seven points and career-high eight rebounds.
Joyner tied Alex Anderson (2004-08) who twice had seven blocked shots and closed out her career with a school record 221. Anderson will be inducted into UTC’s Hall of Fame next month.
Davidson was led in scoring by Laura Murray who had a game-high 26 points making 10-of-20 from the field with just a pair of 3-pointers. Shneeka Centers had 10 points for the Wildcats with six rebounds and Hannah Early added nine points with six rebounds. Dakota Dukes had a team-best eight boards and six points along with four assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
UTC edged Davidson in the paint 34-30 and had 17 second chance points off 16 offensive rebounds compared to the Wildcats’ seven points on nine boards. Chattanooga started the game making each of its first six baskets and closed out the game making 46.7 percent (28-60) of its shots and was 7-of-17 from the 3-point line and 13-of-15 from the free throw line. The Lady Mocs’ bench contributed 25 points to Davidson’s 18 and had 11 fast break points.
Elon 80, UNCG 57ELON, N.C. – The Elon women’s basketball team began the month of February on a strong note with an 80-57 win over local Southern Conference rival UNCG today, Feb. 1, in Alumni Gym. The Phoenix improves to 9-12 on the season and 5-5 in SoCon play, while the Spartans fall to 5-16 (1-9 SoCon).
With assistant coach Cristy McKinney acting as head coach for the game due to deaths in head coach Charlotte Smith’s family, Elon finished the game 36-of-65 from the field to shoot 54 percent, including going 8-of-15 from three for another mark of 54 percent. The team saw a season-high 22 assists and spread the ball around with four players in double figures.
Zora Stephenson scored a game-high 18 points off a 7-of-12 day from the field. Lauren Brown also recorded seven field goals for 15 points and handed out a career-high seven assists. Kelsey Harris posted 10 points, another seven assists and a team-high six rebounds, while Jessica Farmer finished with 12 points.
UNCG shot 35 percent from the field off a 23-of-66 performance. The Spartans struggled from beyond the arc only hitting 3-of-12 for a 25 percent mark. UNCG claimed the rebounding advantage, 47-38. Janae’ Stevenson led the Spartans with a double-double off 16 points and 14 rebounds.
With the Phoenix leading by one in the first half, 8-7, a jumper by Farmer started an 8-0 run to extend the advantage to nine, 16-7, with 14:53 on the clock. A three by Sam Coffer at the 9:53 mark capped a streak of nine straight for the maroon and gold, giving Elon a 25-11 edge.
Elon led by as much as 19 points in the first frame, 38-19, with under four minutes to play. UNCG went on a 5-0 run to pull within 14, 38-24, but a basket by Harris in the final minute made it a 40-24 Phoenix lead at the break.
The maroon and gold shot 58 percent in the first 20 (19-of-33) and went 40 percent from long distance. The Spartans went 10-of-36 to shoot 28 percent and were held to a 14 percent clip from three. UNCG led on the boards, 26-18, including 18 offensive rebounds.
Back-to-back threes by Stephenson in the first three minutes of the second half gave the Phoenix a 20-point advantage, 48-28. With 12:37 on the clock, Elon started a 13-2 run that was capped by another Stephenson three, her fourth of the game, to extend the advantage to 30, 68-38, with 9:14 remaining.
The maroon and gold’s largest lead came with five minutes left to play after a Coffer three followed a three by Lenaira Ruffin to put the Phoenix up by 32, 76-44. The Spartans managed to end the game on a 11-0 run but it was too little too late as Elon had taken the advantage long before and would not give it up.
Western Carolina 65, Furman 54CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women’s basketball (10-11, 4-6 Southern Conference) used a powerful second-half surge to defeat Furman(12-9, 6-4 SoCon) 65-54 Saturday in the Ramsey Center for its “We Back Pat” game.
With the win, Western Carolina splits the regular season match-up with Furman after falling to the Paladins 76-69 Jan. 6, 2014.
The Catamounts outscored the Paladins 39-26 in the second half, after trailing 28-26 at the half, shooting 45.8 percent in the final 20 minutes. Western Carolina also benefitted from four second half three pointers, finishing the game with six, and held Furman to just one three-pointer in the game.
With the game tied at 42 at 8:48 left in the game, senior Alex Abraham’s jumper inside the paint, as the shot clock would down, spurred a 12-2 run by Western Carolina. The 10-point, 53-43, advantage with 4:18 left in the game was the first double-digit lead by either team in the contest. The Catamounts expanded its double digit lead when senior Rena Wakama capped it off with a three pointer to make the score 56-43.
The scoring onslaught by Western Carolina, midway through the second half, put Furman on its heels and the Paladins couldn’t seem to recover. Furman did cut the Western Carolina lead to single digits, 56-47, off a pair of free throws by Whitney Bunn and a layup by Janice Roberts but Western Carolina had an answer. With 1:26 remaining, Erika Joseph was 3-of-4 from the free throw line, in a five second span, to push the lead back to 12, 59-47.
Western Carolina struggled a bit from the free throw line, in the final minute, hitting 6-of-10 from the charity strip. The Catamounts withstood a scoring push by Furman in the closing minute of the game to take the win.
Both teams battled in the first half for an advantage. Tied at four, Furman hit its only three-pointer in the game when Allison Beasley drained the trey to make the score 7-4 at the 13:58 mark. Furman built its largest lead of the game, 22-14, at 6:41.
Trailing by eight, Western Carolina went on a 12-4 run to tie the game at 24 with 3:20 remaining in the half. Joseph’s jumper gave the Catamounts a brief lead in the game, 26-24, before Furman answered with a jumper by Sarah Durdaller to knot the game at 26. Brigid Morrissey’s jumper with 28 seconds left in the half gave the Paladins’ the 28-26 advantage heading into halftime.
Western Carolina junior guard Justin Taylor came off the bench to lead the team with 12 points. Taylor was one of three players to score in double figures including Haden’s 11 and Joseph’s 10. Senior Shauna Terry ripped down a season-high 11 rebounds to go with four points and two blocks. The Catamounts got 28 of its points from their bench.
Furman had two players score in double digits with Holli Wilkins 12 and Brittany Hodges’ 11.
Furman out-rebounded Western Carolina 43-40. The Catamounts forced 18 Furman turnovers getting 12 points off them. Western Carolina also had a season-high 10 steals led by Haden’s three swipes.
Samford 58,Georgia Southern 43STATESBORO, Ga. – The Samford women’s basketball team used a strong defensive effort to earn a 58-43 Southern Conference road win at Georgia Southern Saturday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Two Samford freshmen had career-high performances in the win. Kassidy Blevins scored a career-high 21 points, and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Bulldogs. Clara Young finished with a career-high 16 points, with 14 of those coming in the second half. Senior center Christy Robinson had 11 points and five rebounds.
For Georgia Southern, MiMi DuBose led the way with 14 points. Anna Claire Knight had 10 points and six rebounds for the Eagles.
In the first half, Georgia Southern got off to a fast start, taking a 7-2 lead with 13:06 to go after a basket by Knight. Samford answered with a 15-2 run to take a 17-9 lead with 7:01 left in the first half following a three-pointer by Blevins.
Georgia Southern fought back to cut the lead to four points at 23-19 with 3:07 to go in the opening half after a free throw by Knight. Samford then closed the half with an 11-0 run to take a 34-19 lead into halftime.
The teams traded baskets early in the second half until Georgia Southern cut the Samford lead to 11 points at 40-29 with 12:13 left following a jumper by Danielle Spencer. Samford scored the next five points to push its lead out to 16 points at 45-29 with 10:13 left after a layup by Hannah Nichols.
Samford pushed its lead out to a game-high 19 points at 51-32 with 4:00 to go after a three-pointer by Young. GSU fought back to cut the lead to 13 points at 51-38 with 2:33 left after a pair of free throws by Sierra Kirkland. Georgia Southern could get no closer than 13 points the rest of the way as the Bulldogs came away with the 58-43 win.
Samford out-rebounded Georgia Southern, 46-35 in the game. The 46 rebounds are a season-high for the Bulldogs. Samford shot 40 percent overall and 44.4 percent from three-point range. The Samford defense held Georgia Southern to just 25.4 percent overall and 28.6 percent from beyond the arc.
With the win, Samford improves to 6-15 overall and 4-6 in SoCon play. The Bulldogs have now won three of their last four games. Georgia Southern drops to 7-14 overall and 5-5 in SoCon games.
Appalachian State 61, Wofford 54BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball downed Wofford in a close Southern Conference game with a final score of 61-54.
The Mountaineers (8-12, 5-5 SoCon) barely came away with the victory against the Terriers (5-25, 3-7) in a game featuring 13 tied scores and 13 lead changes.
Maryah Sydnor hit a three to begin the game on a good note for the Apps, but Wofford would immediately respond with a jumper of their own, foreshadowing the story of the game.
Neither team would hold a lead larger than two points until Wofford's Jordan Frazier would hit a jumper and two free throws with three minutes left in the first to help the Terriers lead 19-15. Appalachian score four points in the last minutes to tie the score at halftime, 19-19.
Both teams had trouble finding baskets in the first half as the Mountaineers shot just 22.2 percent (6-27) from the floor. Sydnor led the team with seven points.
Wofford had a 27.3 percent (6-22) field goal percentage in the first half with Frazier leading with nine points.
The second half began with much of the same as Sydnor scored a layup in the opening seconds, but Wofford responded with one of its own to tie the game again. Appalachian would finally find a permanent lead with 7:29 left in the half from a jumper from Katie Mallow.
At the 1:59 minue mark, the Terriers would still be in the game as the Mountaineers led by only three points. Mallow hit a jumper with 33 seconds to go in the game and from there the Apps had a comfortable lead, closing the game out with four free throw from Sydnor. Appalachian took the game with a score of 61-54.
Sydnor led with her tenth double-double of the season, scoring 20 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. KeKe Cooperfollowed with 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Mountaineers shot 35.7 percent on the night, pulling down 42 rebounds and recording 19 turnovers.
Frazier was unstoppable for the Terriers, scoring 25 points in the loss and making five steals. Logan Morris had 12 points for Wofford.
The Terriers shot 36.0 percent from the floor in the game, while recording 33 rebounds and 19 turnovers.