Chattanooga 71, Furman 54GREENVILLE, S.C. – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team had four players in double figures in a 71-54 win at Furman. The win clinched the Southern Conference title for UTC, the first under Hall of Fame coach Jim Foster in his first season. Davidson fell to Georgia Southern 90-82 at Davidson.
Senior Taylor Hall scored a game-high 19 points and was joined in double figures by senior Ashlen Dewart with 12 while senior Alex Black added 11 as did freshman Jasmine Joyner, a career-high. Hall and Dewart each added eight rebounds in the winning effort.
UTC started the game on a slow note letting the Paladins get out to a 9-2 start over the first 4:48 of the game. Black went 3-of-4 from the free throw line and Hall followed with the first of her two 3-pointers to cut the lead to 11-8 at the 14:52 mark of the opening stanza.
After a made shot by Furman’s Brittany Hodges, UTC went on an 11-2 run to take its largest lead of the first half 19-13 with 10:11 on the clock. Furman would battle back, however, and retake the lead, 20-19, on a 3-pointer from Allison Beasley with 7:59 to go in the first.
Chattanooga outscored the Paladins 12-8 over the final seven minutes and carried a 31-28 lead into the locker room at intermission.
The second half saw Chattanooga pull away slowly and eventually get out front by double-digits in the final minutes. The scored bounced back-and-forth with 10 lead changes over the first 5:55 of the second half before UTC began to pull away. Hall hit a jumper with 12:47 to play to give UTC a 48-43 lead.
Furman cut the lead to one on a 3-pointer from Holli Wilkins who had a team-high 15 points, and a free throw from Whitney Bunn. Hall and Dewart combined on UTC’s next four points to stretch the lead back to five at 52-47 with 10:29 to play. The Mocs finished out the game with a 19-7 advantage for the final 71-54 margin. UTC held Furman scoreless over the final 6:05 for the win.
Hall scored 13 of her points in the second half and pulled down all of her eight rebounds in the closing period. She had 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Joyner hit a career-high 11 points and added five rebounds and four blocked shots and has a team-high 30 on the year.
Dewart added 12 points on 5-of-10 from the field and eight rebounds. Black started the game making 5-of-6 from the free throw line and closed out with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field.
Chattanooga improves to 22-3 on the year and 14-0 in league play clinching its 18th Southern Conference title since 1984. Furman falls to 13-11 overall and 7-5 in conference action.
Appalachian State 76, UNCG 67BOONE, N.C. – Maryah Sydnor scored 22 points and Appalachian State University basketball picked up a 76-67 win over visiting UNCG on Senior Day at the Holmes Center on Saturday.
The Mountaineers (10-14, 7-7 SoCon) snapped a two-game losing streak in Southern Conference play and picked up its ninth-straight win over the Spartans (6-18, 2-11).
UNCG looked as if it might provide a tough test for Appalachian as it jumped out to an early 6-2 lead just two minutes into the contest, but the Mountaineers reeled off a 16-4 run over the next five minutes to take an 18-10 lead and never trailed again in the first half.
Appalachian State took its first lead of the game when Bria Huffman nailed a jumper with 15:30 to go in the first period to take a 10-8 lead and the Mountaineers would roll the rest of the half as they entered the break with a 37-28 lead.
The Mountaineers led by as many as 16 points twice in the opening period and looked like they might blow the game wide open, but UNCG answered in the second half as it cut Appalachian's lead to just one point on two occasions in the opening 10 minutes before taking a one-point lead (55-54) with just 8:15 to play.
App State would regain its composure and ripped off a 16-5 run over the next five minutes, including two three-pointers from Farrahn Wood to push its lead back to double digits at the 3:41 mark (70-60) and sealed the contest from the charity stripe in the closing moments for the win.
Sydnor led all players with 22 points while snagging eight rebounds and dishing out five assists. KeKe Cooper added 10 points and eight rebounds while Amber Doniere poured in 10 and grabbed seven boards off the bench. Wood was perfect from behind the arc, going three-for-three for a total of nine points.
The Mountaineers recorded a 46.4 field goal percentage while grabbing 43 rebounds and committing only 13 turnovers, their lowest turnover total this season.
Janae Stevenson finished with a double-double (21 points, 13 rebounds) for the Spartans while Shanese Smith and Jade Scaife each scored 10 points.
The Spartans shot 42.9 percent from the floor, grabbed 36 rebounds and turned the ball over 26 times in the game.
Elon 65, Western Carolina 61
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – It was another close game for the Elon women’s basketball team but the Phoenix was able to record its fourth straight win with a 65-61 final over Western Carolina today, Feb. 15, in the Ramsey Center.
The Phoenix (12-12, 8-5 SoCon) finished 23-of-51 from the field to shoot 45 percent, along with a 46 percent mark from three. WCU (11-14, 5-9 SoCon) was held to a 32 percent clip after hitting 24-of-74 with 46 points coming from its bench. The Catamounts won the rebounding battle, 47-44.
Jenifer Rhodes and Zora Stephenson each scored a team-high 11 points for Elon. Sam Coffer and Kelsey Harris also finished in double figures with 10 points each. Harris, who fell just short of a double-double with a team-high eight rebounds, is now only 20 points away from reaching 1,000-career points. WCU’s Taylor led all players with 25 points and 10 field goals.
The first half was tight with neither team taking more than a four-point lead until a layup by Harris put the Phoenix up by five, 29-24, with under two minutes on the clock. A layup by Autumn Carter and a jumper at the buzzer by Harris helped Elon to a 33-27 advantage at the break.
Elon shot 57 percent in the first off a 12-of-21 performance from the field, while the Catamounts only hit 11-of-40 shots from a 28 percent clip. WCU took the slight edge on the boards, 23-21.
A jumper by Carter started the second frame and a 10-0 run for the Phoenix to make it a 37-27 advantage. The Catamounts answered and regained the lead, 41-39, after a three by Taylor and forced Smith to call a timeout. Back-to-back threes for Elon by Lauren Brown and Stephenson put the maroon and gold back on top, 47-43, with 11:07 on the clock.
The Phoenix took a 13-point advantage, 56-43, after a three by Stephenson and steal by Jessica Farmer on the following defensive possession turned into a basket for the sophomore, forcing a WCU timeout with 6:33 remaining. The Catamounts slowly climbed back in the game, pulling within five, 63-58, with under two minutes to play. Another three by Taylor made it a two-point game, 63-61, with only 10 seconds left in the game. On the next possession, Coffer was fouled and sent to the line, making both opportunities to give Elon the win by four.
Samford 61, Wofford 55SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Samford women’s basketball team earned a hard-fought Southern Conference road win, defeating Wofford by a score of 61-55 Saturday afternoon at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
With the win, Samford has now won six of its last eight games. The Bulldogs improve to 9-16 overall and 7-7 in SoCon play. Wofford drops to 5-18 overall and 3-10 in league games.
In the win, Samford was led by Ellen Riggins and Christy Robinson with 14 points each. Riggins scored all 14 of her points in the second half, including making 10-of-11 free-throw attempts. Hannah Nichols scored 12 points, and Keke Fletcher followed with 11 points.
For Wofford, Kentra Washington led the way with 14 points. Jordan Frazier scored 12 points, while Chanel Stokes contributed 11 points for the Terriers.
In the first half, Wofford jumped out to an early 6-0 lead with 16:22 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Stokes. Samford answered with an 11-0 run of its own to take an 11-6 lead with 9:59 left in the opening half after a layup by Nichols. Wofford fought back to cut the lead to one point at 11-10 with 8:02 to go in the half after a basket by Michelle Merritt.
Samford pushed its lead out to six points at 18-12 with 5:48 to go after a layup by Robinson. Wofford closed to within three points at 20-17, but Samford went on a 10-3 run to take a 30-20 lead with 35 seconds to go in the half after a basket by Robinson. With Samford leading, 30-22, Nichols hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to make the score 33-22 at halftime.
In the second half, after Samford pushed its lead to 13 at 35-22, Wofford went on a 12-0 run to cut the Samford lead to one point at 35-34 with 14:28 to go after a layup by Washington. With Samford holding a 39-36 advantage, the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to push their lead to 10 points at 46-36 with 11:27 to go after a layup by Lydia McGee.
Wofford cut the lead to five points at 48-43, but Samford pushed the lead back out to 11 points at 54-43 with 7:17 to play following a layup by Riggins. The Terriers made a late run to cut the Samford lead to just three points at 58-55 with 24 seconds to go after a three-pointer by Stokes. Late free throws by Brittany Stevens and Riggins helped Samford pull away for the 61-55 win.
As a team, Samford made 44.7 percent of its shots overall, including 38.5 percent of its three-pointers. Wofford shot 35.3 percent overall and 36.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Georgia Southern 90, Davidson 82DAVIDSON, N.C. – Anna Claire Knight scored a career-high 31 points, and Angel McGowan added a career-high 26 to lead Georgia Southern to a 90-82 Southern Conference women’s basketball victory over Davidson Saturday afternoon in Belk Arena.
Knight was 9-of-17 from the floor, and notched 11 free throws for the Eagles (8-17, 6-8) while adding nine rebounds and three blocked shots. McGowan hit 10-of-18 from the field and collected five rebounds and two steals.
Lacie Dowling chipped in 10 points and three assists, and Briana Jones contributed 10 points and seven rebounds. Danielle Spencer tallied eight points and eight rebounds.
Laura Murray registered 25 points, six rebounds and six steals to pace the Wildcats (12-13, 9-5), and Dakota Dukes notched 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Hannah Early scored 19, and Rachel Piles chipped in seven points and 10 rebounds.
The Eagles shot 49 percent from the floor and 53 percent in the second half. Their 90 points were the most for a Georgia Southern team against Division I opponent since a 97-95 overtime loss to Western Carolina in the 2005 SoCon title game. Knight is the first Eagle to score 30 or more since Meredyth Frye netted 30 at Furman in 2012.
With the scored tied 77-77, Dowling netted a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and the Eagles made three successive defensive stops before Dowling was fouled. The senior canned two free throws, and Early missed a triple on the Wildcats’ trip down the floor. Knight was fouled a hit two more from the charity stripe, making the score 84-77 with 54 second left.
Murray missed a 3-pointer for the Wildcats, and Dowling secured the rebound and was fouled. The Eagles’ size on the boards proved huge as Georgia Southern got three offensive boards in a row following three misses on the second end of two shots from the line. Knight mixed in a make on the front end of one of the trips, and Jones knocked down her two to make it a 10-point margin with 35 seconds left and seal the win.
A Knight triple from the wing with 2.8 seconds left in the first half gave the Eagles a 41-36 lead at the break, and another Knight 3-pointer capped a 9-4 GSU run to start the second half and gave the Eagles a 10-point cushion. The contest went back and forth from there, and Davidson came back to tie the score 77-77 on a pair of Murray free-throws with 3:23 to go.
Georgia Southern returns home to face Appalachian State at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 22, on Senior Day in Hanner Fieldhouse. It’s also the Pack the House in Pink game, and fans are encouraged to wear pink to support the fight against breast cancer. It’s also a doubleheader with the GSU men – one ticket gets fans into both games – and Junior Eagle Club Day.