Appalachian State 72, Davidson 70BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball swept number two ranked Davidson on Monday night, taking the game 72-70 in an overtime thriller.
The Mountaineers (12-15, 9-8 SoCon) overcame a ten point deficiency in the second half to send the game into overtime and eventually get the win over Davidson (13-14, 10-6).
Davidson began the game with a 5-0 lead and continued to find points in the first few minutes leading Appalachian 15-6.
Despite keeping the lead, the Wildcats could not shake Appalachian as KeKe Cooper hit a jumper to help the Mountaineers trail by only one point with a score of 23-22 and 7:49 left in the half.
From there Davidson would find their stride, going on a 9-0 run to pull ahead 35-26 with 2:45 left in the first half. Appalachian would not go away yet finding two steals from Mia Marshall in the last two minutes of the half and would close Davidson's lead once again, making the score 35-31 at halftime.
Katie Mallow led the Mountaineers in the first half with 11 points as Appalachian shot 42.4 percent (14-33) from the floor.
Three players for Davidson had seven points in the first half while the team shot a 39.4 (13-33) field goal percentage.
Appalachian would begin the second half with two points as Bria Huffman found Marshall on the block, but Davidson would answer with five quick points of their own.
Davidson would lead by as much as eight points with 15:57 minutes left to play, but Appalachian would begin to climb back, going on a 9-0 run of their own and closing the Wildcat lead to just one point with 12:49 remaining. After a Davidson time out, the Mountaineers would immediately score two more points from Maryah Sydnor to take the 47-46 lead at the 11:52 minute mark.
From there Appalachian would struggle to find points as Davidson would gain a 53-47 lead with 7:58 to play. The Mountaineer drought ended with 7 minutes to play as Cooper hit a free throw.
The Wildcats began to pull away, taking a ten point lead, but the Apps managed to cut the lead to six with 3:52 left in the game. The Mountaineers then scored seven points in one minute to trail by only three points with 1:10 remaining in the game.
Davidson would have possession, but Mallow found a steal and passed to Sydnor who drove to the basket, making the layup and drawing a foul. Sydnor converted on the free throw, helping the Apps tie up the game 63-63 with 50 seconds to play. Neither team would find points in the remaining seconds, sending the game into overtime.
Appalachian would immediately jump out to a 69-63 lead to start overtime with Cooper scoring the first four points. It would seem that the Mountaineers would easily take the game, but Davidson's Laura Murray hit a long three pointer with 1:46 left to play and cut Appalachian's lead to just two points.
It would be Davidson's ball with nine seconds to play, but they could not find a basket as the Mountaineers took the game 72-70.
Sydnor led Appalachian with 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Mallow followed with 13. Cooper and Huffman each had 11 points in the win.
The Mountainers shot 38.9 percent from the floor in the game, whilel grabbing 47 rebounds and recording 17 turnovers.
Dakota Dukes and Murray led the Wildcats with 14 points each, as Dukes also pulled down 11 rebounds. The team shot 36.9 percent on the night, while recording 43 rebounds and 17 turnovers.
Chattanooga 74, Samford 67BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team outscored Samford 12-5 in the final period to claim a thrilling 74-67 double-overtime win at the Pete Hanna Center Monday night.
Freshman Chelsey Shumpert led UTC with six points in the second overtime beginning with the first points of the period. Chattanooga never trailed in the final stanza, but Samford’s Christy Robinson tied it 67-67 on a layup with 1:53 to play. Shumpert answered with her third 3-pointer of the game and that was followed up by a jumper from the free throw line from senior Alex Black with 24 seconds to play make it 72-67.
Senior Taylor Hall snared her fourth steal of the game and was fouled to secure the win with 4.4 seconds to play as she tried to avoid the defenders. She drained both of her free throws for the final tally, 74-67. Hall, with her 12th double-double of the season, led UTC with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
After trailing 19-13 with 6:28 to play in the first half, Chattanooga battled back to take a 29-24 lead into halftime, outscoring Samford 16-5 down the stretch. However, at the start of the second half, Samford, led by eight points from Robinson in the first 1:57, tied it 33-33 on a 3-pointer from Hannah Nichols with 16:58 to play.
The Bulldogs got out front by as much as five points twice, leading 54-49 with 2:16 to play. Chattanooga held Samford scoreless over the final two minutes and Black led the Lady Mocs with four of UTC’s five points to tie it up 54-54 with 15 seconds to play. On the defensive end of the court, freshman Jasmine Joyner blocked a shot by Robinson with two seconds left in regulation and Hall corralled the rebound as time ran out.
In the first overtime, Chattanooga took a brief lead to start the period on a layup by Shumpert. Samford retook the lead on another 3-pointer from Nichols. Hall gave UTC the lead, 58-57 with 2:44 to play, but the Bulldogs got back on top with a pair of free throws from Kassidy Blevins, but only extended their lead to 60-58 with 1:47 to play when Robinson made just one of her two charity tosses.
Shumpert went off a screen from Hall with 1:21 to play and hit a 3-pointer to give UTC a 61-60 lead. The trey was reviewed, but determined that she was behind the arc.
Free throws again gave Samford the lead, 62-61 with 35 seconds to go in the extra period, but UTC answered with junior Ka’Vonne Towns making the first of her two free throws to knot it up 62-62. Samford’s coach Mike Morris called for time and Towns was unable to make the second shot, but UTC forced a turnover in the final seconds with Black coming up with the steal as time again ticked off the clock.
Robinson scored four of Samford’s five points in the second overtime and led all scorers with 22 points and had a team-high seven rebounds. She went 8-of-17 from the field and was 5-of-7 from the free throw line and had six turnovers. Nichols was 4-12 from beyond the 3-point arc with 12 points while Lydia McGee added 11 for the Bulldogs and Kassidy Blevins had nine points and seven boards.
Hall was 8-for-8 from the free throw line and was 6-of-17 from the field. Shumpert hit a career-high for points (17) and rebounds (7) and made all three of UTC’s 3-pointers matching her career-best from beyond the arc. Joyner tossed in eight points and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds while adding five blocked shots to her team-high total and now has 37 on the year. Black just missed her career-best with 16 points and matched her best in steals with three.
Chattanooga outscored Samford 38-26 in the paint and had 24 points off 16 Bulldog miscues compared to nine Samford points on 13 UTC turnovers. The Lady Mocs outdueled Samford 42-39 on the boards, but the Bulldogs were able to convert eight offensive boards into 15 points compared to just two for UTC on seven boards.
The lead changed 13 times and the two teams knotted it up another 13 times. Chattanooga’s largest lead of the game was seven points in the final 39 seconds of the first half, while Samford was only able to get out front by six points with 6:28 to play in the first.
Chattanooga improves to 24-3 overall and runs its win streak to 20 games. UTC is 16-0 in league play and has won 32 straight regular season SoCon games while getting its 12th straight road win, second-best in the nation. Samford falls to 9-18 overall and 7-9 in conference action.
UNCG 87, Wofford 79GREENSBORO, N.C. – Buoyed by its largest offensive output of the season, the UNCG women’s basketball team dismissed Wofford 87-79 before a Senior Night crowd of 502 Monday evening inside Fleming Gymnasium. The Spartans honored their lone senior – forward Janae’ Stevenson – in a pregame recognition ceremony.
With the victory, the Blue and Gold extended its advantage in the all-time series to 31-8 – including a 16-2 mark in Greensboro.
Stevenson would not disappoint the home fans on her Senior Night as she was one of three UNCG players to score in double figures with 13 points. Sophomore guard Lucy Mason paced all scorers with 20 points while junior guard Jessica Collins exploded for a season-high 19 points off the bench. Mason and freshman guard Bailey Williams combined to dish out 11 of UNCG’s 15 assists. Junior guard Jarae Savage also chipped in with eight points a team-high eight rebounds. As for the Terriers, Ashton Fleming led the way with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The bench was a large factor in the win for the Blue and Gold as the Spartan reserves accounted for 43 points as compared to the Terriers’ 11. Both squads ended up with identical shooting percentages of 42.9 as UNCG was 27 of 63 from the field and Wofford finished 24 of 56. The Spartans crushed the Terriers on the glass, pulling down 49 rebounds to Wofford’s 28 – including 19 offensive boards. UNCG also used the fast break to its advantage, scoring 17 points in transition.
It was evident that the Spartans were prepared to play right from the opening tip as the Blue and Gold rang up a 12-2 lead after a layup by Mason at 15:43. A free throw by Jordan Frazier helped the Terriers stay close at 17-13 with 12:13 to play in the half, but consecutive buckets by freshman guard Whitney Coleman and Savage pushed the UNCG cushion back out to 21-13 at 11:12.
Wofford was able to slice its deficit to just one point on a couple of occasions as a jumper by Khadijah Joyner made the score 27-26 with 5:39 to go in the opening stanza. However, the Spartans ripped off a 10-2 run capped by a Stevenson layup to establish some breathing room at 37-28 right before the final official timeout. The Terriers answered again, drawing within 38-37 at 1:05 thanks to a pair of free throws by Michelle Merritt, but Savage ensured UNCG the lead at the break – hitting a pair of free throws with 53 seconds on the clock to close the period’s scoring.
Logan Morris led all players with 10 points in the first 20 minutes while Mason and Stevenson paced the home side with nine points apiece. UNCG held a 21-10 advantage in the rebounding column, but Wofford was the better shooting team - hitting 11 of their 24 attempts from the field (45.8 percent) and limiting the Spartans to 13 of 30 efficiency (43.3 percent).
The Blue and Gold established some space as the second half began, scoring the first three points to take a six-point advantage early. The Terriers came storming back, taking their first lead of the contest at 16:02 when Frazier hit a three to make it a 48-46 margin. Wofford would lead by as much as 50-46 with 15:37 to play, but UNCG netted the next six points to regain the upper hand at 52-50 and force a Terrier timeout.
A jumper by Collins at 11:52 extended the Spartan lead to 59-51, but Wofford answered the bell again – eventually tying the contest at 59 apiece on a layup by Fleming with 10:09 to play. A jumper by Stevenson kick-started a 10-2 run for the Blue and Gold and the Spartans would lead it 69-61 at 7:30 when sophomore guard Jazmine Missouri hit a pair of free throws.
The Terriers made one last push as a three-point play by Frazier shrank the UNCG advantage to 71-66 with 5:36 remaining. However, Collins hit back-to-back threes to ignite the home crowd and push the Spartan edge to 11 at 77-66. Wofford would not threaten again as the Blue and Gold put the game away at the free throw line.
Western Carolina 74, Georgia Southern 72STATESBORO, Ga. – Junior guard Justin Taylor tied her career-high with 25 points and helped push Western Carolina women’s basketball (13-15, 7-10 Southern Conference) past Georgia Southern (9-18, 7-9 SoCon) 74-72 Monday in Hanner Field House.
The win is the first for the Catamounts in Statesboro since January 15, 2007 when Western Carolina defeated the Eagles 73-68.
After Taylor hit one of two free throws, to extend a one point 73-72 lead to 74-72, the Eagles raced down the court looking for a game-tying or game-winning shot. Catamount senior Alex Abraham forced Eagle senior MiMi Dubose to cough up the ball to end Georgia Southern chance.
Both teams shot lights out in the second half, after a slow start in the first half. Western Carolina shot 53.8 percent in the second half to Georgia Southern’s 53.1 The Eagles carried a 25-24 lead into halftime but the Catamounts came out in the second half with determination.
Georgia Southern scored the first points of the second half but then Catamount senior Hana Haden kicked in gear. She scored Western Carolina’s next five points, a jumper and a three-pointer, to give the Catamounts its first lead since leading 14-13 with 9:43 left in the first half.
After Haden’s jumper to give the Catamounts the lead, 29-27 at 18:04 left in the game, Western Carolina built its largest lead of the contest, 51-37 at the 11:34 mark. The 14 point lead was thanks to a 27-12 run in the first nine minutes of the second half.
The Catamounts looked to be cruising to a victory but Georgia Southern made the game interesting when it mounted a huge comeback. The Eagles took the Catamounts 14 point lead and whittled it down to six, 59-56 with 3:40 left thanks to two big three pointers by DuBose and one by Anna Clara Knight.
The Eagle three pointers that cut the Catamount lead to single digits was nothing compared to the game going down to one possession. The Eagles scored on three straight trips, a pair of free throws by DuBose and back-to-back field goals by Knight, to give Georgia Southern its first lead, 60-68, since early in the second half.
The Eagles’ tenuous 69-68 lead, with 54 seconds left in the game, was erased by a gut clinching monster three-pointer by Taylor. The trey not only returned the lead to Western Carolina, 71-69, it also put the Eagles in the position of chasing the Catamounts.
Georgia Southern was forced to foul Western Carolina in the final 30 seconds. Erika Joseph hit two clutch free throws, with 22 seconds remaining, to make it a two possession game, 73-69. The final free throw by Joseph proved to be vital as Angel McGowan raced down the court and connected on a three-pointer to cut the Catamount lead to one, 73-72. This set up the final two plays of the game, Taylor’s 1-of-2 free throws and Abraham stealing the ball from DuBose to end the Eagle threat.
Georgia Southern had a better shooting percentage from the field, 47.1 percent to the Catamounts’ 41.4, but it was the three-pointer that was the key to the game. The Catamounts connected on eight three pointers, to the Eagles’ six, making it the stat of the game.
Along with Taylor’s 25 points, Haden added 13 points and hit three treys. DuBose led Georgia Southern with 23 points. Knight and McGowan each had 17.
Furman 71, Elon 66ELON, N.C. -- Holli Wilkins poured in a game high 20 points and Furman used a strong second half start and solid shooting over the game’s final 20 minutes to douse Elon, 71-66, in women’s basketball action Monday evening at Alumni Gym.
The win was the third straight for Furman (16-11, 10-6 SoCon), which moved out of a third place tie with Elon (13-14, 9-7 SoCon) and into a second place deadlock with Davidson, which lost to Appalachian State in overtime on Monday. The Paladins will entertain the Wildcats at Timmons Arena on Friday in a 7:00 p.m. contest.
The victory, which gave Furman the season sweep of Elon, also secured a winning season for the Paladins — the program’s first since the 2004-05 campaign — and guaranteed fourth year head coach Jackie Carson’s squad its first winning SoCon campaign in a decade.
The victory also netted a record setting performance by senior guard Brigid Morrissey, who with five assists established a new Furman single season assist standard of 151, breaking the old mark of 147 held by Tara Charles (2000). Morrissey also tallied eight points and six rebounds in 33 minutes of action.
Morrissey contributed three free throws in a decisive 9-0 Paladin run to start the second half that erased a 33-31 halftime deficit and put Furman up 40-33 at the 16:42 mark.
The Paladins led 51-47 when Brittany Hodges converted back-to-back baskets and Whitney Bunn scored on a layup to extend the lead to 57-47.
A Shianne Goodwin layup with 4:30 left gave Furman a 63-52 advantage the Phoenix could not overcome.
Zora Stephenson’s 3-pointer and a Jenifer Rhodes layup pulled Elon to within five points at 67-62, and the Phoenix made it 70-66 on a Kelsey Harris layup with 16 seconds to go before Morrissey drained a free throw to account for the game’s final point.
Furman connected on 15-of-28 shots (53.6 percent) in the second half and finished at 47.5 percent from the field to earn the victory.
Wilkins drained 9-of-14 shots and a pair of free throws in three chances to reach the 20-point plateau for the second straight game and seventh time this season.
Morrissey was joined in the eight-point parade by three teammates — Goodwin, Allison Beasley, and Sarah Durdaller.
Hodges finished with only seven points and played only 12 minutes before fouling out. Coupled with Goodwin and Wood’s production, however, the three Paladin post players combined for 20 points in the contest.
Harris and Rhodes scored 17 points apiece for Elon, which shot 38.1 percent from the field.