Elon 85, Georgia Southern 60ELON, N.C. – With the help of a 32-6 run that spanned 10 minutes through both halves, the Elon women’s basketball team recorded its second-straight win with a strong 85-60 victory over Georgia Southern today, Feb. 8, in its annual Play 4Kay game in Alumni Gym.
Elon (10-12, 6-5 SoCon) posted its highest point output of the season off a 34-of-71 performance from the field, including 42 points in the paint, to shoot 48 percent. From beyond the arc, the Phoenix shot 64 percent, knocking down 7-of-11 shots. Elon won the battle on the boards, 46-41, and forced a season-high 18 turnovers and converted those miscues into 27 points.
GSU (7-16, 5-7 SoCon) finished 24-of-70 from the field for a 34 percent mark but only shot 24 percent from long distance (6-of-25). MiMi DuBose led the Eagles with a team-high 11 points.
Rookie Jenifer Rhodes scored a career-high 20 points after hitting another career-high nine field goals and tallied seven rebounds. Zora Stephenson went 6-of-9 on the day, including 4-of-5 from three, for 16 points. Kelsey Harris finished with 15 points and seven assists, while Sam Coffer also scored in double figures with 12 points. Lenaira Ruffin led the maroon and gold on the boards with eight rebounds.
With the score tied at seven-all, the Phoenix scored the next eight points with the help of two threes by Stephenson for a 15-7 lead after five minutes of play. The Eagles pulled back within five, 35-30, after a three by Lacie Dowling with under four minutes left in the first frame. Elon responded with the final seven points of the half, taking a 42-30 advantage at the break after a Lauren Brown three put the Phoenix up by a dozen.
Elon went 16-of-38 in the first 20 to shoot 42 percent, including 5-of-7 from long distance (71 percent), and outrebounded the Eagles, 24-21. GSU shot 37 percent (13-of-25) in the frame and only hit 4 of its 14 three attempts.
The Phoenix carried the momentum into the second half, opening on a 25-6 run that was capped when Shannen Cochraham grabbed an offensive board and put the ball in for a layup, 67-36. The maroon and gold continued its advantage, equaling its largest lead of the game of 31 points twice more before finishing with a 25-point win.
Chattanooga 69, Appalachian State 41CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team jumped on top of Appalachian State early, never trailing, Saturday afternoon in a “Throwback” game at Maclellan Gym and cruised past the Mountaineers 69-41 in Southern Conference action.
UTC improves to 20-3 overall and 12-0 in league play while the Mountaineers fall to 9-13 and even its SoCon mark at 6-6. The win was No. 36 for consecutive home court victories, the longest current streak in the nation, and 16th straight win this year. Chattanooga also extended its regular season SoCon win streak to 28 games.
Chattanooga got out to a 15-2 start and allowed the Mountaineers just 16 points in the first half. Freshman Aryanna Gilbert and senior Meghan Downes each went 4-for-4 in the first half while seniors Taylor Hall and Ashlen Dewart combined for 14 points and eight rebounds in the opening stanza.
Appalachian State got the tip but missed their attempt. Hall and Gilbert would combine for the first seven points before ASU’s Amber Doniere was able to find the net with a short jumper. Gilbert scored the next four for UTC with Dewart and Hall adding another four to put Chattanooga up 15-2 with 14:34 to play.
It would be another two minutes and three missed ASU shots before the Mountaineers would score its second basket of the game on a putback layup by the SoCon leading scorer Maryah Sydnor. She would be held to just six points and two rebounds in 22 minutes.
Over the next five minutes Chattanooga brought the crowd filled with fans, students and former players and coaches to its feet with three straight 3-pointers, two from Downes sandwiched around one from junior Ka’Vonne Towns as UTC outscored App 11-5 over that time.
Downes’ third 3-pointer of the game started a 12-0 run by UTC capped off by a pair of free throws by Dewart against her former team to put Chattanooga up 38-12 with 1:44 to play in the half. UTC carried a 24-point lead into the break, 40-16.
The first half of the second period saw Chattanooga continue to push its lead outscoring the Mountaineers 61-22, its largest lead of the game, with 11:58 to play. Appalachian State finished off the game with a 19-8 advantage over the final 10:39, but couldn’t climb back up before the final buzzer.
Hall posted her 11th double-double of the year with 11 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while matching her season-low for minutes with 23. Gilbert led all scorers with a career-high 14 points making all seven of her attempts, matching the second best field goal percentage in a game. Downes was the third player in double figures with 11 points. She was 4-of-4 from the field, sinking all three of her 3-point attempts.
Dewart was 5-of-6 from the free throw line and closed the game with nine points and four assists. Freshman Chelsey Shumpert hit a 3-pointer and was 4-of-4 from the free throw line for seven points adding in four steals. Freshman Jasmine Joyner added three blocks and six rebounds giving her 23 blocked shots this season, second most on the team.
KeKe Cooper was the only Mountaineer in double figures with 10 points. Mia Marshall and Amber Doniere each pulled down a team-high seven rebounds while LaShawna added six points and four boards.
Chattanooga edged ASU in the paint 30-28 but scored 33 points on 23 Appalachian State turnovers while the Mountaineers had just 15 points on a season-high 22 Chattanooga miscues. UTC’s bench added 26 points while ASU’s bench scored more than half its points with 22.
Samford 54, Western Carolina 49BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women’s basketball team held Western Carolina to just 28.6 percent shooting on its way to a 54-49 Southern Conference win over the Catamounts Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.
For Samford offensively, Hannah Nichols led the way with 12 points and six rebounds. Christy Robinson had 11 points for the Bulldogs. Keke Fletcher led all players with a career-high 11 rebounds.
Western Carolina was led by Lindsay Simpson with 11 points. Shauna Terry added eight points for the Catamounts.
The game was tight throughout the first half. The largest lead for either team was five points by Western Carolina at 21-16. The score was tied five times in the first half, and the lead changed hands seven times.
With 2:10 to go in the first half, WCU held its five-point lead at 21-16. Samford came back to cut the lead to one point at 21-20, but two late Western Carolina free throws gave the Catamounts a 23-20 advantage heading into halftime.
In the second half, Western Carolina pushed its lead out to six points at 29-23 with 17:22 to go after a jumper by Terry. Samford then went on an 11-3 run to take a 34-32 lead with 14:01 to go after a three-pointer by Nichols.
Western Carolina came back to take a 37-36 lead with 11:05 to go in the game after a three-pointer by Simpson. Samford fought back to take a six-point lead at 49-43 with 7:28 to go following a three-pointer by Clara Young.
The Catamounts fought back to close to within two points at 51-49 with 1:02 to go in the game after a free throw by Ali Lane. Late free throws by Young and Krista Stricklin allowed Samford to pull away for the 54-49 win.
With the win, Samford improves to 7-16 overall and 5-7 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina falls to 11-12 overall and 5-7 in league games.
Furman 80, Wofford 72SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Brittany Hodges scored a career high 32 points and also set a new career high with 17 rebounds to power Furman past Wofford, 80-72, in women’s Southern Conference basketball action Saturday afternoon at Ben Johnson Arena.
Hodges, a junior forward, connected on 12-of-16 shots and 8-of-11 free throw attempts for her 32 points, which topped her previous standard of 22 points set in a 65-54 win over Marshall her freshman year. Her 17 caroms bested a pair of 14-rebound efforts in her career. It also marked the 16th double figure scoring performance and 12th double-double of the season for the Power Springs, Ga., native, who leads the SoCon in rebounding (9.4 rpg) and field goal percentage (60.0 percent), and ranks ninth in scoring (13.7 ppg).
The 32-point performance represented the highest by a Paladin since Lee Stephens tallied 34 against Western Carolina in 2009.
Hodges was the only Paladin to register double figure points for Furman (13-10, 7-5 SoCon), which entered the game having dropped back-to-back road games in the three-game road swing. The victory gave the Paladins the season sweep of Wofford (5-17, 3-9 SoCon).
Hodges’ strong work highlighted a 49.2 percent shooting effort by Furman (30-of-61) and helped offset 28 fouls whistled against the Paladins that sent the Terriers to the line for 32 free throw attempts.
Chanel Stokes’ 21 points paced Wofford, which got 14 points from Ashton Fleming and 11 points apiece from Logan Morris and Erin Frost.
Poor shooting by the Terriers in the first half (30.9 percent), including just 1-of-12 on 3-pointers, enabled Furman to take a 38-28 lead into intermission.
Wofford opened the second half with a 10-1 burst to get within a point at 39-38 on a Fleming 3-point play, but Furman stanched the rally with a Hodges layup on the ensuing possession.
A layup by Lauren Kirby at the 11:45 mark pulled Wofford to within three points at 51-48, but a 6-0 spurt by the Paladins featuring a basket by Wilkins and a layup and two free throws from Hodges stretched the lead to 57-48 with 9:38 to go.
The Paladins twice built 14-point advantages and kept Wofford in check the rest of the way.
Brigid Morrissey complemented a six-point performance with six assists and five steals to up her SoCon season leading assist tally to 126, which moved her into fifth place on Furman’s season assist chart.
Davidson 75, UNCG 66GREENSBORO, N.C. – Junior Shannon Eriksson hit 7-of-8 free throws in overtime and Davidson scored all 13 of its extra-period points at the charity stripe in taking a 75-66 road win at UNCG Saturday afternoon in Fleming Gym in Southern Conference women’s basketball.
Davidson (12-11, 9-3 SoCon) escaped with its ninth league win, despite blowing a 17-point lead in the second half.
Eriksson finished with 14 points and was joined by three other Wildcats in double digits. Laura Murray dropped in a game-high tying 15 points to go with five boards and four steals. Shneeka Center came off the bench for 14 points and nine rebounds, while Dakota Dukes scored 12 – 10 of which came in the second half.
The Spartans (5-17, 1-10 SoCon) also put four in double figures, led by William Bailey’s 15 points. Janae Stevenson (13), Lucy Mason (12) and Shanese Harris (10) followed in double digits as well.
Bailey led the charge back for UNCG from a 55-38 second-half deficit with 13 points in half, including the final seven Spartan points, with the last two coming at the 15-foot line to close out regulation and push the game into overtime.
The ‘Cats had a chance to win it before the final buzzer in regulation, but Murray’s long-range try from the right wing went off the iron.
In overtime, Davidson fell behind 65-62 to start, but came back to hit 11 straight free throws over the next four minutes to take control of the game. The Wildcats finished the afternoon going a season-best 25-of-28 at the free-throw line.
Dukes, who sat out much of the first half with two fouls, helped the Wildcats build their 17-point advantage in the second half with six straight points that made it 55-38, but Bailey started the Spartan comeback with the first of three triples she hit in the half.
Playing against a UNCG zone most of the game, Murray made the Spartans pay early in the first half with three straight shots from downtown for a 16-12 lead. Davidson as a team drilled home half of their 10 first-half field goals from behind the arc, with Lillian McCabe (nine points) hitting two of her three triples in the first half.
Before the period ended, a three-point play by Center with 10 ticks left gave the Wildcats a 28-21 halftime lead.
It was a sloppy first period for both teams as they combined for 28 turnovers, 16 of them by UNCG, which finished with 22 overall.
The Spartans held a 50-41 edge on the glass, pulling in 22 of those rebounds on the offensive end.
Neither team shot well on the day with the Wildcats finishing at 33.9 percent, but they did hit eight three-pointers. UNCG shot just 33.8 percent, including a 1-for-9 showing in overtime.