Chattanooga 70, Wofford 43
SPARTANBURG, S.C - University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore center Jasmine Joyner had five blocked shots Saturday afternoon at Benjamin Johnson Arena to lead the Mocs to a 70-43 win over Wofford in the Southern Conference opener for both teams.
Those five blocks propelled her past former Lady Moc Alex Anderson’s (2004-08) single-season best of 63 for 66 on the year through just 16 games. Through all Division I games played January 9, Joyner was averaging 4.07 blocked shots per game and ranked second in the nation. Behind the effort of Joyner and her teammates, the Mocs are 13th in the nation in that category.
Joyner went 4-of-5 from the field for 11 points and pulled down five rebounds in the contest while making 3-of-4 from the free throw line.
Joining her in double figures was senior Ka’Vonne Towns with a game-high 15 points and junior Alicia Payne with a career-high 12 points.
Towns was 5-of-7 for the night, all behind the 3-point line, making all of her first three attempts in the first half. Payne was 5-of-7 from the field and 2-for-2 from long range while dishing out five assists with just one turnover and grabbing three steals.
Chattanooga started the game on a 12-2 run over the first 3:50 that stretched into a 23-5 advantage with 13:07 still to play in the opening frame. A quick 8-0 run by Wofford pulled the Terriers to within 10, but that would be the closest they would get the remainder of the game.
Chattanooga, shooting 66.7 percent in the first half, went into halftime with a 39-23 lead. The Mocs were 16-of-24 from the field in the first period and made 7-of-12 from beyond the 3-point line.
The Mocs started the second half on an 8-0 advantage for its largest lead of the game at that point, 47-23, but Wofford would battle through to make it 55-36 with 9:40 to play. That’s the closest it would be the rest of the day as Chattanooga outscored the Terriers 15-3 over the next 6:27 for a 31-point lead, 70-39, its largest of the game, with just 2:22 to play.
Chattanooga closed out the game making 28-of-50 (56%) and was 10-of-22 from the 3-point line while making just 4-of-7 from the charity stripe. The Mocs outscored Wofford 34-22 in the paint and had an 18-9 advantage on points off turnovers, forcing the Terriers into 17.
Wofford outrebounded Chattanooga 35-34 and had 19 offensive boards for 10 second chance points compared to the Mocs’ seven on seven offensive boards.
Maria Corella led the Terriers with 14 points making 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Ashton Fleming recorded a double-double with 10 points and a game-best 14 rebounds. Chanel Stokes had eight points and led Wofford with a pair of assists, but turned the ball over four times.
Chattanooga improves to 13-3 overall and 1-0 in league play while the Terriers fall to 4-11 on the year and 0-1 in conference action.
Chattanooga will remain on the road with a trip to Furman Monday night at Timmons Arena. The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m.
ETSU 73, Furman 72
GREENVILLE, S.C. – After increasing its lead to as many as 17 points with 12:30 to go in the second half, the ETSU women’s basketball team weathered a home-team rally from Furman and sealed victory on a pair free throws from junior guard Chandler Christopher with two seconds to play to come away with a 73-72 win on Saturday afternoon inside Timmons Arena.
With the win, ETSU improves to 9-7 overall and moves to 1-0 in Southern Conference play while Furman drops to 11-6 overall and 0-1 in league action.
Following an up-and-down opening period in which the Bucs took a 38-34 advantage into halftime, the Blue & Gold came out firing in the second. After scoring one point in the first half, senior guard Cara Bowling caught fire to begin the half with 13 points in the first five-and-a-half minutes. Over the first seven-and-a-half minutes of the period, ETSU put together a 23-10 surge to pull ahead by a game-high 17 points. Facing a large deficit, the Paladins did not go away lightly and responded with an 11-0 run to bring the score to 61-55 with seven minutes left to play. The two teams battled back-and-forth down the stretch with FU tying the game, 67-67, on an and-one conversion by Holli Wilkins with 1:19 to go. The two teams traded the lead over the next minute before -- faced with a 72-71 deficit -- Christopher attacked the basket and got to the free-throw line where she sunk both with two seconds remaining. A desperation heave at the buzzer from Furman was errant as the Bucs held on for a 73-72 win.
A tightly-contested first half featured four lead changes and seemed to be a precursor for an exciting finish. In the opening period, the Bucs faced a 15-14 deficit but put together a 6-0 run to take a 20-15 lead. ETSU even accumulated a first-half high 10-point lead with 4:34 to go, but the Paladins surged ahead with an 11-5 rally to bring the score to 38-34 going into the break. Shooting 51 percent (18-of-35) from the field and posting 22 points in the paint in the half were valuable tools in allowing the Bucs to take a lead into halftime.
Freshman point guard Tianna Tarter scored a game-high 21 points and was joined in double-figures by Bowling with a season-high 16, late-game hero Christopher with 12 and redshirt senior forward Destiny Mitchell with 10. In addition, redshirt senior forward Serena Clark contributed eight points and a game-best 12 rebounds. Meanwhile, Furman also featured four players with double-digit scoring performances, led by guard Whitney Bunn and forward Holli Wilkins each with 19 points.
For the game, ETSU shot an even 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field and were 3-of-7 from three in the second half. The Bucs also scored 30 points in the paint, got 22 points from their bench, and knocked down 11-12 free throws.
The Paladins shot the ball at a 41 percent (27-of-66) clip over the course of the contest, but were 9-of-21 beyond the arc and buried only 9-of-16 from the charity stripe. FU also turned 13 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points and racked up 12 assists.
The Bucs will continue league play on the road when it travels to Spartanburg, South Carolina to face the Wofford Terriers on Monday, Jan. 12, at 11:30 a.m.
Mercer 68, Western Carolina 51
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Alicia Williams scored a career-high-tying 21 points to lead the Mercer women’s basketball team to its first Southern Conference win with a 68-51 victory over Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon.
Precious Bridges added 18 points and Kahlia Lawrence tallied 10 to round out the double-figure efforts for the Bears. Teanna Robinson led Mercer on the boards with seven rebounds and added four points, two blocks, an assist and a steal.
Alex Williams notched six rebounds and five points and Bridges added five rebounds and four assists, while Madi Mitchell tallied six points and a rebound.
Mercer improved to 9-8 on the season and 1-0 in the SoCon, while Western Carolina moved to 8-8 overall and 0-1 in the league.
After a slow start, in which only two points were scored in the first 4:03 of the game, the teams combined to score on three straight possessions and Mercer took a 6-2 lead with 14:43 on the clock. The Bears then outscored the Catamounts 11-4 over a five-minute period to surge to a 19-6 advantage.
A three-pointer from Makensey Campbell momentarily slowed Mercer down, but Lawrence hit layups on back-to-back possessions and Alicia Williams added a jumper to stretch Mercer’s lead to 25-9 with 6:11 left in the half.
Each team found the basket once in next 3:39, but both saw an increased output in the final 2:30, as Mercer closed out the half with an 11-6 spurt to move the score to 38-18.
In the first half, Mercer connected on 56.3 percent of its shots from the field, while holding Western Carolina to 31.8 percent. The Bears also outrebounded the Catamounts 19-11 and committed just three turnovers compared to WCU’s eight.
The Catamounts opened the second stanza with a 7-4 spurt that cut the Bears’ lead to 42-25 with 13:43 left in the game. Mercer answered with an 8-0 run to go up 50-25 with 12:12 on the clock for its largest lead of the game.
Western Carolina kept fighting, but the closest it came was 15 points, lastly at 64-49 with 1:10 remaining. The Bears ended the game with a 4-2 spurt to move the final score to 68-51.
The Catamounts outscored the Bears 33-30 in the second period, but the damage was done before intermission.
Overall, Mercer shot a season-high 50 percent from the field, while Western Carolina only recorded a 33.3 field goal percentage. The Bears outrebounded the Catamounts 39-29 and won the turnover battle 7-11.
Mercer will continue its two-game road trip at UNCG on Monday at 7 p.m. The Bears will return to Hawkins Arena on Jan. 17 to host Wofford.
Samford 62, UNCG 56
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Samford women’s basketball team opened Southern Conference play with a 62-56 win at UNCG Saturday afternoon at Fleming Gymnasium.
In the win, Samford was led by junior guard Krista Stricklin with 13 points and seven rebounds. Junior center Taylor Reece had 12 points, while sophomore guard Lydia McGee followed with 10 points. Sophomore guard Hannah Nichols scored nine points, while sophomore guard Brittany Stevens added eight points, going 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
Bailey Williams led UNCG with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Lucy Mason also scored 14 points for the Spartans.
In the first half, UNCG jumped out to an early four-point lead at 7-3 with 15:35 left in the first half following a basket by Mariah Wilson. UNCG built its lead to as much as five points at 12-7. Samford, however, went on a 13-1 run to take a 20-13 lead with 6:42 left in the half after a layup by Nichols.
UNCG fought back to cut the lead to one point at 20-19 with 4:11 to play after a pair of free throws by Mason. Samford scored eight of the final 10 points of the first half to take a 28-21 advantage into the locker room as halftime.
Samford pushed its lead out to 13 points early in the second half at 36-23 with 16:47 to go after a layup by Stricklin. With Samford leading, 44-32, UNCG went on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to just five points at 46-41 with 6:39 to go after a layup by Williams. The Bulldogs pushed the lead back out to nine points at 50-41 with 5:21 to go after a pair of free throws by Stevens.
With Samford leading, 54-45, the Spartans scored six-straight points to close to within three points at 54-51 with 1:44 left in the game after two free throws by Jessica Collins. Down the stretch, however, Samford made eight-straight free throws, four by McGee, two by Stevens and two more by Amara Mayers, to put the game away and preserve the 62-56 win.
As a team, Samford made 40.4 percent of its shots overall and 26.7 percent from three-point range. UNCG was held to just 30.0 percent shooting overall and 18.8 percent from beyond the arc. UNCG out-rebounded Samford, 43-37.
With the win, Samford improves to 8-8 overall and 1-0 in Southern Conference play. The win marked Samford’s first win in a true road game this season. UNCG falls to 5-11 overall and 0-1 in SoCon play with the loss.
Samford will return to action on Monday, Jan. 12, when the Bulldogs play at Western Carolina. The game is scheduled for an 11 a.m. (CT) start from Cullowhee, N.C.