Chattanooga 67, Furman 45
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Keiana Gilbert scored a game high 19 points and Chattanooga took advantage of 21 Furman turnovers in cruising to a 67-45 Southern Conference victory in women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at UTC Arena.
The win marked the 13th straight triumph for Chattanooga (17-3, 5-0 SoCon) and 39th consecutive league victory for the Mocs, who also completed the regular season sweep of Furman (12-9, 1-5 SoCon).
Holli Wilkins scored 18 points to pace Furman, which struggled against a stout UTC defense that converted the Paladins' turnovers into 26 points. So effective was the Mocs' defense that UTC committed just one foul in the first half and avoided its second infraction whistle until nearly 23 minutes of action had transpired.
Gilbert, who drained 9-of-10 field goal attempts for her 19 points, was followed in the scoring column by Chelsey Shumpert with 13 points, and Jasmine Joyner finished with 12. Ka'Vonne Towns converted 3-of-5 3-point attempts to finish with 11 points.
Furman shot 50.0 percent from the field for the game, connecting on 19-of-38 attempts, but the 21 turnovers allowed Chattanooga to let fly with 23 more shots (28-of-61) than the Paladins. The Mocs also outscored Furman 18-3 from 3-point range, ripping the nets on 6-of-14 treys.
Trailing 30-19 at the break, the Paladins opened the second half with a Brittany Hodges basket before Gilbert converted a layup and a 3-pointer followed by a Towns 3-pointer for a 8-0 spurt that put the Mocs up, 38-21.
Another Towns' 3-pointer at the 14:47 mark finished off an 11-2 UTC run and put the Mocs in total control, 49-23.
Furman ended the game with 28-27 rebounding advantage, led by Hodges' seven caroms.
The Paladins return home to entertain Wofford on Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. in an ESPN3 televised contest.
Western Carolina 70, UNCG 49
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Freshman guard Ace Easter scored a career-high 21 points to help lead Western Carolina women’s basketball to its first Southern Conference win of the season with a 70-49 win over visiting UNCG Saturday in the Ramsey Center.
The Catamounts improve to 9-11 overall and 1-4 in the SoCon. UNCG falls to 5-15 and 0-5 in the SoCon. The victory also halts a Western Carolina four-game losing streak.
Easter was one of three Catamount players to score in double figures. Senior guard Justin Taylor added 11 and junior guard Lindsay Simpson poured in 10.
Simpson came off the bench to spark Western Carolina scoring all of her 10 points, in the game, in the first half. Simpson hit a pair of three-pointers, midway through the first half, as the Catamounts built a, 19-12, lead with five minutes to go in the first half.
After struggling early, to start the game, Western Carolina used a pair of runs to build a lead and keep it. Tied at eight, with 10:34 left in the first half, the Catamounts took the lead, 9-8, off 1-of-2 free throws from Erika Joseph. The 1-of-2 free throws spurred WCU to an 8-2 run, to lead 16-10.
UNCG battled with WCU through the remainder of the first half cutting the Catamount lead to one three times through the final four minutes of the opening 20 minutes. Though UNCG kept it close in the first half, after Joseph’s 1-of-2 free throws put WCU up 9-8, the Catamounts never trailed again to UNCG.
With Western Carolina leading by one, 23-22, with 1:58 remaining, WCU went on a 7-0 run to go up on UNCG 30-22 at the half. The Catamount scoring was capped off by Taylor who snagged a cross court pass by teammate Easter and threw up an attempt under the basket. The ball rattled into the goal as time expired to end the half.
An interesting stat line, to aid in Western Carolina’s success in the first half, was holding UNCG’s leading scorer Lucy Mason, averaging 13.8 points per game, scoreless.
Western Carolina used its first half momentum to push past UNCG in the second half. Mason scored her average, 13 second-half points, to assist the Spartans. The Catamounts built on its eight point, first half lead, building its largest lead of 22 points, 53-31, with 8:12 left in the game.
The Catamounts used stifling defense and white hot shooting, hitting 53.8 percent in the second half, to keep UNCG in check in the second half. WCU ended the game shooting 50 percent and held UNCG to 28.8 percent shooting from the field.
Western Carolina ripped down 30 defensive rebounds to end the game with a total of 42 and scored 34 of its points inside the paint.
Though both teams struggled in the turnover department, UNCG had 20 and WCU had 19, it was the Catamounts who won the turnover battle scoring 22 points off Spartan miscues. WCU also got 14 second chance points.
The 70 points scored by Western Carolina was the first time in four games the Catamounts have scored over 60 points. It is also the first time WCU has scored 70 or more points, against a Division I opponent, since defeating Florida International 83-69 Dec. 20, 2014.
Western Carolina will have six days off before returning to action at 2 p.m. Jan. 31 at Furman.
ETSU 69, Wofford 47
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Behind four double-figure scorers -- including a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds from senior forward Destiny Mitchell -- the ETSU women’s basketball team defeated Wofford for the second time in as many weeks with a 69-47 decision on Saturday afternoon inside Brooks Gym.
With the win, ETSU improves to 12-7 overall and moves to 4-0 in Southern Conference play. This victory marks the program’s first 4-0 start to begin conference play since the 2005-06 squad began Atlantic Sun action 7-0 in ETSU’s first year as a member of the league. Meanwhile, Wofford drops to 5-14 overall and 0-4 in conference play.
In a matchup against recent and familiar opponents, the two teams struggled early to find their offensive groove from the field. The Blue & Gold bounced back after going 2-of-11 from the floor through the first six minutes of the contest with a 10-4 burst – beginning with a three-pointer from guard Shamauria Bridges – to take a 19-6 advantage with nine minutes left in the half. After trailing by a game-high 13 points, the Terriers responded with a 7-2 burst but were answered by another triple from Bridges to push the Bucs advantage to 11 with 5:24 to go. ETSU stayed in control over the duration of the period to take a 36-22 lead into halftime.
On the verge of letting the game get away from it, Wofford stormed out of the break with 10-2 run over the first four minutes of the second period. The Bucs then answered with a 7-2 rally to get back in the driver’s seat with a 47-34 lead with 14 minutes left to play. Over the length of the rest of the game, the Blue & Gold continued to limit the Terriers from the field and capitalized on their turnovers. Another Bridges trifecta with 1:51 to go ballooned ETSU’s lead to a game-high 24 points, 66-42, as the Bucs cruised to a 69-47 victory.
In addition to Mitchell’s impressive double-double performance – her fourth of the season and 30th of her career – the Blue & Gold had three more double-digit scorers. Sharpshooting sophomore Bridges scored a game-high 17 points – including four made three-pointers – while senior forward Maria Bond added 15 points and freshman point guard Tianna Tarter posted 10 points. As a duo, Mitchell and senior forward Serena Clark combined for 27 rebounds which matched Wofford’s rebound total. Mitchell also had a season-high five steals while Tarter also tallied six assists, five rebounds, and two steals in 38 minutes of play.
After shooting a sub-par 38 percent from the field in the first half, the Bucs became more efficient in the second with a 57 percent (13-of-23) clip from the floor. ETSU dominated on the boards (47-27) and turned 21 Wofford miscues into 26 points. Furthermore, the Blue & Gold scored 30 points in the paint and got out on the fast break for 16 points.
ETSU limited the Terriers from the field throughout the game with only 34 percent (17-of-50) shooting. Wofford did manage to get 24 points from its bench and turned ETSU over 23 times resulting in 18 points.
The Bucs will continue SoCon action on Monday when they travel to Macon, Georgia to take on the Mercer Bears at 7 p.m.