Chattanooga 71, Mercer 59
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team ran its win streak to 15 games with a 71-59 win over Mercer Saturday afternoon at the McKenzie Arena.
Chattanooga improves to 19-3 overall and remain unscathed in Southern Conference action at 7-0. UTC has won 41 straight SoCon regular season games dating back to January 2012. Mercer evens its mark at 11-11 and 3-3 in the SoCon.
Chattanooga topped the 70-point mark for the sixth time this season and has three players in double figures. Sophomore Chelsey Shumpert had a game-high 19 points and six assists and was 4-of-8 from the 3-point line.
Sophomore Jasmine Joyner, with 16 points, was 8-of-12 from the field with five rebounds and three blocked shots. Freshman Keiana Gilbert tallied her second double-double this season with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with five assists.
After falling behind 7-3 to start the game, the Mocs took advantage of four missed shots by Mercer and went 3-for-3 for its own 7-0 run to get out front 10-7 on a fastbreak layup by Shumpert with 14:52 to go in the first half.
Over the next nine minutes, the teams traded shots with Mercer getting as close as 26-24 on an Alicia Williams 3-pointer with 5:08 to go in the half. But the Mocs would pull away, outscoring the Bears 13-2 over the next 3:42, with eight points from Joyner, and stretch its lead to 39-26 with 1:12 to go in the frame. The Mocs carried a 40-29 advantage into the break.
The second half started with a layup from Mercer’s Briana Williams to cut Chattanooga’s lead to single digits at 40-31. It would be all UTC over the next 5:49 with the Mocs going on a 16-0 run for its largest lead of the game at 56-31 with 13:25 to play.
The run started with three missed shots and three offensive rebounds, resulting a layup for Gilbert. UTC made its next six shots with Gilbert scoring seven of her 13 points in the run. Mercer went 0-for-9 in the stretch, missed a pair of free throws and had four turnovers.
After being held to just two points for 30 minutes, SoCon-leading scorer Precious Bridges scored 12 points in the final 10 minutes. She had 14 points, making 3-of-4 from the free throw line and had three assists with two steals. Alicia Williams had a team-high 18 points and eight rebounds while Kahlia Lawrence added 12 to the mix.
Chattanooga edged Mercer 38-30 in the paint and outscored the Bears 14-10 off turnovers. The Mocs’ bench outscored the Bears 12-2 and Chattanooga had 12 fastbreak points.
For the seventh time this season, the Mocs shot better than 50 percent, making 29-of-56 and dropped in seven 3-pointers. Mercer edged the Mocs on the boards 36-35 with 16 offensive rebounds and shot 40.6 percent for the day.
Chattanooga converted its 12 offensive rebounds into 16 points while Mercer responded with 15. UTC topped the 20-assist mark for the sixth time this season and had 11 turnovers.
Chattanooga will hit the road for an early matchup at ETSU Monday morning. The Mocs will take on the Bucs for the first time since 2005 as a SoCon school. ETSU rejoined the league this season after a nine-year hiatus. The Bucs are 14-7 overall and remain unscathed in league play moving to 6-0 with a narrow win over Samford Saturday afternoon.
ETSU 48, Samford 46
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The ETSU women’s basketball team erased a 13-point second-half deficit to come away with a 48-46 comeback victory over the Samford Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon inside Brooks Gym behind a double-double of 16 points and a career-high 17 rebounds from senior forward Serena Clark.
With the win, ETSU improves to 14-7 overall and a perfect 6-0 in Southern Conference play while Samford drops to 11-10 overall and 4-2 in conference action.
After going into halftime trailing, 29-21, the Bucs’ deficit grew deeper over the first two minutes of the second period. A Taylor Reece three-pointer with 17:53 left to play brought the score to 34-21. Trailing by a sizeable margin, the Blue & Gold finally settled down and began to chip away at the SU lead. Methodically, over the next nine minutes, ETSU manufactured a 19-6 run to pull even at 40; capped by a nice back-door cut and conversion from senior forward Maria Bond. Over the next six minutes, the two teams engaged in tightly-contested action – including over four minutes without a score – featuring one tie and two lead changes. With a solid, low-post drive, senior forward Destiny Mitchell tied the game at 42 with 3:49 remaining. A fall-away jumper from freshman point guard Tianna Tarter then gave the Bucs their first lead of the game, 44-42, with 2:06 to go. Down the stretch, a Clark lay-in, a pair of Tarter free throws, and a defensive stop allowed the Blue & Gold to complete the comeback for a 48-46 win.
To start the game, the Bulldogs started fast; scoring the first nine points of the contest. ETSU battled back to cut its deficit to two on a pair of occasions through the first seven minutes. Cold from the field and missing the services of Mitchell due to foul trouble, the Blue & Gold fell behind by a first-half high 11 points, 27-16, with 6:38 left in the period. Luckily, Clark put on a dominant first half with nine points and nine rebounds to keep the deficit under double-digits going into halftime.
Registering only six minutes of playing time in the first half due to picking up two early fouls, Mitchell made up for her time lost with eight points and three rebounds in the second to bring her game totals to 10 points and five rebounds. Sophomre guard Shamauria Bridges (Miramar, Fla.) was on the verge of joining Clark and Mitchell in double digits with nine points as well as a career-high tying four assists. For Samford, Reece scored a game-best 17 points – including 5-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc – and Lydia McGee added 12 points.
After a poor shooting performance in the opening period where they converted on only 7-of-25 field goal attempts (28 percent), the Bucs knocked down 11-of-19 field goals (58 percent) in the second half. On the defensive end, ETSU turned up the intensity in the second period in limiting the Bulldogs to 33 percent shooting after allowing 44 percent in the first half. The Blue & Gold also turned 15 SU turnovers into 23 points and assisted on 13 of its 18 made field goals. In addition, the Bucs outrebounded the Bulldogs, 33-27, and recorded 24 points in the paint.
Samford was efficient from three-point land with 6-of-14 makes (43 percent) and parlayed 15 ETSU turnovers into 15 points. The Bulldogs also got 12 points from their bench and tallied 24 points in the painted area.
The Bucs will continue SoCon play at home on Monday when they welcome Chattanooga to Brooks Gym at 11 a.m. for Education Day.
Furman 84, Western Carolina 72
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Brittany Hodges and Holli Willkins scored 23 points apiece and Furman used solid shooting to down Western Carolina, 84-72, in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
Hodges battled through foul trouble for her 23 points, converting 10-of-12 field goal attempts and 3-of-4 free throws in just 21 minutes of action. Wilkins, meanwhile, played all 40 minutes and drained 7-of-13 shots, including a 3-pointer, and all eight free throw attempts to help Furman (14-9, 3-4 SoCon) claim its second straight victory and improve to 10-2 at home this season.
Whitney Bunn contributed 15 points and 12 assists -- her second best dish tally of the season -- to spark the Paladins, who shot 50.0 percent for the game (28-of-56).
Justin Taylor registered a game high 28 points to pace Western Carolina, which hung tough on the strength of offensive rebounding. The Catamounts posted a 22-9 advantage on the offensive glass that gave WCU a 20-13 advantage in second chance points.
Erika Joseph finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds for Western Carolina.
Furman blistered the nets early, using a pair of 3-pointers from both Kelsey Ellis and Allison Beasley, to grab a 22-10 lead seven minutes into the contest.
A Bunn free throw with eight minutes to go gave the Paladins a 32-18 lead, but Western Carolina took advantage of Hodges’ absence with two fouls to outscore Furman 13-6 to slice the advantage to 38-31 following a Taylor 3-pointer just before intermission.
The Catamounts got within three points twice early in the second half, but the Paladins had an answer both times — the first on a Hodges layup and second time via a Wilkins three-point play for a 43-37 lead.
Taylor’s two free throws pulled WCU to within four at 43-39 before the Paladins responded with a 9-2 sput, keyed by another Wilkins three-point play and back-to-back 3-pointers by Wilkins and Beasley off Bunn assists that put Furman up, 52-41, with 14:39 remaining.
The Catamounts trailed 71-65 when Hodges, playing with four fouls, converted a layup and was fouled at the 3:03 juncture. Wilkins collected the offensive carom following Hodges’ missed free throw, and Bunn, with the shot clock nearing zero, buried a 3-pointer from six feet beyond the arc to give Furman a 76-65 advantage with 2:30 to go.
The Paladins put the game away with a Hodges layup and six made throws over the final minute and a half.
Furman aided its effort by converting 21-of-26 free throws (80.8%), including 17-of-20 in the second half, and committing a season low seven turnovers. The Paladins also outscored Western Carolina 21-9 from 3-point range, making good on 7-of-17 treys.
Hodges’ 23 points upped her career total to 1,284 points and moved her from 10th to eighth on Furman’s career scoring chart. Bunn, meanwhile, improved her SoCon leading assist tally to 157, the second highest season tally in Furman history and just 34 assists shy of the school record of 191 set by former teammate Brigid Morrissey last year.
Wofford 77, UNCG 64
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College women’s basketball team snagged their first conference victory of the season, taking down the visiting Spartans of UNCG, 77-64, in the Benjamin Johnson Arena on Saturday afternoon.
After the first 20 minutes both teams were knotted at 34. Wofford (6-15, 1-5 SoCon) stormed out of the locker room looking to take care of business, making a crucial 10-2 run to open up the half. The streak was a team effort, with four Terriers scoring throughout the 4:05 minutes.
UNCG (5-16, 0-6 SoCon) responded with a run of their own. The visiting Spartans pulled within two points at the 9:50 mark on a 3-pointer for Lucy Mason. A deep ball response from sophomore Maria Corella turned things around for Wofford who never looked back, never trailing by more than 10 under three minutes.
Wofford shot an ultra-efficient and season-best 56.9 percent from the field in the win. Four Terriers scored in double-figures with Jordan Frazier leading the way. After a few rough outings, the junior looked like her usual self again, going 9-of-17 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line to net 24 total.
Forward Grayson Pinholster had the team’s second-best scoring output in a breakout game, scoring a career-high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor with four free throws as well. The sophomore also came a rebound short of her first career double-double, pulling down nine boards in the contest in her third start of the season.
Ashton Fleming (4-7 FG, 2-3 FT) and Maria Corella (3-7 FG, 2-4 3FG) each added 10 points. Fleming also grabbed 10 boards for her fourth double-double of the season.
For the Spartans, Mason carried a majority of the load. The guard sunk 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field. Shanese Harris was the only other member of UNCG to score 10-plus, knocking down five of her 12 scoring attempts.
The Terriers also made a conscious effort on the boards, outrebounding the opponent, 38-27.
The first half was tight throughout. While UNCG led throughout the majority of the half, the game never got out of hand, with the two sides tying six times in the first 20 minutes. Harris scored all 10 of her points in the first, with Wofford denying her on offense in the remainder of the game.
The Terriers will have a quick turnaround, playing Western Carolina on Monday night in the Benjamin Johnson Arena. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.