Chattanooga 54, Harvard 52
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - With just 2.2 seconds left on the clock, the final shot for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga fell to freshman Keiana Gilbert. She took the inbounds pass under the basket and curled into the lane and her shot dropped through just as time expired to give the Mocs a 54-52 win at Harvard Monday afternoon on Education Day.
Chattanooga improves to 12-3 and extend its win streak to eight games while the Crimson fall to 6-7 overall and drop its second straight game for the first time this season.
Gilbert led the Mocs with 18 points, 12 in the second half, making 9-of-12 for the game. Sophomore Jasmine Joyner had 14 points and seven rebounds along with three assists and two blocked shots while sophomore Chelsey Shumpert made four 3-pointers and had 14 points for UTC and four rebounds.
With 7:56 to play, Joyner connected on one-of-two free throws to give the Mocs their largest lead of the game 47-35. However, the Crimson would put together a 17-5 run over a 5:27 period behind 12 points from AnnMarie Healy to tie the game at 52-52 with 30 seconds to play.
The Mocs brought the ball down the court and took a timeout with 20.5 seconds on the clock to plan the final play. With seconds on the clock, Shumpert drove the lane but Healy blocked the shot out of bounds and the Mocs would have just two seconds to plan the last shot.
Chattanooga inbounded the ball under the basket to Gilbert who took the ball around the defense and put up the shot before the clock expired. It bounced around the rim and dropped through the rim as time expired. It was so close the officials held the end of the game to review the play.
The Mocs started the game with eight unanswered points before the Crimson cracked the nets on a layup from Healy nearly six-and-a-half minutes into the game. UTC pushed the lead out to 12-2 but Harvard bounced back again and cut the lead to 12-10.
Chattanooga closed out the half with a 14-7 advantage and started the second half outscoring the Crimson 5-2 to give UTC its largest lead of the game at 31-19.
Chattanooga led from start to finish and the game was only tied in the final minute. The Mocs edged Harvard 32-26 in the paint and had a 21-7 advantage on points off turnovers. The Crimson outscored UTC 15-9 on second chance points and won the rebound battle 36-27.
Chattanooga recorded 20 assists and had just nine turnovers while only committing seven fouls in the contest while forcing Harvard into 15 miscues.
Senior Ka’Vonne Towns and junior Alicia Payne combined for 16 of Chattanooga 20 assists and Towns snared five steals.
The Mocs will open Southern Conference action this weekend at Wofford with a 2 p.m. game Saturday afternoon followed by a road match at Furman Monday night.
Samford 62, Auburn-Montgomery 36
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women’s basketball team held Auburn University at Montgomery to just 28.6 percent shooting on its way to a 62-36 win over the Warhawks Monday afternoon in the Pete Hanna Center.
In the win, Samford was led in scoring by Destiney Elliott with 18 points and six rebounds. Hannah Nichols scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Krista Stricklin added 10 points and six rebounds. Brittany Stevens had six points and four assists.
For AUM, Gabby Brown led the way with eight points and 10 rebounds. Kaylan Withrow added six points for the Warhawks.
In the first half, the teams traded baskets early. With Samford trailing, 4-3, the Bulldogs went on a 15-0 run to take an 18-4 lead with 7:02 left in the first half after a free throw by Taylor Reece. Samford pushed its lead out to 18 points at 25-7 with 3:58 to go in the first half after a jumper by Reece.
AUM fought back to cut the lead to 13 points at 25-12 with 2:23 left in the first half following a three-pointer by Withrow. A three-pointer by Stricklin gave Samford a 28-12 lead with 2:01 left in the half. AUM scored five of the final six points in the half to cut Samford’s lead to 12 points at 29-17 heading into halftime.
In the second half, Samford pushed its lead out to 15 points at 34-19 with 18:32 left in the game after a three-pointer by Nichols. With Samford leading, 40-24, the Bulldogs went on an 11-2 run to push their lead out to 25 points at 51-26 with 10:40 to go after a layup by Keke Fletcher.
The Warhawks fought back to cut the Samford lead to 18 points at 51-33 with 7:26 left in the game following a layup by Brown. With Samford leading, 54-36, the Bulldogs scored the final eight points of the game to pull away for a 26-point win, 62-36.
As a team, Samford shot 44.2 percent overall and 36.8 percent from three-point range. The Samford defense forced AUM into 29 turnovers, while the Bulldogs committed 17 turnovers of their own. AUM won the rebounding battle, 34-33.
With the win, Samford improves to 7-8 on the season. The Bulldogs are 6-0 in home games so far this season. AUM falls to 11-6 with the loss.
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 10, when the Bulldogs open Southern Conference play at UNCG. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. (CT) start from UNCG’s Fleming Gymnasium.
Western Carolina 110, Montreat 37
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Junior guard Lindsay Simpson's 24 points led five Western Carolina players in double figures as Catamount women's basketball defeated Montreat College 110-37 Monday in the Ramsey Center. Simpson, from Franklin, N.C., came off the bench to tie the school record for three pointers in a game hitting eight three pointers.
The Catamounts' win snaps a three-game losing streak moving Western Carolina back above .500 improving to 8-7 on the season. Montreat falls to 1-14.
The 110 points is the first time Western Carolina has scored 100 or more points in a game since scoring 101 points in triple the overtime win over College of Charleston in the finals of the Southern Conference Tournament March 9, 2009. It was also the 17th time in school history a Catamount women's basketball team has scored over 100 points in a game.
In just her second game back from injury, freshman forward Sherae Bonner recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow freshman Ace Easter also had 14 points while freshman Emily Hatfield and redshirt sophomore Briaane Mack each had 10.
The Catamounts' 73 point margin of victory, against Montreat, is the largest in women's basketball history. It bests the 67 point victory, 105-38, set against Catawba on Dec. 1, 1977.
Western Carolina hit the second most three pointers in a game with 12 against the Cavs. The Catamount broke the school record for three pointers in a game this season connecting on 13 against FIU Dec. 20.
Early in the game, Montreat kept the contest close with Western Carolina holding onto a 10-7 lead after the first media timeout, 15:50. WCU went on a 26-6 run to build a commanding 36-13 lead with 10:17 left in the first half.
Western Carolina led 55-21 at the half hitting five of its 12 three pointers in the game.
The Catamounts continued its dominating play in the second half holding Montreat to just 16 second-half points. Meanwhile, WCU equaled its first half point total with 55 second-half points. It continues the streak of Western Carolina's strong second-half performance.
Western Carolina hit a season-best 46 field goals in the game and had its second-best shooting percentage of the game hitting 54.8 percent from the field. The Catamounts also dished out a season-best 26 assists in the game. WCU also has a season-best 19 steals as a team.
Every player who saw minutes, in the game, got into the scoring column. Also on the offensive end freshman Kyia Hough dished out a season-high seven assists while defensively Ace Easter recorded a career-high five steals.
Western Carolina women's basketball opens Southern Conference play hosting new Southern Conference member Mercer at 2 p.m. Saturday. The game is part of a doubleheader with men's basketball who welcomes UNCG at 4:30 p.m.