Chattanooga 64, ETSU 56
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - With more than 2,000 screaming elementary schools in the stands, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team came away with a 64-56 Southern Conference win over ETSU Monday at Brooks Gym on Education Day.
The Mocs improve to 20-3 on the year and during the game jumped two spots in the AP Top 25 Poll to 23. Chattanooga is the only undefeated team in league play, improving to 8-0. The win was the Mocs’ 16th straight this year and 42nd consecutive regular season league win. The Bucs, returning to the SoCon after a nine-year hiatus, drop to 14-8 on the year and suffer its first loss in conference play this season, moving to 6-1.
Sophomore Chelsey Shumpert recorded a career-best with a game-high 22 points. She was 8-of-14 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers. Senior Ka’Vonne Towns was 7-of-8 from the free throw line and had 13 points while senior Destiny Bramblett scored 10 points off the bench making 4-of-7 from the field with a pair of free throws and had a team-high five rebounds.
Junior Alicia Payne had eight points for the Mocs with four rebounds, four steals and four assists while protecting the ball with no turnovers. Sophomore Jasmine Joyner added seven points for UTC with three rebounds and three steals. She have five blocked shots to move to fifth on the Southern Conference single season list with 93.
ETSU’s Destiny Mitchell recorded a double-double with 18 points and 15 boards. She had 10 offensive rebounds and was 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Tianna Tarter had 15 points and seven rebounds while Serena Clark added 13 points and seven boards.
With the game never getting to far out of reach for either team with five lead changes and eight ties, Towns hit a pair of free throws with 14:54 to play in the game. That sparked a 13-4 run by Chattanooga capped off by a steal and fastbreak layup from Payne to make it 44-37 with 10:37 to play. The Mocs would never trail again.
ETSU managed to cut the lead to 50-48 with 3:20 to play on a pair of free throws by Mitchell, but the Mocs got a buzzer beater layup from Payne as the shot clock expired and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Shumpert to stretch the lead back out to seven points at 55-48.
While Shumpert’s layup would be the last field goal for the Mocs in the game, UTC was 9-of-11 from the free throw line in the final 1:13.
The Bucs outrebounded UTC 40-23 with 15 offensive rebounds. In the paint ETSU outscored the Mocs 46-30 and had a 17-4 advantage on second chance points. The Mocs forced 17 turnovers and edged ETSU 13-10 on points off turnovers.
The Mocs had 13 steals led by Payne’s four while Joyner and Gilbert added three each. UTC had just nine turnovers and was 16-of-21 from the free throw line.
Chattanooga shot 44.9 percent for the game after starting 1-of-6 from the field. The Mocs were 4-of-14 (28.6%) from the 3-point line while holding ETSU to 0-for-9 from long range.
The Mocs will be off Saturday and host Wofford Monday, Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. at the Roundhouse.
Mercer 74, Samford 59
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Precious Bridges scored a game-high 24 points and Alicia Williams added 20 to lead the Mercer women’s basketball team to a 74-59 victory over Samford on Monday night at Pete Hanna Center.
Kahlia Lawrence contributed 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Alex Williams tallied a career-high-tying 11 rebounds, four points and two assists.
Bridges also had three rebounds, two assists and a steal, and Alicia Williams notched a season-high three three-pointers and seven rebounds. Teanna Robinson recorded seven rebounds, two points and two blocks, and Briana Williams added six points and three rebounds.
Mercer improved to 12-10 overall and 4-3 in SoCon play, while Samford moved to 10-12 on the season and 4-3 in league action.
Mercer opened the second stanza as dominant as it finished the first, outscoring Samford 8-3 in the first 1:35 to stretch its advantage to 43-37. Bridges scored six of the Bears’ eight points during that time.
With the exception of a 37-37 tie with 19:02 remaining in the game, Mercer led Samford for the entirety of the second half. The Bears led by as many as 15 points several times, and after building a 54-43 lead with 9:23 to go, refused to let the Bulldogs come within nine for the rest of the game.
Mercer connected on a season-high 51.8 percent of its shots from the field, while holding Samford to 37.9 percent. The Bears outrebounded the Bulldogs, 37-34, and won the turnover battle, 6-8.
Mercer and Samford traded baskets for the first 11:07 of the game, resulting in three ties and the Bulldogs holding a slim 16-15 lead with 8:53 on the clock.
Samford then embarked on a 14-2 run that included four three-pointers and moved the score to 30-17 with just 4:35 remaining until halftime. Mercer answered with an 18-4 run of its own to close out the period and take a 35-34 lead entering the locker room.
The spurt began with a layup from Alex Williams and ended with six consecutive points from Bridges. Four Bears scored during the 3:44 run, and Mercer converted two three-point plays.
Mercer recorded a 46.7 field goal percentage in the first half, while Samford tallied 41.4 percent from the field, including a 43.8 percent mark from behind the three-point line.
Mercer will return home to face UNCG on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. at Hawkins Arena.
Furman 78, UNCG 70
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Brittany Hodges tallied 17 points to lead a parade of five double figure scorers and Furman survived shaky ball handling to claim a 78-70 Southern Conference victory over UNCG in women’s basketball play Monday night at Fleming Gym.
The win was the third straight for Furman (15-9, 4-4 SoCon) and the Paladins’ eighth triumph in the last 10 meetings with UNCG (5-17, 0-7 SoCon).
Hodges, a senior forward, drained 7-of-11 shots and 3-of-4 free throws for her 17 points, which she combined with 10 rebounds in notching the 30th double-double of her career. She was joined in double figures by Whitney Bunn with 14 points and a trio of teammates with 10 points, including Holli Wilkins, Kelsey Ellis, and Sarah Durdaller.
Durdaller saw her first action after missing virtually all of the last seven games with a concussion and sprained ankle, logging 15 minutes in the contest.
Furman shot 54.9 percent from the field (28x51), which helped overcome a season high 26 turnovers generated in large measure by the Spartans’ full court pressure defense. The Paladins also continued their recent strong work at the free throw line, converting 17-of-21 opportunities (81.0%).
UNCG’s Jade Scaife, who entered the contest averaging 6.4 points per game, went off for 24 points to claim game high scoring laurels. Lucy Mason added 18 points for the Spartans, who lost for the 10th straight outing.
Struggling early with turnovers, Furman trailed 17-13 before fashioning a 7-0 run to take a 20-17 lead following a Durdaller jump shot with just under seven minutes to go in the first half.
The Paladins scored six of the final eight points of the first period to take a 36-31 lead into intermission, and quickly expanded the advantage to 46-33 with a 10-2 spurt, fueled by three Hodges baskets, over the first four minutes of the second half.
After UNCG cut Furman’s advantage to 46-40, Kelsey Ellis converted a jump shot and back-to-back 3-pointers to highlight a 9-0 surge that put the Paladins up 55-40 and seemingly in control with 12:45 left.
A Wilkins basket with seven minutes left gave the Paladins a 67-70 lead, their largest of the game.
The Spartans twice battled back to within six points but were checked by a pair of free throws from both Durdaller and Hodges over the game’s final 30 seconds.
Furman forged a 38-34 rebounding advantage in the contest.
The Paladins’ next game is Feb. 9 at East Tennessee State.
Wofford 59, Western Carolina 49
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – It was a game of runs in the Benjamin Johnson Arena on Monday evening, as the Wofford College women’s basketball team won their second straight conference game, 59-49, taking down the visiting Catamounts of Western Carolina.
The largest of the runs came early in the Terriers’ favor. After finding themselves in an 8-point, 12-4 deficit, Wofford (7-15, 2-5 SoCon) found their groove, pouring on a 24-5 surge over the next 9:41. Sophomore guard Maria Corella led the team’s offensive output over the course of the run, knocking down three shots from long-range to help fuel the scoring spree.
Throughout the five remaining minutes, Western Carolina (9-13, 1-6 SoCon) would outscore Wofford 10-6, giving Wofford a 32-27 edge headed into the break.
Western Carolina wouldn’t lie down without a fight.
The visiting Catamounts came out of the locker room on a mission. The duo of Erika Joseph and Justin Taylor took over, attacking the paint while making a 12-7 run to pull ahead of the Terriers by two with just under 11 minutes left on the clock.
With their backs to the wall, Wofford stayed cool under the pressure, as Corella and classmate Sarah Traynor responded with two shots from deep, bringing the Terrier lead to four. Wofford never led by less than four throughout the remainder, but the Catamounts pulled within it four more times. Each time the Catamounts scored, Wofford would rally with a bucket of their own.
Wofford sealed the game late, as junior Jordan Frazier was clutch at the charity stripe. With 35 seconds left and trailing by four, the Catamounts fouled Frazier. The guard would be sent to the line on the final three possessions of the game, with each trip resulting in two points, as she ended a perfect 6-for-6 on the evening.
The Terriers won the game by creating pressure throughout and capitalizing on Western’s mistakes. Wofford had 20 points off of turnovers to the Catamounts’ four.
Frazier led Wofford’s scoring efforts with 17 on 5-of-13 from the floor and her six free throws. Corella dropped 16, tying her career-high four 3-point field goals while shooting 60 percent from the floor. Ashton Fleming added eight points while controlling a game-high eight rebounds.
Taylor posed the biggest threat for Wofford in the outing, scoring 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Joseph scored nine while grabbing eight boards for her team.
Wofford will resume play this Saturday, as they travel to Birmingham, Alabama to take on the Samford Bulldogs for the first time this season at 2 p.m. central time. This will be the first leg of a two-game road trip, as Wofford will head up to Tennessee on Sunday to play league-leader Chattanooga Monday evening.