No. 20 Chattanooga 56, Samford 49
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team rallied from a seven-point second half deficit to get a 56-49 Southern Conference win over Samford Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.
Samford led 18-16 at the half and started the second half on an 8-3 run to get out front 26-19 with 15:53 to play for its largest lead of the game. The two teams traded baskets to make it 28-21 a minute later before Chattanooga went on a 16-4 run after that to take a 37-32 lead with 8:13 to play.
The run started with three straight baskets, cutting Samford's lead to 28-27 at the 11:31 mark of the half and less than two minutes later sophomore Jasmine Joyner got a steal and after dribbling down the court, passed the ball back to senior Ka’Vonne Towns who hit a fastbreak layup to give Chattanooga the lead for good with 9:39 on the clock. Freshman Keiana Gilbert hit a driving layup and Joyner connected on a pair of free throws to cap the run.
Samford’s Destiney Elliot had back-to-back layups to cut UTC's lead to 37-36, but a 9-2 UTC spurt put the Mocs up 46-38 on a 3-pointer from sophomore Moses Johnson with 4:40 remaining.
The Bulldogs cut the lead back to just one point twice more but Towns would put it away making all four of her free throws in the final minute.
Chattanooga edged Samford 28-24 in the paint and 18 points off 14 Bulldog miscues. After shooting 25 percent in the first half, the Mocs were 15-of-23 in the second half making 65.2 percent of their attempts. From the free throw line, UTC was 12-of-14 and outrebounded the Bulldogs 32-26.
Four Chattanooga players scored in double figures led by Joyner’s 13 points. She added a game-high seven rebounds and added six blocked shots to her school record and now sits at 109. Gilbert scored eight of her 12 points in the second half making all four of her attempts in the frame. She was 6-of-9 for the game and had four rebounds.
Sophomore Chelsey Shumpert was 5-of-6 in the second half making all 11 of her points in the period while Towns had 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
Samford’s Elliott and Hannah Nichols had a game-high 15 points each. Taylor Reece, who was 2-of-3 form the 3-point line, had 10 points for the Bulldogs with a team-high five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Samford shot 21.1 percent in the second half and was 18-of-47 (28.3%) for the game. In the first period, half of the Bulldogs’ points were picked up at the free throw line, making 9-of-12. However, in the second half Samford was 0-for-1 from the charity stripe.
Chattanooga’s win streak hit 20 consecutive games this season and its SoCon streak is up to 46 straight games. The Mocs improve to 24-3 overall and 12-0 in league play and will travel to Macon, Ga., to take on third place Mercer Monday night at 7 p.m. Samford falls to 14-13 overall and 7-5 in conference action.
ETSU 70, Mercer 49
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – ETSU’s four seniors combined for 47 points – led by a team-best 16 from forward Serena Clark -- in a 70-49 Senior Day rout of the Mercer Bears on Saturday afternoon inside Brooks Gym.
With the win, ETSU sweeps the season series with two victories in nearly four weeks against Mercer and improves to 19-8 overall – including 9-2 at home – and 11-1 in Southern Conference action. Meanwhile, the Bears drop to 16-12 overall and 8-4 in SoCon play.
With each of the Bucs’ four seniors starting the game, the Blue & Gold jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead over the first five minutes of the opening period. MU then responded with an 8-1 burst to tie the game at 10 with 12:24 left in the first half. ETSU was able to pull ahead by six points with 10:23 to go before both teams began trading baskets during the next six minutes. A senior guard Cara Bowling three-pointer with 4:21 remaining in the period was the catalyst for a 13-5 Bucs run over the duration of the half to bring the score to 39-27 at halftime. In her first start of the season, senior forward Maria Bond contributed eight points in the strong first-half showing by ETSU.
Armed with a solid lead out of the break, the Blue & Gold took control of the game with a 15-4 surge to open the first five minutes of the second half. ETSU continued to dominate in the paint and limited the Bears’ offense with stellar defense. As a result, the Bucs stayed in the driver’s seat with a 20-pont lead throughout the period. An offensive rebound and subsequent lay-in from senior forward Destiny Mitchell with 4:51 to go increased the Blue & Gold’s advantage to a game-high 24 points, 66-42. Mitchell followed with another driving lay-up conversion before timeout was called and ETSU’s four seniors checked out of the game to a round of applause from the crowd with 1:40 remaining.
Clark’s team leading 16 points was joined by 11 rebounds to give the senior her ninth double-double of the season and 22nd of her career. Fellow veteran forward Mitchell just missed a double-double of her own with 15 points and nine rebounds – including seven offensive boards. Bond also reached double-figures with 10 points, while Bowling added six. Sophomore guard Shamauria Bridges, too, got involved in the scoring with 10 points. For Mercer, freshman guard Kahlia Lawrence scored a game-best 17 points and senior guard Precious Bridges recorded 13.
The Blue & Gold shot the ball at a fairly-efficient rate of 47 percent for the game and dominated in the paint with a 42-24 advantage. The Bucs also outrebounded the Bears, 43-38, and turned 15 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points. In addition, ETSU turned Mercer over 14 times resulting in 16 points, racked up 13 assists, and got 19 points from its bench.
Meanwhile, the Blue & Gold limited MU to 35 percent shooting for the game including holding it without a conversion from beyond the three-point arc. The Bears were able to convert 12 Buccaneer miscues into 13 points and translated 14 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points. Additionally, Mercer got 10 points from its bench, but only dished out three assists.
The Bucs will hit the road to wrap up the regular season when it first visits Homewood, Alabama to face the Samford Bulldogs on Monday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN3.
Furman 77, UNCG 68
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Behind a 21-point, 13-rebound outing from senior Brittany Hodges, including a perfect 6-6 first-half, Furman women's basketball downed UNCG, 77-68, on Senior Day in Timmons Arena. The win, the Paladins 12th in Timmons this year, set a facility record for wins, and moved Furman to 17-11 (6-6 SoCon) on the year. The loss dropped the Spartans to 5-22 (0-12 SoCon) on the season.
Hodges turned in her tenth double-double of the season to lead Furman offensive, while fellow senior Sarah Durdaller added 16 points and six rebounds in her final game in Timmons Arena. Sophomore Whitney Bunn registered her sixth double-double of the season, scoring 17 points and dishing out a team-high 15 assists.
UNCG was led by junior Lucy Mason with 22 points and a team-high six rebounds, while Jarae Savage and Bailey Williams added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
UNCG jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first half, before a three by Reimer, making her first start of the season, sparked a 14-0 Furman run to put the Paladins out in front with a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game. UNCG cut the lead to four with just 5:30 to go in the first half at 25-21, but Furman was about to push the lead to 11 over the next five minutes. UNCG used a three from Lucy Mason with eight seconds left to send the teams to the locker room with Furman ahead 38-30. The Paladins piled on the pressure on both ends of the court, shooting 56% from the floor in the half and holding UNCG to just 32.4% shooting in the half.
The Paladins continued to pressure the Spartans on the offensive end of floor, pushing the lead to 17 with 13:23 remaining in the game. UNCG cut the Furman lead to nine at 51-42 with 10:48 remaining, but an eight-point Furman swing pushed the lead back to 17 at 59-42 with 8:45 left. A layup by Whitney Bunn with 7:11 remaining gave Furman its largest lead at 19 points, and the Paladins held on to the double-digit lead until a layup by India Timpton cut the lead to nine with 2:19 left. UNCG again cut into the lead when a free throw with 1:14 left put the score at 72-64 Furman. A three-pointer by Allison Beasley put the Furman lead back at 11. Furman held the double-digit lead until a three by Lucy Mason with 32 seconds remaining, the final basket of the game, gave Furman an eight-point lead at 77-68.
Furman is back in action on Monday night, traveling to Cullowhee, N.C., to face Western Carolina at 7:00 p.m., live on the SoCon Digital Network.
Wofford 63, Western Carolina 55
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Wofford College women’s basketball team responded to adversity in a major way, outscoring the opponent 39-14 in the final 20 minutes, to earn a 63-55 win over the Western Carolina Catamounts in the Ramsey Center on Saturday afternoon.
After trailing by 17 headed into the break, Wofford (8-19, 3-9 SoCon) put everything together in the second half. The team came out firing, starting with an 8-2 run to open up the final 20 minutes. After a layup from Western’s Brianne Mack, Chanel Stokes hit a three before a string of Catamount fouls gave Wofford opportunities at the stripe.
The Terriers made a point of attacking the lane, drawing six team fouls before the first media timeout of the second half.
At the 16:10 mark, the Terriers pulled within five, as back-to-back three’s from Maria Corella and Stokes made the score 45-40. Western Carolina (9-17, 1-11 SoCon) tried to pull back, but the Terriers allow the Catamounts an inch on defense. With 14:36 remaining, Sherae Bonner hit a free throw to give Western an 8-point lead. From there, the Terriers held the Catamounts scoreless for over 6 minutes, pulling the game within three points.
A pair of back-to-back Corella three’s with just over six minutes remaining marked the tipping point, where the Terriers finally took the lead for the first time. Corella’s final deep ball gave Wofford the edge, and sparked 9-2 Terrier run to finish out the remainder of the game.
With the win over Western Carolina, Wofford has locked up the No. 6 seed heading into the Southern Conference tournament, and will likely face either Samford or Mercer in the first round.
For the Terriers, Jordan led all Terrier scorers with 17 points. The junior had a few clutch buckets, going 8-of-16 from the field including one deep ball. Corella came in next, finishing with 14 on 5-of-9 shooting and three 3-pointers. Sophomore forward Grayson Pinholster led Wofford’s rebounding efforts, grabbing eight off the glass.
In the second half, Wofford held the Catamounts to an abysmal 19.2 percent shooting, allowing only 5 of the teams 26 shots to find the bottom of the net. A large part of the second half success came in shutting down Justin Taylor. The senior, who leads the Catamounts in scoring regularly, was held to just 1-of-10 in the final 20 minutes for two points – Taylor finished the night with a game-high 18.
The first half looked far different, and the Terriers hopes looked bleak at the end of the first twenty minutes. Frequent trips to the free throw line allowed Western to capitalize, and the team finished the opening stanza a perfect 17-of-17 from the charity stripe. The opportunities from the stripe, coupled with four 3-point field goals from Western’s Makensey Campbell made for a tough challenge for the Terriers to overcome, but overcome they did.
Wofford continues the road stand on Monday, taking on UNC Greensboro. The two teams clash in Greensboro, N.C. at 7:00 p.m.