No. 18 Chattanooga 56, Mercer 51
MACON, Ga. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team held off Mercer 56-51 to claim its third straight Southern Conference regular season title and second in Jim Foster’s two years at the helm Monday night at Hawkins Arena.
The Mocs improve to 25-3 overall and 13-0 in league play while the Bears fall to 16-13 on the year and 8-5 against the SoCon.
Mercer started out the game with a 14-4 advantage in the first 6:33 of the game. The Mocs, however, bounced back with a 9-2 run to climb back into the game to get within three points at 16-13 with 7:08 to go in the first half.
Chattanooga cut the lead to one point 4:19 later on a layup from freshman Keiana Gilbert. The Bears would not relinquish the lead the remainder of the half and led 23-21 at intermission.
After shooting just 32 percent in the first half, the Mocs came out strong in the second, making 15-of-26 shots for a 57.7 shooting performance. UTC was 23-of-51 (45.1%) for the game from the field and were 2-of-9 from the 3-point line. From the free throw line, UTC made 8-of-12 and outrebounded Mercer 35-34.
The Bears shot 37.1 percent for the game (23-62) and were 1-of-7 from the 3-point line. From the free throw line, Mercer was 4-of-6 (66.7%).
Chattanooga wasted no time in the second half to make its move on Mercer. The Bears’ Precious Bridges missed a pair of layups with a 25-23 lead on the Mocs in the latter frame. A minutes-and-a-half later, UTC sophomore Jasmine Joyner shoveled a pass to Gilbert to give Chattanooga a 27-25 lead with 15:55 to play and the Mocs would not trail again.
Mercer cut the lead to one point six more times in the half and tie it up 49-49 on a layup by Teanna Robinson with 2:29 to play. The Mocs would outscore Mercer 7-2 over the final 1:53 with three free throws from senior Ka’Vonne Towns in the final 31 seconds to seal the win.
Joyner had a team-high 18 points and was the only Chattanooga player in double figures. She added in six rebounds, three assists and seven blocked shots and sits on block away from the SoCon single season record of 117 set by Marshall’s Sharon Deal in the 1988-89 season.
Junior Alicia Payne was 4-of-5 from the field for eight points and had five rebounds and senior Destiny Bramblett came off the bench for eight points and two rebounds. Towns closed out the night with seven points, seven rebounds and two steals.
UTC dominated the paint 30-12 and edged Mercer 11-10 on bench points. The Bears outscored the Mocs 12-7 off turnovers forcing the Mocs into 15 while committing 12 and had 11 second chance points off 14 offensive rebounds while Chattanooga had four points off 10 offensive boards.
Chattanooga claims its 19th Southern Conference regular season title since 1984 and 14th in 16 years. Earlier Monday, the Mocs moved up to 18th in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll, their highest ranking in school history. UTC was ranked 19th for the last three weeks of the 1983-84 season and were 20th in the final poll that year.
The regular season will close out Saturday, Feb. 28 at home against ETSU. The Bucs fell to Samford tonight for their second loss in the league, assuring UTC of the title. Saturday’s game will tip at 2 p.m. and Chattanooga will honor its seniors after the game.
Samford 69, ETSU 46
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team earned a 69-46 win over East Tennessee State in the Bulldogs' final home game of the 2014-15 season Monday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.
With the win, Samford improves to 15-13 overall and 8-5 in Southern Conference play. East Tennessee State falls to 19-9 overall and 11-2 in SoCon games.
For Samford in the win, Hannah Nichols scored 19 points. Taylor Reece scored 13 points, while Krista Stricklin and Amara Mayers added nine points each. Stricklin also led the team in rebounding, grabbing six boards. Destiney Elliott and Brittany Stevens shared the team lead in assists with four each.
East Tennessee State was led by Serena Clark with 13 points and seven rebounds. Destiny Mitchell, Tianna Tarter and Cara Bowling added six points each for the Buccaneers.
In the first half, ETSU jumped out to an early six-point lead at 8-2 with 14:32 left in the first half after a layup by Mitchell. Samford then went on a 20-4 run to take a 22-12 lead with 7:19 left in the first half following a three-pointer by Nichols. ETSU fought back to cut the lead to seven points at 22-15 with 5:29 to go in the first half.
With Samford leading, 24-15, ETSU scored eight-straight points to close to within one point at 24-23 with 1:46 left in the first half following a jumper by Shamauria Bridges. ETSU had the ball late in the half with a chance to take the lead, but Stricklin stole the ball for a break-away layup with six seconds to go to make the score 26-23. ETSU was called for an intentional foul on the play, and Stricklin made one of her two free throws. On the ensuing possession, Mayers hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Samford a 30-23 lead going into the locker room at halftime.
Samford opened the second half with a 17-4 run to open up a 20-point lead at 47-27 with 13:10 to go following a jumper by Reece. Samford pushed its lead out to 23 points at 56-33 with 9:47 left after a three-pointer by Nichols.
ETSU fought back to cut the lead to 19 points at 56-37 with 8:12 to go after a layup by Mitchell. Samford then went on a 10-3 run to make the score 66-40 with 2:22 to go following a pair of free throws by Mayers. ETSU could get no closer than 23 points the rest of the way as Samford came away with the 69-46 win.
As a team, Samford made 45.6 percent of its shots overall, while holding ETSU to just 38.6 percent. Samford made 35.3 percent of its attempts from three-point range, while ETSU was 0-for-11 from beyond the arc.
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 28, when the Bulldogs travel to Macon, Ga., to take on the Mercer Bears. The game is scheduled for a 12 p.m. (CT) start, and it will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
Western Carolina 77, Furman 64
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Ace Easter tied her career-high with 21 points as Western Carolina women’s basketball upset Furman 77-64 Monday, in its home finale, at the Ramsey Center.
The Catamounts improve to 10-18 on the season and 2-11 in the Southern Conference. Furman falls to 17-12 and 6-7 in SoCon play.
Western Carolina played one of its most complete games of the season scoring a nearly an even 37 points in the first half and 40 in the second. The 77 points scored by Western Carolina is the most since the Catamounts scored 72 in the 84-72 loss to the Paladins in Greenville Jan. 31.
The Catamounts and Paladins traded buckets the first five plus minutes of the game. With the contest tied at nine, Easter hit the first of three three-pointers to give WCU a 12-9 lead with 13:40 left in the first half. Western Carolina never relinquished the lead after Easter’s trey.
Western Carolina built its first double digit lead when Justin Taylor hit 1-of-2 free throws pushing the Catamount lead to 23-13 with 8:23 left. A jumper by Holli Wilkins, with two seconds left in the half, cut the Catamount advantage to 37-30 at the half.
A 12 to six run, in the first four minutes of the second half, gave Western Carolina a 13-point, 49-36, lead with 16 minutes left. That run helped Western Carolina maintain a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game. The Catamounts built its largest lead of the game, 64-47, when Kyia Hough knocked down a three-pointer with 6:41 left.
With Furman trailing 68-57 and looking to build momentum, with 3:07 left in the game, WCU junior forward Erika Joseph came up with a monster block off a shot by Wilkins. Joseph also ripped down the defensive rebound and it turned into a three-point swing when Ali Lane was fouled twice in two possessions. Lane hit 3-of-4 to push the Catamount lead back to 14, 71-57, with 1:24 left.
Down the stretch, in the final 1:38 of the game, Western Carolina was 8-of-10 from the free throw line to close out the game.
Western Carolina hit seven three-pointers in the game in comparison to Furman’s two. The shooting percentage from the field was nearly even with WCU shooting 39.3 percent and Furman 34.4 percent.
The game was truly won at the free throw line as the Catamounts earned trips to the charity stripe 33 times and hit 26 shooting 78.8 percent. WCU also got 30 points from its bench.
The win halts a seven-game losing streak for Western Carolina. The Catamounts also split the series with Furman.
All but one player who saw action for Western Carolina got into the scoring column. Besides Easter’s 21 points, Taylor also scored in double figures with 11. Redshirt sophomore Brianne Mack and Hough just missed scoring in double figures with nine.
Furman had four players in double figures led by Wilkins 17 points. Whitney Bunn and Cierra Carter each had 13 and Brittany Hodges added 12.
Western Carolina will play its final Southern Conference regular season game of the year Friday at UNCG Friday. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.
UNCG 65, Wofford 59
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Despite an impressive performance from junior guard Ashton Fleming where she earned her fifth double-double of the season, the Wofford College women’s basketball team couldn’t steal the win, as the Spartans of UNC Greensboro claimed a 65-59 victory in Fleming Gymnasium on Monday evening.
Fleming‘s outing was the silver lining to a rough game for the Terriers’ squad. The junior stepped up in the second half, scoring 15 of her 19 points on the night during the final 20 minutes. The Kernsville, North Carolina native shot 8-of-18 from the floor. In addition to her work on offense, her hustle could not be brought into question, as she grabbed a career-high 15 boards in a venue that bears her last name.
UNCG (6-22, 1-12 SoCon) looked to be the more athletic team from the get go. The Spartans played a full-court press for nearly the entire game. The defensive look frazzled Wofford (8-20, 3-10 SoCon), and forced the team into 26 turnovers, more than they had given up since January 31st - the last time they faced UNCG.
Neither team flourished on offense and the two looked nearly identical on paper. Both scored 30 points in the paint, with Wofford shooting 34.5 percent (19-55 FG) while the Spartans shot 34.3 (27-70). UNCG hung its hat on forcing turnovers and capitalizing on turnovers, scoring 27 off of the Terrier miscues, with 15 coming in transition.
The game was close until around 7:45 left to play, when the Spartans opened up a 9-2 run over the next four minutes to jump out to a 10-point lead. The Terriers did everything they could to try and pull back in it, but the game was simply out of reach.
Two Terriers outside of Fleming scored in double figures during the contest, with junior Chanel Stokes and sophomore Kentra Washington both breaking the 10-point threshold. Stokes netted 11, scoring just one field goal while going 9-of-12 from the charity stripe. Washington shot 4-of-7 from the floor with one deep ball to put an even 10 points.
Sophomore forward Grayson Pinholster came a point shy of her first career double-double, finishing with nine points and 10 rebounds.
For UNCG, Lucy Mason led the way with 23 points. The team’s points leader was held to 6-of-16 shooting, but went 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Jarae Savage also played a large role, scoring 16 on 8-of-16 from the field.
Wofford will look to cap the regular season with a win on Saturday as the Terriers host crosstown rival Furman at 2:00 p.m.