College Women’s Basketball Final – Guilford 72, Lynchburg 66

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Anais Weatherly (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) scored a game- and career-high 32 points in Guilford College’s 72-66 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory over visiting Lynchburg College Saturday.

Weatherly scored 15 points in the game’s first 11 minutes and had outscored Lynchburg by herself (15-14) after her layup opened a 25-14 Guilford (16-9, 10-6 ODAC) edge. With Weatherly benched with two fouls, the Hornets used an aggressive defense and Charmaine Hairston’s hot hand to whittle a 14-point deficit down to 35-29 by halftime.

Lynchburg’s leading scorer Shannon Allan overcame a scoreless opening half and rallied the Hornets (17-8, 12-4 ODAC) in the second half. She scored 11 of her team-high 20 points in the opening 10 minutes of the frame, which sparked a 21-10 Lynchburg spurt. Her free throw with 9:49 left in regulation gave Lynchburg a 50-45 edge, its largest lead of the game.

After two Allan free throws tied the game at 55 with 7:38 left, Guilford went on a decisive 8-0 run, capped by back-to-back Weatherly buckets. Allan converted a rare four-point play with 2:36 to go, which pulled Lynchburg back to within four points, but Weatherly answered again with another layup as the Hornets struggled to defense the sophomore’s quickness.

Lynchburg’s Olivia DeFrancesco’s (Greensboro, N.C./Bishop McGuinness) traditional three-point play made it a one-possession game with two minutes left, but the Quakers called on Weatherly once again and she delivered her final bucket, which sealed the win.

Weatherly made 12 of 22 shots from the floor and seven-of-eight free throws. Her 32 points are the most by a Quaker since Jennifer King ’06 netted 32 against Virginia Wesleyan College in 2006. Weatherly also added five rebounds, three assists and four steals. Brittany Drew (Greensboro, N.C./Page) finished with 10 points and Kali Cuttaia (Eden, N.C./Morehead (Univ. of Charleston)) added eight points and a career-best 14 rebounds.

Allan’s 20 points paced three Hornets in double-figure scoring. Hairston finished with 18 points, but just two after halftime. DeFranceso had 12 points. Chaney Forbush led Lynchburg with 12 rebounds and Sarah Coon (Jamestown, N.C./Bishop McGuinness) added 10 boards.

Guilford awaits Sunday night’s announcement of the ODAC Tournament pairings, which will be made at www.odaconline.com.

Lynchburg vs Guilford
02/21/15 2:00 PM at Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House
At Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House

GUILFORD 72
LYNCHBURG 66

LYNCHBURG (17-8, 12-4 ODAC): ALLAN, Shannon 5-11 8-10 20; HAIRSTON, Charmaine 6-15 5-6 18; DeFRANCESCO, Olivia 4-11 2-2 12; COON, Sarah 3-5 0-0 6; FORBUSH, Chaney 1-6 2-4 4; PENLEY, Lauren 1-2 1-2 3; CORONEL, Sarah 1-2 0-0 2; NAUMANN, Caroline 0-1 1-2 1; AFOLABI-BROWN, B. 0-0 0-0 0; GRACE, Jaimie 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-54 19-26 66.

GUILFORD (16-9, 10-6 ODAC): WEATHERLY, Anais 12-22 7-8 32; DREW, Brittany 2-12 6-6 10; CUTTAIA, Kali 2-5 4-6 8; TAYLOR, Jennette 3-13 1-2 7; RAMSEY, Lauren 3-5 0-0 7; ELLIS, Jamie 2-2 0-0 5; MARTIN, Miranda 1-2 1-4 3; PAYNE, Alex 0-2 0-0 0; WALTERS, Heaven 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 25-67 19-26 72.

Lynchburg.....................   29   37  -   66
Guilford......................   35   37  -   72

3-point goals–Lynchburg 5-15 (ALLAN, Shannon 2-3; DeFRANCESCO, Olivia 2-7; HAIRSTON, Charmaine 1-4; FORBUSH, Chaney 0-1), Guilford 3-17 (ELLIS, Jamie 1-1; RAMSEY, Lauren 1-2; WEATHERLY, Anais 1-3; TAYLOR, Jennette 0-1; PAYNE, Alex 0-2; WALTERS, Heaven 0-3; CUTTAIA, Kali 0-1; DREW, Brittany 0-4).
Fouled out–Lynchburg-COON, Sarah, Guilford-RAMSEY, Lauren.
Rebounds–Lynchburg 39 (FORBUSH, Chaney 12), Guilford 46 (CUTTAIA, Kali 14).
Assists–Lynchburg 9 (DeFRANCESCO, Olivia 3; CORONEL, Sarah 3), Guilford 11 (WEATHERLY, Anais 3).
Total fouls–Lynchburg 18, Guilford 23.
Technical fouls–Lynchburg-None, Guilford-None.
A-345
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game
Lynchburg is ranked 6th in this week’s NCAA Division III South Poll
Time of Game: 1:49