Sun Belt Conference Weekly News and Notes (Week 11)
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Brown-Haywood Earns Second Student-Athlete of the Week Honor as the Red Wovles are Off to their Best Sun Belt Start in School History
Arkansas State senior forward Khadija Brown-Haywood helped Arkansas State to its best start Sun Belt Conference history at 8-0 by helping lead her team to three victories this past week, including a pair of road contests in the state of Texas. Brown-Haywood averaged 19.0 points and 9.3 rebounds as the Red Wolves defeated Little Rock at home and then downed UT Arlington and Texas State on the road. Her efforts earned her the Sun Belt Women's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week honor, her second such honor this season.
The Centralia, Ill., native turned in three solid performances on the week, including posting a career-high 29 points in Thursday’s victory over the Mavericks. She also grabbed 12 rebounds in the contest for her sixth double-double of the season. She book-ended that performance with a pair of 14-point games and nearly missed another double-double with nine rebounds against the Bobcats and tied a career-high with five steals.
Brown-Haywood also registered PER (Player Effciency Rating) of 29 against UT Arlington, which is the highest of an A-State player on the year. She followed that performance with a PER of 28 on Saturday at Texas State. She didn’t miss a free throw shot on the week, draining all 10 of her attempts while also knocking down five 3-pointers, including three against the Mavericks to help secure the win on Thursday.
The Red Wolves are now 14-3 overall on the season and is one win shy of tying the best start in school history. A-State returns home to the Convocation Center where they are undefeated in their last 18 contests. They will host Georgia State and Georgia Southern this week.
For the first time in the Garry Brodhead era, the UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball program (14-3, 7-1 SBC) earned the No. 100 ranking in the RPI. It is the highest ranking for the Ragin’ Cajuns since Brodhead took over at the helm of the women’s basketball program in 2012 when they were pegged at No. 303 in the RPI. This season, the Cajuns are off to their best start through 17 games since 2006-07 (12-5).
They have defeated two SEC programs in Ole Miss and the University of Arkansas, and have won seven of their first eight conference games for the first time in program history.
The four blocks by South Alabama against UL Lafayette gave the Jags 101 on the season, marking the eighth time the program has eclipsed the century mark in blocks. Additionally, Chyna Ellis recorded two blocks in the loss to UL-L and moved into sole possession of fifth place in the Jaguar record books. The Jaguars rank seventh as a team in the nation with 6.4 blocks per game.
Recent Results
January 14 (Thursday)
Texas State 73, South Alabama 71 *
UL Lafayette 56, Georgia Southern 39 *
Georgia State 65, UL Monroe 52 *
Little Rock 67, Appalachian State 50 *
Troy 88, UT Arlington 71 *
January 16 (Saturday)
Arkansas State 83, Appalachian State 60 *
UL Monroe 50, Georgia Southern 49 *
UL Lafayette 77, Georgia State 57 *
Troy 112, Texas State 79 *
South Alabama 59, UT Arlington 55 *
January 18 (Monday)
Arkansas State 66, Little Rock 53 *
January 19 (Tuesday)
Georgia Southern 61, Georgia State 50 *
January 21 (Thursday)
Georgia State 80, Appalachian State 75 *
Texas State 67, Little Rock 57 *
UL Monroe 77, Troy 73 *
UL Lafayette 69, South Alabama 50 *
Arkansas State 78, UT Arlington 71 *
January 23 (Saturday)
Arkansas State 74, Texas State 59 *
South Alabama 63, UL Monroe 57 *
UL Lafayette 56, Troy 53 *
Little Rock 59, UT Arlington 55 *
Upcoming Games
January 25 (Monday)
Georgia Southern at Appalachian State * - 3:00 PM
January 26 (Tuesday)
South Alabama at Troy * - 5:15 PM
January 28 (Thursday)
Texas State at UL Lafayette * - 5:00 PM
Georgia State at Arkansas State * - 5:05 PM
Georgia Southern at Little Rock * - 5:15 PM
UT Arlington at UL Monroe * - 5:15 PM
Appalachian State at Troy * - 5:15 PM
January 30 (Saturday)
UT Arlington at UL Lafayette * - 4:00 PM
Texas State at UL Monroe * - 2:00 PM
Georgia Southern at Arkansas State * - 3:05 PM
Georgia State at Little Rock * - 4:00 PM
Appalachian State at South Alabama * - 5:00 PM
* - Denotes Conference Game | All times central
WEEK 11 SUN BELT CONFERENCE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Khadija Brown-Haywood
Arkansas State | Senior | Forward
Arkansas State senior forward Khadija Brown-Haywood helped Arkansas State to its best start Sun Belt Conference history at 8-0 by helping lead her team to three victories this past week, including a pair of road contests in the state of Texas. Brown-Haywood averaged 19.0 points and 9.3 rebounds as the Red Wolves picked defeated Little Rock at home and then downed UT Arlington and Texas State on the road. A-State now stands at 14-3 overall on the season and is one win shy of tying the best start in school history. The Centralia, Ill., native turned in three solid performances on the week, including posting a career-high 29 points in Thursday’s victory over the Mavericks. She also grabbed 12 rebounds in the contest for her sixth double-double of the season. She book-ended that performance with a pair of 14-point games and nearly missed another double-double with nine rebounds against the Bobcats and tied a career-high with five steals. Brown-Haywood also registered PER (Player Effciency Rating) of 29 against UT Arlington, which is the highest of an A-State player on the year. She followed that performance with a PER of 28 on Saturday at Texas State. She didn’t miss a free throw shot on the week, draining all 10 of her attempts while also knocking down five 3-pointers, including three against the Mavericks to help secure the win on Thursday.
PREVIOUS STUDENT-ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
11.17: Jaylen Gordon, UL Lafayette
11.24: Taeler Deer, Texas State
12.01: Shanity James, Little Rock
12.08: Angel McGowan, Georgia Southern
12.15: Alayshia Hunter, UL Monroe
01.04: Ashley Beverly Kelley, Troy
01.11: Khadija Brown-Haywood, Arkansas State
01.18:Ashley Beverly Kelley, Troy
AROUND THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE
Cajuns Crack 100 in NCAA RPI
For the first time in the Garry Brodhead era, the UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball program (14-3, 7-1 SBC) earned the No. 100 ranking in the RPI. It is the highest ranking for the Ragin’ Cajuns since Brodhead took over at the helm of the women’s basketball program in 2012 when they were pegged at No. 303 in the RPI. This season, the Cajuns are off to their best start through 17 games since 2006-07 (12-5). They have defeated two SEC programs in Ole Miss and the University of Arkansas, and have won seven of their first eight conference games for the first time in program history.
Hitting the Blocks Century Mark
The four blocks by South Alabama against UL Lafayette gave the Jags 101 on the season, marking the eighth time the program has eclipsed the century mark in blocks. Additionally, Chyna Ellis recorded two blocks in the loss to UL-L and moved into sole possession of fifth place in the Jaguar record books. The Jaguars rank seventh as a team in the nation with 6.4 blocks per game.
Hot Start to League Play
Arkansas State is off to its best start in league play in school history having won eight consecutive games to open league play for an 8-0 record. Overall the Red Wolves are 14-3, one win shy of tying for the best overall start in program history. All but two of A-State’s 14 wins have come by double-digits.
Home Sweet Home
The Red Wolves return home from a brief road swing and will play four consecutive games at the Convocation Center where they are currently riding an 18-game winning streak.