Sun Belt Conference Weekly News and Notes (Week 8)
2015-16 Sun Belt Conference Media Guide
2015-16 Sun Belt Conference Composite Schedule
2015-16 Sun Belt Conference Standings
2015-16 Sun Belt Conference Statistics
Conference Play in Full Swing; Troy's Ashley Beverly Kelley Named Student-Athlete of the Week
The start of the New Year means one thing - down to business in Sun Belt Women's Basketball - as all 11 teams have begun conference play. Teams will battle it out through the remaining 16 games (all teams have played twice so far) from now through March 5 culminating with the 2016 Sun Belt Basketball Championship March 9-12.
Three of the 11 teams are on the right path as Arkansas State, UL Lafayette and Texas State have begun the season 2-0 while a host of other teams are currently 1-1. Competition will continue to heat up as teams get back to action on January 7.
Texas State won its third consecutive Sun Belt opener and is now 3-0 since joining the league in 2013. The Bobcats defeated Georgia Southern on Dec. 30 to open play. Senior Ayriel Anderson is just 28 points shy of 1,000 for her career at Texas State.
The Ragin' Cajuns, also 2-0, are 6-1 in their last seven contests and rank first overall in the Sun Belt in defense, allowing just 54.5 points per game. The Cajuns rank 28th nationally in that category. Additionally, head coach Garry Brodhead is two wins shy of becoming the second-winningest head coach in Cajun history in his four seasons in Lafayette.
Arkansas State will get an early test in this young conference season as they take on UL Monroe and UL Lafayette this week in what should be very good match-ups for the Red Wolves. The Red Wolves are 8-3 on the season for the first time since the 2003-04 season. The 2-0 start for A-State is the third consecutive 2-0 start for head coach Brian Boyer's Red Wolves.
In A-State's win over Troy on Dec. 30, a 101-81 victory, nine Red Wolves players set or tied career-highs in 20 statistical categories.
Troy (6-5, 1-1 Sun Belt) split last week's conference slate and was 2-1 in non-conference action over the holiday break. Ashley Beverly Kelley led the way for the Trojans as she continues her hot streak.
ABK as she is known as in Troy, averaged 20.6 points per game in the five games played over the break and her biggest effort came on Saturday in the win over Little Rock (78-71) as she poured in 30 points and eight rebounds with seven assists and three steals.
For her efforts she was named the Sun Belt Women's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week. She leads the Sun Belt in scoring at 19.1 per game, second in steals (3.3/g) and third in assists (4.4/g). She has climbed to seventh on Troy's all-time scoring list 1,526 points, the most amongst active Sun Belt players.
Recent Results
December 15 (Tuesday)
UL Lafayette 61, UC Santa Barbara 42
Troy 73, Alabama State 59
South Alabama 66, William Carey 30
December 16 (Wednesday)
Arkansas State 66, Austin Peay 55
McNeese State 72, UL Monroe 62
Texas State 71, Houston Baptist 66
December 17 (Thursday)
Robert Morris 64, Georgia Southern 49
Richmond 59, Appalachian State 73
December 18 (Friday)
UAB 89, Troy 67
December 19 (Saturday)
UL Monroe 73, LSU Alexandria 42
UT Arlington 64, Houston Baptist 40
Louisiana Tech 79, UL Lafayette 62
South Alabama 59, Grand Canyon 56
December 20 (Sunday)
Appalachian State 92, Furman 78
Stetson 79, Georgia Southern 57
Georgia State 68, Bethune-Cookman 61
Missouri State 64, Little Rock 58
December 21 (Monday)
Nebraska 79, Arkansas State 71
Bethune-Cookman 65, Georgia Southern 49
Georgia State 80, Stetson 72 (OT)
Troy 100, Southeastern LA 90
No. 25 Missouri 82, Texas State 56
UT Arlington 51, UTSA 47
December 22 (Tuesday)
No. 16 Texas A&M 69, Little Rock 39
December 29 (Tuesday)
Alcorn State 61, UL Lafayette 73
December 30 (Wednesday)
Arkansas State 101, Troy 81 *
Texas State 61, Georgia Southern 56 *
Little Rock 47, South Alabama 34 *
Georgia State 68, UT Arlington 63 *
December 31 (Thursday)
Appalachian State 57, UL Monroe 54 *
January 2 (Saturday)
UT Arlington 70, Georgia Southern 31 *
Troy 78, Little Rock 71 *
Texas State 80, Georgia State 71 *
UL Lafayette 60, Appalachian State 51 *
Arkansas State 66, South Alabama 53 *
Upcoming Games
January 7 (Thursday)
UT Arlington at Appalachian State * - 4:00 PM
South Alabama at Georgia Southern * - 4:00 PM
Troy at Georgia State * - 4:00 PM
UL Monroe at Arkansas State * - 5:05 PM
UL Lafayette at Little Rock * - 5:15 PM
January 9 (Saturday)
South Alabama at Georgia State * - 11:00 AM
Texas State at Appalachian State * - 12:00 PM
Troy at Georgia Southern * - 1:30 PM
UL Lafayette at Arkansas State * - 3:05 PM
UL Monroe at Little Rock * - 4:00 PM
January 14 (Thursday)
Texas State at South Alabama * - 11:00 AM
UL Lafayette at Georgia Southern * - 4:00 PM
UL Monroe at Georgia State * - 4:00 PM
Appalachian State at Little Rock * - 5:15 PM
UT Arlington at Troy * - 5:15 PM
January 16 (Saturday)
UL Lafayette at Georgia State * - 11:00 AM
UL Monroe at Georgia Southern * - 1:30 PM
UT Arlington at South Alabama * - 2:00 PM
Texas State at Troy * - 2:00 PM
Appalachian State at Arkansas State * - 3:05 PM
* - Denotes Conference Game | All times central
WEEK 8 SUN BELT CONFERENCE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Ashley Beverly Kelley
Troy | Senior | Guard
Ashley Beverly Kelley led Troy through the holiday break and into Sun Belt play by averaging 20.6 points per game in Troy’s five contests. Her biggest effort came in Troy’s most recent game, a 78-71 win over reigning Sun Belt champion Little Rock, in which she scored 30 points with eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Always known as an all-around player, Beverly Kelley has continued to stuff the stat sheet as in addition to the scoring she also averaged 6.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 4.0 steals per game. The Mid-Major All-American now leads the Sun Belt in scoring at 19.1 points per game. She also ranks third in the league in assists (4.4/g) and second in steals (3.3/g), making her the only player in even the top-5 in scoring, assists and steals. The Adamsville, Ala., native ranks 11th in the NCAA in steals and is the leader of a scoring offense that ranks eighth in the NCAA at 84.5 points per game. Beverly Kelley has climbed to seventh on Troy’s all-time scoring list with 1,526 points, the most among all active Sun Belt players. She has also become Troy’s all-time leader in career steals with 218, also the most among all active Sun Belt players.
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
AROUND THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE
Undefeated in SBC Openers
Texas State continued its trend of winning its Sun Belt opener and has improved to 3-0 in league openers since joinging the Sun Belt in 2013. The Bobcats defeated Georgia Southern to open league play in 2015-16 on Dec. 30.
Nearing the Century Mark
Texas State's Ayriel Anderson is just 28 points from eclipsing the 1,000-point plateau in her Bobcat career. She is currently averaging 6.4 points for the Bobcats this season.
Moving On Up
Fourth-year head coach Garry Brodhead is two wins away from becoming the second-winningest coach in the history of the UL Lafayette program. He currently trails Ross Cook (57) and J. Kelley Hall (86) on the Cajuns all-time coaching ledger.
Getting Defensive
The Cajuns defense is holding opponents to a Sun Belt Conference-best 54.5 points per game this season. UL Lafayette is currently tied for 28th nationally in scoring defense.
Career Nights for A-State
In A-State's 101-81 win over Troy on Wednesday, Dec. 30, nine Red Wolves set or tied career-highs in 20 statistical categories. Additionally, the back-to-back wins for A-State to open league play marked the third consecutive season the Red Wolves opened up league play with a 2-0 record.
ABK Stuffing the Stat Sheet
Through 11 games Troy's Ashley Beverly Kelley is back to her usual tricks, stuffing the stat sheet. The senior is the Sun Belt’s leading scorer at 19.1 points per game. She has scored in double figures in 10 of 11 games this season, 23 of her last 24 games, and in 74 games in her career. Meanwhile, her 1,526 points are the most among active Sun Belt players. The Mid-Major All-American is also averaging 5.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.3 steals per game, the only player in the Sun Belt with such a stat line. In addition to leading the league in scoring, she also ranks second in the Sun Belt in steals, second in assist-turnover ratio (1.8), first in free throw percentage (84.2) and third in assists.
Quite a Bounce Back
UT Arlington bounced back from the hiccup against Georgia State in a big way against Georgia Southern to open the New Year. Four Lady Mavericks scored in double figures as Cierra Johnson provided 17 points to lead UTA. The 39-point victory over GS was UTA’s largest in a conference game since 2007, when they defeated Southland opponent Nicholls State. UTA kept the Eagles below 10 points in all but the fourth quarter and UTA held a 36-8 advantage in points in the paint.
Home Sweet Home
After playing seven of its first 11 games on the road the Georgia State Panthers (6-5, 4-3 away) will return home to face Troy on January 7. This marks the teams first game at home in over a month (33 days).