Sun Belt Conference Weekly News and Notes (Week 15)
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

A-State Clinches Share of Regular Season Title; Brown-Haywood Earns Third Student-Athlete of the Week Honor
With Arkansas State's win over Georgia State on Saturday the Red Wolves clinched a share of the Sun Belt regular season title. The Red Wolves can claim the title outright with one more win over the final two weeks of the season or a Little Rock loss. Little Rock and Arkansas State will meet on the hardwood on March 1.

Also in the win over Georgia State the Red Wolves pushed their season winning streak to 16 games which is the fifth-longest in the country and a new Arkansas State school record. Led by both Aundrea Gamble and Khadija Brown-Haywood, the Red Wolves are off to their best start in school history as they are now 22-3 overall on the season, having loss just three games by a combined 11 points. Haywood was instrumental in both of A-State's wins over the past weekend as the senior forward averaged 25 points in the two victories, scoring 30 against Georgia Southern and 20 against Georgia State.

Brown-Haywood was named this week's Student-Athlete of the Week, her third such honor this season and the most by a single player in the league this season.

The Little Rock Trojans also kept their winning streak alive as they picked up two more victories over the weekend pushing their total to nine. This week the Trojans will square off against UT Arlington (Thursday) and Texas State (Saturday).

UL Lafayette also claimed two more victories over the weekend defeating UT Arlington and Texas State to improve to 11-5 and remain in third place in the standings. South Alabama, which clinched a berth into the tournament on Saturday, has won four consecutive games and is now 9-7 and in fourth place in the standings. USA has won seven of their last nine games after beginning conference play 2-5.

Four spots remain up for grabs for the women's championship with only four games separating the fifth through eighth spots in the league standings. UT Arlington and Texas State each have five games remaining while the rest of the league has four games remaining.

The 2016 Sun Belt Men's and Women's Basketball Championships presented by First Bank and Trust will begin on March 9 and continue through March 13 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, La. The women's tournament runs March 9-12 and the men's tournament runs March 10-13.

Recent Results

February 9 (Tuesday)
UT Arlington 80, Texas State 48 *

February 11 (Thursday)
Troy 84, Georgia Southern 68 *
Texas State 87, Appalachian State 76 *
Little Rock 53, UL Monroe 37 *
Arkansas State 74, UL Lafayette 62 *
South Alabama 83, Georgia State 45 *

February 13 (Saturday)
Troy 89, Georgia State 78 *
Arkansas State 78, UL Monroe 64 *
Little Rock 58, UL Lafayette 49 *
South Alabama 48, Georgia Southern 45 *
UT Arlington 65, Appalachian State 58 *

February 16 (Tuesday)
South Alabama 65, Troy 63 *

February 18 (Thursday)
South Alabama 68, Appalachian State 54 *
Arkansas State 79, Georgia Southern 52 *
Little Rock 54, Georgia State 39 *
Texas State 63, UL Monroe 57 *
UL Lafayette 59, UT Arlington 42 *

February 20 (Saturday)
Troy 100, Appalachian State 89 *
Little Rock 50, Georgia Southern 45 *
Arkansas State 85, Georgia State 64 *
UL Lafayette 59, Texas State 47 *
UT Arlington 40, UL Monroe 32 *

Upcoming Games

February 22 (Monday)
Georgia State at Georgia Southern * - 4:00 PM

February 25 (Thursday)
Appalachian State at Georgia Southern * - 4:00 PM
UL Monroe at South Alabama * - 5:00 PM
Texas State at Arkansas State * - 5:05 PM
UT Arlington at Little Rock * - 5:15 PM
UL Lafayette at Troy * - 5:15 PM

February 27 (Saturday)
Appalachian State at Georgia State * - 11:00 AM
UL Lafayette at South Alabama * - 2:00 PM
UL Monroe at Troy * - 2:00 PM
UT Arlington at Arkansas State * - 3:05 PM
Texas State at Little Rock * - 4:00 PM

March 1 (Tuesday)
Texas State at UT Arlington * - 5:00 PM
Arkansas State at Little Rock * - 5:15 PM

March 3 (Thursday)
Little Rock at Appalachian State * - 4:00 PM
Georgia State at UL Lafayette * - 5:00 PM
South Alabama at UT Arlington * - 5:00 PM
Georgia Southern at UL Monroe * - 5:15 PM
Troy at Texas State * - 5:30 PM

March 5 (Saturday)
Arkansas State at Appalachian State * - 12:00 PM
South Alabama at Texas State * - 2:00 PM
Georgia State at UL Monroe * - 4:00 PM
Georgia Southern at UL Lafayette * - 5:00 PM
Troy at UT Arlington * - 5:00 PM

* - Denotes Conference Game | All times central

WEEK 15 SUN BELT CONFERENCE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Khadija Brown-Haywood
Arkansas State | Senior | Forward
Arkansas State senior forward Khaijda Brown-Haywood helped Arkansas State clinch a share of the regular season Sun Belt Conference championship with pair of victories in the state of Georgia this past week. The senior averaged 25 points per game in the Red Wolves’ two victories, while pulling down 10.5 rebounds and dishing out two assists in each game. The Centralia, Ill., native turned in one of the best performances of her career Thursday evening against Georgia Southern when scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in A-State’s 79-52 victory. She paced the Red Wolves in the first half with 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including going 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. She scored 12 points in the second half, but became a dominating presence on the glass with eight rebounds, all of which came on the defensive end. She finished the night 9-of-15 (60 percent) from the field and hit 8-of-10 (80 percent) free throws. She had a Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 35, and now two of the three highest individual PER ratings for A-State this season. Saturday against Georgia State, Brown-Haywoood scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her league leading eleventh double-double of the season. She produced a balance scoring attack with 10 points in each half, but again became a factor on the boards by grabbing seven rebounds in the first half as the Red Wolves went on to a 85-64 victory.

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;
01.25: Khadija Brown-Haywood, Arkansas State
02.01: Marquita Daniels, South Alabama
02.08: Madi Story, Appalachian State
02.15: Aundrea Gamble, Arkansas State

AROUND THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE

A-State Up to No. 41 in NCAA RPI
Arkansas State has steadily improved its NCAA RPI rating as the Red Wolves now sit at No. 44 with their 22-3 overall and 16-0 Sun Belt record. The Red Wolves have clinched at least a share of the Sun Belt regular season title and can win the title outright with one more win in league play.

Streaks Continue
The top two teams in the Sun Belt have combined to win 23 consecutive games. Arkansas State has reeled off an impressive 16-straight wins while Little Rock has won nine consecutive. Those two teams are 19-1 over their last 20 games combined.

Jaguars on Season-Best Win Streak
The South Alabama Jaguars have won four consecutive games and are riding their season-best winning streak with just four games to play. USA is 7-3 in its last ten games.

Troy’s ABK Climbing Sun Belt Charts
Troy’s Ashley Beverly Kelley is the Sun Belt’s leading scorer this season at 20.4 per game overall and 21.4 per Sun Belt game. The senior now has 1,825 career points, the most among active Sun Belt players. In addition to being the second most in Troy history, that number is also the 17th most in the Sun Belt’s 34-year history, just 15 points from moving into the top 15. Beverly Kelley is already Troy’s all-time leader with 245 career steals, a mark that is now 14th in Sun Belt history.

Dynamic Backcourt
Troy’s backcourt of Ashley Beverly Kelley and ArJae’ Saunders is playing as well as any in the country right now. The two combined for 61 points in Saturday’s win at Appalachian State. Beverly Kelley, the Sun Belt’s leading scorer, scored 32 points in the win, her fourth 30-point game this season and the 10th of her career. The rest of the Sun Belt combined has just six 30-point games this season with no player having more than two. Beverly Kelley also dished out a game-high eight assists and grabbed five rebounds in the win. Saunders has scored 15-plus in five straight games. She scored a career-high 29 in the win at Appalachian State, including 11-of-15 from the free throw line. The junior also pulled down seven rebounds, her fourth straight game with at least seven, and dished out five games. Saunders has scored 10-plus in 10 of her last 12 games. Before that stretch, she was averaging 6.4 points per game, but is now eighth in the Sun Belt with 12.6 points per game.