Sun Belt Conference Weekly News and Notes (Week 17)
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
Women’s Basketball Teams Begin Conference Tournament on Wednesday
NEW ORLEANS – Eight teams will battle for an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament this week as the Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Championship presented by First Bank and Trust tips off on Wednesday from Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
The Arkansas State Red Wolves (25-4, 19-1) own the No. 1 seed after earning the outright Sun Belt regular-season title this season. The Little Rock Trojans (18-11, 16-4), winners of 13 consecutive games, enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed. The tournament tips off this Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. CT with first round matchups between the top-seeded Red Wolves and No. 8 seed Appalachian State (10-19, 7-13). Fourth-seeded Troy (17-12, 12-8) will face No. 5 South Alabama (15-14, 11-9) at 2:00 p.m. CT. The Trojans of Little Rock will square off with seventh-seeded Texas State (12-18, 7-13) at 5:00 p.m. CT and the No. 3 UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns will battle the sixth-seeded UT Arlington Mavericks (15-15, 10-10) in Wednesday night’s finale at 7:30 p.m. CT.
All games of the tournament will be televised by ESPN3 and available on the WatchESPN app, with the championship game set for a 7:00 p.m. CT tip on Saturday, Mar. 12.
UT Arlington sophomore Rebekah VanDijk propelled the Lady Mavericks during the final week of the regular season. VanDijk opened it with the best performance of her career against Texas State. VanDijk scored a career-high 33 points against the Bobcats, tied for the second most in the Sun Belt this season. VanDijk was an efficient 11-of-16 from the field and knocked down 11 free throws in the win over the in-state rival.
VanDijk added nine blocks, had two blocks and an assist. Her week continued in a defensive battle with USA. The sophomore had a season-high 10 defensive rebounds to go with 13 overall, knocking away three blocks as she had nine points. The week was capped with a 21-point effort against Troy on the final day of the regular season. She was 7-of-9 from the floor, 7-of-8 from the free-throw line and added a block. Overall, VanDijk averaged 21 points per game and 8.3 rebounds, picking up six blocks and shooting 60.0 percent from the floor overall as well as knocked down 21-of-26 free-throw attempts.
For more information on the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, visit championship central on SunBeltSports.org.
Recent Results
February 22 (Monday)
Georgia State 61, Georgia Southern 60 *
February 25 (Thursday)
Arkansas State 87, Texas State 50 *
Appalachian State 68, Georgia Southern 62 *
Little Rock 49, UT Arlington 43 *
Troy 90, UL Lafayette 83 *
UL Monroe 67, South Alabama 54 *
February 27 (Saturday)
Arkansas State 66, UT Arlington 44 *
Appalachian State 72, Georgia State 69 *
Little Rock 57, Texas State 45 *
Troy 74, UL Monroe 64 *
South Alabama 68, UL Lafayette 59 *
March 1 (Tuesday)
Little Rock 71, Arkansas State 69 *
UT Arlington 78, Texas State 69 *
March 3 (Thursday)
Little Rock 72, Appalachian State 67 *
Troy 88, Texas State 73 *
UL Monroe 59, Georgia Southern 49 *
UL Lafayette 65, Georgia State 60 *
UT Arlington 53, South Alabama 49 *
March 5 (Saturday)
Arkansas State 83, Appalachian State 74 *
South Alabama 70, Texas State 56 *
UL Monroe 82, Georgia State 68 *
UL Lafayette 56, Georgia Southern 49 *
Troy 80, UT Arlington 70 *
Upcoming Games
2016 Women’s Basketball
Championship Schedule
Wednesday, March 9 (First Round)
G1: No. 8 APP vs. No. 1 ASU 11:30 a.m.
G2: No. 5 USA vs. No. 4 TROY 2:00 p.m.
G3: No. 7 TXST vs. No. 2 LR 5:00 p.m.
G4: No. 6 UTA vs. No. 3 UL-L 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 11 (Semifinals)
G5: Winner G1 vs. Winner G2 11:30 a.m.
G6: Winner G3 vs. Winner G4 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 12 (Championship Game)
G7: Winner G5 vs. Winner G6 7:00 p.m.
Top (8) seeds from regular-season will advance to the SBC Championship.
All times are Central time and subject to change without notice.
WEEK 17 SUN BELT CONFERENCE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Rebekah VanDijk
UT Arlington | Sophomore | Center
UT Arlington sophomore Rebekah VanDijk propelled the Lady Mavericks during the final week of the regular season. VanDijk opened it with the best performance of her career against Texas State. VanDijk scored a career-high 33 points against the Bobcats, tied for the second most in the Sun Belt this season. VanDijk was an efficient 11-of-16 from the field and knocked down 11 free throws in the win over the in-state rival. VanDijk added nine blocks, had two blocks and an assist. Her week continued in a defensive battle with USA. The sophomore had a season-high 10 defensive rebounds to go with 13 overall, knocking away three blocks as she had nine points. The week was capped with a 21-point effort against Troy on the final day of the regular season. She was 7-of-9 from the floor, 7-of-8 from the free-throw line and added a block. Overall, VanDijk averaged 21 points per game and 8.3 rebounds, picking up six blocks and shooting 60.0 percent from the floor overall as well as knocked down 21-of-26 free-throw attempts.
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
02.22: Khadija Brown-Haywood, Arkansas State
02.29: Khadija Brown-Haywood, Arkansas State
AROUND THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE
A-State No. 40 in NCAA RPI
Arkansas State has steadily improved its NCAA RPI rating as the Red Wolves now sit at No. 40 with their 25-4 overall and 19-1 Sun Belt record. The Red Wolves have clinched the Sun Belt regular season title and will be the tournament’s No. 1 seed which begins March 9.
Championship Set to Begin
The 2016 Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship, presented by First Bank and Trust, will begin on March 9 and continue through March 12. The top eight seeds will qualify for the tournament with the champion moving onto the NCAA tournament to represent the Sun Belt Conference. Arkansas State earned the No. 1 seed, while Little Rock has earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament. The remaining six seeds are still up for grabs as is the eighth and final spot in the tournament.
A-State Ties School Wins Record
Arkansas State tied a school record for wins in a season as they now have 25 wins and have won 19 of their past 20 games. The 19 conference wins were the most in league history as the Red Wolves will enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed for the second time in the past three years.
Trojans Playing Well, Glass Work to Thank
Troy closed the regular season with five straight wins and seven wins in its last eight games. In those eight games, Troy has been tremendous on the glass, averaging 46.8 rebounds per game while holding opponents to 38.9 for a +7.9 rebounding margin. On the season, Troy is up to +1.0 in rebounding margin, the first time in Chanda’s Rigby four seasons Troy has had a positive rebounding margin this late in a season. Troy is averaging 17.8 offensive boards per game in that stretch, and is now averaging 15.9 per game on the season to lead the Sun Belt and rank in the NCAA’s top 30.
ABK an All-Time Great
Troy’s Ashley Beverly Kelley is the Sun Belt’s leading scorer this season at 20.6 per game overall and 21.5 per Sun Belt game. The senior now has 1,912 career points, the most among active Sun Belt players. In addition to being the second most in Troy history, that number is also the 12th most in the Sun Belt’s 34-year history, just three points from moving into 11th and 48 from moving into the top 10. Beverly Kelley is already Troy’s all-time leader with 247 career steals, a mark that is now 13th in Sun Belt history. She is also the Troy all-time career leader in free throws (381), free throw percentage (83.1), ranks second in points (1912) and games played (121) and ranks third in field goals made (680) and 3-pointers made (171).
Jaguars Historic Rise in 2016
South Alabama finished the 2015-16 regular season with 15 overall wins and 11 conference wins. The 15 conference wins are two more than the last two seasons combined. USA enters the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Championships as the fifth seed in this year’s conference tournament. The Jags have been the sixth seed in the conference tourney six other times, which is the most of any seeding for the SBC tournament in program history. The last time South Alabama was the sixth seed was during the 2009 tournament where the Jags posted a 2-1 record and advanced to the semifinal round.
Block Fest
Chyna Ellis continues to rank among the nation’s leaders in blocks, averaging 2.72 per game. Her 79 blocks have already surpassed her tally (56) her freshman single-season blocks record. Entering the conference tournament, the 6-2 sophomore center is just seven blocks shy of tying the program mark for blocks in a season. Ellis has recorded five or more blocks six times this season and in her 20 conference games, she averaged 3.05 bpg against league foes. She has had two or more blocks in 25 of her 29 games.