2016 Sun Belt Women's Basketball Championships presented by First Bank and Trust
Below are links to various items from Day 1 of the women's championship.
Update Women's Championship Bracket
Women's Basketball Championship Central
Highlights:
Women's Game 1 - Arkansas State vs. Appalachian State
Women's Game 2 - Troy vs. South Alabama
Women's Game 3 - Little Rock vs. Texas State
Women's Game 4 - UL Lafayette vs. UT Arlington
Press Conferences:
Women's Game 1 - Arkansas State vs. Appalachian State
Women's Game 2 - Troy vs. South Alabama
Women's Game 3 - Little Rock vs. Texas State
Women's Game 4 - UL Lafayette vs. UT Arlington
Red Wolves March Into Semifinals
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NEW ORLEANS, La. (3/9/16) – The Arkansas State women’s basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament with a 81-61 victory over Appalachian State Wednesday morning at Lakefront Arena.
The Red Wolves advance to play Troy Friday morning at 11:30 a.m. in the semifinals. The game can be seen on 95.3FM The Ticket and on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN App.
Aundrea Gamble led the way with 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, while Khadija Brown-Haywood added 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Gamble finished one assist shy of record just the third triple-double in A-State history, while the double-double was her fifth this season and the 11th of her career.
Amanda Lawson added 12 points on the day and Brittney Gill recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
With the victory, the Red Wolves also broke the school record for victories in a single season. A-State now stands at 26-4 overall on the year, while Appalachian State finished with a 10-20 record.
“It is good to just get the first one out of the way,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “I’ve talked all year long about the maturity level of these five seniors and how they handle things and I thought today was just another example of that. I thought they were ready to play from the start and then handled the run that Appalachian State throw at them in the first quarter.”
A-State got off to a hot start thanks to seven straight points that forced the Mountaineers into a timeout 94 seconds into the game. Appalachian State battled back and led 14-13 midway through the opening quarter, but Gamble took over from that point.
The three-time SBC Student Athlete of the Year scored 10 straight points, including a behind the back layup and two 3-pointers, and then capped the sequence with a no-look pass to Lauren Bradshaw underneath the basket to put A-State up 25-18 with over a minute to go in the period.
The momentum carried into the second quarter where A-State went on an 11-0 run to push its lead to 38-22. Gill scored four points in the run, while Jessica Flanery knocked down a 3-pointer in transition. The Mountaineers were held scoreless for over four minutes during the run.
The strong defensive continued into the second half as the Red Wolves’ held Appalachian State to just 5-of-20 from the field in the frame, including a stretch where the Mountaineers missed eight consecutive shots.
Meanwhile, A-State continued to cruise behind Gamble and Brown-Haywood who score eight and nine points respectively in the period. Brown-Haywood, the First-Team All-Conference selection, went 4-of-5 from the field during the quarter and grabbed three rebounds.
Arkansas State shot 48.4 percent (30-62) from the field on the afternoon, while also knocking down 17 free throws. The Red Wolves held a one rebound edge on the boards and forced the Mountaineers into 21 turnovers.
Troy Women Storm Back to Defeat Jaguars, Advance to Semifinals
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NEW ORLEANS – The Troy women's basketball team came alive in the second half and stormed back to beat South Alabama, 62-49, in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Championships at Lakefront Arena on Wednesday. Troy will now make the first Sun Belt semifinal appearance in program history when it takes on Arkansas State on Friday.
Troy (18-12) shot just 21 percent in the first half, but only trailed by eight points, 29-21, at the break. The Trojans, however, locked down defensively and allowed South Alabama to score just four points on 2-of-14 shooting in the third quarter, turning the halftime deficit into a 37-33 lead after three quarters.
The Trojans then forced South Alabama (15-15) into 11 turnovers in the fourth quarter and quickly extended the lead. In all, Troy forced the Jaguars into 31 turnovers while tying a school record with 23 steals.
Claresa Banks led the Trojans with five steals and also scored 13 points of the bench. She was one of four Trojans to score in double figures, led by 18 points from Ashley Beverly Kelley. ArJae' Saunders added 13 points and Caitlyn Ramirez added 11 points and 12 rebounds. Beverly Kelley, Saunders and Ramirez each added four steals, as well.
Beverly Kelley, the Sun Belt's leading scorer, was just 5-of-20 from the floor but had timely buckets when it mattered during Troy's comeback. Troy trailed by one, 33-32, with under three minutes left in the third quarter when it forced the Jaguars into back-to-back turnovers. Beverly Kelley got transition layups after both steals and gave Troy the lead for good at 37-33.
Over the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth, South Alabama turned the ball over on seven of eight possessions.
Troy hit 12-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter to keep South Alabama from getting any closer than four points, meanwhile extending the lead to as many the final 13 points. Over the entire game, Troy hit 20-of-23 free throws, led by 8-of-9 from Beverly Kelley.
The win was the sixth straight for Troy and its eighth in the last nine games. The lone loss in that span came to South Alabama, who beat Troy in both regular season meetings, but the Trojans got their revenge on Wednesday. Troy outrebounded its eighth straight opponent, taking a 43-40 advantage from the Jaguars on the glass.
Troy finished the game shooting just 29 percent (19-of-66) overall and 4-of-19 (21 percent) from long range. South Alabama hit 36 percent (19-of-53) overall and just 2-of-15 (13 percent) from deep.
South Alabama had three in double figures as Colby Davis and Juliann Miller each posted 11 points, but combined for 14 turnovers. Marquita Daniels added 10 points and had four steals. Chyna Ellis, the Sun Belt Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year, had three blocks, but so did La'Tia Fils-Aime' for Troy who played just eight minutes after missing the last four games.
Troy now turns its attention to regular-season champion Arkansas State, who beat Appalachian State, 81-61, on Wednesday in the tournament's first game. The No. 1 seed Red Wolves start five seniors, including the Sun Belt Student-Athlete of the Year, Aundrea Gamble.
The Trojans and Red Wolves will tip off at Lakefront Arena at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. The winner will move on to Saturday's championship game, which will be played at 7 p.m.
Trojans Knock Off Bobcats to Advance to Semifinals
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NEW ORLEANS, La. – A hot-shooting second half made up for a slow first half and helped the Little Rock women's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament at Lakefront Arena on Wednesday evening.
The No. 2 seeded Trojans shot 56 percent from the field in the second half against No. 7 seed Texas State, leading the team to a 62-50 victory over the Bobcats in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Championship presented by First Bank and Trust.
The win – Little Rock's 14th straight – means the Trojans (19-11) will play again on Friday at 2 p.m. in the league semifinals against either No. 3 seed Louisiana or No. 6 seed UT Arlington. That game will be aired live on ESPN3.
After beginning the contest shooting just 33 percent in the first half, Little Rock made 9 of 15 shots in the third quarter. Sharde' Collins, who finished with a team-high 17 points, had 10 points in the third quarter on 5 of 7 shooting.
Little Rock outscored Texas State 19-8 in the third quarter, helping turn a 1-point halftime lead into a double-digit advantage.
Collins was one of four Trojans who finished the day with double-digit scoring efforts. Kaitlyn Pratt had her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and a season-best 13 rebounds, while Shanity James just missed a double-double with 13 points and 8 rebounds. Alexius Dawn also finished with 13 points and had four assists and three steals.
The Trojans have now advanced to the league semifinals for nine straight years and have won four straight games in the Sun Belt Tournament.
The first half was slow for both teams offensively, as they combined to shoot 33 percent from the field. Texas State got the first 6 points of the night and led 13-10 at the end of the first quarter. Dawn committed two fouls in the first four minutes and sat for the rest of the period.
In the second quarter, though, the Bobcats' offense could not score until nearly seven minutes had gone off the clock. Little Rock had the first 6 points of the quarter and took a 16-13 lead before the Bobcats scored again. At the break, James led Little Rock with 9 points including a layup at the buzzer to give the Trojans a 23-22 lead heading into the locker room. She had five rebounds at halftime while Pratt had 8 points and seven rebounds.
Collins opened the third quarter on fire, driving to the basket for one early layup and then sinking two jumpers to force the Bobcats into a timeout trailing 29-24. Those three baskets brought Collins up to 10 points on the evening. After the timeout, the Trojans forced a turnover and Dawn sank a 3-pointer to give the Trojans the largest lead of the night for either team at 32-24.
Texas State would cut that lead down to 4 points at 32-28, but the Trojans scored 10 of the final 12 points in the quarter to take a 42-30 lead into the final period. Pratt completed her double-double in the quarter, ending the third with 10 points and a to-that-point-season high 12 rebounds. Collins had 10 of her eventual 17 points in the third quarter.
The Bobcats, trailing 49-36 with seven minutes left in the game, briefly threatened to tie the game thanks to an 8-0 run in a span of just 75 seconds. But a James layup broke the run, and the Bobcats never got closer than 7 points after that. Little Rock shot 5 of 10 from the field in the fourth quarter and closed things out by making 8 of 10 free throws in the final period.
During the game, James made her 300th career free throw and grabbed her 500th career defensive rebound. Monique Townson also scored her 200th career point while leading the Trojans with five assists.
Little Rock will now have one day off before the tournament semifinals on Friday. Little Rock will face either No. 3 seed Louisiana or No. 6 seed UT Arlington on Friday at 2 p.m. That game will air on ESPN3.
Cajuns Erase Late Deficit to Advance in SBC Tournament
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NEW ORLEANS – The No. 3 seeded Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team rallied from five points down with 2:54 remaining in the fourth quarter to eliminate No. 6 seeded UT Arlington, 59-53 in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Wednesday night at Lakefront Arena.
Sophomore forward Simone Fields led the offensive charge for the Cajuns (21-9), finishing with 18 points, five rebounds and two assists in 39 minutes. Senior Keke Veal added 15 points, four rebounds, and team highs in assists (4) and steals (3). Junior guard Sylvana Okde added chipped in nine points off the bench on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range.
The Cajuns outscored the Mavericks, 24-13 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory and move on to their second-consecutive Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinal round.
"We were kind of sluggish on offense and defense," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "I thought we started the first two minutes perfectly, but then we started to be more methodical and not play our type of basketball. I think in those last three minutes our kids made some steals, made some layups and drew fouls. It was exciting to see."
The Cajuns turned in a solid shooting performance, knocking down 48% (24-of-50) of their shots.
Louisiana came out scoring the first seven points of the game, but UT Arlington came storming back with seven unanswered points of their own.
With the contest tied at 9-9 at the 4:25 mark of the first quarter, the Cajuns defense buckled down and held the Mavericks scoreless for the remainder of the stanza, taking a 13-9 advantage into the second quarter. A pair of jump shots from senior Kia Wilridge gave the Cajuns the four-point edge after a quarter of basketball.
The Cajuns' largest lead of the game stood at seven points (16-9) at the 8:39 mark of the second following a three-pointer by Okde.
UT Arlington battled the keep the score within a possession for the remainder of the second quarter, as Louisiana took a narrow 23-22 lead into the intermission.
In the third quarter, Veal jumpstarted the Cajuns offense with a jumper to extend the lead to 25-22, but five straight points put the Mavericks ahead, 27-25 at the eight minute mark.
The two teams traded buckets for the next five possessions and UT Arlington went ahead, 34-32 on a jump shot by Morgan Hunt with 3:03 left in the third quarter.
A layup by Fields kept the Cajuns within a point at 34-33, but the Mavericks ended the quarter on a 6-1 run to take a 40-35 lead into the final 10 minutes. The third quarter was highlighted by four lead changes and two ties.
Okde splashed a trey with 8:23 to play in the game to pull UL to within 40-38.
A layup by Veal tied the game at 40-40 with 7:33 to go, but UT Arlington answered with a three-pointer by Cierra Johnson.
Trailing 44-40, the Cajuns scored four straight points on a layup by Fields and a jumper by Veal to tie the game at 44-44.
UT Arlington regained the lead and went ahead by five with 3:35 to go following a layup by Toma Zaleckaite and a three-pointer from Amara Wainwright.
Okde hit her third triple of the game with 2:26 left to cut the deficit to 51-49. With 1:38 remaining, Wilridge splashed a jumper to knot the game at 51-51.
Veal forced a steal on the ensuing inbounds pass and found Fields who scored on a layup to put UL ahead, 53-51 with 1:28 to go.
After a steal by Veal, who was fouled by Lashanda Green, Veal hit a pair of free throws to give the Cajuns a 55-51 advantage with 1:07 to go in the game.
Senior Brooklyn Arceneaux came up with a steal with 42 seconds remaining and was fouled by UT Arlington. Veal knocked down both free throws with the Cajuns in the bonus, extending the lead to 57-51.
UT Arlington made it a 57-53 game with 26 seconds left, but the Cajuns preserved the win with two more free throws by sophomore Jodi Quinn with 20 seconds on the clock.
The No. 3 seeded Cajuns will face No. 2 seeded Little Rock this Friday, March 11 at Lakefront Arena in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinals. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and can be watched on ESPN3.
"It's going to be tough, we are going to have to move the ball and be aggressive," Brodhead added. "It's going to be a difficult game, but it's a great challenge for us. We want to play these types of games in this setting."