Friday, Nov. 14
UALR Upsets No. 24 LSU on the Road
BATON ROUGE, La. – The UALR women’s basketball team stayed with LSU shot for shot in the first half. In the second half, the Tigers couldn’t keep up with the Trojans.
UALR dominated No. 24 LSU in every facet of the game in the second half, leading to a 70-54 upset win over the Tigers at the Maravich Center on Friday afternoon.
"This type of win gives the kids instant belief in what you’re trying to accomplish especially when you do it against a top-25-caliber team," Coach Joe Foley said. "There are a lot of ups and downs in the season. It’s a long season. You want to get off to a good start and that helps."
The Trojans held LSU without a field goal for more than 12 minutes in the second half in the process of building a double-digit lead. Kaitlyn Pratt led all Trojans with 15 points while Alexius Dawn (12), Taylor Gault (12) and Ka'Nesheia Cobbins (10) all scored in double figures.
Keanna Keys led the team with a career-high nine rebounds, and Shanity James added seven. Cobbins, a Baton Rouge native who grew up attending Lady Tigers games, had a team-high six assists to go along with three steals and her 10 points.
“It felt really good to beat them in their home and my home as well,” Cobbins said. “It was a different view from watching to playing. I always figured one day I would be playing on that court. It happens to be in my last year, so it’s an even better experience for me.”
LSU held a two-point advantage at the start of the second half, and the Tigers got a 30-29 lead with 17:14 remaining in the contest.
But that was the last time the Tigers would lead. Over the next 10 minutes, the Trojans went on a 26-10 run that included multiple 3-pointers from Dawn, five LSUs turnovers and no LSU field goals. When Ann Jones finally hit a jumper with 4:00 on the clock to break a stretch of 13 consecutive LSU misses, UALR held a 14-point lead and the game was all but over.
The Trojans as a whole shot 54 percent in the second half and made 16 of its 22 free-throw attempts.
“From the first to second half, we kept our composure,” Cobbins said. “We kept focused on the little things and everything that we worked on in practice. We’re learning to trust each other, and keeping our composure was probably the biggest thing.”
UL Lafayetten-native Pratt was a big factor in the massive Trojan run, making five field goals and going a perfect 5 of 5 from the free-throw line throughout the night. As a team, UALR shot 42 percent to just 32.6 percent by LSU. The Trojans forced a total of 20 Tiger turnovers and only allowed them to pick up three assists.
Dawn looked strong in her first game with the team, draining four 3-pointers. Cobbins, playing in her first game since the end of the 2013 season, was excellent as well distributing the ball and starting fast breaks. Lexus Williams also saw action for the team, starting in her first game with the Trojans after sitting out the 2013-14 season following a transfer from SMU.
“It just felt really good to be back on the court,” Cobbins said. “My rehab went well and my preparation with preseason to get back on the court was really good.”
The Trojans have now won their season opener for the last five years. The team is now 1-1 all-time against LSU, and it got its third-ever victory against a Southeastern Conference team. The victory was the team’s first win over a nationally ranked team since 2008 when it beat No. 17/19 Oklahoma State.
After a shaky first half, Gault got hot in the second, making four baskets total including a 3-pointer. She is now only 40 points away from second all-time at UALR.
The first half saw a very tight game with neither team holding a lead larger than four points at any time. Both squads played very tight defense, and turnovers abounded as the Tigers committed 11 and the Trojans coughed it up eight times.
UALR led for nearly nine minutes in the middle of the period, but LSU crept back into the game when the UALR foul total started creeping upward. UALR committed 11 fouls in the half, sending LSU to the line 14 times. The Tigers made 11 free throws, and they would eventually take a 26-24 lead into the break.
Pratt, Cobbins and Keys all had five points for the Trojans at halftime, and seven different players scored for UALR.
The Trojans open their home schedule on Tuesday when they take on Missouri State at the Jack Stephens Center at 7 p.m.
Second Half Surge Lifts Cajuns to Season-Opening Win
BEAUMONT, Texas – Sophomore guard Jaylyn Gordon scored 18 second half points and the UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team outscored Lamar 38-23 in the second period to record a 75-55 season-opening win Friday night at the Montagne Center.
"I thought we played with a lot of effort tonight," said head coach Garry Brodhead. "I love playing here (Montagne Center). It's a great basketball arena. We shot the ball well and played with a lot of effort defensively. I think we showed up tonight ready to play."
Gordon came off the bench to lead the Cajuns with 22 points on 4-of-5 shooting from outside. Keke Veal added 13 points and a team-high five assists, while Gabby Alexander totaled 11 points and a team-high eight boards.
"The play of Keke Veal and Jaylyn Gordon was great. I thought they played extremely well at the guard position," Brodhead said.
UL Lafayette grabbed a 10-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game, receiving contributions from five different Cajuns. However, Lamar put together a quick 8-0 spurt over the next minute and a half to take a 12-10 advantage after four-straight points from Baileigh O'Dell to cap off the run.
Teams traded baskets over the next several minutes until UL Lafayette posted a 6-0 run to regain the lead at 20-16 after a Simone Fields basket with 9:29 to play in the half.
The Lady Cardinals evened the contest at 22-all with six minutes to play before Cienna Rodriguez knocked down a three to give UL Lafayette a 25-22 advantage.
Up 29-28, a Veal jumper and a layup by Alexander stretched the Cajuns' lead to 33-28 with 1:36 to play. Lamar would only get within three the remainder of the period as the Cajuns took a 37-32 lead into the half.
Brown and Veal combined for nine UL Lafayette points to begin the second half as the Cajuns opened up a 46-34 advantage three and a half minutes into the period.
Lamar responded again with a layup by Dominique Edwards and a three by O'Dell to pull the Lady Cardinals within seven at 46-39. However, Gordon gave the Cajuns a double-digit lead once again one minute later with her first triple of the game.
After two free throws by Edwards to make it a 49-41 game, the Cajuns reeled off an 8-0 thanks to a jumper by Alexander and back-to-back treys from Gordon to push the UL Lafayette lead to 57-41 with 9:42 to play.
Leading 63-49 with 7:32 to play, UL Lafayette added to its advantage with a 7-0 run with six points coming from Gordon to extend the game to 70-49.
The Cajuns maintained their sizeable lead the rest of the way, pulling out a 75-55 victory.
UL Lafayette shot 41 percent from the floor while holding Lamar to 33 percent. The Cajuns outrebounded the Lady Cardinals, 43-33, while also holding an advantage in assists (16-8) and steals (12-6).
UL Lafayette returns to the Cajundome on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for the squad's home opener against Xavier (La.).
Lady Mavs Open Season With Record-Breaking Win
ARLINGTON, Texas -- UT Arlington asserted itself early and tipped the season off with a record-breaking performance, racing to a 90-32 victory over Missouri Valley College on Friday at College Park Center.
The 58-point margin was the largest for the Lady Mavericks in a season opener, as well as the most points to open a season, breaking a record 37-point victory in 2003. With the win, UTA also ended a streak of four consecutive season-opening losses.
"We are very excited about that win and are very glad to get the season off on the right foot," UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich said. "We stuck to our game plan the whole time and our kids played with a lot of energy. We were very aggressive and really attacked the basket."
The Lady Mavs, opening with four of their first five games at home, return to action against Houston Baptist on Sunday at 3 p.m. at College Park Center.
Freshman center Rebekah Van Dijk needed just a touch to show the impact Gerlich hopes she will have over the next few years. Van Dijk scored the team's first three points of the season and was a power throughout the first half. The Nazareth, Texas native scored 13 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 17 points.
"They tell us all the time to do our best, but I wanted to do the best that I could do for our team," Van Dijk said. "I was a little nervous though, coach didn't see it and I tried to keep it inside, but she said it was a good thing."
Van Dijk was one of three Lady Mavs to reach double figures. Freshman Cierra Johnson scored 13 points, while senior Chaun Williams added 11.
UTA's emphasis on defense entering the season paid off as UTA held the Vikings to 28.2 percent shooting from the field, while UTA was able to shoot 45.1 percent. The Lady Mavericks also won the turnover battle, as UTA forced 27 turnovers and had just six.
"The most glaring stats for us in a good way were the assists-to-turnover ratio," Gerlich said. "It was a huge thorn in our side last year. The fact that we had only six turnovers was excellent."
The Lady Mavericks outscored the Vikings 55-18 in the second half, and picked up nine of the teams 16 steals.
A-State Cruises to 92-60 Victory over Jackson State in WNIT
JONESBORO, Ark. (11/14/14) — The Arkansas State women’s basketball team opened the 2014-15 regular season with an impressive 92-60 victory over Jackson State in the opening round of the Preseason WNIT Friday night at the Convocation Center.
A-State advances to the second round and will play Mississippi State Sunday in Starkville, Miss., at 6 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum.
Four Red Wolves scored in double-figures including Preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and All-America candidate Aundrea Gamble, who paced the team with 15 points and nine rebounds. Hanna Qedan chimed in with 11 points, Amanda Lawson added 12 and Khadija Brown-Haywood had 10 points and three steals in the first start of her career.
A-State jumped out to a 25-6 lead midway through the first half, led by 29 at the break, and withstood a small charge by the Lady Tigers at the start of the second half to roll to a convincing win to start the year.
Arkansas State coach Brian Boyer, who is entering his sixteenth year, was pleased with his team’s performance and the fast and physical pace they showed to start the game.
“This time of the year everybody looks good on film and I am still not pleased with the way that we are practicing and so there is still some concern there but from my standpoint I was pleasantly surprised that our energy was good,” Boyer said. “I thought we paid attention to the details that we talked about with this team in shootaround and in the film room last night so I was pleased with it.”
Coming off the bench in her first official game at A-State, Lawson provided an all-around solid game. The redshirt junior added four rebounds to go along with 5-of-10 shooting and also had a steal. She did most of her damage in the first half and scored all 12 of her points in the opening frame, most of which came on easy layups or jump shots in the paint.
Gamble and Brittney Gill narrowly missed recording double-doubles on the night. Gamble grabbed nine rebounds and dished out three assists, while Gill finished with nine points and nine rebounds and was an active force on defense. Brown-Haywood continued her solid start to the year with a 10-point, three rebound and one steal performance.
Arkansas State dominated the Lady Tigers with a physical presence in the paint and outscored the squad 58-26, with the post players contributing 32 points for A-State. On the defensive end, Jackson State committed 25 turnovers that led to 32 points on the offensive end for A-State. On the flip side, the Red Wolves committed just seven turnovers in the first half and shot 51.6 percent (33-64) from the field.
“I was extremely pleased with the first half,” Boyer said. “Defensively, I was pretty critical and not very happy with our defense Monday night and tonight was certainly a different story. Tonight was very good defensively and with around six minutes to go we held them to 11 points so obviously it was very good on the defensive side.”
Lipscomb Knocks Off Georgia Southern
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sara Bliss tallied 22 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Lipscomb held off a second-half rally by Georgia Southern to defeat the Eagles 80-74 in the women's basketball season opener for both teams Friday afternoon in Allen Arena.
Angel McGowan scored a career-high 28 points and dished out five assists to lead Georgia Southern (0-1), and Anna Claire Knight recorded 12 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Briana Jones finished with eight points and eight rebounds, and Alexis Sams tallied seven points and seven rebounds.
Bliss hit all three of her 3-point attempts and was one of five players in double figures for Lipscomb (1-0). Danay Fothergill collected 17 points and eight rebounds, and Ashley Southern notched 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots. Loren Cagle and Alex Banks each scored 10.
Georgia Southern fought back from a 22-point first-half deficit to cut the lead to three points on a Jones layup with 6:26 to go. The Eagles had three possessions to get closer, but McGowan missed a 3-point try and Sams' jumper missed the mark before Bliss drove to the basket for a bucket.
The Eagles made it a one possession game three more times over the next two minutes but could not get the defensive stop they needed. A Bliss jumper pushed the lead to five points, and Chandler Cooper added a triple from the wing for an eight-point lead with 1:38 to go. McGowan answered with a 3-pointer from the wing to make the score 74-69 with 1:13 left, but the Lady Bisons went 6-for-8 from the free-throw line the rest of the way to seal the victory.
"We got a bunch of defensive stops in a row to claw our way back into it," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "We had a couple of empty possessions offensively, and we weren't able to get that additional stop two or three times, where one more really could have helped us to get over the hump."
The Lady Bisons scored 16 straight points in a row over a span of 4:10 in the first half to help build a 22-point first-half lead and a 15-point advantage at halftime. Lipscomb hit six of its eight 3-pointers in the first frame and shot 47 percent.
"This game showed us some of the things we talk about every day in practice, which is that every possession matters," said Vozab. "Being mentally, physically and emotionally ready – that's an every possession thing, and there were some times, especially early in the game, where we just missed assignments that we should have had. In the second half, I thought we regrouped and we were really on point with those things. Hopefully, with so many young faces in our program, we learn from this experience."
Down 18 points, McGowan scored four straight to spark a 13-2 Eagle run. Trellanie English-Lurry hit a triple from the corner, and Jessica Marcus capped the stretch with a jumper, making the score 53-46 with 12:19 left. The teams traded baskets for the next five minutes before the Eagles scored six straight to trim the margin to 63-60. Georgia Southern shot 50 percent in the second frame and outscored Lipscomb 47-38.
"In the second half, we executed our game plan well," said Vozab. "We ran better in transition, we got the ball inside better and we were better defensively – all the things we had talked about, we executed in the second half."
The Eagles open their home schedule with a 5 p.m. contest against Jacksonville Tuesday, Nov.18. It's a doubleheader with the Eagle men's team, and the women's game is set to tip off at 5 p.m.
Sydnor Scores 33 in Loss to No. 10 Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Maryah Sydnor scored 33 points in Appalachian State’s 111-74 loss to tenth ranked Kentucky on Friday night in Memorial Coliseum.
The Mountaineers (0-1, 0-0 Sun Belt) immediately trailed the Wildcats (1-0, 0-0 Southeastern) when Kentucky’s Kyvin Goodin-Rogers hit a three-pointer just 12 seconds into the game and from there the Apps would have to play catch up, never tying or leading the Wildcats for the rest of the game.
Kentucky would go on a 10-0 run to begin the game, finding six points from behind the arc from Goodwin-Rogers. Appalachian would not score until the 17:48 mark where Mia Marshall would hit two free throws.
The Wildcats continued to find points, but Sydnor started to come alive for the Apps scoring two layups as the Mountaineers trailed 20-6. Sydnor took control of the game, finding the next six points before Katie Mallow would hit two free throws for the Apps as Kentucky led 32-16 with 11:18 left in the first half.
The Wildcats ran the floor, finding six fastbreak points to lead the Mountaineers, but Sydnor could not be stopped, finishing the first half with 23 points. Kentucky led at halftime, 58-42.
Sydnor hit ten field goals in the first half and found two rebounds, while Mallow followed with six points. The Mountaineers shot 41.7 percent in the first.
Kentucky was led by Linnae Harper’s ten points at halftime as they shot 52.8 percent
The Wildcats started the second half with five points but the Mountaineers would respond, scoring two free throws from Mallow and a jumper from Joi Jones. The Mountaineers would be on the right track, finding a three-pointer from Mallow, but Kentucky did not let up, going on an 8-2 run to lead, 75-51 with 14:17 to play.
From there Sydnor scored six-straight points but it would not be enough as the Wildcats continued to find points down low and from behind the arc to lengthen their lead to 26 points. Kentucky’s fast-paced game caught up to the Apps as they failed to stop them from scoring 20 points in the last five minutes of play.
The Mountaineers recorded the last four points of the game from freshmen Katelyn Doub and Madi Story, but the Apps fell to Kentucky, 111-74.
Sydnor finished with 33 points and seven rebounds, while Mallow had 13. Marshall had the second-most rebounds for the Mountaineers, tallying six.
The Mountaineers shot 36.7 percent from the floor in the game, grabbing 32 rebounds and turning the ball over 31 times.
Kentucky had seven players score in double-figures with Jennifer O’Neill leading the way with 20 points. Azia Bishop led the team with nine rebounds, while also notching 14 points.
The Wildcats shot 52.0 percent on the night, while recording 50 rebounds and 21 turnovers.
The Apps return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 19 when they travel to Johnson City, Tenn. to play ETSU at 7 p.m.
Troy Falls in Season Opener to Auburn
AUBURN, Alabama – The Troy women's basketball team had first-half turnover issues and good second-half defense wasn't enough to overcome them in a 71-54 loss to Auburn at Auburn Arena on Friday night.
The game was tight for most of the first half, but Auburn closed the frame on a 12-0 run that essentially sealed the game. Troy (0-1) was down 31-29 with 2:30 to go before the half, but the Trojans' final 10 possessions included five missed shots and five turnovers as Auburn (1-0) took a 43-29 lead into the locker room.
Ronita Garrett was a bright spot for Troy as she led the way with 14 points and 13 rebounds for her eighth career double-double. Preseason All-Sun Belt guard Ashley Beverly-Kelley was also in double-figure scoring with 12 points, although she committed nine turnovers.
Troy had 17 first half turnovers and Auburn scored 21 points off of them. However, the Trojans forced the Tigers into 15 miscues in the second half and held them to 28 second-half points.
"They did a fantastic job of taking us out of our running game," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "We worked against what we though would be their zone press, but we have nothing, not even our men's practice team, that can mimic the length they have. That caused a lot of problems and stymied us."
Despite their strong second-half performance defensively, the Trojans still couldn't gain ground as they shot just 22 percent (8-of-36) in the closing half. Troy struggled from the floor all night, shooting just 27 percent (17-of-64) overall.
Auburn dominated the paint, outscoring the Trojans 38-14 there, including 20-4 in the first half. Auburn's 6-foot-3 center Tra'Cee Tanner led the way for the Tigers with 16 points, on 6-of-7 shooting, to go along with 10 rebounds.
She was one of four Tigers, joining three guards, in double-figures with Khady Dieng scoring 13 while Hasina Muhammad and Katie Frerking each scored 10 points. Kiani Parker, who played against Rigby as a freshman in junior college, had eight assists for the Tigers.
Auburn finished the game shooting 44 percent (30-of-69) and outrebounded the Trojans, 51-41. Troy finished with 29 turnovers while the Tigers finished with 25.