Tuesday, Nov. 25
Texas State Defeats Lamar at Home
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State women's basketball team bounced back on Tuesday evening and defeated the Lamar Lady Cardinals by a score of 79-72 at Strahan Coliseum. With the victory, the Bobcats improve to 2-2 on the young season.
Offensively, the Bobcats were led by Erin Peoples who scored a season-high 21 points. She was joined by Meghan Braeuer and Kaitlin Walla who each tallied 13 points and Raven Burns who added a season-high 12 points.
After making the first basket of the contest, the Bobcats never relinquished their lead against the Lady Cardinals. The first half lead only continued to grow into double-digits as Texas State took a 14-point, 39-25, lead at halftime.
The first half was highlighted by a pair of three-pointers by Braeuer and Burns. The Bobcats also distributed the ball well in the first, recording 11 assists on 14 made baskets.
Out of the intermission, Texas State quickly saw it's 14-point halftime lead dwindle down to 10 on a pair of lay-ups off turnovers for Lamar. Peoples, however, halted the Lady Cardinals run with a three-pointer to put the Bobcats back up 13 with 18:40 remaining.
As the second half progressed, Texas State gradually built its lead up to as many as 22 with 10:08 left in the game. The Lady Cardinals never backed off as they answered the 22-point lead with a 12-2 run through the heart of the second half.
With 16 seconds left in the contest, Lamar cut the Bobcat lead to five after a three-pointer by Teleshia Riley. Texas State was able to recover in the final seconds to ultimately win by nine.
The Bobcats finished the game shooting a season-high 54.0 percent from the floor while going 12-for-22 from beyond the arc. Braeuer finished the game shooting 4-for-5 from long range while Peoples went 9-for-13 from the floor. Texas State outrebounded Lamar 33-29 and recorded 19 total assists.
The Bobcats will now hit the road for a pair of games, beginning next Saturday in Stillwater, Okla. against the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. Tip-off against the Cowgirls is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Live stats can be found at www.txstatebobcats.com.
Mountaineers Top Gardner-Webb
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball got its third-straight win on Tuesday, beating Gardner-Webb with a score of 77-69.
The Mountaineers (3-1) trailed for the majority of the game, but came back late in the second half to get an exciting victory over the Bulldogs (2-3).
The Bulldogs started the game with a three-pointer and a layup from Olivia Parker to lead 5-1. The Mountaineers found a couple of free throws, but struggled from the floor as Gardner-Webb went on a 8-2 run, leading the Apps, 14-6.
The Mountaineers missed shots, but converted on free throws to stay in the game, trailing by only three points with 10:57 left in the first half. It looked as though the Bulldogs would start to run away with it, leading 23-15 at the 7:10 time mark, but Joi Jones hit two free throws and Vernessa Hinnant came off the bench to hit two-three pointers for App State.
The Mountaineers ended the first half with an 8-1 run to trail 32-31 at halftime.
Jones led Appalachian with nine points as the team shot just 24.1 percent from the floor in the first half.
Gardner-Webb was led by Jessica Heilig's 10 points, while the team recorded a 40.0 percent field goal percentage.
Mia Marshall came out in the second half to hit a layup 30 seconds in, giving the Apps a 33-32 lead. Gardner-Webb immediately responded, finding points to take a 42-39 lead with 15:12 to play.
Two points from KeKe Cooper and a jumper from Madi Story gave Appalachian a 46-44 lead at the 13:19 mark, but the Bulldogs tied it up again at 46, then took a 56-50 lead with 10:39 to play.
With 7:04 left and Gardner-Webb with a 63-60 lead, the Mountaineers began to take control of the game. Appalachian went on an amazing 20-3 run, finding points from Jones, Marshall, Bria Huffman, Katie Mallow and Maryah Sydnor to lead the game, 76-64 with 1:41 left to play.
From there the Apps could close it out, taking the game 77-69 and adding another exciting finish to the Mountaineers' 2014-15 season.
Jones led the Mountaineers with a career-high 20 points, shooting 7-10 from the floor, while also adding six assists. Sydnor followed with 13 points and eight rebounds. Mallow and Huffman chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Cooper led the Apps on the boards, tallying 12 rebounds in the win.
App State finished the game with a 40.6 field goal percentage, recording 43 rebounds and 18 turnovers.
Gardner-Webb was led by Jessica Heilig's 21 points in the game. The team shot 36.7 percent from the floor, while tallying 35 rebounds and 23 turnovers.
The Mountaineers return to action on Sunday, Nov. 30 when they host Radford at 2 p.m.
Warhawks Fall to No. 25 Mississippi State
STARKVILLE, Miss. – A stern defensive effort that held a 25th-ranked Mississippi State squad to 37.1 percent shooting from the field was not enough as the ULM women’s basketball team dropped an 80-46 decision on Tuesday night at the Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi.
The Warhawks (1-2) limited the Bulldogs (5-0) to just 30.8 percent from beyond the arc, including only allowing two of 10 three-point attempts in the second half.
The Warhawks scored three-of-four three-point attempts in the second half and shot 70.8 percent from the charity stripe through the game.
Although ULM shot 55 percent from the field in the second half, Mississippi State used two early scoring surges to put the game out of reach.
Junior Alayshia Hunter continued her leadership role as she scored 12 points, grabbed eight rebounds and garnered two steals against the Bulldogs.
Freshman Olivia Countiss had a career-high 10 points and added one rebound and an assist in 11 minutes.
Mississippi State’s Sherise Williams had a game-high 15 points. She also recorded five rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
ULM took an early lead as Hunter hit a Layup, but a three-pointer by Victoria Vivians sparked a 14-0 run to give the Bulldogs the advantage.
Although freshman Daja Chase hit two free throws and Hunter added another field goal to pull the Warhawks within eight points, Mississippi State used a 17-0 run to wear the visitors out and put the game away.
The Warhawks return home on Sunday as they host Southern Arkansas in Fant-Ewing Coliseum at 2:00 p.m.
No. 22 Georgia Shuts Down Georgia Southern
ATHENS, Ga. – Merritt Hempe tallied 17 points and eight rebounds, and No. 22 Georgia scored 39 points off turnovers to defeat Georgia Southern 93-52 in women's basketball action Tuesday night in Stegeman Coliseum.
Patrice Butler led the Eagles (1-3) with 13 points and knocked down 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Anna Claire Knight scored 12 points, and Angel McGowan collected seven points and matched her career high with five rebounds. It was the Eagles' 15th straight loss to a ranked opponent, dating back to the 2000-01 season.
Shacobia Barbee recorded 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists after hitting 8-of-11 from the floor, and Erika Ford chipped in 15 points for the Lady Bulldogs (5-0). Tiara Griffin hit 4-of-8 from 3-point range and scored 14 points.
The Eagles hung in for a majority of the first half, and a 3-pointer from the wing by McGowan made the score 32-22 with 4:31 to go. The Lady Bulldogs responded by finishing the frame with a 16-0 run, sparked by four points each by Hempe and Barbee, and led 48-22 at the break. Turnovers were the Eagles' undoing, and Georgia Southern committed seven of its 15 first-half miscues during that stretch. The Eagles wound up with 32 turnovers on the night.
"There were stretches of the game where we executed our game plan really well, but unfortunately, there were a few crucial stretches where we were not able to execute," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "I was disappointed with the way we ended the first half. I thought we battled back and put ourselves in good position going into that final media timeout. We knew their pressure was going to be an issue, but when we executed our press break at the beginning of the game, we didn't have turnovers and got into our offense reasonably well."
Georgia Southern shot 39 percent for the game and hit a season-high 11 3-pointers. Alexis Foulks, Trellanie English-Lurry and Knight each canned two from long distance.
"With a young team, we talk constantly about the attention to detail and executing, and I think tonight we saw examples of when we executed what we were trying to do, it looked pretty good and we were able to get decent shots against a really good team," said Vozab. "Whenever we strayed from that, they took advantage."
Georgia Southern returns home to take on Toccoa Falls Saturday Nov. 29, with tipoff set for noon. It's a doubleheader with the Eagle men's team, and fans can watch the action at Hanner Fieldhouse for just $5 by presenting their football ticket to the Georgia Southern vs. ULM game at the door.