Saturday, Dec. 13
Logan's Career Day Leads GSU Past Tennessee Tech
ATLANTA - Thanks to a career high 19 points, plus 16 rebounds and three blocks from senior Brittany Logan, the Georgia State women's basketball team defeated Tennessee Tech 72-60 at the Sports Arena Saturday afternoon.
Georgia State's defense was a factor as the Panthers held TTU to 29.4 percent from the field (20 of 68), forced 15 turnovers and made nine steals, while owning a 43-38 rebound advantage.GSU limited TTU (1-7) to 24.2 percent in the first half in building a 27-17 halftime lead.
Early in the game, Georgia State grew a 8-7 lead eight minutes into the game into a 20-9 lead with a 12-2 run over a five-minute span as TTU made just 3 of 15 field goals. Logan had the final five points of that run.
In the second hafl, GSU (4-3) grew a 33-24 lead at 16:10 into a 15-point, 39-24 margin at 13:46. The host Panthers would grow that lead into an 18-point lead at 50-32 with 8:39 left. The Panthers led by 17 at 64-47 with 3:30 to play. The host Panthers shot 55 percent in the second half (11 of 20).
The 4-3 Panthers play host to the Hoops & Holiday Classic Friday and Saturday with Massachusetts, La Salle and Ohio coming to Atlanta.
Troy Women Earn 500th Win in Program History
TROY, Alabama – The Troy women's basketball team overcame a poor offensive start to defeat Alabama State, 70-50, on Saturday afternoon at Trojan Arena. The win was the 500th in Troy's program history.
Troy (4-3) got a pair of the double-doubles to lead the way. Ronita Garrett posted her fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds. She also had three assists and no turnovers. Ashley Beverly-Kelley had the other double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds along with a team-high four assists.
Garrett and Beverly-Kelley combined for nine of Troy's season-high 22 steals as the Trojans forced 36 Alabama State turnovers. In comparison, the Trojans committed a season-low 11 turnovers. Troy scored 33 points of off ASU's turnovers and also recorded 26 fast break points.
The Trojans' transition game is what helped them overcome a 1-of-17 start from the field. Troy hit the first shot of the game, but missed 16 straight as Alabama State (2-4) built a 10-point lead, 15-5.
"We went to our zone, trapping defense and that created a lot of turnovers that we could score off of," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "After that defense started to work we were able to score in the offense a little bit, but before that we just weren't able to score."
Garrett hit a jumper at the free throw line with 9:44 to go, stopping the cold streak and igniting a Trojan run. Troy went on to make 11-of-14 shots to close the first half, including eight straight at one point, as it entered the locker room leading, 34-27.
Troy held the Lady Hornets to 24 percent (7-of-29) shooting in the second half and never led by less than eight points. Troy's lead swelled to as many 20 points, which is were it finished. The 50 points scored by ASU was the fewest allowed by Troy since a 62-49 win over South Alabama in the 2013 Sun Belt Championships.
Troy finished shooting 34 percent (28-of-82) on the game, including just 1-of-19 from long range. Alabama State shot 30 percent (20-67) on the night, including 2-of-16 from deep.
Jasmine Peeples led the Lady Hornets with 15 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks. Daniele Ewert also posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but committed eight turnovers. ASU outrebounded Troy, 64-45, including 29 offensive boards.
Troy held Britney Wright, ASU's leading scorer (13.8 ppg), to just two points. Troy has now won four straight over Alabama State.
The Trojans return to the court on Thursday when they open a two-game road trip at Evansville. Game time against the Purple Aces is set for 5:30 p.m. CST. Troy will close the road trip on Saturday at Tennessee State.
Late Push Gives Cajuns Best Start in School History
LAFAYETTE, La. – Junior forward Jasmin Mills came off the bench to score a team-high 12 points and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team ended the game on a 16-9 run to match their best start in program history at 6-0 in a 58-52 victory over Southern-New Orleans on Saturday afternoon at the Cajundome.
Despite shooting a season-low 35 percent (25-of-71) from the floor, the Cajuns defense helped awaken the offense as Louisiana scored 17 points off 25 SUNO turnovers. It was the third-straight game the Cajuns forced at least 25 turnovers, and the fourth time this season.
Mills (6) and Simone Fields (5) combined for 11 offensive boards to help the Cajuns to a total of 24 and a season-high 50 rebounds. Fields also added 11 points and one block to her stat line. Keke Veal finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Kia Wilridge came close to a double-double with nine points, nine boards, five steals and three assists.
"It was one of those games that you worry about coming out of finals," said head coach Garry Brodhead. "This week was predominantly working on ourselves, defending, putting pressure on the ball and creating turnovers. I think turnovers and rebounding were key."
With Louisiana holding a 54-48 lead with two minutes to play, SUNO (5-3) cut its deficit to two as a layup by Marquetta Stokes and a jumper from Kishaun Williams made it 54-52 with 39 seconds remaining.
Wilridge answered for the Cajuns on the other end with a jumper in the paint for a two-possession game before a missed SUNO basket allowed Jaylyn Gordon to knock down two free throws to seal the victory for Louisiana.
The Cajuns struggled in the first half, being held to 32 percent (10-of-31) while also committing 16 turnovers, helping the Lady Knights take a 26-25 lead into halftime.
"You could see we weren't very sharp early on," Brodhead said. "I give credit to SUNO. I thought they played hard, harder than us at times. They created a lot of problems for us."
In the opening minutes of the second half, Fields sparked a 7-2 Louisiana run as Wilridge finished off a three-point play and Veal capped off the run with a layup to make it 34-29 with 16:36 to play.
SUNO crept within two after a layup by Breanna Wiley, who led the Lady Knights with 15 points, made it a 36-34 contest. However, the Cajuns answered with back-to-back buckets from Mills to build a 40-34 advantage with 14 minutes to play.
Louisiana continued to maintain a narrow lead over the next several minutes until a layup by Ksenia Sharan put the Lady Knights back on top at 43-42 with 7:39 remaining in the game.
A basket by Adrienne Prejean one minute later began a 6-0 run for the Cajuns over a span of 52 seconds with Gabby Alexander adding two-straight baskets for a 48-43 game with 5:38 left on the clock, giving the Cajuns the lead for good.
After tallying 16 first half turnovers, the Cajuns took much better care of the ball in the second half with just five turnovers while forcing the Lady Knights to commit 15.
The Cajuns will look for their first-ever 7-0 start Wednesday when they host No. 22 Mississippi State (9-0) at 11 a.m. at the Cajundome.
ULM Remains Perfect at Home with Win over McNeese State
MONROE, La. – Chelsea Tieuel hit six free throws in the final 15 seconds of the game to help the ULM women’s basketball team remain perfect at home as they captured a thrilling 66-63 victory over McNeese State on Saturday afternoon in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
"I thought this was a great win for our program,” said head coach Jeff Dow. “The way our team is comprised, we have a lot of players that never been in situations they were in today, whether it is juniors and seniors or freshmen. Being able to perform in end-of-game situations and make some clutch plays and free throws was very encouraging. We came up with some big stops when we needed them. That's going to help us down the line."
The Warhawks (3-3) trailed by three with 15 seconds remaining, but Chelsea Tieuel remained cool under pressure and hit two free throws to cut the lead to 63-62.
McNeese State (5-3) received a technical foul for calling an excessive timeout with 14 seconds left, sending Tieuel back to the line for two more free throws and giving ULM the ball.
Tieuel hit both free throws for the technical foul before being fouled again with 13 seconds before time expired. The freshman hit two more clutch free throws to give the Warhawks a 66-63 lead that that they would not relinquish.
"[Tieuel’s game] was huge,” said Dow. “To make the free throws that she did down the stretch and to hit six big ones with the game on the line was huge. She made some other plays as well, getting a couple assists and zero turnovers in 28 minutes. That's impressive.”
Overall, Tieuel scored 15 points while garnering three rebounds, two assists, a steal and zero turnovers.
Sharnice Brooks led the team in scoring with 20 points. The senior also collected seven rebounds, two assists and a block.
Alayshia Hunter had 12 points, grabbed five rebounds and racked up six blocks on the afternoon.
Allison Baggett led the Cowgirls with 31 points.
Brooks kick-started the scoring for the Warhawks as she hit a layup to give ULM an early 2-0 lead. After trailing shortly after that, back-to-back field goals by Chase and Hunter helped give the home team a 6-4 lead with 15:01 remaining in the half.
Baggett hit a jumper with 10:03 left until the break to give the Cowgirls their largest lead of the half, but Tieuel hit a three-pointer and Brooks knocked down two from the charity stripe to make it a one-possession game.
McNeese State tried to stretch the lead again, but a strong defensive effort by Hunter, who garnered five blocks and three defensive rebounds in the first half, helped the Warhawks keep the game close before Ashley Aune’s shot from beyond the arc gave ULM a one-point lead with 2:23 left in the half.
A field goal by McNeese State’s Talisa Boyd gave the visitors a one-point lead, but Brooks and Tieuel each hit two free throws to give the Warhawks a 29-26 lead heading into the locker room.
Brooks’ made jumper opened the second half and gave ULM a five-point lead, but the Cowgirls regained a 34-33 lead with 14:59 remaining in the game.
After battling back and forth, two free throws by Hunter and a jumper by Brooks sparked a 10-2 run to give the Warhawks a 52-42 advantage with 6:53 left.
McNeese State then took a 61-58 lead as Alaina Verdin scored a field goal, but ULM refused to give up and snatched a 66-63 victory.
The Warhawks will look to extend their home winning streak as they face LSU-A on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
Mavericks Surge Pass Islanders in Second Half
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - UT Arlington surged in the second half to earn its first road win of the season, defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 42-28 at the Dugan Wellness Center on Saturday in nonconference play.
The Lady Mavericks (4-3) outscored the Islanders (2-5) 27-11 in the second half after trailing by two going into the break. Rebekah Van Dijk picked up nine rebounds and eight points in the second to complete her sixth consecutive double-double. The freshman finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds overall, tabbing her seventh game with double-digit scoring.
"This win showed a lot about our kids digging deep and executing late in the game and hitting big shots," UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich said. "It wasn't an easy win at all. We talked about rebounding and we were getting out renjoined for by a lot and we talked (at halftime) about not being as hesitant."
UTA ended a brief two-game losing streak with the win and head into its final run of nonconference play this week. The Lady Mavs play at home for the first time since Dec.2 on Wednesday vs. McMurry. Nonconference play ends on Dec. 21 at Metroplex rival North Texas.
Senior Chaun Williams helped flood the Islanders in the second, picking up three steals in the contest and finished with 10 points.
"It felt good getting the win tonight," Williams said. "The coaches gave us some things to get some easy buckets and to be patient. We got into our groove in the second half.
The Lady Mavs forced the Islanders in 20 turnovers overall and a run of three-straight possessions to begin the second half sent UTA into an early 6-0 run. UTA expanded the lead into double digits shortly after and would not look back.
UTA's defense held TAMU-CC to 20.8 percent shooting as the Islanders ran into a defense that Williams said kept its opponent on its toes.
"It was exciting and got us pumped up," Williams said. "It came from us switching defenses on them and it was confusing them and we were getting easy stops that way with some easy steals."
Following the two-game slate this week to close nonconference play, UTA begins Sun Belt Conference action on Dec. 30 against Georgia Southern in a men's and women's doubleheader.