Friday, Dec. 19
Georgia State Knocks Off UMASS to Open GSU Tournament
ATLANTA - In her first collegiate start, freshman Makeba Ponder recorded 17 points, including two clutch free throws with 9.4 seconds remaining, in the Georgia State women's basketball team's 71-66 win over UMass (5-5) in the Holiday and Hoops Classic at the GSU Sports Arena.
Center Brittany Logan added 16 points and 11 rebounds and Kayla Nolan finished with 17 points, six rebounds and three steals. The Panthers were either tied or held a lead for all but 32 seconds of Friday's game.
GSU (5-3) finished with nine three-pointers, just two shy of the school record, but a third time this season with nine or more made. Ponder made 5 of 9 to pace that category.
Georgia State held a 43-31 rebound advantage, getting a final key stops late in the game from Haley Gerrin.
The host Panthers led by 11 points at 35-24 in the first half, but UMass closed to 35-31 with a 7-0 run to end the first half.
In the second half, GSU continued to lead but could never get the margin above five points, including 56-51at 9:21. A three-pointer by the Minutewomen's Cierra Dillard tied the game at 59 with 3:56. Logan answered for GSU at 3:25 for a 61-59 lead, then Dillard again nailed a trey at 3:00 to give the Minutemen the lead at 62-61.
The calm freshman Ponder then swished another 3-pointer to provide GSU a 64-62 lead at 2:45 and Logan scored to make it five points again at 67-62 with 1:10. But, UMass' Rashida Timbilla scored inside at 53.9 seconds. When GSU turned the ball over Timbilla followed a miss to make it 67-66 with 27.2 seconds. But, she missed a tying free throw.
After a UMass turnover with 10.2 seconds, Ponder was fouled and hit her two free throws with 9.4 seconds. Nolan added a final pair of free throws with four seconds.
Coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener was glad to win a close one after a pair of two-point losses in the 5-3 season.
"I was proud of the team to hang tough and be able to win this tight game because it was a total team effort with a lot of people making a lot of key plays."
"A concern of mine was their rebounding and size, but we fought and boxed out and gained a key advantage in today's game," the coach noted in her 50th win at GSU. "The team was determined to win today and they fought to get it."
Texas State Downs Bethune-Cookman in Opening Game of Stetson Tournament
DELAND, Fla. -- A double-double by Kileah Mays and eight points from the Bobcats in the final 1:48 of the game lifted the Texas State women’s basketball team to a 51-40 victory over Bethune-Cookman at the Stetson Hatter Classic Friday afternoon. With the victory, Texas State improves to 5-3 overall.
In addition to Mays’ second career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, Jacqueline Jeffcoat matched a career-high of 14 rebounds to lead the Bobcats in that category. Meghan Braeuer also continued to be an offensive spark for Texas State, nailing five three-pointers for a team-high 15 points.
After a slow start by both teams, the Bobcats started the scoring with a 7-0 run capped by a 10-foot jumper on the right baseline by Mays.
The Bobcats continued to maintain tough defense, allowing just four made baskets in the first half for Bethune-Cookman. The eight points allowed in the first half is the fewest points allowed by the Bobcats since head coach Zenarae Antoine took the helm in 2011.
Within the first 30 seconds of the second half, Braeuer hit her third three of the game to give Texas State a 17-point lead, its largest of the game.
The Wildcats, however, answered Braeuer’s three with a 13-3 run to cut the Bobcat lead to seven with 12:20 left in the game.
With a few back-and-forth possessions later and a Bobcat lead that grew to as many as 11, the Wildcats rattled off a 7-0 run to come within four. A jumper just inside the arc by freshman Taeler Deer and Braeuer’s fifth three-pointer in the following minute proceeded to seal the deal to lead Texas State to its fifth victory.
Sophomore Kindell Texada nailed four free throws in the final minute of the contest to lead Texas State to a 6-2 run in the final minute of play.
Texas State finished the contest with 53 rebounds, the second highest total this season. The Bobcats are now riding a three-game winning streak, the longest of the season.
The Bobcats will wrap up the Stetson Hatter Classic tomorrow afternoon for a game against host school Stetson. Tip-off against the Hatters is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT. In addition to the broadcasted game on 89.9 KTSW, the game will be streamed on ESPN3. Live stats and live audio will be available at www.txstatebobcats.com.
Arkansas State Defeats Missouri State, 78-62
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (12/17/14) – Arkansas State erased a 10 point second half deficit and shot a season-high 59.6 percent from the field to defeat Missouri State 78-62 in women’s basketball Friday night at the JQH Arena.
Five Red Wolves (5-4) scored in double-figures led by junior guard Aundrea Gamble’s 22 points, 17 of which came in the second half. Hanna Qedan added 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including three, 3-pointers, while Khadija Brown-Haywood, Jasmine Hunt and Brittney Gill all finished with 12 points each.
A-State trailed 51-41 with just over 18 minutes remaining, but went on a 13-0 run to take a 44-41 lead with 12:29 left. Gamble sparked the run with a pull up jumper in the paint and Qedan gave the Red Wolves a one point lead after a 3-pointer. The Lady Bears turned the ball on the offensive end and Hunt got a layup on the other end to put A-State up by three points.
Arkansas State was active defensively all night, but made its greatest impact during its drive to regain the lead. Missouri State committed six turnovers during a five minute span and went 0-for-5 from the field to allow A-State to get back into the game.
“I am really proud of this team and the way they were able to come back tonight,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “The biggest thing was that there were some very specific mistakes we were making that was allowing them to score and we were finally we were able to get some stops and regain the lead. They had shown that they could go through some scoring droughts and we talked about as long we could hang in there we thought they might go through one of those droughts and when they did we were ready to take advantage of it.”
The Lady Bears briefly took the lead back at 45-44 (11:34) and again at 47-45 (11:05) but the Red Wolves responded with a 9-0 run to push its lead to 54-47 after a 3-pointer by Qedan with 9:01 to go. The lead grew 65-54 with over four minutes to go and Arkansas State sealed the game by going 8-for-8 from the free throw line over the final two minutes.
“We have to make free throws to win ball games,” Boyer said. “We hit them when we needed it helped when (Amanda) Lawson hit one to get it to a 10 point lead and then we got into the hands of Hanna Qedan and she hit and I think everyone kind of relaxed after that.”
Gill finished in double figures for the second straight game and was very active on the defensive end. She was the cause of several Missouri State turnovers and got her hands on passes that led to steals by her teammates.
Arkansas State led 24-14 with 8:37 to go in the first half, but went cold from the field after from that point as the Bears finished on a 23-7 run. Kenzie Williams scored 12 points in the half on 3-of-6 shooting, including a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
The Lady Bears used a 9-0 run to get within 24-23 with 6:09 to play in the game and then ended the half on a 7-0 run to take a 37-31 lead into the halftime break. A-State looked out of sync for much of the final 10 minutes of the period and committed six of their nine turnovers in the alf during the span.
The Red Wolves started the game by torching the nets and draining six of its first eight shots, aided by a pair of steals from Gamble, to take an early 9-4 lead, but Missouri State responded with a 6-0 run to take a 10-9 lead at the first media timeout.
Arkansas State turned the ball over four times during the Bears’ run before Brown-Haywood put the Red Wolves back on top with a pull up jumper. The junior from Centralia, Ill., had a strong first half and started the night by hitting her first three shots from the field. Hunt also turned a solid first half and was the recipient of lob passes over Missouri State’s defense in the paint for easy turnaround layups. Hunt also got her hands on a steal and got ahead of the defense for an easy outlet pass from Brittney Gill to capped a 6-0 run that gave A-State an early 19-12 advantage.
Arkansas State shots its highest field goal percentage of the season, 59.6 percent, on 31-of-52 shooting from the field and was 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from behind the 3-point line. The Red Wolves were 11-of-22 (50 percent) from the free throw line and outscored the Lady Bears 36-24 in the paint. Missouri State committed 23 turnovers and the Red Wolves scored 35 points off those turnovers while limiting themselves to just 15 mistakes on the evening.
Arkansas State returns home for the first time in three weeks to take on Florida Gulf Coast on Monday, Dec. 22 at 7:05 p.m. at the Convocation Center. It will be “Bring You ‘A’ Game” night with all youth in the eighth grade and younger getting for $3 when they shot a report card with all A’s and B’s. It will also by “Christmas Tacky Sweater Night,” with all fans who wear a sweater to the game receiving a free box of popcorn.
Cajuns Use Overtime to Slip Past Alcorn
LORMAN, Miss. – After Alcorn State ended the second half on a 10-0 run to send the game into overtime, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns women’s basketball team outscored the Lady Braves 10-3 in the extra period to pull out a 64-57 victory Friday afternoon.
Cienna Rodriguez knocked down two free throws to give the Cajuns a 54-44 advantage with 3:05 to play, but Norianna Haynes scored seven of the next 10 points for the Lady Braves to force overtime.
“This was like a trap game for us,” said head coach Garry Brodhead. “I thought we played really well against Mississippi State with a lot of energy and were very coachable. Today, we came out flat. Everybody seemed like they wanted to play as individuals. I didn’t think we played very good team defense or handled the ball well. They didn’t pressure us hard at all and we still turned the ball over. It was just one of those games. We found a way to win but it wasn’t pretty.”
Gabby Alexander lifted the Cajuns (7-1) to an early lead at 56-54 in overtime but Alcorn State (1-7) hit 3-of-4 from the free-throw line to give the Lady Braves a 57-54 advantage with 3:28 to play. The ASU lead didn’t last long as Jaylyn Gordon connected on a three on Louisiana’s next possession before Jodi Quinn knocked down a jumper from the free-throw line to make it a two-possession game with 1:55 remaining.
ASU was unable to trim away its deficit, missing two shots and committing one turnover as Louisiana came away with the win.
Gordon led the Cajuns with 22 points, hitting 11-of-12 from the charity stripe, while Kia Wilridge added 17 points in just 21 minutes of action while battling foul trouble. Alexander came off the bench to total nine points, while Rodriguez finished with five points and five assists in 10 minutes on the floor.
Louisiana jumped out to an early 7-2 lead to force an ASU timeout in the first three minutes of the game. However, the Lady Braves pulled closer as a three-pointer from Haynes, who finished with a floor-high 25 points, made it 11-9 with 14:16 to play in the first half.
ASU hung close through a majority of the first half until Gordon hit six-straight free throws to give the Cajuns a 23-15 advantage with 6:51 left in the period.
The Lady Braves made it a two-point contest at 25-23 after two free throws from Olivia Brown before Louisiana went on a 7-1 run in the final 2:31 to go into the break with 32-24 lead.
The Cajuns were able to force two early turnovers in the first 1:30 of the second half as Wilridge scored six-straight points to give Louisiana its largest lead at 40-26.
However, the Cajuns went without a basket for nearly 12 minutes until Gordon knocked down a triple to push the Louisiana lead to 48-43 with 6:19 to play.
Quinn and Jasmin Mills added baskets for the Cajuns until the Lady Braves ended the period with a run to send the game to overtime.
The Cajuns shot 34.7 percent from the floor for the game while ASU was held to 29.7 percent. Louisiana was clutch at the free-throw line, shooting 26-of-32, the most points and second-best percentage (81.3) this season from the line. Louisiana scored 22 points off 18 ASU turnovers, while the Lady Braves managed just seven points off 15 Cajuns miscues.
The Cajuns will take one week off for the Christmas holiday before returning home Dec. 28 to host Jackson State in their final non-conference game at 4 p.m.
“I think for sure we have to play with more effort and put more effort into practice,” Brodhead said. “Maybe this little break will give us a chance to regroup and come back a little fresher.”
Warhawks Falter at Wichita State
WICHITA, Ka. – The ULM women’s basketball team out-rebounded Wichita State 36 to 28, but it was not enough as the Warhawks dropped a 57-42 decision to the Shockers on Friday night in Charles Koch Arena.
In addition to out-rebounding the Shockers (7-3), ULM (4-4) had 22 points in the paint compared to the home team’s four. The Warhawk bench also had 18 points, while Wichita State’s bench only garnered three points on the evening.
Sharnice Brooks, Jade Wharton and Chelsea Tieuel each had eight points.
Brooks added nine rebounds and two assists.
Christina Gray grabbed eight rebounds and collected four points, one assist and a steal.
Michaela Dapprich led the Shockers with 16 points.
The Shockers started on a 7-0 run before Alayshia Hunter made a jumper to put ULM on the board. The home team then used another scoring surge to jump out to a 15-2 lead before Beard’s bucket cut Wichita State’s advantage to 11 points.
Wichita State stretched the lead out again after Alie Decker scored a three-pointer, but Hunter added her second basket of the game to cut into the lead (20-8).
After trailing by double-digits for the first part of the second half, Tieuel scored eight points in a little over three minutes to cut the Shockers’ lead to 40-31 with 11:23 remaining in the game.
Although Wichita State pushed the lead out again, Aundrea Davis found the net from beyond the arc to pull the Warhawks within 10 (47-37).
Wichita State’s Jamillah Bonner scored a jumper to stretch the lead back out, but Brooks matched the score to keep it a 10 point game with 3:24 left in the game.
Despite cutting the score to 49-39, the Warhawks were unable to overcome the early Wichita State scoring surges to gain the victory.
The Warhawks conclude their non-conference schedule tomorrow as they face George Mason at 12:05 p.m. in Charles Koch Arena in their final game of the Shocker Winter Classic.