Saturday, Dec. 6
Ragin' Cajuns Use Defense to Knock Off Sam Houston State
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team forced 30 Sam Houston State turnovers, including 19 steals, and the Cajuns totaled 30 points off the Bearkats miscues in a 65-46 victory Saturday afternoon at the Cajundome.
"With Jaylyn Gordon being out, I thought we were going to have a hard time offensively, and we did at the beginning," said head coach Garry Brodhead. "We created a lot of offense with defense. That was our gameplan."
Junior guard Kia Wilridge led Louisiana (5-0) with 16 points and a career-high eight steals while sophomore guard Gabby Alexander added 14 points and five boards. A total of 11 Cajuns recorded points in the contest.
"I thought Kia played extremely well, and Gabby played extremely well in the second half," Brodhead said. "I think when they went to the man (defense), it opened up the middles of the lanes. (Gabby) was able to run the court and get to the goal. She's so athletic."
Taylor Dorsey paced the Bearkats (1-6) with 20 points, shooting 8-of-13 from the floor while also recording a team-high six rebounds. Shernise Robertson also reached double figures, adding 10 points for Sam Houston State off the bench.
The Cajuns defense flustered the Bearkats in the opening 20 minutes, forcing 19 turnovers, to take a 28-11 lead into the break.
"I thought (our full-court press) took a lot out of them," Brodhead said. "In doing that, it helped us to get in the flow of our offense."
After a layup by Dorsey to cut the Cajuns lead to 11-9 midway through the first half, Louisiana responded with a 7-0 run, sparked by a three-pointer from Keke Veal, to push the Cajuns lead to 18-9. Louisiana outscored Sam Houston State 10-2 in the final 5:31 to take a 28-11 advantage into the locker room.
Louisiana continued to run away from the Bearkats in the opening minutes of the second half, going on a 13-2 run in the first four minutes of the period for the largest lead of the game at 41-13.
Sam Houston State began to trim away at its deficit over the next several minutes as Jasmin Wiley scored five of the next seven points for the Bearkats to make it a 41-20 game with 13:47 remaining.
Wilridge ended the Sam Houston State run with back-to-back buckets to extend the Louisiana lead to 45-20 as the Cajuns were able to hold at least a 20-point cushion through a majority of the second half.
A triple by Robertson with 1:56 to play pulled the Bearkats within 18 at 59-41, the first time since the 18:51 mark of the second period that Sam Houston State had been within 20 points of the Cajuns.
Louisiana shot 44.6 percent for the game while the Bearkats were 40.0 percent from the field. The Cajuns held a 44-20 advantage in the paint while also leading in points off turnovers (30-13), second chance points (16-7) and fast break points (20-6).
The Louisiana men's and women's basketball teams will play a doubleheader next Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. with the men hosting Centenary and the women facing Southern-New Orleans at 4:15 p.m.
UALR Falls to Tulane
LITTLE ROCK – The Tulane women’s basketball team used a 17-3 run in the first four minutes of the second half to pull away from UALR and secure a 74-58 victory at the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday afternoon.
The loss for UALR (5-1) was its first of the season while Tulane (7-1) won its third straight. The loss was UALR’s first at home in almost a calendar year, breaking the team’s streak of 12 consecutive victories at the Jack Stephens Center.
Taylor Gault led the Trojans with 17 point while tying a career best with five 3-pointers. Shanity James also scored in double figures, reaching 15 points. Kaitlyn Pratt, the Sun Belt’s reigning Player of the Week, topped all Trojans with nine rebounds while also scoring seven points. James had the team’s second-highest rebound total with seven.
Gault moved up to second place all-time at UALR with those points, passing Kim Sitzmann with 1,519. Her five 3-pointers on the night makes her the first Trojan player since December 2012 with five 3-pointers in a game (Janette Merriex, 7). James also reached 600 points in her career when she scored her 11th of the night.
The Trojans kept things close in the first half, but everything went wrong for UALR to open the second half. Already ahead 28-22, the Green Wave blitzed the Trojans in the first four minutes of the frame. Tulane scored the first 6 points of the half and 15 of the first 16, ballooning their lead to 20 points at 43-23 before four minutes had gone by. The Trojans committed seven turnovers in that span, contributing greatly to the Green Wave’s offense. Tulane finished the afternoon with 23 points off of turnovers.
The rest of the second half was not much better for the Trojans. Though they stayed with Tulane and actually scored four more points than the Green Wave for the rest of the afternoon, the Green Wave’s lead was too substantial to overcome. UALR made baskets were answered almost immediately by points from Tulane at the other end, and the Green Wave nailed four 3-pointers in the second half. With only eight minutes off the clock in the second half, Tulane had equaled its first-half total of 28 points.
Tulane coasted over the remaining 12 minutes of game time as UALR never got closer than 14 the rest of the afternoon. Entering Saturday’s game, the Trojans had not allowed a team more than 54 points in a game this season, and opponents were averaging 48.8 points per game.
Junior Alexius Dawn had seven points and three assists in only 24 minutes of action, and foul trouble early limited her playing time. Keanna Keys picked up four points and five rebounds, and Ka'Nesheia Cobbins led the team with four assists and five steals.
The afternoon seemed promising in the early going. The Trojans won the opening tip for the first time all year, and Pratt converted a running layup to start the game on the right foot. UALR then got two layups from James, and the junior also took two charges in the first four minutes as the Trojans got out to an 8-3 lead.
But that would be the last time the Trojans would score for more than six minutes. The Green Wave used its full-court press to force multiple turnovers, and they went on an 11-0 run in that six-minute span. A Gault 3-pointer finally broke the Tulane momentum, and Pratt followed that with a layup to bring the Trojans back within 3.
From there, though, the Green Wave had the next four points to go back ahead by 7 at 20-13. The Trojans got the next 4 points off a free throw by Keys and a shot from downtown by Clark to get back within two points, but again Tulane pulled away with another 3-pointer from Leslie Vorpahl.
Gault drained a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in the half to bring UALR back within 3 once again, but Vorpahl responded immediately and swished a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left. That put Tulane ahead 28-22 at the break, and those 6 points were the Trojans’ largest halftime deficit of the season.
Vorpahl – who had scored just two 3-pointers all year – made four and led all players with 22 points.
UALR has more than a week off now before its next game. The Trojans will welcome Oklahoma to the Jack Stephens Center on Dec. 14 for a 4 p.m. tipoff.
Mercer Tops Georgia Southern
STATESBORO, Ga. – Precious Bridges tallied 22 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Mercer used a big first half to push past Georgia Southern 84-61 in non-conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon in Hanner Fieldhouse.
Patrice Butler led Georgia Southern (2-5) with 16 points and six rebounds, and Anna Claire Knight posted 11 points and five rebounds. Angel McGowan scored nine, while Alexis Sams and Jakayvea Akins each netted eight.
Bridges was one of four Bears in double figures. Briana Williams scored 20, and Alicia Williams finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Kahlia Lawrence tallied 10 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
Briana Williams scored seven straight points in a 9-0 Bear run as Mercer (5-3) opened a 19-9 cushion midway through the first half. After a fast-break layup by Akins cut the deficit to eight points, Lawrence scored the last four points in a 12-2 Mercer run that stretched the margin to 42-24 at halftime. The Bears logged 19 offensive rebounds and scored 14 second-chance points in the stanza.
"I thought we did a pretty good job of defending their stuff in the first half, but we were unable to finish possessions with rebounds and that hurt us a lot," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "The points they got from offensive rebounds let them get out to a lead and feeling good. We missed some good looks early, and then when they stretched the lead out, I thought we got tight a little bit."
The lead ballooned to 20 points early in the second half before the Eagles used a 6-2 spurt, capped by a Sams triple, to trim the margin to 50-37. A 3-point play by Butler and a jumper from McGowan brought the deficit to 12 points, but it was as close as the Eagles would get. Bridges scored five points in a 9-2 run that made the score 63-44 with 11:37 left.
Georgia Southern shot 40 percent for the game, but the Eagles were outrebounded 52-32, and Mercer shot 55 percent in the second half.
The Eagles have 14 days off for exams before traveling to the Gator Holiday Classic Dec. 21-22 in Gainesville, Fla. Georgia Southern will face Eastern Washington on the tournament's first day with tipoff set for noon.
Mountaineers Fall to Furman
Story to Follow
Nicholls State Uses Late Surge to Defeat Jaguars
THIBODAUX, La. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team held a three-point lead with under two minutes remaining, but Nicholls used a late surge Saturday afternoon to rally back and pick up a 66-62 win over the Jaguars at Stopher Gym.
Despite the four-point loss, South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler believes the Jags can build off their second-half performance as they head into their next game.
"The energy, enthusiasm and fight that we had in the second half is something we haven't seen since we've been her," Fowler said. "If we can build on this game and improve, we'll be fine. I was really pleased with our effort in the second half as we just showed some toughness. That's what we talked about at halftime. We did enough things to put us in position to win the ball game. Unfortunately, we had some untimely shots and (Nicholls State) hit a couple of runners that went in for them. We also have to get better at the free-throw line."
South Alabama outscored NSU 32-27 in the second half and outshot the Colonels 41.7 percent to 33.3 percent in the final frame.
The Jaguars (3-3) will now break for finals before returning to action on Sunday, Dec. 14 when they travel to take on Ole Miss at 2 p.m. at the C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum.
Breanna Hall led USA with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting and also added a pair of steals in the loss, while Colby Davis registered a season-high 16 points off the bench. Davis was 5-for-10 from the floor and also led the club with four steals.
South Alabama shot 40 percent for the game, connecting on 20 of its 50 shot attempts. USA was 7-of-17 from the arc for 41.2 percent, but just 15-of-26 at the foul line, including 8-of-14 in the second half.
Nicholls State (3-3), playing without its leading scorer Emani White, received a career-high 19 points off the bench from Tia Charles. The freshman guard was 8-of-13 from the field and hit three of her four three-point attempts. Charles also tied for top team honors on the glass with six rebounds.
Jenny Nash ended the night in double figures with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting to go along with her five assists. Marina Lilly just missed double figures as she chipped in with nine points and six rebounds.
The Colonels finished the game at 45.6 percent from the field for the game, but were just 10-for-30 in the second half.
Nicholls State got off to a quick start, knocking down three of its first four shot attempts, and grabbed an early 8-2 advantage.
The Jaguars finally got something going and answered back with seven-straight points, the first five coming from Hall. Hall's layup at the 15:49 mark was the first made basket for the Jags in the game. On South Alabama's next possession, Hall drained a trey to cut the deficit to one and then Marquita Daniels stole the ball and drove in for a layup to give USA a 9-8 advantage a minute later.
The Colonels though quickly answered back with an 8-2 spurt of their own to push their lead back out to five (16-11). Charles – who led all scorers with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the first half – ignited the run with a layup of her own and a trey. Nash then connected on a three-pointer of her own, this one coming with 13 minutes showing on the clock to give NSU a 16-11 lead.
Over the next several minutes, Nicholls held control and extended its lead out to nine (23-14) with just under nine minutes to go in the first period of play following a layup by Lilly. USA had three-straight two-shot opportunities at the foul line during that time to cut away at the deficit, but could only connect on one of the two attempts each time. South Alabama was just 7-of-12 at the stripe in the first half.
South Alabama again tried to rally back as it ran off seven unanswered points to pull within three (23-20) with seven minutes, 10 seconds remaining, but NSU came right back and stretched the lead back out to 29-20 on a jumper by JonMarie Guillory.
Davis would also try to help the Jaguars hang around as she paced USA during the opening 20 minutes of action with 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers.
NSU's Jovana Mandic grabbed a missed shot by Charles and put a shot back up just before the halftime buzzer to send the Colonels into the locker room with the 39-30 advantage.
Nicholls came out on fire in the opening half, connecting on 16 of its 27 attempts for 59.3 percent. USA was 10-of-26 from the floor for 38.5 percent
The Colonels maintained the momentum early on in the second half, extending its lead out to as much as 13.
Trailing 47-36 five minutes into the final period of play, South Alabama began to fight its way back. Over the next three-plus minutes, the Jaguars trimmed it to a one-possession deficit as they reeled off a 10-1 run. Hall began the scoring with back-to-back threes. Brittany Webb then connected from the left corner with 12 minutes, 47 seconds showing on the clock to cut the NSU lead to 48-45.
Webb later connected on her second three-pointer of the half to narrow the deficit to 50-49 at the 11:09 mark.
Both teams struggled to find offense over the next three-and-a-half minutes. South Alabama had a chance to cut into the Colonel lead during that time, but missed four straight free throw attempts.
With USA still down by two, Taylor Jenkins went to the line for a pair of free throws to tied the contest back up at 52-52 with less than six minutes to go. A minute later, the Jaguars took their first lead since the 14-minute mark of the opening half, as Davis stole the ball and Hall then knocked down a jumper in the lane with just over five to go.
South Alabama took its largest lead of the game (56-52) after two more free throws by Daniels at the 4:19 mark, but Veronica Ryan found Charles open in the left corner for a trey to cut the Jag lead to one with four minutes, seven seconds left in regulation.
With under two to go, Hall knocked down another jumper to give USA a three-point advantage, but that's when the Colonels would regain control.
Nash drove the baseline for a layup on NSU's ensuing possession. After a Jaguar turnover, NSU had three chances to score before USA came up with the rebound. However as she tried to advance the ball, she was called for steps, giving Nicholls another opportunity. Nash capitalize on the extra possession, knocking down a deep three-pointer from four-feet outside the right wing to put the Colonels back on top (62-60) with 38 seconds remaining.
From there, Nicholls would go 4-for-4 at the foul line to seal the win.