Saturday, January 17
Troy Pressures Georgia Southern, Wins Fifth-Straight
TROY, Alabama – The Troy women's basketball continued to roll as it defeated Georgia Southern, 84-74, at Trojan Arena on Saturday night. The win was Troy's fifth straight, the longest streak for the program since 2008-09. Troy's 5-1 start to Sun Belt is its best start since 1998-99.
Turnovers were the main difference as Troy (10-5, 5-1) forced Georgia Southern into 25 miscues while committing a season-low seven turnovers itself. Those turnovers led to a huge discrepancy in shooting as Troy attempted a season-high 94 shots and Georgia Southern (4-11, 1-5) attempted just 61.
Ronita Garrett led the Trojans with 16 points, 13 rebounds and five steals, marking her third straight double-double. The senior now has 10 double-doubles on the season, the most in the Sun Belt. Lacey Buchanon scored in double figures for the third straight game as she tallied 14 points off the Troy bench, including 12 in the second half.
Despite the fast pace, which favored a Troy team that likes to run, the game was close throughout, including late when Troy led 73-72 with 1:44 to go. It was then that Rachel Reid buried a 3-pointer to give Troy a two-possession lead. Buchanon assisted on the trey, her team-high fifth assist of the game.
After the Eagles got the lead back down to two, 76-74, Ashley Beverly-Kelley got a layup to push the lead again to four. Beverly-Kelley finished with 10 points and now needs 15 to reach her 1,000th career point.
From there, Troy held Georgia Southern scoreless and pulled out to a 10-point advantage at the free throw line. The 10-point win was the biggest in Troy's current five-game winning streak.
Georgia Southern was led by Anna Claire Knight who had a game-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting. She also grabbed 10 rebounds to tie with Briana Jones for the Eagles' team lead.
Despite their 25 turnovers, Georgia Southern stayed in the game much of the way thanks to its 3-point shooting. The Eagles hit nine 3-pointers (9-of-23) on the day, but did not make a trey in the final nine minutes. Troy, on the other hand, was 4-of-18 from deep.
Aissata Maiga and Simiah Blount, two unlikely candidates, each hit a 3-pointer for the Trojans, the second of the season for each. Maiga rounded out four double-digit scorers for Troy as she posted 11 points.
The Trojans outrebounded Georgia Southern, 51-45, thanks in large part to 24 offensive rebounds. The Trojans outscored the Eagles in every specialty category, including second-chance points were they had an 18-6 advantage. Troy also topped the Eagles in points in the paint (42-20), points off turnover (25-4), fast break points (19-4) and bench points (38-9).
Georgia Southern (46 percent, 28-of-61) posted a better overall shooting percentage than Troy (37 percent, 35-of-94) but, Troy attempted 33 more shots than Georgia Southern.
The Trojans return to the court on Monday when they host Appalachian State at Trojan Arena at 5:15 p.m. The Mountaineers defeated Sun Belt favorite Arkansas State on Thursday, but lost at home to Georgia State on Saturday.
Teamwork Leads Panthers to Win over Appalachian State
BOONE, N.C. – Georgia State defeated Appalachian State 76-71 in a Sun Belt Conference women’s basketball game in the Holmes Center.
The visiting Panthers (8-8, 3-4) relied on the biggest player on the court, 6-foot-4 Brittany Logan with 17 points and nine rebounds, along with the smallest player on the court, 4-foot-11 Alisha Andrews with 16 points and five assists. Kayla Nolan added 13 points, Morgan Jackson contributed 11 points and Kennesha Nichols chipped in with nine rebounds and eight points.
Georgia State shot 45.5 percent for the game (25 of 55), including six 3-point baskets in the first half.
Appalachian State (8-7, 3-3) had won three of its last four and was 6-1 at home. Senior preseason first-team All-Sun Belt forward Maryah Sydnor led the Mountaineers with 21 points, while Joe Jones added 11 points.
“This was a total team win and I’m proud of the response after a couple tough losses,” head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. “I can go down the roster and talk about how each player gave us something to this win. I am pleased with the effort and focus today. We were patient, we weren’t as careless with the ball and we made the plays down the stretch to win. We needed to get this win to get some momentum back for this season.”
Georgia State started strong, building a quick 22-10 lead at 12:12 by making 9 of its first 14 shots. ASU forged a 28-28 tie at five minutes, but GSU went into halftime with a 38-36 lead.
In the second half, host ASU made a brief surge to take a 47-43 lead at 13:53 and was hanging on to a 48-47 lead at 11:14 when GSU made a 7-0 run to climb back to a 54-48 lead at 9:32. Once GSU got the lead, it never lost it even though ASU closed to 71-69 with 49 seconds. Andrews, Watson and Nichols made free throws down the stretch to seal the road win.
Georgia State, No. 52 in the NCAA in free throw shooting, made 20 of 26 today (76.9%). GSU had a key 22-19 rebound advantage in the second half, even though ASU led 42-38 for the day. The Panthers made 11 steals today.
The Panthers stay on the road and go on to play Arkansas State on Monday night.
UALR Topples ULM for Seventh Consecutive Win
MONROE, La. – The UALR offense had its best half of the season, and the defense did more than enough to give the Trojans their seventh straight victory on Saturday afternoon.
In a game slowed down by 55 combined fouls, the Trojans got a season-best 47 points in the first half and went on to a 79-41 win over ULM at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
UALR (13-2, 6-0 Sun Belt Conference) remains undefeated in league play and is still on top of the standings as the only 6-0 squad. ULM (5-10, 1-5) committed 20 turnovers Saturday’s game.
The Trojans and Warhawks combined for 55 fouls, the most in a UALR game since December 9, 2003 against Louisiana Tech. But despite the frequent stoppages, UALR was able to take advantage of its attempts at the free-throw line and sink 27 of its 33 attempts from the charity stripe while ULM made only 18 of its 27. The Trojans’ 27 made free throws were their most of the year.
From the field, UALR shot 43.4 percent while the Trojan defense held ULM to just 22.9 percent shooting.
UALR has won all six Sun Belt games this season by at least 20 points, and Saturday’s 38-point margin of victory is a season high.
UALR’s 47 points in the first half was one better than it tallied in the second half against LSU to open the season on Nov. 14. Taylor Gault had 14 of her team-high 20 points at halftime, and three other Trojans finished double-digit scoring. Shanity James finished the night with 15 points while contributing a team-high six rebounds. Alexius Dawn hit four 3-pointers and ended the game with 14 points, also adding a team-best 5 assists. And Ka'Nesheia Cobbins scored 10 points, adding three assists and five rebounds.
With the win, UALR continued its best-ever start to a season, as this is the first time the team has ever been 13-2 after 15 games. UALR has now won six consecutive games against ULM, and the team has also claimed victory in nine straight regular-season conference games.
The Trojans led this game the entire way, starting with a Gault 3-pointer on the team’s first possession. The Warhawks got a basket after that to make it a 3-2 game, but UALR scored the next 8 points while ULM committed three offensive fouls on its next four possessions. By the time the first media timeout occurred, UALR led 11-2 and the Warhawks already had five fouls.
Things didn’t get much better for ULM after that, as the team’s foul total continued to climb. The Warhawks had eight team fouls and nine turnovers with just eight minutes gone, and the Trojans had stretched their lead to 19-6.
UALR’s defense was up to its usual tricks in the first half, keeping the Warhawks off the board for large stretches of time. UALR had a 20-point lead with eight minutes to play in the period, holding a 28-7 advantage as Gault reached 14 points on a wide-open 3-pointer.
The Warhawks picked up their scoring in the next five minutes as UALR began to foul as much as ULM. When the fourth media timeout finally arrived, the teams had combined for 30 fouls and UALR’s lead was down to 18 points at 36-18.
But UALR got back into the groove in the final four minutes of the half, scoring 11 points while stretching its lead to 47-20 at the break. UALR shot 48.1 percent from the field in the first half while the Warhawks were a mere 4 of 20.
At halftime, the teams had combined for 32 fouls, and UALR’s Clark and Keys had three apiece.
During the game, Kiera Clark played her 2,500th career minute with the Trojans while James eclipsed 2,000 in her career. Cobbins scored her 100th field goal as she went 4 for 4. James moved up to ninth all-time at UALR in attempted free throws while Gault moved up to 10th all-time in career assists and fourth all-time in made 3-pointers. Gault finished the game an impressive 8 of 8 from the line.
In the second half, ULM came out the better side as the Trojans only scored 6 points in the first seven minutes. Though the Warhawks got within 20 points, UALR’s lead never dropped below that margin. With 8:35 left in the game and the Trojans ahead by 21, the team closed out the contest on a 20-3 run to deflate the home crowd and clinch its biggest win of the year.
UALR got 17 assists and only 12 turnovers while ULM committed 20 turnovers and had assists on only three baskets. UALR also outrebounded ULM by a 40-29 margin. The Trojans had 10 fast-break points to the Warhawks’ 2, and UALR scored 23 points off ULM turnovers.
The Trojans have just one day off before their next game, as they head to Mobile, Ala., to take on the South Alabama Jaguars on Monday. Tipoff between UALR and South Alabama is set for 5:05 p.m. The Trojans beat the Jaguars 71-37 at the Jack Stephens Center on Jan. 5.
Gamble Powers A-State to Win over Texas State
JONESBORO, Ark. (1/17/15) – Junior guard Aundrea Gamble scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Arkansas State women’s basketball team to a 68-48 Sun Belt Conference victory over Texas State Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
The Red Wolves won their third straight home game, improving their overall record to 11-6 and league mark to 6-1. The Bobcats fell to 9-7 on the year and now stand 4-3 in league play.
Gamble, who reached at least 20 points in a game for the 10th time this season, scored eight of A-State’s first 10 coming out of the break as the Red Wolves turned a nine-point halftime lead into a 21-point cushion midway through the second half.
“We will certainly take the win,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “Early in the game it looked both teams were trying to find themselves early on and it was just a matter of who was going to get the upper hand and fortunately we were able to do that.”
Arkansas State began the final 20 minutes of action with an 8-0 run and outscored the Bobcats 14-4 over the first seven minutes. The Red Wolves’ lead ballooned to as much as 23 points on three different occasions, the last coming 59-36 with 6:58 left in the contest.
A-State improved its shooting percentage from .467 in the first half to .542 in the second, finishing the game with a .500 overall mark. The Red Wolves also outrebounded Texas State 23-18 and limited the Bobcats to a .281 field goal percentage in the second half to pull away.
Gamble hit 11-of-17 shots and was the only A-State player to score in double figures, but Hanna Qedan (9), Khadija Brown-Haywood (8) and Amanda Lawson (8) were all within one bucket of reaching double digits. Gamble now has 985 career points, leaving her just 15 shy of becoming the 22nd player in school history to score 1,000.
Although the game was tied 10-10 with 13:10 left in the first half, the Red Wolves never trailed during the contest. Starting with a Jasmine Hunt layup and then five straight points from Gamble, A-State broke the tie by going on a 12-0 run to make the score 22-10 with 8:05 left before half.
The Red Wolves built a 30-17 lead, their largest of the first half, at the 2:52 mark, but Texas State scored seven of the final 10 points to pull back within 33-24 at the break.
Arkansas State returns to action Monday, Jan. 19, when it will host Georgia State at 5:05 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
The squad will return to action Monday, Jan. 19 against Georgia State.
Four Score in Double Figures as Cajuns win Fourth Consecutive
LAFAYETTE, La. – The UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team had four score in double figures, led by 15 from Jaylyn Gordon and Keke Veal, as the Cajuns won their third straight in a 65-58 victory over South Alabama in front of 1,452 fans Saturday at the Cajundome.
After trailing for a majority of the first 25 minutes of the game, a layup by Veal at the 14:23 mark put the Cajuns up for good at 43-41. UL Lafayette (11-4, 3-3 SBC) stretched its lead to 51-44 midway through the second half before a 5-0 run by the Jaguars made it a 51-49 contest with 8:40 to play.
South Alabama (3-12, 0-7 SBC) was able to answer every UL Lafayette basket until a jumper by Veal with four minutes to play gave the Cajuns some breathing room. Both teams went without a basket for three minutes until Gordon sealed it for the Cajuns with a three-pointer from the right wing for a 62-55 score with one minute to play.
It was the first time this season Louisiana had four players reach double figures as Kia Wilridge and Robbie Brown joined Gordon and Veal with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Gordon finished 4-of-7 from long range while Brown was 2-of-3 to help the Cajuns to 43.8 percent shooting (7-of-16) from outside.
Wilridge finished with a team-high four steals while Brown, Gordon and Veal each totaled three. Veal and Simone Fields each grabbed seven boards to lead the Cajuns while Veal also had a team-high five assists.
"I'm really pleased with the steps we're making as a team," said head coach Garry Brodhead. "We talked about how we're going to fight together and I thought we did tonight. It might have not been the prettiest game but they never give up. The kids deserved this win."
South Alabama also had four in double digits with Rachel Cumbo and Breanna Hall each tallying 14 points. Cumbo shot 4-of-6 from behind the arc to help the Jaguars to 9-of-15 shooting (60%) from three for the game. Chyna Ellis recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards while Marquita Daniels added 10 points and four assists.
A hot start helped the Jaguars maintain a lead for 16 minutes of the first half with South Alabama knocking down two three-pointers in the first 1:15 to grab a 6-0 advantage.
"I thought they (South Alabama) shot the ball really well, especially in the first half, which made it difficult," Brodhead said. "Their inside-out game was really effective and it caused us some trouble. We talked at half how we weren't in position. I thought the second half we did a better job and held them to 23 points in the second half."
Wilridge and Veal helped the Cajuns trim their deficit with back-to-back baskets before Gordon evened the contest at 8-all with her first of four triples on the night.
A layup by LaNeetra Guillory gave the Jaguars their largest lead of the game at 17-9 at the 12:57 mark in the first half. The Cajuns were able to cut away at their eight-point disadvantage over the next several minutes until taking its first lead of the game, 21-20, after a layup by Brown with seven minutes to play in the period.
Like they have all season, the Cajuns relied heavily on their defense by forcing the Jaguars to commit 21 turnovers, the 10th time this season a UL Lafayette opponent has totaled 20 or more turnovers. The Cajuns scored 21 points off turnovers while the Jaguars turned 16 UL Lafayette turnovers into 14 points.
The Cajuns also dominated the glass for the second-straight game with a 40-31 edge in rebounding, 18 of those being on the offensive side. Louisiana totaled 14 second chance points while South Alabama finished with five.
UL Lafayette finished with a 37.3 percentage (22-of-59) while the Jaguars shot 44.9 percent (22-of-49) from the field. South Alabama missed several opportunities late to cut into the Cajuns lead at the free-throw line, going 1-of-6 in the second half and 5-of-13 (38.5%) for the game while UL Lafayette shot 14-of-21 (66.7%).
The Cajuns continue their homestand Monday when they host in-state rival ULM at 5 p.m. at the Cajundome.