Thursday, January 22, 2015
Cajuns Pull Away Late For 69-57 Win Over Arkansas State
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team had three notch double figures with a team-high 18 points from Keke Veal to help the Cajuns pull away from Arkansas State in the final minutes for a 69-57 victory Thursday at the Cajundome.
Following a layup by Arkansas State's Jasmine Hunt to make it 58-52 with three minutes to play, the Cajuns were able to prevent a Red Wolves comeback. Adrienne Prejean recorded an offensive board and a putback before a Kia Wilridge layup made it 62-52 with 2:28 to play.
A-State managed to only get back within eight points the remainder of the contest as the Cajuns answered every Red Wolves basket.
Wilridge joined Veal in double figures with 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists for her 14th double-digit scoring outing of the season. Robbie Brown finished with 12 points, shooting 3-of-4 from long range, for her fifth double-figure performance in the last seven games.
"Offensively, I thought we were more patient," said head coach Garry Brodhead. "We've really been working hard on penetrating and getting in the middle of the lane. When they went to their zone, we were able to get to the backside. It was a complete effort. We talked about before the game how we needed to play together. We don't have that one kid that can score 20 or 30. We need everybody to contribute."
Jasmine Hunt led the Red Wolves with 20 points and nine boards while Hanna Qedan totaled 13 points and eight boards. The Cajuns held the Sun Belt scoring leader, Aundrea Gamble (20.3 ppg), to 2-of-11 shooting for four points while forcing six turnovers off the SBC Preseason Player of the Year.
"We did a really good job of defending from beginning to the end," Brodhead said. "Gamble's averaging 20 points a game and she gets four. That was our plan to see if we could limit her touches and slow her down."
Louisiana grabbed an 8-2 advantage out of the gate behind four points from Veal and Wilridge. A jumper by Brittney Gill and a three-pointer from Qedan knotted the contest at 10-all before Brown connected for her first trey of the game to help the Cajuns regain the lead at 13-10 with 12:53 to play in the half.
Louisiana stretched its lead to 17-10 before a 10-4 spurt by A-State cut its deficit to 21-20 with 8:33 remaining in the half. The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes before Brown hit a triple with 29 seconds left before halftime to give the Cajuns a 36-33 lead at the break.
Neither team was able to produce much offense to begin the second half as the teams combined for just 11 points in the first 7:17.
With the game knotted at 42 midway through the period, four-straight points by Wilridge gave the Cajuns some momentum. Gordon knocked down her first three-pointer of the contest for a 49-44 advantage before a layup by Brown matched the Cajuns' largest lead of the game up until that point at 51-44.
Hunt made it a 55-50 game with 4:51 to play after two free throws but Louisiana was too tough down the stretch to pull out the win.
For the seventh-straight game and 12th time this season, the Cajuns forced its opponent to at least 20 turnovers with the Red Wolves committing 20 for the game. Louisiana capitalized off the A-State miscues, recording a 29-5 edge in points off turnovers.
A-State shot 45.3 percent (24-of-53) while the Cajuns were 42.6 percent (26-of-61) shooting.
Louisiana will begin a three-game road swing Saturday when the Cajuns travel to Georgia State for an ESPN3 game at 11 a.m. (CT) in Atlanta.
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UALR Women's Basketball Stops High-Scoring Troy Offense in 82-56 Win
LITTLE ROCK – The UALR defense showed why it is the best in the Sun Belt Conference on Thursday night, holding the league’s top offense to its second-lowest score of the season.
UALR remained unbeaten in Sun Belt play with an 82-56 victory over Troy at the Jack Stephens Center, keeping the Troy offense 19.8 points below its season average.
Troy (11-6, 6-2), the league’s third-place team, scored just 18 points in the first half – a season low – and the UALR (15-2, 8-0 Sun Belt) offense did more than enough in scoring a season-high 82 points as the team won its eighth consecutive Sun Belt game by at least 20.
Shanity James was the top producer on offense, scoring 14 points while also earning 11 rebounds for her second straight double-double. Taylor Gault (14 points), Ka'Nesheia Cobbins (11) and Kiera Clark (10) also reached double figures in scoring.
The victory continues UALR’s best-ever start to a season with a 15-2 record after 17 games, and this was UALR’s 11th consecutive regular-season conference win dating back to last year. UALR is now 8-0 in league play for the first time since 2010-11 and remains in sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt standings. UALR has also won 18 consecutive conference games at the Jack Stephens Center.
Troy scored the game’s first 4 points, and it looked as though the Troy offense might be too much for UALR to handle in the first two minutes as it started with three consecutive made field goals. But after three minutes had gone by, UALR tied the game at 8-8 and went on an impressive run of scoring and defense that lasted for the rest of the half.
Troy led at 10-8 with 15:54 left in the period, and that was Troy’s last field goal until the buzzer sounded at the end of the half. UALR would go on a 16-0 run over the next six minutes, getting baskets from all over the court and flummoxing the Troy offense with pressure defense.
After starting the game 5 of 9 from the field, Troy missed its next 18 shots over the half’s last 16 minutes until a Lacey Buchanon half-court shot beat the buzzer. Besides that 3-pointer, Troy’s other 5 points in the final 16 minutes all came at the free-throw line.
While Troy was missing its shots and committing 16 turnovers, UALR was hitting plenty of shots and passing the ball well. UALR finished the first half shooting 16 of 33 from the field and assisting on eight of those 16 baskets. UALR got 6 fast-break points while Troy had none, and UALR went into the break leading 42-18. UALR was led by Cobbins’ 9 points at the break, and Gault also had 8 despite sitting the final seven minutes of the half with two fouls.
The second half saw Troy’s offense pick things up, but by then it was too late as UALR still outscored Troy by 2 points in the second half. UALR continued to impress on offense, shooting 51.9 percent in the second half to prevent Troy from cutting into the lead. UALR led by as many as 38 points in the second half before emptying its bench and allowing Troy to get the game back within 25.
During the game, Gault got her 1,700th career point while James reached 500 career rebounds. James moved up to seventh all-time at UALR in career rebounds, eighth all-time in blocks and ninth all-time in attempted free throws.
Cobbins and Alexius Dawn led the way for UALR in assists with six apiece while James had the most steals on the team with four. Keanna Keys nabbed six rebounds while adding three points, and Dawn had nine points on three 3-pointers while snagging four defensive rebounds.
Troy committed 26 turnovers while UALR got 19 assists.
UALR has just one day off before its next game when the Trojans will face UT Arlington at the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday at 3 p.m.
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ULM Completes Season Sweep with Victory over UT Arlington
MONROE, La. – For the second time this season, the ULM women’s basketball team held UT Arlington to under 40 percent shooting from the field as the Warhawks collected their second win in a row, this time a 56-51 victory over the Lady Mavericks on Thursday night in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
Two weeks prior to Thursday’s game, the Warhawks (7-10, 3-5 SBC) limited UTA (9-8, 3-5 SBC) to just 38.9 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from the three-point range as they came back from a halftime deficit to capture a victory. Tonight, the ULM defense held the Lady Mavericks even lower as the visitors scored just 31.7 percent from the field and 17.4 percent from beyond the arc.
“There’s a lot more confidence in this team,” said head coach Jeff Dow. “Confidence was huge in winning this game. I think another thing that was critical was that even when they took the lead and we had our offensive struggles, we kept defending and rebounding. They lead never got away from us. A one-point deficit didn’t become five or six. For this team, this program and where we are at right now, this win is huge.”
Daja Chase led ULM with 12 points and five rebounds on the night, while Sharnice Brooks chipped in nine points and five rebouns.
Christina Gray, Alayshia Hunter and Chelsea Tieuel each garnered five points. Gray also grabbed five rebounds.
Rebekah Van Dijk scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Lady Mavericks.
UTA’s Amara Wainwright opened the scoring for the evening as she hit a three-point shot, but Chase hit two from the charity stripe to cut the lead to one (3-2) with 16:42 left in the half.
The Lady Mavericks continued to try to gain a bigger lead, but the Warhawks battled hard and never let the advantage stretch beyond three points.
Chase’s jumper, followed quickly by a three-pointer from Journee Beard, gave the home team their first lead of the game with 12:00 remaining in the half.
The Warhawks extended the advantage to six points (17-11) as Gray and Brooks hit back-to-back baskets with 6:57 before the break.
The Lady Mavericks cut the lead to two, but ULM used four free throws in a row to re-gain their six point lead (21-15) with 3:04 remaining in the half.
The Warhawks took their largest lead of the game as Alayshia Hunter was fouled on a jumper with three seconds left in the half. The junior sank the and-one to give ULM a nine point advantage, 26-17, heading into the locker room.
ULM stretched the lead out immediately out of the break as Chase sank a layup for a 28-17 lead.
UT Arlington then used a 14-2 run to re-gain the lead, but Hunter’s layup gave the home team a 34-33 advantage with 13:34 remaining.
The lead changed four more times before Wharton’s free throws stretched the Warhawks’ lead to four (43-39).
The Lady Mavericks then scored five points in a row to take the lead with 5:10 remaining, but Christina Gray hit two free throws with 2:22 left to take the lead back for the Warhawks (47-46).
UT Arlington hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to just two, but Ashley Aune drove through the lane and hit a clutch layup to extend the lead, swinging the momentum back towards the home team.
After the Lady Mavericks missed a three-point attempt on the other end, Chase was fouled and sank both free throws to give UULM a 54-48 lead with 30 seconds left.
UTA threatened the comeback as Chaun Williams scored a three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining, but Tieuel hit two from the charity stripe to seal a 56-51 victory for the Warhawks.
ULM take the court again on Saturday when they face Georgia Southern in Fant-Ewing Colisuem at 2:00 p.m.
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Appalachian State pushes Past South Alabama
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball got a win on Thursday night in the Holmes Center, pushing past South Alabama for a 70-59 victory.
The Mountaineers (9-8, 4-4 Sun Belt) trailed the Jaguars (3-15, 0-9) for most of the first half, but were able to come out in the second without giving up the lead once.
The Apps struck first in the game, leading 8-2 at the 16:08 minute mark, featuring four points from Bria Carter. The Jags would respond by going on a 12-0 run, leading the Mountaineers 14-8 with 12:13 to play in the first half.
South Alabama continued to score, hitting two threes for a 22-15 lead at the 7:25 minute mark, but Appalachian slowly began to chip away at the score, as Mia Marshall hit a layup and Peggy Smith followed that up with a three-pointer. Maryah Sydnor tied the score at 25 when she converted on a three-point play with 3:54 to play in the first half.
The Jaguars would pull ahead again, but App State found points from Katie Mallow, Katelyn Doub and Sydnor in the remaining two minutes to give App a 35-29 lead at halftime.
Sydnor led the Apps with 11 points in the first, while the team shot 50.0 percent from the field.
South Alabama was led by Juliann Miller's seven points as the Jaguars recorded a 43.5 percent field goal percentage.
The Apps came out in the second half by going on an 8-1 run, six of the eight points coming from Sydnor. Carter wold score four-straight to put Appalachian up 45-33 at the 15:18 minute mark.
The Mountaineers maintained lengthened their lead to 22 points off a shot from behind the arc from Mallow with eight minutes to play, but the Jaguars would go on a 7-2 run.
With four minutes to play South Alabama got hot again, scoring nine straight points, but it would be too little too late as the Mountaineers took the game, 70-59.
Sydnor led the Apps with 19 points and ten rebounds for her second-straight double-double. Carter added a career-high of 13 points, going 6-7 from the floor in the win. Carter also added five steals in the game, while Bria Huffman had five assists.
The team recorded a 50.0 percent field goal percentage in the win, grabbing 31 rebounds and turning the ball over 18 times.
Breanna Hall led South Alabama with ten points, while the Jags shot 40.0 percent from the floor. The Jaguars recorded 34 rebounds and 25 turnovers.
The Mountaineers return to action on Saturday, Jan. 24 when they travel to San Marcos, Texas for a game against Texas State.
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Texas State Tops Georgia Southern 67-57
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Ayriel Anderson tallied 21 points and five assists, and Texas State finished the game with an 8-2 run to take a 67-57 Sun Belt Conference women’s basketball victory over Georgia Southern Thursday evening in Strahan Coliseum.
Angel McGowan scored 17 points to lead Georgia Southern (4-12, 1-6), while Patrice Butler added 13 points and seven rebounds. Trellanie English-Lurry contributed eight points off the bench, and Briana Jones notched six points, six rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots.
Kileah Mays tallied 11 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots for Texas State (11-7, 6-3), and Erin Peoples finished with 11 points.
A layup by Sierra Kirkland trimmed Texas State’s lead to two points at 53-51, and the Eagles got six straight defensive stops over the next three minutes of game time but could not convert on the offensive end. Whitney Apari and Anderson scored consecutive layups for Texas State to push the margin to six.
Alexis Sams trimmed the margin to four points with 4:19 remaining, but Taeler Deer hit a jumper for the Bobcats. Butler answered with a layup for Georgia Southern, but Deer responded with a 3-pointer from the corner to make the score 62-55 with 2:08 to go. The Eagles turned it over on their next possession and were forced to foul. The Bobcats made 5-of-6 from the free-throw line to seal the win.
Both teams shot around 40 percent from the field, but Texas State hit two more triples in the game and held a 13-3 edge in free throws as the Bobcats were whistled for just four fouls in the contest and one in the second half.
Ericka May scored four points in an 8-0 run as Texas State pushed ahead for a 27-18 lead. Kirkland’s jumper in the paint sparked an 8-2 Eagles run to finish the half. McGowan scored four points during the stretch.
The Eagles cap a three-game road swing at UL Monroe Saturday. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. Eastern.