Thursday, January 29
Jaguars End Skid with 57-47 Win over Cajuns
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team held Louisiana-Lafayette to just 23.9 percent shooting, while knocking down 47.4 percent of its shot attempts to snap a 13-game skid and pick up its first conference win of the season, defeating the Ragin' Cajuns 57-47 Thursday morning at the Mitchell Center.
"In the words of (Former San Francisco 49er's quarterback) Steve Young 'It feels great to get the preverbal monkey off our back'," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said of ending the program's 13-game losing streak. "We're proud of our kids. We asked them to play for something bigger than themselves today and to make sure that we gave it our all. I thought we did that. I'm just so proud of them.
"I thought we did an outstanding job on the defensive end of the floor and that we just rebounded the basketball well also. I'm proud of our kids for playing selfless on the offensive end of the floor. We played a lot of situational basketball on offense and defense. Everyone bought into their role today and actually starred in their role, so that's exciting. I'm just happy for the kids to get this win.
"We just have to work hard every day and work on getting better. We had an outstanding atmosphere today. I can't thank the marketing and promotions department enough for getting the school day together and getting the kids here. It was really loud in the gym, and I think that really helped us finish the game."
USA earned its first win since nearly two months in front of an announced crowd of 2,096 in its annual "Pack the House" game.
The Jaguars (4-15, 1-9 SBC) will now head to Monroe, La., to take on Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday. Tipoff versus the Warhawks is set 2 p.m. at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
South Alabama received solid play in the post as freshman center Chyna Ellis and Taylor Jenkins combined for 22 points and 24 rebounds. Ellis notched her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Ellis was 6-of-7 from the field and also posted three blocks. Of her 13 rebounds, nine came at the defensive end of the floor.
Jenkins nearly recorded a double-double as she had nine points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes of action.
Breanna Hall also registered double digits in the win, ending the game with 12 points, her 15th double-figure scoring game this season.
Louisiana-Lafayette (13-6, 5-5 SBC) was led offensively by Keke Veal's 14 points, while Kia Wilridge added 12 points. The trio of Veal, Wilridge and Jaylyn Gordon – ULL's top three scorers – as did the rest of the team, struggled to find its shooting touch, going a combined 11 for 46 from the field, including 3-of-17 from the arc.
As a team, the Ragin' Cajuns nearly doubled the Jaguars on shot attempts (67-38), but could only convert 16 of those attempts. ULL was also 3-for-21 from the three-point line.
For the 11th time this season, Louisiana-Lafayette forced 20 or more turnovers in a game, as the Jaguars ended the day with 26.
South Alabama off set the turnovers by controlling the glass, especially at the defensive end of the floor. USA outrebounded ULL 49-34 for the game, but held a 40-16 advantage at the Cajuns end of the floor, limiting second-chance attempts. Louisiana-Lafayette entered the game ranked second in the Sun Belt on the offensive glass.
"I thought our team really executed the game plan," Fowler said. "They really sat down and guarded the basketball because Louisiana-Lafayette has a great three-point shooting team. We just had to make them take contested 17-foot jump shots. We contested pretty much every shot. We were also able to turn and block out as well."
Playing front of the large crowd, USA fed of the energy early on jumping out to a quick 7-0 advantage a little over two minutes into the contest. However after hitting three of their first five shot attempts, the Jaguars would go cold over the next seven minutes, hitting just one field goal attempt.
ULL took advantage and outscored South Alabama 8-2 during that time to cut the deficit to one (9-8) after a bucket by Veal at the 14:29 mark.
Following a free throw by Jenkins, Ellis would score five straight points for USA to extend the Jag lead out to 15-8 with less than 10 to go in the first half.
Later in the half, Veal knocked down a pair of free throws with eight minutes, 10 seconds showing on the clock – the first points for the Ragin' Cajuns in over six minutes.
Veal would continue to provide the offense for Louisiana-Lafayette as she trimmed the deficit to 17-14 at the 5:01 mark with two more shots from the charity stripe. Veal's two free throws ended a stretch of 10-straight points for the Cajun guard.
On USA's next possession, Jenkins again hit one of her two attempts at the charity stripe. The Jenkins free throw would ignite a spurt of seven-straight points for the Jags. Ellis – who had nine points during the first half to lead South Alabama – recorded her third block of the period to get USA out in transition and Colby Davis drove the left baseline for a runner with under two minutes remaining in the half to put the Jaguars out on top by double figures (24-14).
With 36.1 seconds remaining, Robbie Brown hit a pair of free throws to end another four-minute scoreless streak for the Ragin' Cajuns. ULL was 6-of-6 at the line in the first half, to off-set a 15.2 performance from the field as it was just 5-of-33 in the first half.
USA knocked down 10 of its 23 attempts for 43.5 percent shooting from the floor. South Alabama also held a 27-17 advantage on the glass.
The Jaguars held control during the first five minutes of the second half, stretching their lead out to as much as 12 (35-23) following a trey by Amber Yelding from the left corner at the 15:18 mark.
With South Alabama still holding a 10-point advantage (39-29) with less than 10 minutes remaining, ULL cut the deficit to six at the 10:09 mark after buckets by Jodi Quinn and Gordon.
A little over a minute later though, Daniels hit one of her two free throw attempts and then drained a three-pointer from the left corner to put USA up 43-33.
Veal, who had been held scoreless for the first 11-plus minutes of the second half had the answer for ULL as she knocked down a three of her own on the Cajuns' next possession. A little over a minute later, Gordon intercepted a Jaguar pass and then found Brown open down the floor for layup to cut USA's advantage to five (43-38) with six minutes, 46 seconds showing on the clock.
Two possessions later though, Jenkins would bank in a three of her own from the top of the key to put South Alabama back out in front 46-38.
ULL would again narrow the South Alabama advantage to six (46-40) at the 5:25 mark, but Webb would hit a pair of free throws in place of Daniels who briefly left the game after a hard foul driving in for a layup following a steal. With under four to go, Hall drove the right side of the paint and found Jenkins open for a 10-foot jumper along the baseline to give USA a 50-40 advantage.
Over the final two minutes, South Alabama would hit six of its eight attempts at the foul line and hold ULL to just one made basket as the Jaguars held on for the 10-point victory.
The free-throw line was the difference in the second half as USA hit 14 of its 19 attempts at the stripe, while ULL was 6-for-14.
Appalachian State Rallies Past Georgia Southern
STATESBORO, Ga. - Appalachian State University women's basketball rallied in the second half to get a 77-74 win over Georgia Southern on Thursday at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Mountaineers (10-9, 5-5 Sun Belt) trailed the Eagles (4-14, 1-8) for the majority of the game, but were able to tie it up with six minutes to play, handing Georgia Southern its eighth Sun Belt loss.
The game started close, featuring a 10-10 score at the 14:34 minute-mark. The Eagles pulled ahead, 18-12 off a layup from Georgia Southern's Sierra Kirkland, but Bria Carter responded with four-straight points to put the Apps down 18-16 with 6:41 to play in the first.
Georgia Southern hit shots, but Carter would score again, keeping the Mountaineers within three points. The Eagles went on a 6-0 run and would lead at halftime, 30-24.
Bria Huffman led the Apps with seven points in the first half as the team shot 30.3 percent from the floor.
Angel McGowan led the team with eight points at the half, while the team recorded a 39.3 percent field goal percentage.
Appalachian came out in the second half with a three-pointer from Katie Mallow to trail by just three points, but Georgia Southern continued to respond, scoring five points. WIth 14:40 to play, Mallow hit a jumper and Farrahn Wood converted on a shot from behind the arc to tie the game for the first time since the first half, 40-40.
Georgia Southern pulled ahead again, this time leading for the next seven minutes as Appalachian struggled to keep up with the Eagles. It would not be until Mallow hit a three-pointer at the 6:08 minute mark that the Apps would tie the game. From there Joi Jones scored three-straight points, but the Eagles tied the score again with a three-pointer.
Jones hit two free throws and Huffman followed them up with a jumper to help the Apps to a 70-66 lead with 1:51 to play. Carter would widen the lead when she got an offensive rebound and putback and Mallow would seal the deal with two free thows with 43 seconds to play.
The Mountaineers closed out the game, winning 77-74.
App State was led by four players in double-figures as Huffman and Carter each scored 16 points, a new career-high for Carter. Carter added 11 rebounds for her first career double-double, while Huffman recorded nine.
Jones and Mallow followed with 13 points each, while Ashley Bassett-Smith tallied a career-high seven blocks.
The Mountaineers shot 39.1 percent from the floor, grabbing 43 rebounds and turning the ball over just eight times.
The Eagles were led by Angel McGowan's 19 points, while the team recorded a 39.3 field goal percentage, 48 rebounds and 17 turnovers.
Maryah Sydnor did not see playing time after suffering from a lower body injury.
Appalachian returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 5 when the team travels to UL Lafayette.
Mavericks End Three-Game Skid, Defeat Georgia State 57-45
ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich's message leading up to its clash with Georgia State was that she wanted a complete team effort. The Lady Mavericks responded with their best shooting effort since the second game of the season and downed Georgia State 57-45 on Thursday night at College Park Center.
The Lady Mavericks (10-9, 4-6) earned their first 10-win season since the 2009-10 campaign after ending a three-game skid, the second time this season that a three-game streak came to an end against the Panthers. UTA completed the season sweep of Georgia State and improved to 4-0 all-time against the Panthers.
"Our kids have been through a lot in the past couple of weeks and they were really focused on what we were doing," Gerlich said. "To be quite honest we just knocked down shots. We guarded them really well and executed and got some easy buckets eventually."
The Lady Mavs' defense held the Panthers to just 16 percent shooting in the first half to open up a double-digit halftime lead and clamped down to start the second to pull away. UTA’s offense shot 44 percent from the field and hit five 3-pointers overall. Freshman Rebekah Van Dijk led with a game-high 16 points for her 14th double-digit scoring effort of the season.
Freshman Cierra Johnson helped the offense take advantage of Georgia State's struggles with a team-leading seven points in the opening half. Johnson would pick up the first of her points with less than seven minutes remaining on a fast-break layup and would convert on the next three UTA buckets. Johnson finished with 13 points.
Johnson's streak of consecutive buckets came to an end at just the right moment for UTA. Senior Krioni Bruce stepped back with seconds left and dropped a 3-pointer as the first half buzzer sounded for a 25-15 lead.
"The shot that Krioni hit really gave us some life to go into the second half with confidence," Gerlich said.
UTA started right where it left off and were hot from the 3-point line. The Lady Mavs knocked down two from beyond the arc to start the half, one coming from Amara Wainwright and the other from LaShanda Green on the next possession.
The lead was extended to as high as 20 points with 10 minutes left to go in the contest before Georgia State closed the gap. The Panthers were able to hold the Lady Mavs without a field goal for the final four minutes, but time ran out on Georgia State as the run was too little too late.
Troy Dominates ULM with Pressure in 90-51 Win
TROY, Alabama – The Troy women's basketball team led wire-to-wire and dominated ULM with pressure defense in a 90-51 win at Trojan Arena on Thursday night. Troy snapped a two-game skid, thanks in large part to a school-record 23 steals as ULM committed 39 turnovers.
The game was never in doubt as Troy (12-7, 7-3) held ULM to four points in the first 11:30 of the game. With 8:29 to go in the first half, the Trojans led 27-4 and were on their way to a blowout win.
Ronita Garrett posted a third straight double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds, including 13 points in the first half as Troy pulled away. Garrett, who now has 13 double-doubles on the season, has already set the Troy Division I era (1993-present) single-season record.
Ashley Beverly-Kelley finished with a game-high 23 points, as well as game-highs of six assists and six steals. Rachel Reid hit five of Troy's 11 3-pointers and posted 17 points. Caitlyn Ramirez was the fourth and final Trojan in double figures as she posted 11 points.
"This was a very good win against a good ULM team that almost beat us at their place just two weeks ago," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "The difference in tonight's game was our intensity and the amount of pressure we applied to them.
"ULM had some advantages over us coming, including in the post, but we a good gameplan and executed it perfectly."
Troy entered the game leading the conference with 11.0 steals per game, but more than doubled that mark with 23 on Thursday night, tying an all-time school record. The Trojans forced ULM into 39 turnovers, scoring 41 points off of them.
The Warhawks, in comparison, scored just 11 points off of 19 Troy turnovers. Troy held ULM (8-11, 4-6), who had won three straight games coming in, to 21 percent (4-of-19) shooting in the first half and 29 percent (14-of-49) on the night.
The turnovers and fast pace of the game helped Troy take almost twice as many shots as ULM. Troy finished at 41 percent (34-of-82) shooting on the night. The Trojans finished with a season-high 23 assists, led by Beverly-Kelley's six. Lacey Buchanon, making her first career start, was right behind with five while Garrett added four.
The win completed Troy's first season sweep after the Trojans defeated ULM on the road, 82-77, just two weeks ago. ULM is the first team that Troy has played for a second time this season.
Troy will go for another season sweep on Saturday when it travels to take on UT Arlington at 5 p.m. at the College Park Center. Troy defeated UTA, 70-63, in Trojan Arena back in early January.
A-State Knocks Off UALR, 70-69
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