Sunday, November 22
Trojans Cruise with Balanced Effort at Home
TROY, Alabama – Seven Trojans scored in double figures as the Troy women's basketball team cruised to a 118-72 win over Fort Valley State at Trojan Arena on Sunday. The win was the seventh straight at home for the Trojans.
Troy (2-1) got a team-high 15 points from each of its two freshmen, including Amahni Upshaw who posted the first double-double of the season for Troy with 10 rebounds and 6-of-9 shooting. Troy's other freshman, La'Tia Fils-Aime' shot 6-of-7 to pick up her 15 points.
"It is encouraging to have seven in double figures," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "We always say, and Ashley Beverly Kelley always says, 'she doesn't want it to be the Ashley Beverly Kelley show,' because people will stop us. We needed more people scoring, and a great surprise was our two freshmen who led the way in scoring tonight."
Beverly Kelley, who entered as the nation's leading scorer, scored her fewest points of the season, but flirted with a triple-double as she posted 13 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Amanda Mendoza also nearly grabbed a double-double as she recorded 12 points and eight assists to go along with four steals.
Other Trojans to score in double figures were Caitlyn Ramirez (10), Rachel Reid (12) and Jayla Chills (11) who hit a team-high three 3-pointers. Troy again evenly distributed its minutes as every Trojan scored and played at least eight minutes and none played more than 25 minutes.
Troy forced Fort Valley State into 31 turnovers, scoring 41 points off of those miscues. The Trojans, on the other hand, turned it over a season-low 14 times.
The Trojans led, 51-33, at halftime but really pulled away in the third quarter. In that frame, the Trojans shot 70 percent (14-of-20) and scored 35 points while hold the Wildcats to 17. Troy ended the game shooting 55 percent (43-of-78) while Fort Valley State hit 40 percent (27-of-67).
Troy now has seven days between games as the Trojans return to the court next Sunday with a game in Nashville, Tenn., against Belmont.
For more information on Troy women's basketball, follow the Trojans on Twitter and Instagram at @TroyTrojansWBB.
Warhawks Win 500th Game at Fant-Ewing Coliseum
MONROE, La. – ULM rolled to a 19-0 run in the third quarter, Alayshia Hunter and Chelsea Tieuel combined for 31 points, and the Warhawks collected a 70-46 win over Dillard on Sunday in Fant-Ewing Coliseum’s 500th women’s basketball game.
The Warhawks now have a 318-182 (.636) record all-time in the only home they have ever known, also matching their win total with the local area code.
ULM (3-1) is up to its best start since the 2010-11 campaign, which also ended with a winning season. It was the first meeting between the two in-state programs since 1978.
Shantrell Lumar knocked one down from behind the arc to begin the second half and cut Dillard’s deficit to 31-28. It was a total team effort for ULM from there, starting with Alayshia Hunter’s two free-throws and layup to stretch the Warhawk lead.
Hunter ultimately had six more points in the midst of the 19-0 game-deciding run, and Aundrea Davis also added a three-pointer. Before the end of the period, Journee Beard notched her second three-pointer of the season and ULM went into the fourth leading 53-32.
The Lady Bleu Devils got within one as 7:23 remained until the break, but back-to-back three-pointers from Ashley Aune and Chelsea Tieuel in the same spot gave ULM a 31-23 lead with 3:54 to go in the first half, its largest of the game to that point. The Warhawks led 31-25 going into the intermission.
There was a dead-ball with 0.3 seconds left on the clock before the break. ULM inbounded the ball to Chelsea Tieuel just shy of the half-court line, but her swished attempt was called off before the final buzzer.
ULM had a 13-0 lead in bench points going into the second quarter media timeout, up 25-21 with 6:44 to go before the break. It ultimately ended the day with a 32-8 advantage in that department.
Cajuns Fall, 52-51, in Final Minutes at Houston
Houston, Texas – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team's bid for the program's first 3-0 start in back-to-back seasons was crushed, falling in the final two minutes, 52-51 to the University of Houston at Hofheinz Pavilion Sunday afternoon.
Cajuns (2-1) senior guard Kia Wilridge dropped a season-high 19 points on the Cougars to go with two assists and a steal. Fellow senior guard Keke Veal added 12 points, moving into seventh place in program history in scoring (1,097 points). Reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week Jaylyn Gordon chipped in 10 and missed the potential game-winning three-pointer as time expired.
Wilridge and sophomore forward Simone Fields teamed up for nine points in the opening quarter, helping the Cajuns build a 15-7 lead just 6:58 minutes into the contest.
Houston cut into the Cajuns lead sparked by a pair of treys from Serithia Hawkins, but Veal and Wilridge knocked down back-to-back jumpers, extending the UL lead to 23-15 with 5:10 left in the second quarter.
The Cougars scored 15 of the game's next 19 points to take a 30-27 lead into halftime. Houston manufactured eight points off Cajuns turnovers and took advantage of seven second-chance points in the second stanza.
Trailing 32-28 in the early stages of the third quarter, Gordon splashed a three-pointer while Wilridge dropped in a layup giving the lead back to Louisiana, 33-32 at the 7:05 mark.
After the two foes traded baskets, Veal connected from beyond the arc and Wilridge chipped in four points to make it a 42-34 game in favor of Louisiana.
Houston kept the contest close, ending the third quarter on a 6-1 run to trim the Cajuns' lead to 43-40.
After the Cougars evened the game at 43-43 just eight seconds into the fourth quarter, Wilridge answered with a layup to put the Cajuns back in front by two points. Back-to-back layups by Houston gave the Cougars a 47-45 lead with 7:49 to play.
Veal split a pair of free throws after drawing a foul, which was followed by a layup from Wilridge, giving the Cajuns a 48-47 edge.
The two foes went nearly 3 ½ minutes without scoring a point until 3:31 left in the game when Kierra Graves knocked down a pair of free throws which put Louisiana in a 49-48 hole.
Gordon drew a foul, sending her to the charity stripe, but split the pair, tying the game at 49-49 with 3:15 left.
A turnover by Houston on the ensuing possession turned into a fastbreak opportunity for the Cajuns, who took a 51-49 lead on a layup by Veal with 2:07 remaining in the contest.
Houston came back on the next possession to hit what proved to be the game-winning three-pointer by Marche' Amerson with 1:53 on the clock.
With 1.5 seconds left and the Houston Cougars at the free throw line, Alecia Smith missed a pair of shots, which set up a final play for Louisiana. Veal inbounded the ball and found Gordon near the top left corner, but the shot missed, snapping the Cajuns two-game win streak.
The Cajuns shot 50% (10-of-20) from the free-throw line and were held to just 39.6% shooting (19-of-48) from the field.
"I thought we played well at times today," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "Many times, games can be won at the free throw line and we just have to do a better job of making our free throws.
"The kids played hard. I thought we did things well in the first and third quarter, but overall we just have to continue to get better and prepare ourselves for the conference schedule."
The Cajuns will head to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the San Juan Shootout from Nov. 27-28. Their next game is Friday, November 27 against the University of Arkansas, tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. CST.