Wednesday, December 30
Trojans Kick-Off Sun Belt Play with Win over Jags
MOBILE, Ala. – The Little Rock women's basketball team had won 21 of their last 23 games against Sun Belt foes entering Wednesday, and the Trojans continued that trend against South Alabama with a 47-34 victory at the Mitchell Center.
The defending conference champion Trojans (3-7, 1-0 Sun Belt) got a game-high 9 points from Sharde' Collins and Alexius Dawn and used a 9-0 run to start the third quarter to pull away from the Jaguars (5-5, 0-1) in both teams' league openers.
The win was Little Rock's third straight over South Alabama and snapped a five-game losing streak. The Trojans are also now 1-0 to begin Sun Belt play for the second consecutive season.
No player for either team reached double-figure scoring on the night, but the Trojans had a very balanced offense that saw seven different players record at least 4 points. Kaitlyn Pratt was the team's top rebounder with nine, and Collins also added a career-high seven.
Monique Townson led Little Rock with three assists, and Dawn had a career-high seven steals in the win.
South Alabama's 34 points is the fewest scored by a Trojan opponent since these same Jaguars scored 34 last season. Little Rock held the Jaguars to just 31.7 percent shooting, and South Alabama went 2 of 14 from the 3-point line. South Alabama also had 19 turnovers on the day that turned into 18 Trojan points, and Little Rock dominated the Jaguars in the paint with 30 paint points.
Both teams got off to slow offensive starts, with the Trojans taking a 2-0 lead on a Collins jumper in the first 30 seconds but then going another 2:30 before making their next shot. The Jaguars did not score until their fifth possession, but the teams would go into the first media timeout tied at 5-5.
But after that timeout, the Trojans' offense took over. Little Rock went on a 12-2 run in the next three minutes, emerging with a 17-7 lead thanks to fast-break layups by Dawn and Townson that forced the Jaguars to take a timeout. In that span, the Trojans made five of six field goal attempts after starting the game 2 of 10 from the floor. Little Rock would take a 17-9 lead into the second quarter.
The Little Rock offense went ice cold in the second quarter, though, letting the Jaguars get right back into the game. The Trojans did not score until 2:30 remained in the period – missing their first 10 field goal attempts – and by that point the Jaguars had gotten back within 4 points. South Alabama would outscore Little Rock 10-4 in the period, and the Little Rock halftime lead was only 21-19.
Things finally got going again for Little Rock in the third quarter, as the Trojans began the period on a 9-0 run that would lead them to the victory. Dawn sank a 3-pointer on the team's first possession, and that was followed by a Pratt layup and jumpers from Townson and Collins. That made it a 30-19 Trojan lead, and the Jaguars called a timeout to regroup. In the end, Little Rock would outscore South Alabama 15-5 in the period, improving its halftime lead from 2 points to 12 as it went into the fourth quarter leading 36-24.
Little Rock outscored the Jaguars 11-10 in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 16 with two minutes to play. The Jags never got closer than 10 points in the period.
During the game, Shanity James moved into a tie for fifth all-time in Trojan history with a block, and Kaitlyn Pratt scored her 400th point. Sharde' Collins also pulled down her 100th career rebound and played in her 1,000th minute.
The Trojans stay in the state of Alabama for the next three days as they get ready to take on their Trojan counterparts from Troy. The teams will tip off Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Trojan arena in Troy, Ala.
Panthers Rally to Defeat UT Arlington, 68-63
ARLINGTON, TEX. – Against the odds. Georgia State defeated UT Arlington 68-63 in the Sun Belt Conference opener Wednesday night at College Park Center.
The odds didn’t look in GSU’s favor when leading scorer Makeba Ponder sustained a concussion two days ago and her 13 points and 20 3-pointers would be missed. Tatianna Jackson’s nine points a game were absent as she sat with her ankle in a boot. And, gutsy Erica Norwood took her ankle out of her boot earlier in the day in shoot-around and decided to give it a try.
Then, the odds grew longer when UT Arlington burst out to a 15-point lead at 24-9 just seven minutes into the game. The Panthers were still down 13 points at 37-24 with just 1:36 left in the first half. GSU did close to 39-29 at halftime.
The odds then turned dramatically in the 3rdquarter when visiting Georgia State held UT Arlington without a field goal the entire quarter in a 25-2 domination. GSU shot 9 of 13 in that quarter, UT Arlington 0 of 13 in that quarter with two free throws with 55.7 seconds. GSU had a 22-0 run to turn that 39-29 halftime deficit to a 51-39 lead.
Just when it looked like the game might be in GSU’s control when it had a 15-point lead at 56-41 with 8:47 in the game, host UT Arlington began its ferocious comeback. After making its 10th and 11th 3-point baskets, UT Arlington had the game back to 62-61 with 34 seconds to play.
Morgan Jackson nailed two clutch free throws for GSU at 32.7 seconds, then a steal by Madison Newby got GSU the ball back and she made two tough free throws at 18.3 seconds to up it to 66-61 with 18 seconds.
A Cierra Johnson basket with 10 seconds closed it to 66-63 at the final timeout, but GSU got a long pass and lay-up by Astaja Tyghter to seal the 68-63 win.
Georgia State won for the fifth time in its last six games to improve to 6-4, 1-0, while UT Arlington slips to 5-6 overall and 0-1 in the Sun Belt. GSU moves on to play at Texas State on Saturday.
Tonight, GSU’s defense forced 18 turnovers and made 11 steals, led by four from Haley Gerrin. The Panthers averaged 19 turnovers and 10.6 steals and that stat is a key to the five wins in the last six games. GSU scored mainly by going inside the paint and scoring 38 points.
Freshman point guard Madison Newby ended as GSU’s top scorer with 16 points, while senior forward Morgan Jackson scored 15 points, including two 3-pointers in Ponder’s absence. Freshman forward Astaja Tyghter added 13 points and eight rebounds. Gutty Norwood added six points in her 16 minutes.
When asked what she told the team at halftime after a first half in which UT Arlington made 9 of 17 3-point baskets, Coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener explained. “I got on the team about their communications and their defensive intensity because I think sometimes a couple players were in man and the others in zone on the same play,” Baldein-Tener said. “That third quarter of defense turned out pretty special with UTA not making a basket.”
“This was a true team win with so many people doing so many little things,” coach added. “We got key rebounds in the second half to limit them to one-and-done a lot of times. And, on offense we smartly found gaps and drove the ball to the basket and get some buckets and some free throws.”
GSU shot a season-best 51 percent for the game (26 of 51) with 14 of 25 shots falling in the second half.
Bobcats Open Sun Belt Play with Win over Eagles, 61-56
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State women's basketball team opened up conference play on a high-note with a 61-56 victory over Georgia Southern Wednesday evening. The 'Cats, who only trailed for just over a minute to start the game, continue to remain perfect at home this season.
How It Happened:
After Georgia Southern made the first basket of the evening, Texas State went on a 9-0 run to take an early seven-point lead over the Eagles. That lead continued to grow throughout the first to as many as 12 after a pair of free throws by Taeler Deer with 49 seconds remaining.
The Bobcats maintained a steady lead over the visiting Eagles in the first few moments of the second before a 7-0 run by Georgia Southern to close out the half saw the Texas State lead dwindle down to 31-24 at intermission.
Georgia Southern continued to chip away at the Bobcats' lead in the third as the Texas State offense was held scoreless for over five minutes. With 2:14 to play in the third quarter, Georgia Southern's Alexis Sams hit a jumper to bring the Eagles within two of the Bobcats.
Texas State, however, would answer the Eagles call with a pair of free throws by Kiani Lurry on the next possession. Lurry proceeded to score the final five points of the quarter for Texas State as she converted a three-point play with 1:14 left in the quarter to put Texas State back up 41-36.
The Texas State lead in the fourth fluctuated anywhere from three to eight points as Georgia Southern continued to battle in the contest. Up three with 1:22 to play, senior guard Raven Burns hit a 3-pointer, her third of the evening, to put the 'Cats back up six and to force Georgia Southern into fouling mode.
The Eagles sent the 'Cats to the line eight times in the final 36 seconds of the ball game out of desperation and ultimately put Texas State in the win column in its first conference game of the season.
The Bobcats made eight 3's in the game and finished 11-for-15 from the charity stripe. Texas State committed just 10 turnovers while forcing 15 by Georgia Southern.
Lawson Leads A-State in Opener Versus Troy
TROY, Ala. (12/30/15) – The Arkansas State women’s basketball team opened the Sun Belt Conference season with an impressive 101-81 victory over Troy Wednesday afternoon at Trojan Arena.
Amanda Lawson scored a career-high 23 points to pace five Red Wolves (7-3, 1-0 SBC) in double-figures. She added six rebounds and four assists, while Khadija Brown-Haywood added 15 points and a career best eight assists. Jessica Flanery and Lauren Bradshaw added 12 points each, while Brittany Fowler poured in a career-high 11 points.
“The thing we can take away from this game is that this was truly a team win,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “To score 101 points and to have Aundrea Gamble score only seven of those points, I’m sure not many people would expect that, but it just shows how well this team shared the ball and got everyone involved.”
The Trojans (5-5, 0-1) held a five point lead in the first quarter, but A-State went on an 8-0 run in the second quarter to take a 34-30 lead. Brown-Haywood scored six points to help the Red Wolves outscore Troy 24-10 in the frame.
Arkansas State pushed the lead to double-digits at 45-34 on a layup by Bradshaw with 1:22 to go in the half. Bradshaw enjoyed the best game of her two-year stint with career-highs in points (12) and rebounds (9). She scored six of her 12 points in the fourth quarter to help the Red Wolves win their fourth straight SBC opener on the road.
Lawson did most of her damage in just three quarters of action, after sitting out most of the second quarter with foul trouble. She scored 10 points in the first quarter, and added 13 in the second half to help A-State take advantage of its size down low.
The Red Wolves outscored Troy 58-30 in the paint and had 25 points off 21 Trojans turnovers.
“I thought our transition defense was good all night,” Boyer said. “I thought early in the game we were too passive and in the second quarter I thought we got back to that defensive presence that we have had all year.”
Troy used a 7-0 run in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 57-48, but the A-State bench helped silence the run when Dominique Oliver knocked down a free throw and Fowler followed with a 3-pointer to get push the lead back to double-digits.
Fowler went 4-of-5 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointer, to finish in double-digits for the first time in her career to help the A-State bench finish with 37 points on the night.
Arkansas State’s 101 points were its most ever in an SBC opening and marked the first time since March 5, 2014 that the squad surpassed the century mark. A-State scored 107 against Louisiana-Monroe that night on its way to clinching the SBC regular season title.
The Red Wolves finished with a season-high 28 assists, tied for the second most in school history, and also shot a season-high 54.2 percent from the field. A-State’s 39 made field goals were also the most this season, and also grabbed a season-high 47 rebounds.