Thursday, February 19
UALR Avenges Previous Loss to Arkansas State, Remains in First
LITTLE ROCK – The UALR women’s basketball team survived a tight contest against its biggest rival, downing Arkansas State 63-61 at the Jack Stephens Center on Thursday night.
The Trojans, who held a 60-49 lead with 2:24 left, saw their lead whittled down to just 2 points with eight seconds left after missed free throws and timely Red Wolves shooting tightened the gap. Arkansas State guard Aundrea Gamble missed a jumper at the buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime.
With the victory, UALR (22-3, 15-1 Sun Belt Conference) avenged an earlier loss to Arkansas State (17-8, 12-3) in Jonesboro by just 1 point. The Trojans are also now 2 1/2 games ahead of the Red Wolves in the Sun Belt Conference standings with four games left to play.
UALR now 15 wins in league play for the first time since 2009-10, and the Trojans are on a six-game winning streak while snapping Arkansas State’s five-game streak. UALR successfully defended its home court yet again, winning its 23rd consecutive Sun Belt game in Little Rock.
The Trojans had four players score in double digits, and they were led by Taylor Gault’s 22. The senior also tied a career high with six steals and moved into second place all-time at UALR with 103 career blocks. Besides Gault, Ka'Nesheia Cobbins (11), Shanity James (10) and Kiera Clark (10) reached at least 10 points. Cobbins was the team’s top rebounder with five, and she was part of a three-way tie in assists as she, James and Alexius Dawn all had three.
The Trojans led by just 3 points at halftime, but the team slowly extended its lead to as many as 11 points with 4:42 to go. The Red Wolves cut the lead down to 3 points with 9:22 to play, and t hat’s when UALR went on a small run to build their first double-digit lead of the evening. Cobbins hit two free throws, Gault had a jumper and a layup and Clark hit two jumpers in a four-minute span. A Cobbins layup gave the Trojans their 11-point lead with 4:42 left, and they kept that lead until the final three minutes.
With two minutes left, the Red Wolves switched tactics and began fouling UALR to lengthen the game. The tactic mostly worked, as UALR’s poor free throw shooting on the night continued. The Trojans missed five free throws in the final two minutes including the front end of two 1-and-1 situations, giving Arkansas State new life.
The Red Wolves did not waste their possessions, hitting four consecutive baskets in the last two minutes including two 3-pointers after they had made only one all game before then. A layup by Khadi Brown-Haywood made it a 63-61 UALR lead, and James missed two free throws to keep Arkansas State alive.
With the clock winding down, though, Gamble was unable to force overtime as her shot from the left side clanged off the back of the rim to give UALR the win.
During the contest, the Trojans shot just 14 of 28 from the free-throw line while Arkansas State was 12 of 16. UALR did manage to shoot 48 percent (24 of 50) from the field, though, and force 23 Red Wolves turnovers that resulted in 23 UALR points.
At the end of the game, UALR’s defense was much better than it had been in Jonesboro three weeks earlier. The Trojans held Red Wolves’ leading scorer Aundrea Gamble to just 9 points despite her averaging 19.8 per game coming into the night. Arkansas State was also largely ineffective from the 3-point line, making one 3-pointer in the game’s first 38 minutes.
The game’s first half was tight throughout, with neither team able to grab a lead larger than 5 points through the first 15 minutes. Arkansas State held a 19-15 lead with 6:30 left in the half, and that’s when UALR went on a big run to take its biggest lead of the half.
James and Gault combined for layups to tie the game at 19-19, and then James made another layup off the front of the rim to give UALR a 21-19 lead. Dawn drained a jumper from the right side to make it a 4-point Trojan advantage while the Red Wolves coughed the ball up with turnovers and offensive fouls.
The Trojans extended the lead to 25-19 on a layup by Gault, and a free throw by the senior gave UALR a 26-19 lead, its biggest of the half.
But poor free throw shooting kept UALR from leading by even more points. The Trojans made just four of 12 attempts from the charity stripe in the half as Gault missed three and James missed four attempts. Still, Gault led the team with 11 points and James had a team-high four rebounds as the Trojans led 27-24 at the break. The Red Wolves were not helped by 13 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, and the Trojans converted those turnovers into 13 points.
UALR will have a short turnaround and a long flight ahead of it before its next game. The Trojans will travel to Troy, Ala., to take on the Sun Belt's other Trojans on Saturday at 2 p.m. UALR defeated Troy 82-56 in Little Rock on Jan. 22.
Troy Gets 46 from Beverly-Kelley, Defeats Georgia Southern in OT
STATESBORO, Georgia – Ashley Beverly-Kelley dropped 46 points and Troy needed all of them to survive a scare in a 99-93 overtime win over Georgia Southern at Hanner Fieldhouse on Thursday night.
Troy (16-9, 11-5) has now won four straight games and sits alone in third place in the Sun Belt standings. Beverly-Kelley's career-high 46 points are the most scored by a player in the nation this season and the most ever scored against Georgia Southern.
However, Caitlyn Ramirez was the hero at the end of the regulation. Troy was down 82-80 with 9.2 seconds to go in the game, and after a missed layup, Ramirez was there for the offensive rebound and putback bucket, tying the game 82-82 and sending Troy to its first overtime game of the season.
Ronita Garrett hit three of Troy's four field goals in overtime and finished with 25 points and 17 rebounds for her 17th double-double of the season. After Georgia Southern (4-20, 1-14) opened overtime with a 3-pointer, Garrett scored the next four points to give Troy a lead it would never give up.
Beverly-Kelley was a perfect 8-of-8 from the line in the final 36 seconds to seal the win for Troy. The junior finished 16-of-31 from the field, including 5-of-8 from long range as she made all but one of Troy's six 3-pointers (6-of-19).
The Eagles made 13-of-34 from deep, including three in overtime. Abby Hix, who averaged 3.6 points per game coming in, hit her third 3-pointer of the night with 9.2 seconds remaining to give Georgia Southern the 82-80 lead just ahead of Ramirez's bucket.
Ramirez finished with nine points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Her second-chance bucket was part of 31 second-chance points for the Trojans who grabbed 28 offensive boards and outrebounded Georgia Southern, 60-49. Ten of Garrett's 17 rebounds were offensive.
Troy forced the Eagles into 20 turnovers, including 14 in the second half as the Trojans erased a five-point, 47-42, halftime deficit. Troy opened the half on an 11-2 run to regain control, 53-49. From there, neither team ever led by more than six points until Troy took a seven-point lead in overtime.
Georgia Southern had five players score in double figures, including a team-high 23 from Angel McGowan. Alexis Sams had 18 and Anna Claire Knight had 17 as the Eagles' three starting guards finished with 58 combined points.
The Eagles shot 46 percent (37-of-80) on the night, including a 57 percent mark (20-of-35) in the first half. Troy attempted nearly 20 more shots (38-of-99) to offset a 38 percent shooting performance.
The win gives Troy a season sweep of Georgia Southern and also officially clinches a spot in the Sun Belt Championships for Troy. It also assures Troy its first winning season since 2008-09, which is also the last time Troy won 16 games.
The Trojans now return home to host Sun Belt leader UALR on Saturday at Trojan Arena at 2 p.m. The contest will be a Play 4Kay game as the Trojans will wear their pink uniforms and look to raise awareness of breast cancer.
UT Arlington Gets Past Appalachian State
ARLINGTON, Texas - A big second half lifted UT Arlington over Appalachian State 55-45 Thursday night at College Park Center in Sun Belt Conference play.
The Lady Mavericks (14-10, 8-7) outscored the Mountaineers 35-24 in the second to overcome a one-point deficit at the break. The win was UTA's fifth in the last six games and lifted UTA over .500 in conference play for the first time since Jan. 8.
"Our defense played a big role in this," UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich said. "We had 14 steals, which ended up being easy buckets at times, but they are the third highest scoring team in the conference and they average 69 points and we held them to just 45. I am really pleased with that defensive effort."
The 21-point first half and 24-point second were the lowest scoring halves of the season for the Mountaineers as they turned the ball over 25 times. UTA was able to convert the turnovers into 19 points, outscoring its opponent by 13 in points off of turnovers.
"I hope that it tells our girls that they have a chance," Gerlich said. "Any games they play in they have a chance because they can guard people."
UTA featured three that reached double-digit scoring. LaShanda Green and Morgan Holly each led with 12 points, while Cierra Johnson added 10. Holly's point total was a new career high, besting a nine-point effort against Northern Arizona on Nov. 26.
"I saw the defense was sagging off of Rebekah Van Dijk, so I knew that I had to step up and knock down big shots," Holly said.
Despite holding Appalachian State to its lowest point total for a half this season, UTA found itself trailing at the break. The Lady Mavericks opened the game with hot shooting to build up a 15-5 advantage with 10 minutes left in the half, and then went cold.
The Mountaineers took advantage by jumping into the lead on a 12-0 run as UTA failed to score for over eight minutes. App State's Maryah Sydnor scored seven during the run before UTA answered.
Amara Wainwright knocked down a 3-pointer to regain the lead as Holly provided a layup for a quick 5-0 run. The Mountaineer came right back to close the half strong and went into the break up 21-20. Sydnor led all scorers with 10 in the opening half. Sydnor, the league's second-ranked scorer, finished with a game-high 18 points from the bench.
"We did a really nice job in the first 10 minutes of the game defending and then we lost here," Gerlich said. "She did what she does and that is make shots. The difference is that in the second half we limited her to eight points, but we guarded the others much better."
Green helped UTA jump out of the gate with a 3-pointer to start the second and UTA would jump into a double-digit lead on a 13-4 run. Green and Johnson both poured in eight points during the half, but it was Holly who picked up on the momentum.
The junior scored 10 points in the second and was 3-for-4 shooting and a perfect 4-4 from the free-throw line. UTA shot 47.8 percent from the field in the second half.
The Lady Mavericks conclude their two-game homestand with an important matchup with Louisiana on Saturday. The Ragin' Cajuns sit just ahead of the Lady Mavericks in the SBC standings. UTA defeated Louisiana in the previous meeting by overcoming a 14-point halftime deficit.
Cajuns Defense Too Much for Bobcats
LAFAYETTE – Keke Veal scored a season-high 23 points to lead four players in double figures and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team allowed its fewest points in a Sun Belt Conference game since the 2008-09 season after claiming a 64-41 victory over Texas State on Thursday at the Cajundome.
Kia Wilridge and Jaylyn Gordon scored 12 points each while Robbie Brown came off the bench with 10 points for Louisiana (17-8, 9-7 SBC), which recorded season-lows in points allowed, field goals allowed (9) and opponent's field goal percentage (20.5 percent). The Ragin' Cajuns dominated a bigger Texas State (15-10, 10-6 SBC) team in the paint, outscoring the Bobcats, 32-6, while limiting them to 3-for-22 aim (13.6 percent) in the first half and 9-for-44 for the game.
"I thought we played really well both offensively and defensively," head coach Garry Brodhead said. "We missed our first few shots and it took us awhile to score, but once we did, we were able to do some really good things on both sides. We outscored them (Texas State) in the paint and everyone was wondering about how were you going to guard them when they're 6-2 and 6-3 down low. We just got the ball to the rim and were able to push the ball in transition."
Louisiana, which held UALR to 39 points in the 2008-09 regular-season finale, scored the game's first six points and pushed its lead to double digits when Gordon scored on a layup with 10:14 remaining in the first half for a 12-2 lead.
A jumper by Brown and an eventual shot-clock beating 3-pointer by Veal gave the Ragin' Cajuns a 17-3 lead with 7:40 remaining before Texas State made its first field goal of the game on a Ericka May jumper with 7:18 left in the first half.
But Texas State never got closer than 13 points for the remainder of the game and trailed 34-15 at halftime after Gordon sank a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the half and Veal converted a three-point play with 2.2 seconds left after a steal by Wilridge on the Bobcats' ensuing inbounds play.
A steal by Adrienne Prejean on the Bobcats' first possession of the second half led to a layup by Gordon and pushed Louisiana's lead to 36-15 with 19:43 remaining. The Ragin' Cajuns took their biggest lead of the night – 49-26 – after Veal hit a free throw with 8:12 remaining and Louisiana kept its lead above 20 points until a pair of free throws by Erin Peoples got the Bobcats to within 55-37 at the 2:44 mark.
Louisiana finished 22-for-52 (42.3 percent) from the floor and held a 37-36 advantage on the glass. Gordon pulled down a team-high seven rebounds for the Ragin' Cajuns with Wilridge recorded five steals.
Peoples led Texas State with nine points with Ayriel Anderson and Taeler Deer adding eight each. Kileah Mays grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for the Bobcats.
Louisiana will return to action on Saturday when it travels to face UT Arlington in a 5 p.m. contest at College Park Center.
Panthers Take Down Jaguars
ATLANTA – Sparked by a trio of guards in double figures and a career-high game from Gaby Moss, Georgia State rolled to a 69-54 women’s basketball win over South Alabama Thursday evening.
Georgia State won for the third time in four games to improve to 11-13 and 6-9 in the Sun Belt. The Panthers now sit in a tie for seventh place with Appalachian State and UL Monroe, a pair of teams GSU has beaten once this season and faces again down the stretch run.
Moss, a junior, had not scored in double figures all season until scoring 16 points last Saturday for a third career-game with 16 points. Tonight, she hit 8 of 12 shots for a new high of 18 points after hitting 12 in the first half. Senior point guard Andrews continued her solid all-around play, scoring 14 points, making five assists, grabbing six rebounds and making a pair of steals. Freshman guard Makeba Ponder added 12 points off the bench, including a perfect 7 of 7 from the free-throw line. Their last names of Moss, Andrews and Ponder spell MAP and provide direction for the team's final stretch run.
GSU held an important 38-26 rebound advantage, including 13 offensive boards, thanks to seven rebounds each from forwards Haley Gerrin and Kennesha Nichols.
South Alabama (4-21, 1-15) was led by 26 points from Breanna Hall on 9 of 132 shooting with 3 of 7 outside the 3-point arc. Chyna Ellis added 15 points and eight rebounds. Marquita Daniels, the Atlanta native who scored an arena record 37 points against GSU in Mobile, Ala., had just four points tonight on 2 of 7 shooting.
“You don’t really practice too hard late in season, so we’ve been just getting more shots up and that has helped us over the last four games,” coach Baldwin-Tener noted of the 45 percent game. “The defense was effective for the most part this evening and that plays a big part in most wins, too. Alisha Andrews does a lot of things for us and has settled in running the team and doing what is needed. Gaby has always been a good shooter and her points will come as she looks for them. She adds to our balanced scoring line-up. Makeba Ponder has a lot of confidence and wants the ball. Teams are paying close attention to her now that she is our leading scorer. A lot of players are giving us contributions and that is what it takes to win, especially in the February drive to tournaments.”
In 9 of GSU’s 11 wins this year, they have held the opponent to 40% shooting or less. The only two times the Panthers won when allowing 40% or more was at South Alabama (47%) and at home against Texas State (41%).
Host Georgia State got off to a 7-2 start in five minutes and grew that to 11 points at 21-10 at 8:56 on the clock. GSU led by 15 and 29-14 before South Alabama closed to 34-23 at halftime.
In the second half, Georgia State pulled up by 15 points at 13:30 (45-30) and led three times by 16 points, the last at 56-40 with 7:17 to play. The Panthers led 60-45 with 5:44 when South Alabama made a late charge that included nine straight points and back-to-back trey from Hall. A trey from Ponder at the 2:00 mark pushed that back to nine and GSU converted free throws down the stretch to increase the final margin back to 15.
The Panthers play host to Appalachian State in a key seeding game on Saturday at noon in the Play4Kay cancer awareness game in the GSU Sports Arena.