Saturday, February 7
Second Half Surge Lifts UTA Past Cajuns
Lafayette, La. - UT Arlington surged in the second half to win its third game in a row after defeating Louisiana 57-51 on Saturday at the Cajundome in Sun Belt Conference play.
The Lady Mavericks (12-9, 6-6) outscored the Ragin' Cajuns (12-8, 7-4) by 20 points in the second half and rode hot shooting by freshmen Rebekah Van Dijjk and Cierra Johnson and junior Toma Zaleckaite. Van Dijk earned her 11th double-double of the season with 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Johnson and Zaleckaite each had 13.
UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich said the importance of every win down the stretch can't be overstated.
"Each game from this point forward is a big win," Gerlich said. "We are trying to position ourselves to get into the tournament and finish strong in the conference. Each win after this is our biggest win."
UTA shot over 62 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 46.8. The Lady Mavs came out of the break with a 16-2 run and didn't allow the Ragin' Cajuns to hit a second field-goal until nearly nine minutes into the second.
"We talked to them about sticking to the game plan," Gerlich said of her message to the team at halftime. "They got hot and shot it will but it was more about offensive looks. We had to bring more energy. I didn't like the way our heads dropped after the score and I just reminded them to do what we do and to play with tempo."
A 3-point barrage in the first half left the Lady Mavs with a double-digit deficit heading into the break. The Ragin' Cajuns knocked down six 3-pointers in the first and were 6-11 in the half.
Kia Wilridge knocked down two of the Louisiana's 3-pointers and had 11 points in the first, while Van Dijk led the Lady Mavs with six points.
UTA shot just 30.4 percent from the field and found itself down 32-18 at the half.
The Lady Mavericks stormed out of the gates to begin the second half. UTA went on a run to jump into a one-point lead with less than 10 minutes left in the game. Zaleckaite helped lead the charge with nine points during the run, besting a career-high she achieved in UTA's last game.
The teams went back-and-forth with neither picking up more than a two-point advantage through the final media timeout.
Amara Wainright changed that with a 3-pointer out of the break to put the Mavs up 50-47 at the three-minute mark. Wainwright followed it up on the next possession with a runner through the lane to put the Lady Mavs up five.
The Ragin' Cajuns were able to get within just three points, but that would be as close as the game would get with UTA putting the game away with free throws at the end.
Trojans Explode for 108 Points in Win over Mountaineers
BOONE, North Carolina – The Troy women's basketball team surpassed the century mark for the first time this season and rolled to a 108-87 win over Appalachian State at the Holmes Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon.
In a game billed to be a fast-paced shootout, Troy (13-9, 8-5) took control and never looked back as the Trojans led wire-to-wire. The Trojans shot 58 percent (44-of-76) in game, including an 11-of-19 mark from 3-point range.
Ronita Garrett was hot from the start and finished with a career-high 28 points after scoring 18 in the first half. Ashley Beverly-Kelley was equally as impressive in the second half when she scored 17 of her 25 points. Beverly-Kelley shot 11-of-13 from the floor and 3-of-3 from long range as she posted 20-plus points for the fourth straight game.
Kourtney Coleman scored 14 points off the bench while Aissata Maiga also finished in double figures with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Lacey Buchanon posted 10 assists, the most by a Trojan this season, as Troy recorded 27 assists as a team.
"We came out with incredible energy after a long road trip," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "That translated into a high-powered, offensive game. We are looking forward to two games at home next week and we need our supporters to come out as we make run at a Sun Belt championship."
Troy went up by eight points in less than three minutes and never looked back. The lead swelled to as many as 16 points in the first half as Troy led 59-43 at the break. Troy made 8-of-13 3-pointers in the first half and shot 63 percent (22-of-35) from the floor.
It took Troy just three minutes in the second half to build the lead up to 20 points, and the Trojans led by as many as 25 points. The 108 points marked the sixth 100-point game for Troy in Rigby's three seasons.
Appalachian State (10-11, 5-7) was led in scoring by Bria Huffman who had 17 points, including 13 in the second half. The Mountaineers played their third straight without Maryah Sydnor, the Sun Belt's second leading scorer.
The Mountaineers committed 22 turnovers, leading to 25 Troy points. App State shot 44 percent (32-of-72) on the night, including 5-of-20 from deep and 18-of-21 from the line.
The win for Troy completes the season sweep of Appalachian State after a 91-87 win in Trojan Arena in mid-January. Troy will remain in at least fourth place in the Sun Belt standings and could move to third depending on other scores on Saturday.
The Trojans return to the court on Thursday when they welcome rival South Alabama into Trojan Arena for a 5:15 p.m. contest.
UALR Smothers Texas State for 70-43 Win
LITTLE ROCK – The UALR women’s basketball team had as dominant a defensive performance as it had all season long on Saturday evening, holding Texas State to just 23.7 percent shooting from the field.
That defensive excellence gave the Trojans’ offense more than enough breathing room, and UALR cruised to a 70-43 victory over the Bobcats at the Jack Stephens Center.
UALR (19-3, 12-1 Sun Belt Conference) remains in first place in the league standings and now moves a full four games in front of third-place Texas State (13-9, 8-5) and one full game ahead of idle Arkansas State (16-7, 11-2).
UALR swept the season series from the Bobcats with the victory, and Texas State’s 23.7 percent shooting was the second-worst for a Trojan opponent this year.
Taylor Gault finished with a team-high 19 points in 24 minutes while Keanna Keys picked up a season high 14 points. Shanity James just missed a double-double, scoring 9 points and adding 10 rebounds.
The win was UALR’s third straight in the series against Texas State as well as the team’s 21st straight Sun Belt win on the Jack Stephens Center floor. The Trojans have also reached 12 conference wins for the ninth straight year.
Gault was the star of the show offensively for the Trojans in the first five minutes, making three 3-pointers and scoring all 11 of UALR’s points before the first media timeout. In fact, Gault’s 3-pointers came on three straight attempts, and the senior was at that point on a streak of seven straight made 3-pointers.
But despite her offensive prowess, the Trojans could not pull away from the Bobcats in the early stages of the half. Texas State fought back from a 5-point deficit to tie the game at 13-13, and they took a lead at 16-15 with 9:15 remaining while Gault sat with a minor injury.
Once Gault was back, though, the UALR offense seemed to get going again. UALR got a five-point lead once again on a Gault jumper as soon as she re-entered to make it 21-16, and Texas State went cold from the field.
The Bobcats made six of their first 12 shots but then hit only 2 of 12 for the rest of the half. They went nearly six minutes straight without a basket to close the half, and the Trojans took advantage by building a double-digit lead. A layup by James closed the half strong, and UALR held a 31-21 lead at the break. Alexius Dawn was also excellent in the half, assisting on eight of UALR’s 11 made field goals.
Texas State’s scoring drought continued in the early part of the second half, as they went another 90 seconds before scoring their first basket. UALR got plenty of points on the board in that time, opening the half on a 12-2 run. Four minutes into the half, UALR had a 20-point lead at 43-23.
The Trojans’ lead only grew for the rest of the game, reaching as high as 32 points with 1:48 left. Texas State was a dismal 17.1 percent (6 of 35) from the field in the second half, though the Bobcats did manage to beat out their first-half total of 21 points by 1 as UALR emptied its bench late in the game. The Bobcats’ shooting even failed them from the free-throw line as they made just 3 of 12 attempts from the charity stripe on Saturday.
Dawn was UALR’s top assister, dishing out eight helpers. She also led the team with four steals. UALR beat out Texas State 8-0 on fast-break points, and the Bobcats had 16 turnovers.
Kiera Clark played well for UALR off the bench, scoring 8 points and reaching 500 career rebounds. James eclipsed 800 points for her career, and Kaitlyn Pratt got her 200th career rebound.
The Trojans are on the road for one game next week, traveling to Appalachian State on Thursday. UALR and the Mountaineers will tip off at 4 p.m. CST. The Trojans defeated the Mountaineers 69-48 in Little Rock on Jan. 10.
Fast-Paced Panthers Run to 84-78 Win over South Alabama
MOBILE, ALA - Georgia State roared to a 84-78 win over South Alabama Saturday at the Mitchell Center in Sun Belt women’s basketball.
For GSU, it was a double-day of fun as it marked a second-straight conference road win scoring more than 80 points. Point guard Alisha Andrews had a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. Freshman forward Kennesha Nichols added a double-double with 10 rebounds and 10 points. A pair came off the bench to score in double figures as freshman Makeba Ponder drilled a team-high 19 points with 5 of 10 3-point shots, while senior Brittany Logan pounded in 16 points in the paint with eight rebounds.
GSU’s double pleasure included shooting over 50 percent in both halves, with 56.3 (18 of 32 in the first half) and then 58.3 (14 of 24) in the second half. That added up to a 57.1 percent for the game. This was a second straight game over 50 percent (55.1 in Thursday’s road win). The Panthers were 47 percent outside the 3-point line (47.1%). This win was the 250th career head coaching win for Sharon Baldwin-Tener.
Georgia State (10-12, 5-8) had substantial leads most of the way, but South Alabama kept fighting back thanks to 37 points from guard Marquita Daniels. Visiting GSU got the lead into double figures midway through the first half (28-18 at 9:37) and had it at 13 points at 34-21. But, Daniels got hot and cut the lead back to 34-32 at 5:38. GSU went into the locker room with a 43-39 lead.
In the second half, it was déjà vu as GSU built a quick 10-point lead at 55-45 (14:27) only to see the host Jaguars zoom right back to 61-60 at 7:43. Georgia State then went on an 11-0 run to open it back to 72-60 with five minutes to go. USA made its final surge back to 77-72 at 1:53 and then Andrews softly banked in a 12-footer from the side to build the cushion back.
The Panthers held a 34-27 rebound advantage with 12 offensive boards. GSU passed the ball well with 20 assists. GSU’s biggest problem was 23 fouls called that saw three players with four fouls (Andrews, Logan and Gerrin) down the stretch and limited their minutes.
“We did a great job as a team today and everyone was doing what they were supposed to do in their specific roles,” coach Baldwin-Tener said. “We are not a one-person team and I am proud of them to win two straight on the road in February. We need to take care of ourselves physically with this Thursday without a game and get ready to battle for the final seven conference games and tournament seeding.”
Georgia State will enjoy its bye Thursday and return to action next Saturday at Texas State.
ULM Concludes Road Trip with Win over Georgia Southern
STATESBORO, Ga. – Alayshia Hunter captured her second double-double of the season as the ULM women’s basketball team captured a 58-50 victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon in Hanner Fieldhouse.
“This is a great win for our program,” said head coach Jeff Dow. “To pull it out on the road and overcome foul trouble and poor shooting certainly speaks to how well we defended and rebounded. Hopefully we get a great turnout at Fant-Ewing with these next two home games, starting with Thursday night against our in-state rival Louisiana-Lafayette”
Hunter tied a career-high with 18 points, including shooting a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line and 50 percent (5-of-10) from the field, and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Warhawks.
The Warhawks (10-12, 6-7 SBC) out rebounded the Eagles (4-17, 1-11 SBC) 50 to 33, while ULM’s defense held Georgia Southern to just 23.8 percent from the field and 23.8 percent from beyond the arc.
“We got huge production out of our three posts between the scoring of Sharnice Brooks and Alayshia Hunter and the rebounding and defense of Christina Gray,” said Dow. “Also, we had clutch shooting from the free throw line the entire game.”
ULM also hit 19 of their 20 free throw attempts, which is the second time this season that the Warhawks have made over 90 percent of their shots from the charity stripe.
Brooks went 9-of-16 from the field (56.3 percent) from the field as she garnered 23 points. The senior also grabbed eight rebounds, while Gray chipped in seven boards.
Georgia Southern took the lead first with a pair of free throws, but Jade Wharton hit a basket from beyond the arc to spark a 12-0 Warhawk run as the visitors took a 12-2 advantage with 14:45 remaining in the half.
The Eagles then used a 10-2 spurt of their own to cut the lead to two, but Hunter scored six of ULM’s next eight points as the Warhawks extended the lead to 22-15 with 3:32 left before the break.
The Warhawks defense collected four stops over the final few minutes of the first half to take a 26-22 advantage into the locker room.
After Gray hit a layup to open the second half, Georgia Southern went on a 9-2 run to regain the lead, but Hunter’s basket gave the Warhawks a 32-31 advantage with 15:01 left in the game.
ULM then hit three baskets in a row for a 38-31 lead with 11:21 remaining.
The Eagles cut ULM’s lead to back to two, but The Warhawks used an 8-3 spurt to end the game as they captured a 58-50 victory.
ULM plays again on Thursday as they return home to host UL-Lafayette at 5:15 p.m. in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.