Thursday, January 7
Veal's 30 Lifts Cajuns Past Little Rock
LITTLE ROCK, AR -- Behind their top three leading scorers this season, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team outlasted the Little Rock Trojans, 65-58 at the Jack Stephens Center on Thursday night.
The Cajuns improved their overall record to 10-2 overall and 3-0 in Sun Belt Conference play. It's the first 3-0 conference start for the Louisiana program since 1982-83.
The offensive trio of seniors Keke Veal (30) and Kia Wilridge (11) and junior Jaylyn Gordon (15) combined for 56 of the Cajuns' 65 points, and helped the team win their third straight game and eighth in the last nine overall. The 30 points for Veal were a career high.
"I thought those three did a great job offensively," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "Keke [Veal] shot the ball extremely well. Our turnovers were down and it was exciting to see the team's improvement - especially on the road, which is very tough.
"I thought we were very patient and took a lot of good shots," Brodhead added. "It allowed us to get a lot of five-on-five situations and limit Little Rock's fast break opportunities."
The win also bumped fourth-year head coach Garry Brodhead into a tie with Ross Cook for the second-most victories in program history with 57.
"It's our first win since my tenure here at UL," Brodhead said. "We talked about how we had to be ready mentally, and I thought we were already prepared physically. I thought we were consistent in our play offensively. It's a big conference win on the road."
The Cajuns led for 37:26 of the game after trailing 2-0 for the first 41 seconds. Leading 5-2 at the 5:28 mark, Gordon buried back-to-back treys to put the Cajuns ahead by eight, 10-2 with 3:54 to play in the first quarter.
A 9-6 scoring spurt by the Trojans closed the gap to 16-11 at the conclusion of the first quarter. Gordon netted eight of her 15 points in the opening stanza on 2-of-4 shooting, including 2-of-2 from long distance.
Little Rock's Alexis Dawn scored seven straight points to pull the Trojans to within 20-19 at the 4:44 mark of the second quarter. Veal responded on the next possession with a three-pointer to push Louisiana's lead back to four points.
Sophomore Simone Fields made a free throw while Veal scored on a layup on the next two possessions, providing the Cajuns with a 26-19 cushion with 3:24 to go in the opening half.
Monique Townson finished a three-point play to make it a 26-24 contest, but again Veal answered with a three-pointer, bumping the UL lead to 29-24.
Veal hit her third triple of the second quarter with 10 seconds left to close the half, leaving the score at 32-27 in favor of the Ragin' Cajuns. She accounted for 11 of the Cajuns' 16 points in the second stanza.
In the third quarter, Louisiana led by as many as nine (44-35) at the 5:38 mark and took a 51-44 lead into the final 10 minutes.
Dawn scored six of Little Rock's first seven points of the fourth quarter, narrowing the contest to a 53-51 tally with 6:53 to go.
A free throw by Keanna Keys following a timeout brought the Trojans to within 53-52, but on the ensuing possession, Veal nailed another triple to increase the lead back to four at 56-52 with 4:24 to play in the contest.
The two foes traded points over the next 2:08, keeping the margin at six, 62-56. Wilridge made it a three-possession game after sinking a free throw with 1:26 remaining, preserving the team's third road win of the 2015-16 campaign.
The Cajuns shot 42.9% (21-of-49) from the floor, including 50% (9-of-18) from three-point range. They also deposited 14-of-17 free throws (82.4%).
Gordon added a team-high five assists, a block and a steal in 34 minutes. Wilridge and freshman Breionne Cooper both pulled down six rebounds, tied for the team lead.
The win was the first victory for the program in Little Rock since January 29, 2000 (66-63 final), and snapped a five-game skid to the Trojans overall.
The Cajuns will go for their third straight win this Saturday, Jan. 9 at Arkansas State in a battle for first place in the Sun Belt Conference standings. Tip-off is slated for 3:05 p.m.
Three Score Over 20 Points as Trojans Win on the Road
ATLANTA – Three different Trojans scored over 20 points and the Troy women's basketball team picked up a hard fought, 97-90, win over Georgia State at the GSU Sports Arena on Thursday night.
Troy (7-5, 2-1) got 26 points from Ashley Beverly Kelley, 22 from Caitlyn Ramirez but the most impressive performance came from freshman Amahni Upshaw. The Brantley, Ala., native enter averaging 4.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, but scored 21 points with 16 rebounds on Thursday night.
"This was a tremendous win for us," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "Georgia State is a very good team that is going to beat a lot of teams in our league, so to beat them on the road is huge.
"Amahni Upshaw is the first person that comes to mind. She really came out of the blocks ready to play and had an outstanding performance. Others came around behind her, but she really got it sparked for us tonight."
Upshaw had 12 points and nine rebounds in the first half while Ramirez also had 10 points to keep Troy in the game despite an 0-of-12 3-point showing from everyone not named Amanda Mendoza.
Mendoza went 3-of-4 from deep in second-quarter and was a big reason Troy was down just one, 42-41, at halftime. Mendoza, wearing a facemask due to a facial injury, finished the game as the fourth Trojan in double figures with 11 points.
Georgia State (6-6, 1-2) had just seven turnovers in the first half, but Troy's pressure began to hit home in the second half as the Panthers had eight turnovers in just the third quarter.
Beverly Kelley also began to hit in the second half after going 0-of-4 in the first half from the field. The Sun Belt's leading scorer hit her first three shots in the third quarter, scoring eight points in three minutes to give Troy a lead. She finished with 13 third-quarter points as Troy outscored GSU 27-19 to take a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Troy's lead quickly ballooned to 11 early in the fourth quarter, but GSU started hitting from deep to get back in it. After starting 0-of-11 from long range, the Panthers made three consecutive 3-pointers in less than two minutes to get within two, 74-72, with 7:05 to go.
However, Troy shot 9-of-18 from the field and 8-of-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, and Georgia State never pulled even. On the night, Troy shot an outstanding 85 percent (22-of-26) from the free throw line, including a 12-of-12 effort from Beverly Kelley who also added five rebounds, four assists and four steals to her stat line.
Overall on the night, Troy shot 45 percent (33-of-74) from the field and 28 percent (9-of-32) from deep. Georgia State hit 47 percent (33-of-70) overall, 29 percent (6-of-21) from deep and 67 perceny (18-of-27) from the free throw line.
Madison Newby led the Panthers with 20 points thanks in large part to a 12-of-19 showing at the free throw line. The freshman point guard had six assists, but also eight turnovers. Astaja Tyghter added 19 points and nine rebounds for GSU.
Next up for Troy is a less than 48-hour turnaround as the Trojans travel to take on Georgia Southern on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. CT in Statesboro, Ga. The Eagles also won on Thursday night, beating South Alabama at home inside Hanner Fieldhouse.
Defense Leads Eagles to Win over Jaguars
STATESBORO, Ga. – Angel McGowan registered 26 points, a career-high seven steals and six rebounds, and Georgia Southern's stifling zone defense held South Alabama to 26 percent shooting as the Eagles earned a 57-43 Sun Belt women's basketball victory over the Jaguars Thursday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse.
McGowan's seven steals were tied for the fifth most in school history, and the junior was 8 of 13 from the floor and 5 of 6 from 3-point range. Patrice Butler contributed 13 points and eight rebounds for Georgia Southern (4-8, 1-2), and Alexis Sams collected nine points and six assists.
After giving up 20 points in the first quarter, Georgia Southern switched to a zone defense and allowed just 18 points over the next 29 minutes of game time. The Eagles held South Alabama to 6 of 39 from the floor and forced 14 of the Jags' 16 turnovers during the stretch.
Erin Autio led South Alabama (4-8, 0-3) with 13 points, and Genesis Perrymond scored nine.
THE STORY
Trailing 20-7 at the end of the first quarter, Georgia Southern outscored the Jags 15-5 in the second stanza and trailed by just three at halftime. McGowan capped the period with a 3-pointer and canned two in a row to start the third frame to give the Eagles their first lead of the contest. After Colby Davis hit a triple for South Alabama to tie the score 28-28, McGowan scored five points in a 14-3 Georgia Southern run, and Sams' 3-pointer with seven seconds left in the third gave the Eagles a 42-31 cushion heading into the final period. South Alabama trimmed the margin to nine points, but that was as close as they would get. It was the first Sun Belt win for first-year Georgia Southern coach Kip Drown.
A-State Extends Home Winning Streak to 15
JONESBORO, Ark. (1/7/16) – Senior forward Khadija Brown-Haywood recorded her fifth career double-double, and two additional Arkansas State players scored in double figures to lead the Red Wolves to a 66-43 victory over Louisiana-Monroe Thursday night at the Convocation Center in a Sun Belt Conference women’s basketball game.
A-State improved to 9-3 overall, giving the Red Wolves their best record through 12 games since the 2003-04 season. The squad remained undefeated in league play, running its Sun Belt record to 3-0 for the sixth time in school history. In the process, the Red Wolves extended their home winning streak to 15 games. ULM saw its overall record move to 6-5, and the Warhawks now stand 0-3 against conference opponents.
“I’m certainly very pleased with this performance,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “A couple of areas that stood out in particular was our effort on the defensive end and what I really liked was that it was really all the way through four quarters and that’s something we haven’t done really all year. On the offensive end we got back to the team that doesn’t turn the ball over. We hadn’t got out of that at Troy and South Alabama a little bit, but certainly good to see us take care of the ball again.”
Brown-Haywood scored a team-high 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to collect her fourth double-double of the season. Senior forward Amanda Lawson and senior guard Aundrea Gamble added 14 and 11 points, respectively, for the Red Wolves.
Following one tie and two lead changes early in the contest, A-State went on top 7-6 when Lawson hit a jumper with 5:21 left in the first quarter. The shot began a 13-2 run for A-State, which wouldn’t relinquish the lead the remainder of the game.
A-State built a 22-10 advantage by the end of the first quarter and outscored the Warhawks 14-6 in the second, taking control of the game with a 36-16 halftime lead. The Red Wolves limited ULM to just two made field goals in the second quarter and held the Warhawks to a 25.9 field goal percentage in the first half.
Lawson scored seven of her 14 points in the third quarter, helping the Red Wolves extend their lead to 54-26 by the end of the period. They claimed their largest lead of the game at 30 points, 56-26, early in the final period before going on to the 23-point victory.
A-State recorded eight steals and scored 20 points off 23 ULM turnovers. The Red Wolves, in contrast, committed just 10 turnovers and also handed out 14 assists to the Warhawks five. All but one Arkansas State player who saw action in the game scored as it got 23 points from its bench.
The Red Wolves shot 39.7 percent from the field in comparison to ULM’s .353 field goal percentage. A-State also posted a higher shooting percentage from beyond the arc and free throw line.
ULM was led by Alayshia Hunter with a game-high 16 points, and the Warhawks Daja Chase narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Arkansas State continues a four-game home stand Saturday, Jan. 9, at 3:00 p.m. against Louisiana-Lafayette.
A-State returns to the hardwood Saturday, Jan. 9 against Louisiana-Lafayette at 3 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
VanDijk Leads Mavs to Huge Road Win
BOONE, N.C. – UT Arlington picked up its second consecutive win by more than 30 points in routing Appalachian State 76-45 on Thursday in Sun Belt play.
The Lady Mavericks (7-6, 2-1 SBC) picked up their third road win in a row, starting a three-game road trip, and held an opponent under 50 points for the fourth time in five games. Sophomore Rebekah VanDijk matched her season-high and came within just two points of her career mark, leading with a game-high 18 points.
Three other UTA players joined VanDijk with double-digit totals. Cierra Johnson and Morgan Hunt each had 14 points – Hunt with a career high, while Breck Clark also had her best effort with 12 points. UTA shot 53.7 percent from the field, its third time with at least 50 percent shooting this season.
With VanDijk's efficiency in the paint, UTA held a 36-12 advantage in points inside. VanDijk finished with a game-best 8-of-12 shooting, her best shooting percentage of the season.
App State opened the contest on a 6-1 run before UTA began to enforce its authority. The Lady Mavs trimmed the deficit to just two points heading into the media timeout and took the lead on a 5-0 run. Clark knocked down UTA's first 3-pointer of the contest late in the opening quarter to give UTA a 14-9 advantage.
The Lady Mavs defense clamped down in the second to extend their lead to double digits. UTA held the Mountaineers to just 3-of-11 shooting in the quarter, while the Lady Mavs knocked down shots at a 50 percent clip. VanDijk put in six points in the second and headed into the break with 12 points on 6-9 shooting.
The 18 points for App State tied the season low for points in the opening half.
The defensive effort continued into the second half as the Mountaineers failed to make a field goal for the first three minutes of the quarter, letting UTA open up a 9-1 run out of the break. The Lady Mavs followed up a big third with an even better fourth, knocking down 81.8 percent of their shots (9-11).
Turning point
The Lady Mavs put together two defensive quarters to open the contest as UTA held opponents to less than 10 points for five of the last six quarters played. Breck Clark helped along the effort with two of her three 3-pointers coming in the first half and the Lady Mavs went into the break up by more than 10 points for their third consecutive game.
Key Stats
UTA had three players have at least five assists. Amara Wainwright led with a career-high seven. Cierra Johnson and LaShanda Green each had five. … Johnson came within one of her high for steals in a game with six to match a season high. …
Notable
UTA improved to 3-0 all-time against Appalachian State and 2-0 on the road. … UTA coach Krista Gerlich achieved win 196 to come within four of the 200-milestone. … UTA is 5-0 when VanDijk scores at least 10 points.
Up next
The Lady Mavericks continue their three-game trip as it heads to Alabama for a pair of games. UTA plays Troy on Thursday night before meeting South Alabama in Mobile on Saturday. UTA was 3-1 against the pair last season.