Lady Mavs remain perfect after downing Wichita State
ARLINGTON, Texas - For the first time since the 1999-00 season, UT Arlington has started the season 3-0 after a thrilling 74-70 victory over Wichita State at College Park Center on Sunday.
The Lady Mavericks followed up an impressive road win at WKU on Wednesday by knocking off the Shockers (1-2). Christina Devers led UTA for the third consecutive game in the point category, scoring a game-high 22, her season high. Rebekah VanDijk picked up her second consecutive double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Cierra Johnson chipped in with 12 points and a game-high eight assists.
UTA led for much of the contest but saw the game in doubt going into the final minute as Wichita State trimmed what was an eight-point lead down to just one. Following the 9-2 run by the Shockers, Devers was able to steady the ship and knocked down three of her final four free throws. Allyson Te'o stepped up her defensive efforts and drew three charges in the last two minutes.
KEY RUN
After Wichita State hit a 3-pointer early in the second half to take its first lead since the first minutes of the contest, UTA defense held strong as Wichita State went more than five minutes without a point. The Lady Mavericks took advantage and built up their largest lead of the game at nine points.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Despite not registering a shot, Allyson Te'o filled the shoes of Rebekah VanDijk, who fouled out midway through the fourth quarter. Te'o picked up three of her four drawn charges in the final minutes of the game and registered one block in 20 minutes of play.
KEY STATS
The Lady Mavericks continued to press the issue, outscoring Wichita State 18-8 in points off turnovers and 38-22 in points in the paint. UTA forced 16 WSU turnovers.
UP NEXT
UTA hits the road for three of its next four games beginning with a trip to New Jersey over the Thanksgiving weekend. The Lady Mavs take on San Diego State in the first round of the Seton Hall Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. CT.
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PANTHERS FALL TO SHARPSHOOTING SEAHAWKS
ATLANTA - Georgia State (2-2) lost 72-66 to UNCW (2-1) Sunday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena as the Seahawks hit 11 three-pointers, including six in the second quarter, to hand the Panthers their first home loss of the season.
“I thought we did some things well today,” head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. “We took care of the ball and we got 13 steals on the other end. We missed some chances late because of our free throw shooting. It can be deflating when you’re making a run, but can’t hit your free throws.”
Georgia State led 14-9 after the first quarter, holding an opponent to less than 10 points in a quarter for the second time this season. However, UNCW caught fire from beyond the arc in the second quarter and outscored the Panthers 30-17 to hold a lead at the half. The Seahawks led by as much as 15 points before the Panthers put a run together to open the fourth quarter. The run was capped by a Tatianna Jackson three-pointer that put GSU in front 62-61 at the 5:03 mark, but UNCW would regain the lead its 11th three of the game.
Georgia State pulled back within one with 3:37 to play, but that would be as close as the Panthers would get as GSU missed six free throws in the final period. For the game, Georgia State went 9-23 from the line.
Tiffany Holston finished one rebound shy of her second double-double in as many games, recording 13 points and nine boards. The Panthers outrebounded the Seahawks 38-35, but held a bigger advantage on the offensive boards with 17 offensive rebounds compared to UNCW’s 10. GSU totaled 19 second chance points on the day.
Four Panthers recorded double-digit points as Kierra Henry and K.K. Williams joined Holston and Lewis. For Williams, her 10 points set a new career-high. Henry’s 12 points matched a career mark that she’s reached twice before including Wednesday’s game vs. Allen. Jackson finished with seven points and six rebounds to go with a pair of steals.
For the third time in the first four games this season, GSU recorded double-digit steals, earning 13 on Sunday. Entering the contest, the Panthers averaged 13.3 steals per game which ranked 31st in Division I.
Georgia State completes its three-game home stand Tuesday night when Kennesaw State visits the Sports Arena for a 7 p.m. tip.
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Eagle Women Fall 67-55 to Jacksonville State
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Despite mounting a big comeback in the third quarter that saw the Georgia Southern women's basketball team pull to within three of Jacksonville State, the Eagles fell 67-55 on the road inside Pete Mathews Coliseum. Senior Patrice Butler dominated down low as she recorded her fifth career double-double off 19 points and 11 rebounds.
For the game, the Eagles shot 32.2% (19-59) from the field, but they were hampered by 26.5% (4-15) shooting in the first and second quarters and 27.3% (3-11) in the fourth. GS was able to shoot 44.4% (8-18) in the third period as the Eagles out-scored JSU 21-16.
Butler highlighted three players finishing with double-digit points for head coach Kip Drown and Georgia Southern. Butler led all players in both scoring and rebounding. Angel McGowan scored 13 points and Sierra Butler ended the afternoon with 10. Alexis Sams had four assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Jacksonville State started off hot, shooting 58.8% (10-17) in the first quarter, before ending the game 41.8% (28-67) from the field. A 26.7% (4-15) second quarter slowed the Gamecocks momentarily, but they bounced back in the third and fourth.
Similar to the Eagles, three Gamecocks scored in double figures led by Rayven Pearson's 15 points. She went an impressive 7-for-8 (87.5%) from the field while Briana Benson hit four three-pointers, a game-high, en route to scoring 14 points. Lacey Buchanon ended her 31 minutes of action with 11 points.
THE STORY
The Gamecocks started the game off hot with a 7-0- run before Patrice Butler was able to get the Eagles on the board with a layup at the 7:32 mark of the first quarter. Butler scored Georgia Southern's first six points before Sams hit a three-pointer, pulling the Eagles within three at the time.
The second quarter saw much of the same as JSU pushed the tempo of the game and capitalized on some Georgia Southern miscues to take an eight-point, 32-24 lead into the locker room at halftime. But the Eagles came back out in the third quarter and slowly chipped away at the Gamecock lead. With 1:19 left in the period, McGowan gave the Eagles their first lead of the afternoon with a layup, but Buchanon matched her with a layup and then hit a close to half court shot at the buzzer to give JSU a three-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Using the momentum of that buzzer-beater, JSU rebuilt the lead out to as many as 18 during the fourth before settling for the 12-point, 67-55 final.
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App State Falls to Richmond on the Road
RICHMOND, Va. - Appalachian State University women’s basketball (2-2) suffered a 55-46 decision to Richmond (1-3) on Sunday evening at the Robins Center.
The Mountaineers and Spiders both struggled from the floor shooting 35.2 percent, but the home team held a 14-6 advantage from the free throw line and corralled 42 boards to App State’s 32, including a 14-8 edge on the offensive glass.
Joi Jones scored a team-high 16 points on eight shots. After starting 2-of-10 from the floor, Jones shot 6-for-9 from the field. Ashley Bassett-Smith was one point shy of her career high with 14 points on four buckets and a perfect 6-of-6 performance from the line. The senior forward added to her stat line with four boards and a block. Bria Carter led the team with a season-high seven boards and scored six points.
While trailing by 10, 48-38, with four minutes left in the game, Jones went on a personal 6-0 spurt in 54 seconds to cut the Apps’ deficit to four, 48-44. Jones went on to score 10 of her 16 points and 10 of the Apps’ 14 points overall in the fourth period. After forcing a Richmond turnover, Elizabeth Norregaard’s 3-point attempt to cut the lead to one went in-and-out. From that point on, the Spiders scored seven of the next nine points to clinch their first win of the season.
Appalachian got off to another slow start with Richmond starting the game on an 8-2 run over the first 5:06 of the contest. Over the final 4:54, Jones sparked a 7-1 run that tied the game going into the second quarter, 9-9. Madi Story hit a trifecta to cut the deficit before Bayley Plummer tied the game with a nifty reverse layup.
The game kept close throughout the rest of the first half where a total of seven ties and two lead changes took place. In the second quarter, the Apps tied the game on several different occasions but could never get over the hump. After Jones hit her second shot of the half to tie the game at 19-all, Richmond forced a turnover before scoring with three seconds left in the half to take a slight 21-19 edge into the break.
The Spiders took control of the game in the third quarter outscoring the Black and Gold, 14-4, over a 6:40 span to extend the lead to 12, 35-23. App State closed the game as Bassett-Smith scored six of the team’s final nine points and Amber Driver hit a big 3-pointer that cut the lead to just seven off one of one of Mikaya Wilson’s four assists.
A free throw from Lauren Tolson pushed the score back up to eight, 40-32, going into the final period. App State committed nine of its 18 turnovers in the third quarter, leading to nine points off the miscues for the Spiders and eight points in the paint.
Jones began the quarter with a field goal, but App State couldn’t get stops on the other end thanks to the duo Janelle Hubbard and Micaela Parson who combined for 40 of the team’s points and 13 of Richmond’s 19 field goals overall. Richmond stretched the lead to 10, 48-38, before Appalachian’s valiant effort to get back into the game in the final minutes.
Appalachian will look to get back on track with a 7 p.m. contest against ETSU on Wednesday in Johnson City, Tenn.
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Texas Southern Downs Bobcats 66-53
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State was unable to contain a hot-shooting Texas Southern team as the Tigers shot 50.9 percent overall, including 52.0 percent in the second half, to defeat the Bobcats 66-53 in a Sunday matinee at Strahan Coliseum.
Texas Southern (2-1) converted 27 of its 53 shot attempts, including 5-of-10 from three, for its season-best shooting percentage. The Tigers, which were led by Joyce Kennerson and Kaitlin Palmer with 15 and 16 points, respectively, scored 32 of their points in the paint and 14 off Bobcat turnovers.
Texas State was paced for the third time this season by Toshua Leavitt's 11 points. Leavitt was 4-of-7 from the field with three 3-pointers. The Bobcats shot 44.4 percent in the first half, but cooled off after halftime to finish the contest with a 36.1 shooting percentage (22-of-61).
Texas Southern expanded its lead to 16 points (60-44) with a 9-2 run to open the fourth period. The Bobcats then reeled off seven straight with Ericka May converting a fast break layup, McKinley Bostad making a pair at the line and freshman Brooke Holle knocking down her first career 3-pointer, cutting the Tiger lead to nine. However, after exchanging layups with just over three minutes to play the Bobcats would get no closer as Texas Southern went on to win 66-53.
Texas Southern used a 53.3 shooting percentage to take an 18-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play. The Bobcats also shot well in the quarter, making six of their 14 attempts, including a 3-pointer by Leavitt. Both teams utilized their inside games with each counting 10 points in the paint.
Texas State erased its five-point deficit with a 10-4 run in first four minutes of the second quarter and took a 23-22 lead. The Tigers regained a 28-25 lead on a Chyna Ewing layup at the 3:18 mark, but Kiani Lurry would tie the game for the fourth time as she knocked down a triple from the left corner. Texas Southern would score the final four points of the stanza via two free throw and a Artavia Ford jumper to take a 32-28 lead into the intermission.
The Bobcats twice pulled within a point of Texas Southern in the initial 3:30 of the second half, but each time the Tigers' Kennerson answered with a bucket. The second of such instances gave the Tigers a 41-38 lead and sparked a 12-4 run that gave the visitors a 51-42 advantage after three quarters of play.
Texas State next plays at Houston at 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening. The Bobcats and Cougars have met 14 previous times with Houston holding an 11-3 series lead.