JAGUARS RALLY LATE FOR 65-62 WIN AT NEW ORLEANS
NEW ORLEANS – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team (2-2) got its first road win of the 2016-17 season against New Orleans (1-3) 65-62 on Saturday evening at Lakefront Arena. Entering the fourth quarter trailing by six points, the Jaguars outscored the Privateers 22-13 in the quarter.
"I thought we got off to a good start," said head coach Terry Fowler. "New Orleans got back in it and it was kind of nip and tuck from there on out. They jumped out and got a six point lead on us in the third quarter. I was proud of the way we grinded our way back into the game. We were getting shots in the first half, but they weren't falling. In the second half they finally started to fall in. I was just happy to see us grind it out, keep playing hard and finish the game with making all of those free throws at the end. Not to mention the fact we had balanced scoring with four kids in double-digit scoring."
The Jags started the fourth quarter on a 10-3 run to get their first lead since the middle of the second quarter. Layups by Chyna Ellis and Erin Autio and a pair of free throws by Colby Davis gave South Alabama six points on its first three possessions. The game was tied up at 52-52 after Ellis made a free throw and got another layup off her missed free throw. Colby Davis gave the Jags a lead with a free throw, and Candice Williams stretched it to three on another layup.
New Orleans took back the lead with 2:41 left in the game on a free throw by Jada Swafford, but Candice Williams then knocked in two free throws for a lead that South Alabama held onto for the rest of the game. The rest of the Jags' points came on free throws. After a defensive stop Davis hit two free throws with 1:15 left. After Swafford made a jumper Williams made another pair of free throws. New Orleans' Randi Brown missed a three pointer with 22 seconds remaining, and Genesis Perrymond iced the game with her two made free throws. New Orleans added a basket with less than a second left on the clock.
"I thought we were really locked in on defense," said Fowler. "New Orleans' Randi Brown played a really good game for them, but we finally got a chance to finally slow her down at the end. I just thought we really paid attention and got down in our stances to guard the ball."
South Alabama hit their free throws when it mattered most, making all attempts with less than two minutes left in the game. The Jags finished the game 13-16 at the line.
"I thought our team played aggressive in the second quarter, especially in the fourth quarter," said Fowler. "We got them in foul trouble late in the game and were able to get to the line to make some free throws. I just thought overall we were aggressive driving the basketball."
The two teams traded baskets for most of the second quarter with three lead changes and one tie in the quarter. Back-to-back layups by New Orleans gave it a 19-18 lead early in the quarter, and Davis hit a three pointer right afterwards to take back the lead for South Alabama. Swafford hit two free throws with over four minutes left, and the Privateers held onto the lead heading into halftime.
Starting the third quarter South Alabama quickly tied it up on layups by Davis and LaNeetra Guillory. New Orleans responded with a 6-0 with a layup and four three throws. South Alabama was able to cut the deficit to two twice on jumpers by Williams. Brown had the last four points of the quarter for the Privateers and scored 11 total points in the quarter.
South Alabama had the lead for the majority of the first quarter. The Jaguars went on a 7-0 run to take an 11-5 lead, their biggest of the game. Williams picked off a pass and made a layup all alone that gave South Alabama its first lead. Davis then made another fast break layup on the next possession, and Erin Autio hit her first shot of the game off the bench, a three pointer.
In her second career start Williams had game-highs and career-highs of 18 points, five steals and six assists in addition to four rebounds. Her five steals all came in the first half and helped the Jags forced the Privateers to 16 of their 22 turnovers in the half. Williams didn't miss a shot in the second half, going 4-4 from both the field and the line.
"Candice was able to use our pick and roll offense to get into the paint a lot," said Fowler. "She was dropping floaters, and her dribble penetration really set her up for success."
Ellis became a big presence in the paint in the second half. She scored 11 of her 14 points, grabbed six of her nine rebounds and had two of her three rejections and both steals in the half. She went 5-9 from the field and only sat out three minutes in the half.
"Chyna was really aggressive in the second half," said Fowler. "I thought she was still aggressive in the first half, but her shots weren't falling. The coaching staff helped get her to change her angles some. She was playing too far below the block, and we got her to move up and then the shots started to finally fall for her."
Davis scored 17 points on 5-9 shooting, going 2-3 from three and 5-6 at the line before fouling out with less than two minutes left in the game. Davis also dished out five assists and grabbed four rebounds.
Autio was a key player off the bench once again for South Alabama. She scored eight of her 10 points in three-straight shots after entering halfway through the first quarter and made the only other two three pointers for South Alabama.
New Orleans ended the game with a slight rebounding advantage (40-35), but South Alabama was able to force it to two more turnovers (22-20) and also had eight more assists (14-6). 12 of the 20 turnovers by the Privateers were steals by the Jags.
South Alabama will be back in Jacksonville, Fla. for the second time this season for its next two games. The Jags will play two games in the Jacksonville Thanksgiving Classic next week and will face North Florida first on Friday at 11:00 a.m. C.T.
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Fordham Hands Trojans Loss in New York
BRONX, N.Y. – The Little Rock women's basketball team dug itself an early hole and never fully recovered at Fordham, as the home team earned itself a 65-43 victory at Rose Hill Gym in the Preseason WNIT Consolation Round on Saturday afternoon.
Sharde' Collins led Little Rock in scoring for the third time in four games, putting up 15 points that included a 3-of-4 effort from the 3-point line. Kaitlyn Pratt also had a double-figure scoring day with 10 points. Monique Townson had six rebounds and three assists to lead the Trojans in both categories.
The Trojans found themselves far behind in the game's early stages, as the Rams were ahead 19-2 late in the first quarter.
But by the end of the second, the team had nearly dug itself out of that hole completely. Little Rock went on a 15-2 run to get within 4 points of Fordham at 21-17. Five different players scored during that run. Despite not fully catching the Rams, Little Rock made things manageable and was only trailing 25-17 at halftime.
After the break, though, the Rams went through a resurgence and outscored the Trojans 24-6 in the period to pull away for good. Little Rock outscored Fordham 18-16 in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to catch up.
Fordham shot 47.7 percent from the field in the game including 40 percent from the 3-point line.
After three straight road games, the Trojans will return home on Wednesday to take on No. 25 Texas A&M at the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans and Aggies are set for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff.
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A-State Falls at Tennessee State
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (11/19/16) – The Arkansas State women’s basketball team dropped its third straight contest with a 76-66 loss to Tennessee State Saturday afternoon at the Gentry Center.
The Red Wolves (0-3) had three players reach double-figures and shot 42.9 percent from the field for the game, but Lady Tigers (1-2) outscored the Red Wolves 24-17 in the fourth quarter and collected 14 steals to prevent A-State from picking up its first win of the season.
Dominique Oliver led the way with 13 points, while Tahlon Hopkins added 11 points. Brittany Fowler also finished in double-figures for the second straight game with 10 points, while Lauren Bradshaw had eight points and eight rebounds.
“Offensively we were fine tonight, but we had some breakdowns defensively that allowed them to score a decent amount point,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “Through two games I thought our defense was further along than we would be at this point and that’s what’s hard because it felt we were starting to get a feel that we were pretty good defensively and needed to work more on offense, but today flips that and makes us have to look at some different things again.”
Hopkins gave A-State a 54-52 advantage with 8:23 to go in the game, but Tennessee State quickly answered on the opposite end to tie the game. Following a turnover, the Lady Tigers knocked down a 3-pointer to push the lead to 57-54, but Fowler answered with a trey of her own to tie the game for the final time. From that point, Tennessee State closed the game out on a 19-9 run to earn the 10-point win.
The Red Wolves trailed by two at halftime, but went on a 6-0 in the third quarter to retake a 47-46 lead after a layup by Oliver. However, the second of two five minute-plus scoring droughts allowed Tennessee State to regain the lead a 52-47, before Oliver ended the drought with a jumper before the end of the period.
Arkansas State held a 22-18 lead at the end of the first quarter and pushed the advantage 28-21 after Brittany Fowler hit four straight free throws after back-to-backs teals from the senior guard.
Dominique Oliver pushed the A-State lead to 38-26 with 5:26 to go in the half, but it would be the last time that the Red Wolves would as the Lady Tigers closed the half on a 14-0 run and took a 40-38 lead into the break.
Eight different Arkansas State players scored in the first half, including seven points from Fowler and six each from Lauren Bradshaw, Akasha Westbrook and Starr Taylor. Westbrook capped a 9-0 run by the Red Wolves in the first quarter with a jumper in the paint to go up 22-16, while Payton Tennison sparked the run with a 3-pointer from the corner.
A-State shot its highest shooting percentage of the year by knocking down 42.9 percent of its shots, and went 7-of-16 from beyond the arc, but hurt itself with 22 turnovers. Tennessee State also held the advantage on the boards, 37-28 and had 14 steals to A-State’s six.
A-State will host Florida in its home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at the Convocation Center. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
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Coastal Falls, 84-66, at Marshall
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Rachael Gregory's career high of 21 points was not enough as the Coastal Carolina women's basketball team fell 84-66 Saturday afternoon to Marshall at the Cam Henderson Center.
Coastal's second straight road loss drops the Chants to 1-2, while Marshall remains unbeaten to start the season at 3-0.
Gregory's previous best was 19 points at Gardner-Webb in the 2015-16 season. Her 8-of-14 shooting from the floor led the Chants, as did her four makes from the line.
Ced Gibson followed with 14 points on 6-of-14 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers. Kennedy Archer added 11 points.
Kiana Evans scored 23 points to lead Marshall, which shot 48.4 percent from the field. Evans accounted for four of Marshall's nine 3-point makes, and was a perfect 3-of-3 from the line.
For the first time this season the Chants were bested on the boards as Marshall finished with 40 rebounds to Coastal's 30.
Coastal opened the game shooting 7-of-12 from the field in the first quarter, but was held off the board for the frame's final 2:27. Marshall countered with six 3-pointers, four of which came from Evans who also added a layup and a free throw to account for 15 of The Herd's 27 points.
The Chanticleer defense held Evans scoreless until the 4:25 mark of the second quarter, during which time Coastal briefly regained the lead following a 7-1 run. A layup by Gregory was bookended by a jumper and 3-pointer from Archer that put Coastal in front, 30-29, but Evans responded with a layup to give the lead back to Marshall. MU closed the remaining four minutes of the half with an 11-7 advantage to take a 42-37 lead into the locker room.
The scoring margin continued to widen over the course of the third as Coastal was held without a field goal for the final 4:45 of the quarter.
The Herd closed the game making seven of 10 attempts from the field in the fourth quarter, and shot 55.2 percent from the field overall in the second half.
Coastal has a week off over Thanksgiving before returning to the court for a road match at Fort Wayne on Nov. 26. Opening tip from the Allen County War Memorial is set for 11 a.m.
The Chants won their last matchup against the Mastodons in the 2014-15 season by a 90-63 score at the HTC Center.
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ULM Falls to Nicholls State
Thibodaux, La. - The ULM women’s basketball team was dealt a 54-73 loss to Nicholls State on Saturday afternoon.
TURNING POINT
Tied at 14-all, Nicholls State went on a 15-4 run to give the Colonels an 11-point lead in the second quarter. The Warhawks were unable to make up the difference as Nicholls State grew its lead throughout the remainder of the contest.
NOTEABLES
-Gabriella Cortez finished with a career-high 31 points and posted the only double-double for the Warhawks with 11 total rebounds. Cortez shot 10-of-14 from the floor, knocking down five three-point baskets. The junior also added three assists to her stat line.
-Stephanie Ratliff grabbed 13 of ULM's 36 total rebounds as she finished with two offensive and 11 defensive rebounds.
-ULM outrebounded Nicholls 36-30, and pulled down 28 defensive rebounds as a team.
-ULM boasted more points off the bench (39 compared to Nicholls' 19) and a higher field goal percentage (46 percent compared to Nicholls' 41 percent), but Nicholls State finished with more points in the paint (28-22), more second chance points (18-11) and more points off of turnovers (28).
-ULM shot 85 percent from the free throw line as the Colonels gave the Warhawks 15 total chances at the line. ULM limited Nicholls at the line with only seven chances.
-ULM held its only lead early in the first quarter. The game was tied two different times and the lead changed three.