Trojans Top Previously Unbeaten Billikens by 13
LITTLE ROCK – The Trojan defense showed up in a big way, and Kaitlyn Pratt, Sharde' Collins and Kyra Collier combined for 44 points in a 56-43 victory over Saint Louis at the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday afternoon.
Trailing by 8 points entering the second quarter, Little Rock (2-4) held the Billikens (5-1) to just 6 points in the frame to take a 3-point lead into halftime. With the game still close entering the fourth, Little Rock scored 16 points in the final quarter while allowing just 6 from Saint Louis to pull away for the 13-point win.
Pratt scored 16 points to set a new season high and added a career-high 17 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Collins finished with 15 points, and Collier scored a career-high 13 including a dagger 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter and 4 free throws in the final minute to ice the game.
Ronjanae DeGray scored 8 points for the Trojans and grabbed nine rebounds, both career highs. Though she did not score, Monique Townson was vital on defense and picked up eight assists to tie her career high.
After falling behind 19-11 to end the first quarter, Little Rock's offense and defense combined for an excellent second quarter. The Trojans held the Billikens without a made field goal for the first eight minutes of the quarter and outscored Saint Louis 17-6 in the period to take a 28-25 lead into halftime.
The teams each scored 12 points in the third quarter, but Little Rock's defense again shone in the fourth. The Billikens went 3 of 13 from the field in the period, and Little Rock made its first two 3-pointers of the night to pull away.
The win was a small measure of revenge for Little Rock, as the Trojans' 2015-16 season ended against the Billikens in the WNIT First Round at Chaifetz Arena.
Little Rock plays its next game on the road, traveling to Missouri State for a 7:05 p.m. tipoff on Monday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
UTA downs SDSU to move into SHU Classic final
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The UTA Lady Mavericks improved to 4-0 for the first time since 1977 after downing San Diego State 64-58 on Saturday at Walsh Gymnasium to open the SHU Thanksgiving Classic.
The perfect start to the season is now the second-best start in program history, behind the 7-0 opening to the 1977 season. The Lady Mavs take on Seton Hall in the tournament final on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CT.
Rebekah VanDijk and Christina Devers teamed up to lead the UTA attack with each scoring 14 points in a game that was riddled with foul trouble. A combined 51 fouls were called in the matchup with SDSU's two leading scorers for the season fouling out. The Lady Mavericks turned the Aztecs (1-4) over 22 times in the contest, converting into a 25-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
After San Diego State hit a 3-pointer early in the contest, it was all UTA. The Lady Mavs led for 37:59 and built up their biggest advantage of 12 in the fourth quarter.
Cierra Johnson flirted with a double-double as she had nine rebounds and eight points. Johnson picked up three of UTA's six steals to meet her average of three per game.
KEY RUNS
First Half
After San Diego State hit the opening 3-pointer, the Lady Mavericks responded with a 9-0 run that set the tone for the contest. Cierra Johnson had five points during the run that included three free throws and VanDijk got her first points of the game to build the 9-3 lead.
Second Half
After San Diego State trimmed a nine-point deficit to just six points, it was back-to-back 3-pointers that put UTA up for good. Ericka Mattingly knocked down the first, followed by Christina Devers to give UTA its 12-point lead.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
While Devers and VanDijk led UTA with 14 points, the efforts of Cierra Johnson completed the score sheet. Johnson had eight points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.
QUOTABLE
Coach Krista Gerlich on the game
"I am glad to get that win. It was a battle the whole time through. We didn't look fully sharp. We had a few different kids step for us. Ericka Mattingly played good in the second half and scored consecutively to really help us. We got a lot of kids a lot of playing time and a lot of different lineups to look at it today. We struggled to get the W today, but I'm glad we did.
Gerlich on the progress of the team
"I felt like the whole day we put two steps forward and took one back. We went ahead by nine and would foul and give up an easy bucket. We would go on a little run and then do something silly. I'm proud of them, that is what you have to do, grind it out on the road and hopefully we will play better tomorrow."
Chants Power Past Fort Wayne, 72-57
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Alexis Robinson and Rachael Gregory each notched double-doubles, and four Chants total scored in double figures as the Coastal Carolina women's basketball team downed Fort Wayne, 72-57, Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Coliseum.
Robinson scored 15 points and led Coastal (2-2) with 11 rebounds. Gregory scored 10 points and grabbed 10 boards for her first double-double in a Chanticleer uniform. Gregory has scored in double figures in all four Coastal's games this season, and five of her last six appearances dating back to last season.
The Chants have now had three players with double-doubles in four games this season as Robinson and Gregory join Naheria Hamilton.
Ced Gibson led all players with 16 points, half of which came in the game's first quarter. Gibson finished 5-of-9 from the field, added four points at the line and dished out a game-leading four assists.
Kennedy Archer, who rounded out Coastal's double-figure scorers with 12 points, added three assists and three steals.
Coastal shot 46.7 percent from the field for the game, including 60.0 percent in the final quarter to close out the win. The Chants also held a 38-30 advantage in rebounds.
Gibson had the hot hand to open the game, going 3-of-4 in the first quarter with a pair of 3-pointers to help the Chants to a 20-16 lead.
Fort Wayne hit a pair of free throws to open the second quarter, but the Chanticleer defense held the Mastodons off the board for the next seven minutes. Jas Adams went to work during that span, sinking three straight jumpers and adding a free throw to push Coastal's lead into double figures. The Chants appeared ready to take an 11-point advantage into the locker room, but Fort Wayne's KeShyra McCarver hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the halftime score 35-27 in Coastal's favor.
It took less than four minutes of the second half for Coastal to regain its 11-point cushion. Robinson, who finished the first half with eight points and eight rebounds, scored three quick points to reach double figures in the category, and completed the double-double just minutes later. Archer led CCU with five points in the period as her and Robinson combined for eight of Coastal's 14 third-quarter points.
The Chants put up 10 points in the first four minutes of the final quarter to take full control of the game, and took a game-high 19-point lead with just over minute before the final buzzer.
Fort Wayne (1-5) was led by the 14 and 12 points of Zaria Atkins and McCarver, respectively.
Coastal returns to its home court Wednesday to host Catawba for a 6 p.m. game at the HTC Center. The women play the first half of a Chanticleer basketball doubleheader, with the men's team hosting Methodist at 8:30 p.m.
JAGUARS FALL TO JACKSONVILLE 62-55 ON THE ROAD
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team (3-3) had its three game-winning streak snapped by Jacksonville (4-2) in the final game of the Jacksonville Thanksgiving Classic 62-55 on Saturday afternoon at Historic Swisher Gym. The Jaguars led by one point with 1:36 remaining but the Dolphins ended the game on an 8-0 run.
"I thought it was an extremely good game, and both teams played well," said head coach Terry Fowler. "To be a fan at that game, it would have been exciting. We had some stretches on both sides of the ball where we didn't execute that led to us getting down and eventually a win for Jacksonville."
Brandi Buie gave Jacksonville the lead for good on a layup with a minute and 18 seconds left. South Alabama turned the ball over and missed a shot in its next two possessions, and Jacksonville's Christen Mercer split a pair of free throws. After a missed layup by Colby Davis that was contested, Mercer made the front end of her two free throws. The Dolphins were able to grab the board following the miss, and Buie would hit two pairs of free throws to preserve the victory for Jacksonville.
"We hit a stretch where we missed some shots," said Fowler. "They were able to go down and convert. It was the exact opposite of us. We had to be the team to comeback and make some shots that we needed to, and then we couldn't get the stops either."
Entering the fourth quarter tied at 44-44 Jacksonville started the quarter on an 8-2 run. Jillah Moede started the run with a layup and was followed by a jumper by Mercer. After Kennedi Centers made a layup, Buie hit a jumper, and then Mercer scored on a layup to cap the run.
South Alabama responded with a 9-2 run that covered over six minutes. Davis and Chyna Ellis both made a pair of free throws, and Erin Autio cut the Jaguars' deficit to one on a three-pointer with almost four minutes left. Candice Williams gave the Jags the lead on two free throws in what would be the final points for the Jags in the game.
The first quarter featured runs by both teams. After Williams banked in a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down in the first possession of the game, Jacksonville went on a 10-0 run. Kayla Gordon made a layup on the Dolphins' first possession, and Kimberly Dawkins would score six of the next eight points on two jumpers in the paint and a layup.
The Jaguars would then go on a 15-3 run to take the lead for the last three minutes of the quarter. Davis hit a three-pointer off a pass by Williams, and Erin Autio made two layups in the next two trips on the offensive end. After a Dolphins' three-pointer Williams tied the game up with her second three of the quarter, and Davis grabbed the lead for South Alabama. Savannah Jones ended the run with a three on a dish by Genesis Perrymond.
Davis had the first four points of the second quarter for South Alabama. After Kayla Gordon cut the Dolphins' deficit to one following a layup and two free throws, they took a one-point lead into halftime by outscoring the Jags 7-3 over the last seven minutes of the quarter.
The third quarter went back and forth between the two teams. A 11-2 run by South Alabama on a bucket by Autio, an Ellis' layup and two free throws and another three-pointer by Jones gave it a five-point lead over four minutes into the quarter. Jacksonville ended the quarter by outscoring South Alabama 10-4.
Jacksonville finished with the advantage on the glass, outrebounding South Alabama 44-35 that included 19 offensive boards. The Dolphins outscored the Jags 32-12 in the paint and 18-8 in second chance points.
South Alabama went 7-13 (53.8%) from behind the three-point line, but only shot 31.4 % (16-51) from the field. The Jags also turned the ball over five more times (20-15).
Autio led the Jags in scoring with a dozen and also had six boards and a game-high three blocks. Davis was the only other double-digit scorer for South Alabama with 11 points. Ellis finished with nine rebounds, seven points and one block. Williams had a game-high five assists and eight points, all on three's (2-4) and free throws (2-2).
Jones was the top bench scorer for the Jags with eight points by making two of three three-pointers and both free throw attempts. Kines, LaNeetra Guillory and Centers all had two points.
The loss concludes a six-game stretch in November that saw the Jags play away from home five times. After dropping two games in Florida to then No. 20/24 Florida 85-33 and UCF 70-58 to start the season, South Alabama defeated Spring Hill in the only home game 38-33, won at New Orleans 65-62 and beat North Florida 62-55 in the previous game of the Jacksonville Thanksgiving Classic.
"I thought we improved every game," said Fowler. "I really saw us improve not only from game-by-game but quarter-by-quarter. We're excited to get back to the Mitchell Center and play this next stretch of games at home, and we'll finish up at UAB before the holiday break. To not leave the state of Alabama with a majority of those games in Mobile is a blessing for us."
South Alabama returns home for a four-game home stand, and will only play once on the road in the month of December. The first home game will be against Southern Miss next Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
Cajuns Fall To Southern Miss On The Road, 71-49
Hattiesburg, Miss. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team fell to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, 71-49 in the championship game of the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday.
Louisiana (2-2) opened the game with a layup from senior guard Jaylyn Gordon and a jumper from junior forward Simone Fields to give the Cajuns an early 4-0 lead.
Southern Miss (5-1) played a back-and-forth game with Louisiana for much of the first quarter. The Cajuns led 14-12 at the end of the first period.
The Lady Eagles took their first lead of the game at 15-14 with 7:55 left in the second quarter on a jumper by Keri Jewett-Giles.
Southern Miss led by as many as seven points in the first half when Brittany Dinkins made a jumper while being fouled and converted on the free throw to give the Lady Eagles a 29-22 lead with 42 seconds left in the first half.
Louisiana trimmed the lead to 29-26 at halftime when Brittney Myles made a short jumper at the buzzer.
The Lady Eagles led 37-29 when Jewett-Giles made a layup with 6:12 left in the third quarter.
Gordon knocked down a three-pointer for the Cajuns to cut the lead to 37-32 with 3:41 left in the third quarter.
Southern Miss started to pull away late in the third quarter and led 47-37 at the end of the third period.
Louisiana came as close as four in the final frame when Gordon connected on another three-pointer to trim the Eagles lead to 49-45 with 7:28 left in the fourth quarter.
Southern Miss closed the game on a 22-4 run to claim the Lady Eagle Classic for a fifth straight year.
The Cajuns were led in scoring by Gordon with 21 points while Gabby Alexander added 10 points. Gordon and Fields were named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Eagles were led by Brittny Norris with 19 points while Dinkins had 18 points and took home the tournament's MVP award.
Louisiana will return to action on Thursday, Dec. 1 when it hosts Xavier (La.) in a 5 p.m. game at the newly renovated Cajundome.
Eagle Women Fall 83-57 at IUPUI
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Georgia Southern women's basketball team closed out a four-game road swing Saturday afternoon at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). The Eagles fell 83-57 to the Jaguars inside the Jungle as the Jags benefitted from five players scoring in double figures.
Georgia Southern (2-4) shot 40.4% (21-52) from the field, including 53.8% (7-13) in the third quarter and 63.6% (7-11) in the fourth, but a 2-for-12 (16.7%) second period hampered the Eagles' efforts early on.
Senior Patrice Butler led the Eagles with 15 points, including two three-pointers. All five freshmen played valuable minutes highlighted by the tandem of Nakol Franks and Amira Atwater. The pair of guards each scored eight points with Franks draining two of her three treys. She finished the game 3-for-5 from the field while Atwater contributed three rebounds.
Fellow freshmen Alexis Brown and Hailey Dias-Allen each had six points as Brown went 2-for-3 from the field, 2-for-2 at the charity stripe and also had two assists, a steal and one block. Dias-Allen was 2-for-3 in shooting and corralled in a pair of rebounds. Victoria Stavropoulos, playing in front of a large group of family and friends thanks to Indianapolis's close range to her hometown of Orland Park, Ill., scored the first two points of her collegiate career in four minutes of work.
IUPUI (4-1), which shot 50.0% (30-60) from the field, was led by Mikale Rogers and Danielle Lawrence with 14 points each. The Jaguars hit 16 three-pointers in the game, including four by Lawrence, four by Caitlyn Tolen and three each by Sydney Hall and Holly Hoopingarner.
THE STORY
The Jags raced out to a 22-14 lead in the first quarter despite the Eagles working hard to contain the hot-shooting Jaguars. However, Georgia Southern suffered through a stretch without a field goal that began with 1:34 to go in the first quarter and wasn't broken until Franks hit a three-pointer with 3:04 to go in the second.