UTA back in the win column after downing Greyhounds
ARLINGTON, Texas - UTA snapped a brief two-game skid with a 65-48 victory over Eastern New Mexico on Sunday at College Park Center.
The Lady Mavericks rebounded from a slow opening quarter to build up a double-digit win, improving to 6-2 overall with just two games remaining on the nonconference slate. Junior center Rebekah VanDijk grabbed five rebounds in the contest, moving into 10th in the UTA all-time record books with 644.
VanDijk was joined by Shelby Richards to lead the offensive efforts. The junior finished with a team-high 16 points, scoring all in the second half. Richards posted a season-high 11 points to tie VanDijk. Richards led with a team-high eight rebounds, also a season best for the junior transfer.
After a slow start offensively in the first quarter saw the Lady Mavs trailing 10-6, UTA had a spark of energy to begin the second. UTA opened the period on a 12-0 run and jumped into the lead behind a Miranda LeJune 3-pointer.
UTA finished the quarter outscoring the Greyhounds 19-7 and held a eight-point advantage going into the break despite shooting just 7-of-30 from the floor.
The Lady Mavs clamped down on defense to cause six ENMU turnovers in the first five minutes of the second half, and got a hot hand shooting to open up a 14-point advantage with 3:45 in the third. UTA would turn over the Greyhounds on consecutive possessions late in the quarter, and led by 19 going into the fourth.
Eastern New Mexico cut into the lead with a strong fourth quarter, but couldn't get the deficit under 10 points as UTA answered each Greyhound attack.
KEY RUNS
First Half
After Eastern New Mexico hinted at upset intentions, UTA responded with a 12-0 run to get the second quarter going, outscoring the Greyhounds 19-7 in the quarter. UTA held ENMU to just 37.5 percent shooting in the half.
Second Half
The Lady Mavericks made sure to keep the pedal down to start the second half, outscoring ENMU 24-13 in the third. UTA shot 50.0 percent from the field in the third stanza and had a 12-0 advantage in points off turnovers.
KEY STATS
Rebekah VanDijk grabbed five rebounds to move into sole possession of 10th in the UTA all-time record book with 644. Next up is Allison Gray with 647 rebounds. UTA had a 25-8 advantage in points off turnovers, turning the Greyhounds over 27 times compared to UTA's 6. ENMU held the lead for more than 11 minutes to open the game.
UPCOMING GAME
UTA continues its two-game stand at College Park Center with a second consecutive opponent from the Lone Star Conference (Division II). UTA welcomes Texas A&M-Commerce at Sunday, Dec. 18 at 5 p.m.
A-State Falters in Second Half in Loss to No. USF
JONESBORO, Ark. (12/11/16) – The Arkansas State women’s basketball team held a two point lead at halftime, but South Florida opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run and never relinquished the lead as the Red Wolves fell to the No. 22 ranked team in the nation 78-59 at the Convocation Center on Sunday afternoon.
Akasha Westbrook led A-State with 16 points, while Dominique Oliver added 10. Westbrook also tied with Lauren Bradshaw for a team-high five rebounds on the afternoon. Kitija Ferreira paced the Bulls with 22 points, while Tamara Henshaw posted 10 rebounds.
“We certainly had a very good first half and did the things we needed to particularly on the offensive end because we were aggressive but also patient,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “In the second half we knew they were going to some different things offensively and even after the 10-0 run we were fine but we just didn’t react to it very well and let that turn into other problems that allowed them continue to build the lead.”
A-State led throughout much of the second quarter and pushed the advantage to its largest margin at 28-22 when Tahlon Hopkins knocked down a 3-pointer with 4:23 remaining in the half. The Bulls rallied back, however, and tied the game at 30-30 with 1:10 to go, but A-State took the lead back when Bradshaw hit a pair of free throws to send A-State into the break with a 32-30 lead.
USF came out strong in the second half and went on a 10-0 over to retake the lead at 40-32 after back-to-back 3-pointers from Kitija Laska. After a timeout, A-State bounced back with a layup by Oliver and a 3-point play at the foul line by Jada Ford with get within 40-37 with 5:44 left in the quarter but the Red Wolves could not pull any closer.
The Bulls quickly pushed the advantage back to double-digits after Maria Jespersen made layup to up 51-39. Westbrook helped A-State cut the lead to eight with a 1:45 to go in the third quarter with a pair of free throws, but USF scored the final three points of the period to take a 54-43 edge in the final period.
The deficit remained in double-digits for the remainder of the game, despite several rallies by the Red Wolves. Oliver got Arkansas State within 60-48 with a 3-pointer with 7:31 to go, but that was followed by a 9-0 runs by USF to push the advantage to 67-48 and put the game away.
A-State shot just 30.8 percent from the field for the game, after starting out the afternoon strong with a 36.7 percentage in the opening half. The Red Wolves also had a strong effort on the defensive end of the floor in the opening 20 minutes and forced into 11 turnovers and held them to just five second chance points.
A-State returns to the court Wednesday, Dec. 14 when it will travel to UT Martin to take on the Skyhawks. Tipoff from the Elam Center is set for 11 a.m.
Mountaineers Can't Overcome Hot Shooting by GT
ATLANTA - Appalachian State University (4-5) women’s basketball couldn’t overcome a 3-point barrage by Georgia Tech in an 81-52 defeat on Sunday evening in McCamish Pavilion.
Madi Story drained a career-high three 3-pointers en route to an App State-best 14 points. Joi Jones scored 11 points while Bria Carter notched 10 points and tied a team-best with eight boards. Ashley Bassett-Smith also brought down eight boards.
Bassett-Smith recorded two blocks as well, giving the senior 103 for her career and moving into sixth place all-time. The forward is five blocks away from passing Brittany Mixon (2005-09) for fifth in school history.
The Yellow Jackets (9-1) shot 51.9 percent from the beyond the arc after failing to shoot above 40 percent in any game this season. GT hit seven of its eight first half 3-pointers and 14 overall in the first quarter to run out to a 21-8 lead and never looked back.
Appalachian did cut the lead to 14 (31-17) in the second quarter after falling down by 21 thanks to a 9-2 run engineered by Jones and Story. The duo scored seven of the nine points during the spurt and looked like App was starting to establish some momentum.However, GT ended the half on a 15-4 run to go into the locker room with a 46-21 advantage.
App State did perform better in the second half despite being outscored by GT, 35-31. After shooting 51.5 percent in the first half, Appalachian held the Yellow Jackets to 31.6 percent shooting from the floor in the second stanza. The Mountaineers held a 17-16 edge in offensive boards while assisting on 12 of their 19 field goals, equaling 63.1 percent (season best).
Appalachian received solid contributions off the bench, where Amber Driver scored a personal-best seven points, and Armani Hampton played a career-high 22 minutes and pulled down a personal-high six boards.
Cha’Ron Sweeney (17 points) and Antonia Peresson (15 points) combined for 10 of the Yellow Jackets’ 14 3-pointers, which was a school record for the hosts.
The schedule doesn’t get easier as the Apps head to Knoxville for a 7 p.m. contest against Tennessee on Wednesday. The game will be streamed on SEC+.