Pratt Drops 24 as Trojans Beat Golden Eagles
LITTLE ROCK – Kaitlyn Pratt scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed a team-best 12 rebounds to lead the Little Rock women's basketball team to a 56-50 victory over Oral Roberts at the Jack Stephens Center on Thursday night.
Little Rock (4-4) struggled on offense for much of the evening, shooting just 26 percent from the field in the first half. But Pratt picked up 15 points – 12 in the fourth quarter – and the Trojans shot 51 percent from the field in the second half to outlast Oral Roberts (3-4).
The win is the Trojans' third straight this season and fifth straight over the Golden Eagles.
Besides Pratt's big offensive night, Sharde' Collins reached double-figure scoring with 14 points. Ronjanae DeGray finished with 6 points and tied a career-high with nine rebounds. Raeayana DeGray also sparked the Trojan offense with 7 points off the bench in the second half.
Little Rock held Oral Roberts without a field goal for more than seven minutes to start the game and held a 10-5 lead after the first quarter. The Golden Eagles picked up their offense a bit in the second period, but the Trojans still held a 20-18 lead at the break. The teams combined to go 15 of 56 from the field in the first half, a shooting percentage of 27 percent.
In the third quarter, Oral Roberts jumped out to a 7-point lead – its largest of the game – with 1:40 left in the period. But the Trojans got that spark from Raeyana DeGray at that point when DeGray made a turnaround jumper and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to close the quarter on a 7-0 Trojan run.
Little Rock then scored the next 3 points to start the fourth quarter to cap a 10-0 run. The team never trailed again as Pratt poured in 10 points from the field and five free throws. The senior finished 8 of 8 from the free-throw line.
The Trojans return to the road this weekend, heading to nearby Memphis for a Sunday game against the Tigers at 2 p.m.
Career Night by Sierra Butler Leads Eagles to 50-45 Road Win Over Tigers
SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Georgia Southern women's basketball team entered Thursday night's game at Savannah State looking for a way to stop a five-game losing skid after starting the season with a pair of home wins. Junior Sierra Butler and a balanced offensive attack helped spur the Eagles to a five-point, 50-45 road win over Savannah State inside Tiger Arena.
Butler, whose previous career-high for points was 13 in a game against Troy last season, led all scorers with 20 points off 6-for-13 (.462) shooting and made a career-high three three-pointers. The junior forward/center also corralled in a team-best nine rebounds in 26 minutes of work and made five of her seven free throw attempts (.714).
Behind Butler, the Eagles received eight points off the bench from Alexis Foulks and seven from senior Patrice Butler. Patrice did most of her damage at the charity stripe, where she went 4-for-4. Amira Atwater, Alexis Brown and Jessica Marcus all scored three points while Nakol Franks, Alexis Sams and Hailey Dias-Allen each chipped in two points.
Savannah State was led by Georgia State graduate transfer Lauren Moss's double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Moss went 7-for-23 (.304) from the field. As a team, the Tigers shot just 24.0% (18-75) from the field, including a dismal 12.5% (2-16) in the second quarter and 16.7% (3-14) from long-range.
Savannah State out-rebounded Georgia Southern 57-42 in the game, including 30 off the offensive glass. However, 17 SSU turnovers and many missed lay-ups hampered the Tigers' efforts.
THE STORY
Georgia Southern eased out to a 2-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game off a pair of Sierra Butler free throws. From there, the two teams traded the lead back-and-forth over the next six minutes with the Eagles taking a two-point, 12-10 lead after one quarter of play.
Georgia Southern was able to extend the lead out to as many as 14 in the second quarter, shooting 42.9% (6-14) from the field in the stanza. The Eagles out-scored the Tigers 16-4 in the second and held SSU to a dismal 12.5% (2-16) effort in the period.
The third period saw both teams hold serve for the most part, but Savannah State slowly began to chip away at the lead, out-scoring the Eagles 12-11 before really rebounding in the final quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Tigers were able to pull within four points late, but Georgia Southern's free throw shooting allowed the Eagles to hold on for the very important victory.
Cajuns Use Balanced Team Effort To Defeat Xavier, 74-55
LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns used a balanced team effort to defeat Xavier (La.), 74-55, on Thursday evening at the Cajundome.
Louisiana (3-2) was led by Gabby Alexander (15 points), Jaylyn Gordon (14), Simone Fields (12) and Troi Swain (10).
Xavier (6-6) took an early 6-4 lead on a layup by Maya Trench with 6:09 left in the first quarter.
The Cajuns responded with a 10-5 run that was capped off by a 3-pointer from Gordon to give Louisiana a 16-9 lead with 1:11 left in the first quarter. The Cajuns led 21-11 at the end of the period.
"We play inside-out. That's what we want to do," head coach Garry Brodhead said. "We have a few shooters, but if Simone can get some touches, that is going to open up the game for us."
Louisiana led 26-15 when Swain knocked down a three-pointer with 8:10 left in the second quarter. Swain drained another trey to make it 33-24 with 5:01 remaining in the second period.
"I just decided to relax a little bit more," Swain said. "I had been thinking too much in the game and my confidence level was down. I was just trying to be relaxed and play the game that I know how to play."
The Cajuns led 39-29 at halftime and extended their lead in the second half. Jasmine Thomas scored a layup with 4:47 left in the third quarter to put Louisiana in front 49-34.
The Golden Nuggets cut the Cajuns lead to 53-43 at the end of the third quarter when Trench connected on a jumper.
Louisiana put the game away in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 20 on its way to a win in their first game at the newly renovated Cajundome.
"I'm very impressed in the quality of what they have built in the Cajundome," Brodhead said. "It is completely different in that it's a basketball arena now. This is one of the best basketball facilities in the country."
Louisiana will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 10 when it hosts Southern-New Orleans in a 5 p.m. contest at the Cajundome.
Bobcats Fall at UTSA 72-47
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Early shooting woes coupled with UTSA shooting north of 50 percent for three quarters proved too much for Texas State to overcome as the Bobcats fell 72-47 to the Roadrunners in the 2016 edition of the I-35 rivalry.
UTSA (3-5) was led by Loryn Goodwin's 20 points, while Kasia Kiejdrowska also registered double-figures in the scoring column with 12. The Roadrunners shot 48.9 percent (23 of 47) for the game, including 50 percent or better in each of the first three quarters.
Taeler Deer paced Texas State (3-3) with 12 points and seven rebounds. The Bobcats closed the game making 27.7 percent (18 of 65) from the field. The Bobcats did force 27 UTSA turnovers and outscored the Roadrunners 32-23 off the bench.
UTSA built a 10-point lead at 18-8 through the first 10 minutes of play. Texas State struggled on the offensive end, making only three shots and endured a pair of near three-minute scoring droughts. The Roadrunners took advantage of the Bobcats' shooting misfortunes and finished the quarter hitting on 7 of 14 shots and 4 of 6 free throws.
The Roadrunners continued their hot shooting in the second quarter, building a 34-18 halftime lead. Texas State again made 3 of 14 shots in the quarter, while UTSA converted 7 of 13 attempts. UTSA closed the half shooting 51.9 percent (14 of 27) and the Bobcats 21.4 percent (6 of 28).
A 10-3 UTSA run to start the third period was temporarily slowed by four straight points from the Bobcats' Deer, but the Roadrunners quickly responded with the games next four points for a 48-26 lead. Texas State would get no closer than 20 the rest of the way as UTSA evened the all-time series between the longtime rivals at 33 apiece.
Texas State plays the third of its three-game nonconference road trip next Tuesday (Dec. 6) at No. 4/4 Baylor. The opening tip at the Bears' Ferrell Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.