Thursday, February 18

Defense Propels Cajuns to 59-42 Win at UT Arlington
ARLINGTON, Texas – The offensive trio of sophomore Simone Fields (19) and seniors Keke Veal (17) and Kia Wilridge (11) combined for 47 of the team's 59 points in a 59-42 victory at UT Arlington Thursday morning.

The win snapped a three-game losing skid for the Cajuns, who improved to 17-7 and 10-5 in Sun Belt Conference play.

After trailing, 14-11 to the Lady Mavericks after the first quarter, the Cajuns outscored UT Arlington, 48-28 in the final 30 minutes.

Louisiana's defense came up with 11 steals and forced 22 turnovers. The Cajuns were able to turn those 22 turnovers into 25 points of their own.

"We brought the intensity on the defensive side," Ragin' Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead said. "I thought the defensive pressure [that we applied] when they went with their big lineup hurt them. We were able to get 25 points off of turnovers and we had a great defensive effort to be able to hold them to 42 points."

In the first quarter, Louisiana built a 7-4 lead with 5:30 remaining, but a 7-0 run by the Lady Mavericks gave UT Arlington a four-point lead. Back-to-back buckets by Fields tied the game at 11-11 with just under a minute and a half remaining in the opening stanza.

UT Arlington's Amara Wainwright drained a three-pointer on the ensuing possession as the Lady Mavericks took a 14-11 lead into the second quarter.

The Cajuns fell into a five-point hole just 22 seconds into the second quarter following a jumper by Breck Clark. However, six straight points (four from Veal, two from Fields) put UL back on top, 17-16 with 6:34 to play. Louisiana tacked onto its lead with four more points from Veal (free throws) and sophomore Jodi Quinn (layup).

For the remainder of the half, the Cajuns maintained a two-possession lead. Veal's layup with 44 seconds left increased Louisiana's lead to 29-22 going into halftime.

The Cajuns received 12 points in the paint and six points off turnovers against UT Arlington in the second quarter.

For the entire second half the Cajuns did not trail or relinquish their lead to the Lady Mavericks. UT Arlington closed to within 29-27 with 7:50 left in the third quarter on a three from Wainwright, but that was as close as they would come to evening the score.

A 7-0 scoring surge for the Cajuns ensued over the next 1:51 as Louisiana pulled ahead, 36-27. The lead remained at three possessions for the rest of the quarter, as UL held a 45-35 lead going into the final 10 minutes.

The lead never dipped under 11 points for the remainder of the game and reached as many as 18 (55-37) at the 3:28 point of the fourth quarter. The Cajuns scored eight points off turnovers in the fourth and limited the Lady Mavericks to 14.3% (2-of-14) shooting in the final stanza. UT Arlington managed just seven points against the Cajuns defense in the fourth quarter.

Veal missed a double-double by one rebound, finishing with 17 points and nine boards. She also added a team-high four steals. Wilridge and Quinn both dished out three assists each, tied for the team lead.

Louisiana hauled in 15 offensive rebounds on the day and scored 16 second-chance points. They held a 24-10 lead in points in the paint.

The Cajuns wrap up their Texas road trip with a visit to Texas State in San Marcos. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20.

Daniels Leads Jaguars to Fourth Consecutive Win
BOONE, N.C. – Marquita Daniels recorded a game-high 19 point to help the University of South Alabama women's basketball team pick up its fourth-straight win Thursday night as the Jaguars defeated Appalachian State, 68-54 at the Holmes Center.

The Jaguars (13-12, 9-7 SBC) will return to action next Thursday when they welcome UL Monroe to the Mitchell Center. Tip-off versus the Warhawks is set for 5 p.m. Live stats and web streaming for the contest versus the Warhawks can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com. Fans can also keep up with in-game updates by following action on the program's twitter account @SouthALWBB.

The game also completed a stretch of four games in eight days for South Alabama and with UT Arlington's loss earlier in the day, moved the Jags into fourth place in the Sun Belt standings. The four-straight conference wins are the most since the 2011-12 season. USA has now won seven of its last nine outings and since starting 0-3 in conference play, the Jags have gone 9-4 in their last 13 Sun Belt games.

Daniels was one of three Jaguars to end the night in double figures as she was 7-of-10 from the field and 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. The five treys were a new career high for the Atlanta, Ga., native. The double-figure outing by Daniels was her 13th of the season.

Joining Daniels in double figures for USA were Colby Davis (15) and Erin Autio (11). Davis was 5-of-8 from the floor and hit four of her five attempts at the foul line, while Autio was 3-for-4, including 2-of-2 from the three-point line, and 3-for-4 at the charity stripe in the win.

"It just shows the toughness and character of this team," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said of his team winning four games in eight days. "Coming into tonight after the three games at home and then the travel yesterday to get here, we talked about the need for us to be focused on what we needed to do to win this game. We were able to come out and execute the game plan about as well as we could have expected to. We were able to dominate the glass like we wanted to and just ran our offense to a 'T'."

As a team, South Alabama shot 45.5 percent from the field and connected on nine of its 14 long-range attempts. USA also held a 40-29 advantage on the glass. The Mountaineers 8-16, 5-10 SBC) entered the game leading the Sun Belt Conference in rebounding with 41.0 per game.

Chyna Ellis just missed double digits, finishing the game with nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Keke Cooper and Madi Story led Appalachian State offensively with 13 points apiece, while Joi Jones added 11. Cooper also posted her fourth double-double of the season with 11 boards and she was 6-of-11 from the floor.

The Mountaineers were 20-of-57 from the field, but hit just one of their nine three-pointers. App State also had 13 steals with four each coming from Bria Carter and Cooper.

Cooper – who had six of App State's 10 points – tied the game up (10-10) with a bucket at the 2:24 mark of the first quarter, but over the final two minutes of the period, the Jaguars would reclaim the lead. Daniels began a 10-1 run for South Alabama with a layup with one minute, 42 seconds remaining in the quarter. Juliann Miller then knocked down one-handed floater in the lane on USA's next possession.

LaNeetra Guillory kept the scoring going for the Jags with under a minute to go as the sophomore knocked down her first career three-pointer from the top of the key. USA would get a defensive stop at the other end of the floor and with time winding down, Daniels – who had 10 first-half points – launched a shot from 60-feet away and drained it as the horn sounded. Daniels bucket capped off the run and gave the Jaguars a 20-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

"I thought early in the first quarter we weren't getting the stops we needed to at the defensive end of the floor," Fowler said. "Towards the end of the period, we were able to get some stops. I also think that Marquita's three-quarters court shot at the end of the quarter just gave us the boost of energy that we needed and we were able to carry that throughout the rest of the game."

South Alabama shot 66.7 percent during the first 10 minutes of action, connecting on eight of its 12 field-goal attempts.

With the Jaguars still holding a nine-point lead, Davis recorded four-straight points for South Alabama to stretch the visitor's lead back out to double-digits. The junior guard hit one of two at the foul line at the 5:38 mark and then a little over a minute later, she knocked down a three from the right wing to extend USA's lead to 31-19.

App State would trim the deficit to single figures with under two minutes remaining in the first half on a foul shot by Jasmine Ogunjimi, but with just over a minute to go, Autio would extend it back out to double figures with five quick points. The redshirt freshman knocked down South Alabama's fifth trey of the first half and then after using a head fake, she drove past the Mountaineer defender for a layup to put USA up 36-22 at the break.

Appalachian State hit just one of its last 10 shots in the second quarter and finished the period 3-for-12 for 25 percent. The Mountaineers shot just 29.6 percent during the first two quarters of play.

South Alabama connected on 14 of its 27 field-goal attempts (51.9 percent) and was 5-of-8 from long range.

With just over four minutes to go in the quarter, Jones' three-pointer cut the South Alabama advantage to eight (45-37), but that would be as close as the Mountaineers would get the rest of the way.

USA would close out the period on an 11-0 run over the final three-plus minutes of the third. Autio and Daniels began the run with back-to-back treys. The Jags' next five points would come from the foul line as USA hit five of its six attempts at the charity stripe to close out the run.

In the fourth, South Alabama put the game away and pushed its lead out to as much as 22 on two occasions, the last coming with less than six to play after a jumper by Taylor Jenkins.

App State ended the game on a 10-3 run following Jenkins' basket to cut the final margin to 14.

Defense Extends Little Rock Winning Streak to Eight
ATLANTA – The Little Rock women's basketball team's league-leading defense was on display again at Georgia State on Thursday evening.

The Trojans (13-11, 10-4 Sun Belt) did not allow the Panthers (9-15, 4-11) to score in double digits in a quarter until the fourth and did enough on offense themselves, defeating the Panthers 54-39 at GSU Sports Arena. Little Rock officially clinched a berth in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with the victory.

Georgia State committed 24 turnovers in the game and Little Rock finished with 11 steals while holding the Panthers to just 40 total shots. By comparison, Little Rock attempted 60 shots.

The Trojans entered Thursday game allowing just 51.4 points per game in Sun Belt play, and that number dropped to 50.7 with the win.

Sharde' Collins scored 15 points to lead Little Rock, and Keanna Keys had just her second career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Keys' double-double numbers started accumulating very fast, as she had seven rebounds in the first 15 minutes of the game. She would pick up the scoring pace in the fourth quarter, reaching the double-double with about five minutes remaining.

The victory was Little Rock's eighth straight and keeps the team all alone in second place in the Sun Belt Conference standings. Little Rock has now won at least 11 conference games in each of the last nine seasons.

The first quarter was the only time all night that Georgia State held a lead. The Trojans had five turnovers in the first five minutes, helping Georgia State to a 6-2 lead at the first media timeout. But Little Rock cut down on the turnovers for the rest of the quarter and used a 6-0 run to take a 10-8 lead into the second quarter. The Panthers made 44.4 percent of their field goal attempts in the period but had nine turnovers by its end.

Little Rock would never trail again.

The Trojans expanded their lead to 11 points at halftime, where the Panthers had managed just 12 total points. Georgia State scored only 4 points in the second quarter on 2 of 8 shooting from the field, and the Trojans added 13 to hold a 23-12 lead at the break.

The third quarter saw the Trojans expand its lead even more as they held the Panthers to 9 total points. In the fourth quarter, Little Rock led by as many as 19 before the Georgia State offense finally kicked in. Each team scored 18 in the fourth quarter as Little Rock won by 15.

Little Rock used just six players during the game while the Panthers played 12. Little Rock's Monique Townson, Alexius Dawn and Collins played all 40 minutes of the game while Kaitlyn Pratt saw 35 minutes of action. Keys got her double-double in just 21 minutes.

Besides Keys and Collins, James also reached double-figure scoring, putting up 10 points. She had the second-most rebounds on the team as well with six. Townson and Collins had five boards apiece.

Townson led the way with five assists, and Pratt and Dawn had three steals each. Pratt had Little Rock's only block.

Next up, Little Rock will head to its other conference rival from Georgia for a game on Saturday. The Trojans will tip off with Georgia Southern in Hanner Fieldhouse at 3:30 p.m. central time.

School Record Falls in A-State Victory
STATESBORO, Ga. (2/18/16) – Arkansas State senior forward Khadija Brown-Haywood scored a career-high 30 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season as the Arkansas State women’s basketball team won school record 15th straight game in a 79-52 victory over Georgia Southern Thursday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.

Brown-Haywood torched the nets throughout the night as the Eagles had no answer for her hot hand. She shot 60 percent (9-of-15) from the field and hit 4-of-7 of her 3-point attempts. She also went 8-of-10 from the free throw line and added two steals and two assists.

“The girls played their hearts out,” A-State assistant coach Deidra Johnson said. “When you come into a tough environment like this and hold Georgia Southern to 52 points is an impressive defensive effort. We got on the floor and hustled on defense and created points for ourselves by creating 19 turnovers and turning those into 25 points. That’s a big accomplishment when you are playing a team for the second time in a conference season because they are much more familiar with that you are going to do defensively.”

With the victory the Red Wolves (21-3, 15-0 SBC) won their 15th consecutive game, breaking the previous record of 14 set during the 1992-93 season. The Red Wolves are also just one win away from assuring themselves of at least a share of the Sun Belt Conference regular season title.

A-State looked sharp from the start as a 9-0 run helped A- create distance with an 18-9 advantage with 1:04 remaining. Brown-Haywood paced A-State with 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers as the lead grew to 24-12 at the end of the frame.

Georgia Southern (7-17, 4-11) found success in the second quarter and used a 9-0 run to take a 27-26 lead with 6:55 remaining in the half. The Eagles went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc during the run to help build the lead, but the hot shooting would not last as Georgia Southern scored just one point the remainder of the half.

A-State closed the half on a 16-1 run to take a 42-28 lead into the break. The Red Wolves went on an immediate 6-0 after they fell behind and then closed the half on a 10-0 run that included a circus shot by Jessica Flanery as time expired.

Brown-Haywood finished with 18 points and six rebounds in the opening 20 minutes, including four 3-pointers.

The Eagles cut the deficit to 44-34 with a pair of quick 3-pointers to open the third quarter, but A-State responded with a 9-0 to push its lead to 54-34 after a layup by Brittney Gill with 5:07 to go in the period. Gill finished the night with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Flanery also added eight points. Freshman Kylie Ladd also had a career-high eight points.

A-State wraps up its four-game road trip Saturday, Feb. 20 at Georgia State. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN App.

A-State head coach Brian Boyer will not be present at Saturday’s game due to the death of his mother, Judy Boyer, Wednesday evening. Boyer coached Thursday’s game at Georgia Southern and left to be with his family after the game.

Assistant coach Autumn Rademacher will serve as the interim head coach in Boyer’s absence.

Bobcat Claim Second Consecutive Win
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Free throws down the stretch combined with tough full court defense throughout the game helped lead the Texas State women's basketball team to a 63-57 victory over UL Monroe Thursday evening.

How It Happened:
After UL Monroe put up the first basket of the game, Texas State scored 10-straight points capped by five-straight points by senior Raven Burns. Burns made a pair of free throws before draining the 'Cats second three of the game with 7:21 to play in the first quarter.

ULM crept back into the game and cut the Bobcat lead to just two, 10-8, with 3:54 remaining in the first. Texas State had an answer, like it did much of the game, by ending the first quarter on a 6-0 run.

In the first quarter alone, Texas State scored nine points off turnovers while the Warhawks scored none.

The second quarter was rather balanced in scoring, as the Warhawks edged Texas State 14-13. The points off turnovers, however, continued to add up for the Bobcats. By the end of the first half, Texas State had forced 12 Warhawk turnovers with 15 points converted on them.

Texas State gained the point it lost in the second quarter back in the third. Ti'Aira Pitts and Kaitlin Walla led the 'Cats in scoring in the third quarter with five points apiece.

Pitts, with 7:15 to play in the third, hit three-straight free throws after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt. Her free throws neutralized the Warhawk attack as ULM began the third quarter by scoring the first five points to cut Texas State's lead down to one. The free throws by Pitts ignited a 7-0 Texas State run capped by a lay-up by Ericka May with 5:25 to play in the third.

ULM answered with an 8-0 run to tie up the contest at 41-41 with 2:57 to play in the third. A 3-pointer by Kaitlin Walla, her first of the night, halted the Warhawk run to put the 'Cats back up three with 2:43 on the clock.

A 9-2 run to close out the third quarter gave Texas State a 50-43 advantage with 10 minutes remaining in the contest. Another lay-up by Ericka May at the buzzer capped the Bobcat run.

The fourth quarter came down to free throws down the stretch as neither team scored a basket in the final six and a half minutes. The Warhawks came within one, twice, with under three minutes to play, but four-straight free throws by Ayriel Anderson made it a two-possession game and forced ULM to go into desperation mode.

Texas State finished the game outscoring ULM 24-2 in points off turnovers. The Warhawks ultimately committed 20 turnovers in the game while the Bobcats had just 15. The Bobcats also went to the line 37 times, which surpassed the previous season-high of 28.

Who Stood Out:
Ayriel Anderson led the Bobcats with 14 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field … Anderson finished the day going a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe … Ericka May scored 12 points for her fifth double-digit appearance this season … May was just two rebounds shy of her second double-double of the season … Ti'Aira Pitts went a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe … May and Pitts also recorded a pair of blocks each.

What It Means:
Texas State improves to 12-12 on the year and 7-7 in conference play. The victory at home against UL Monroe follows a similar trend since Texas State joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2013. The home team has always won this match-up since that time. The Bobcats are now sitting in a tie for fifth place with UT Arlington.