Trojans Defeat Texas State; 4-0 in Sun Belt
TROY, Alabama – The Troy university women's basketball team got a double-double from Caitlyn Ramirez as the Trojans claimed a 65-54 victory over Texas State on Thursday at Trojan Arena.
Troy (11-4, 4-0) was air-tight defensively in the opening quarter holding Texas State to 2-of-13 shooting and just five points while Caitlyn Ramirez scored half of the team's points in a 10-0 run to start the game. The senior forward finished the first half with 13 of Troy's 27 points.
Sporadic shooting was the tale throughout the game especially in the first 20 minutes when both teams went into the the locker room hitting under 24 percent from the field. Troy was able to open its lead to 11 in the third quarter on a layup by Amahni Upshaw, who finished the game with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Texas State (6-9, 1-3) closed the gap to just one with 6:04 remaining in the contest, but the Trojans never relinquished the lead as Jayla Chills and Amanda Mendoza hit clutch 3-pointers in the final five minutes to keep the Bobcats at arm's length.
Ramirez was steady throughout en route to her sixth career double-double scoring 21 points with 15 rebounds. She was 5-for-10 from the field and 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
Taeler Deer led the Bobcats with 17 points. Texas State shot 36.1 percent for the game while the Trojans were held to 22.7 percent from the field. Troy won the rebounding battle 53-37, the Trojans also shot 22-of-27 from the free throw line as a team.
QUOTABLE
"I thing at the first media timeout, we were shooting 22 percent from the field," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "That put us in a hole and that was the downward spiral in the first half. In the second half, we made a few adjustments and found people that were on or fighting their hardest to try to win the game for us at the end."
UP NEXT
Troy takes on UTA on Saturday in a bout that could have major implications in the Sun Belt Conference regular season title. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
VanDijk Records 1,000th Point As UTA Downs South Alabama
MOBILE, Ala. – It was a milestone night for UTA as junior center Rebekah VanDijk became the 18th player in Lady Maverick history to record 1,000 points.
VanDijk, leading UTA to a 73-49 win at the Mitchell Center on Thursday night, went over the 1,000-point mark late in the fourth quarter, on the way to a team-high 16 points and her 33rd-career double-double with 14 rebounds. VanDijk moved into eighth in UTA history with 712 career boards. Cierra Johnson was not outdone on the achievement list as the junior guard grabbed four steals for 200 in her
Johnson joined Crystal Allen with 13 points, Allen recording a season-high in points on 5-of-8 shooting. As a team, UTA shot a season-high 50.9 percent from the field and were 10-13 from 3-point land, just three shy of the team's single-game record.
The Lady Mavs moved to 11-3 for the season and 4-0 in Sun Belt play, while South Alabama went to 7-8 overall and 2-2 in conference.
Despite a slow start to the contest with just two of the first 10 field goals dropping, UTA had one of its best opening halves of the year. UTA broke the game open with a huge second quarter, outscoring the Jaguars 23-9 during the period and hitting at a 72.7 percent clip. The effort was helped along with knocking down the first five 3-point attempts, including two from Shelby Richards.
VanDijk, inching closer and closer to her milestone, was an efficient 4-of-7 from the field and had a game-high 10 points and eight rebounds at the break. The defensive side of the ball responded to the surge of offense, forcing 10 first-half USA turnovers and a five minute stretch without a point late in the half.
The Lady Mavericks picked up right where they left off and bounded out to a big third quarter. Johnson picked up two steals on consecutive possessions to reach her milestone, and edged in front in scoring as she produced a team-high nine points in the period. UTA knocked down all three 3-point attempts in the frame and led by 24 going into the final 10 minutes.
UTA mirrored the final minutes of its win against Texas State on Saturday, stifling the Jaguar attack to close the night. South Alabama was just 1-of-9 to close the game and were without a field goal for the final 4:24.
KEY RUNS
First Half
Leading by just one point after the first 10 minutes, UTA broke the game wide open. Helped along by VanDijk's 10 points in the opening half, UTA outscored the Jaguars 23-9 in the period and shot 8-of-11, hitting on three of the four 3-point attempts.
Second Half
UTA answered any questions of a potential comeback right out of the gates. The Lady Mavericks connected on the first of three 3-pointers in the quarter with the first shot of the period. UTA would outscore the Jags 24-15 in the third.
KEY STATS
The Lady Mavericks turned USA over 20 times, turning it into a 33-14 advantage in points off turnovers. … UTA outscored USA 32-16 in the paint and 18-7 in second-chance points. The 10 3-pointers were the second most for UTA this season.
UPCOMING GAME
UTA puts the cap on a three-game road trip with a highly anticipated matchup against Troy in a battle of unbeaten teams in the Sun Belt Conference. The game is schedule to tip at 2 p.m. and is featured on ESPN3.
Eagles Dominate UL Monroe 65-44
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern women's basketball team (5-10, 1-3 SBC) recorded their first Sun Belt win over UL Monroe on Thursday night in Fant-Ewing Coliseum, 65-44. The Eagles had a dominating performance on the boards with 57 total rebounds, 24 of which were offensive. The last time an Eagle team recorded more than 50 rebounds was in 2014.
The Eagles were led by senior forward Patrice Butler, who recorded a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman guard Alexis Brown also had a stellar performance in only her second career start as an Eagle, scoring 10 points and tallying eight rebounds, six of which were on the offensive glass. Senior guard Angel McGowan was the third Eagle to record double-digit points in tonight's contest with 13.
For the Warhawks, Gabriella Cortez scored 15 points and had six rebounds as well as two assists to lead UL Monroe (3-12, 0-4 SBC) while Carissa Moody contributed seven points and three rebounds.
THE STORY
The Eagles started the game on a high note retrieving six offensive rebounds in their first two possessions. The Eagles ran through the first quarter with a 20-5 lead, but in the second quarter the Warhawks began to come alive. Heading into the half, UL Monroe had cut their previously 15-point deficit to only six.
The Eagles came out of halftime on fire, netting a total of 23 total points in just the third quarter, shooting 40.9% from the field. GS then stretched their lead to 21 with only 2:39 left to play in the third quarter, which proved to be the largest deficit for the Warhawks all night. The Eagles forced 14 turnovers on the night and finished the night defeating the Warhawks 65-44.
Thomas Scores Career High As Cajuns Defeat Georgia State, 72-65
LAFAYETTE – Jasmine Thomas scored a career high 21 points and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team defeated Georgia State 72-65 on Thursday at the Cajundome.
Simone Fields added 16 points and eight rebounds to help give the Cajuns their third straight win.
Louisiana (9-4, 3-1 SBC) jumped out to an early 7-2 lead when Troi Swain knocked down a jumper with 6:14 left in the first quarter.
Georgia State (5-10, 1-3 SBC) took its first lead of the game when Jada Lewis connected on a three-pointer to give the Panthers a 9-7 lead with 3:16 remaining in the opening period.
The Cajuns led 15-9 at the end of the first quarter and extended their lead to 26-16 when Jaylyn Gordon hit a three-pointer with 5:34 left in the second frame.
The Panthers closed the gap to 32-27 when Lewis connected on a trey with 45 seconds to go in the second period.
Swain then scored a three-pointer for Louisiana and the Cajuns took a 35-28 lead into halftime.
Louisiana led 48-35 after Brittney Myles made a layup while being fouled and made the free throw with 4:15 left in the third quarter. The Cajuns held a 55-46 lead at the end of the third period.
Thomas made two free throws to give Louisiana a 67-56 lead with 2:36 remaining in the game.
The Panthers never got closer than seven points in the final minutes and Thomas knocked down two more free throws with 49 seconds left to help the Cajuns secure the win.
Lewis led Georgia State with 19 points while Makeba Ponder had 15 points for the Panthers.
Louisiana will return to action when it hosts Georgia Southern on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 5 p.m. The Cajuns will then hit the road for a game at UT Arlington on Thursday, Jan. 19 and will play at Texas State on Saturday, Jan. 21.