Lady Mavs Cap Perfect Trip With Win Over App. St.
BOONE, N.C. -- UTA capped its trip through the Carolinas off in style with a 73-62 victory over Appalachian State Saturday at the Holmes Center.
The Lady Mavericks improved to 15-4 overall, 8-1 in the Sun Belt and ran its streak of winning by double digits to four games. Appalachian State fell to 8-12 overall and 3-6 in league play with its third consecutive defeat.
Rebekah VanDijk helped led the efficient UTA attack. VanDijk finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season and 34th of her career. Ericka Mattingly and Aysia Evans joined in on double digits with 12 and 10 respectively. The Lady Mavs shot 46.6 percent, their fourth-best performance of league play and were over 50 percent until their last few shots bounced out.
With the 19 points scored, VanDijk jumped into 14th in UTA's all-time scoring list. She also came within one block of entering the Sun Belt's top-25 list for career blocks as she has 131.
The Lady Maverick defense was equally as impressive as they ran their streak to 14 of the last 15 games in forcing at least 20 opponent turnovers. UTA entered the day seventh in the nation with more than 22 turnovers forced a game. App. State finished with 24 in the contest as three different Lady Mavericks registered two take-a-ways.
After a quick start saw the teams shoot a combined 9-of-12 to open, the scoring went cold with defense settling in. The Lady Mavericks were able to chisel away at the Mountaineers' early lead to bring the deficit back within just a point after trailing by as many as seven.
The teams went without a field goal for more than four minutes midway through the second, but UTA came up with the answer for the ASU defense late in the frame. VanDijk and Christina Devers each had four points apiece during a 10-0 run that gave UTA its first double-digit lead of the day. VanDijk went into the break with a game-high 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Appalachian State went the final six minutes without a field goal to end the half.
The Lady Mavericks continued their press with App State struggling to find an offensive answer out of the locker room. The Mountaineers scored on their opening jump shot, but then went five minutes without a field goal in the third on seven attempts. UTA took advantage, pouring in eight points inside the paint with three different scorers registering points during the run. UTA would go on to outscore the Mountaineers 41-16 between the second and third quarter.
After UTA pushed its lead to 26 with less than seven minutes remaining, ASU went on its longest run of the game, closing the gap to its final 11-point margin.
KEY RUNS
First Half
UTA's defense was able to hold Appalachian State without a field goal for more than six minutes in the second quarter to spark a 10-0 UTA run and put the Lady Mavs up 35-25. The run was helped along by a pair of steals by Ericka Mattingly and one from Cierra Johnson. App State turned the ball over 12 times in the first half.
Second Half
UTA shot an impressive 52.9 percent in the third quarter, knocking down 9-of-17 attempts, while ASU went cold in hitting just two attempts in the quarter and shooting 16.7 percent as the Lady Mav lead stretched beyond 20 points.
KEY STATS
UTA outshot ASU 46.6 percent to 33.3. UTA was just 2-of-11 from 3-point range, while ASU knocked down 4-of-11. UTA turned ASU over 24 times, the 14th time out of the last 15 times UTA has forced 20 or more.
UPCOMING GAME
The Lady Mavericks return home to College Park Center for a three-game homestand that begins on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 2 p.m. against Texas State. UTA has won its last six on home court and are 7-1 at CPC this season.
Strong Defense Leads Coastal Past Texas State
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina women's basketball team held Texas State (10-10, 5-4) to the lowest point total of any CCU opponent this season as the Chanticleers (9-10, 4-5) topped the Bobcats 64-48 Saturday afternoon at the HTC Center.
The previous low came in the Chants' 91-49 win over Pfeiffer on Dec. 2.
Coastal held Texas State to shooting 35.7 percent from the field, and the Bobcats managed to hit just six of their 26 attempts behind the arc. The Chants were also called for just nine personal fouls, allowing TXST only four attempts from the free throw line.
CCU entered the game's fourth quarter leading by only four points, 43-39, but held Texas State to just nine fourth-quarter points.
Kennedy Archer paced the Chants with 19 points, tying her career best that she set three games ago at Georgia Southern on Jan. 19. The sophomore guard also added a team-leading four assists and a pair of steals.
Ced Gibson finished with 13 points, and Rachael Gregory chipped in 12 to round out Coastal's double-figure scorers. Alexis Robinson once again paced the Chants on the boards with 12 rebounds.
TXST's Toshua Leavitt led all players with 20 points, but was the only Bobcat to reach double figures.
The two sides played to a 10-10 tie during the first quarter. Gibson and Archer hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the Chants to open the second quarter and break the tie, and a DJ Williams layup followed a Texas State basket to give Coastal a six-point lead, the largest of the first half. Five straight points from the Bobcats cut the Chants' lead to just one, and Texas State overtook the lead, 22-21, in the final minute of the half. Coastal entered the break with the advantage, however, after Robinson rolled in a layup four seconds before the buzzer.
The third quarter featured an offensive explosion as the teams combined to score a game-high 37 points. The quarter saw two ties and four lead changes as the sides exchanged baskets, though a 7-0 Coastal run from 6:36 -- 5:06 proved to be the difference maker. The Chants trailed by three points prior to that span, but consecutive layups from Archer and a 3-pointer by Gibson put the Chants back in front. Texas State briefly regained a one-point advantage, but Coastal closed the final 3:43 of the quarter on a 7-2 run to lead 43-39 going into the fourth.
The Chanticleer defense led the way for the remainder of the game. Texas State was held scoreless for the first 5:10 of the final frame, and finished the quarter shooting 26.7 percent from the field.
Next up, the Chants travel to Arkansas for a pair of games against A-State and Little Rock to open the month of February. The Chants take on the Red Wolves at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday and the Trojans at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday.
DeGray's 25 Points Lead Trojans to 9-0 League Start
LAFAYETTE, La. – Ronjanae DeGray had the best scoring day of her career, Sharde' Collins broke the 20-point barrier for the third straight game and the Little Rock women's basketball team improved to 9-0 in the Sun Belt Conference with a 82-64 victory over Louisiana at the Cajundome on Saturday evening.
DeGray got 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting, only missing a shot in the final two minutes of the game. DeGray added six rebounds and a personal-best six steals to her career days as well. Collins finished the night with 23 points, Kaitlyn Pratt scored 16 and had six rebounds and Monique Townson had 14 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Little Rock (15-6, 9-0 Sun Belt) has scored 80 points in back-to-back games for the first time ever as a Division I program. The Trojans last got to 80 in consecutive games in January 1985 when it scored 80 against Rhodes College and 104 against Arkansas Baptist.
The win tied this year's Trojan team with the 2014-15 squad for the second-best Sun Belt start in program history at 9-0. Only the 2010-11 team had a better start to league play with an 11-0 record before losing.
On Saturday, the Trojans led by as many as 20 points early in the fourth quarter, but the Cajuns cut that advantage down to 10 points with a 10-0 run in a two-minute span. With their lead down to 65-55, Little Rock went on a 15-4 run in the next four minutes to get more distance on Louisiana. The Trojans would eventually lead by as many as 21 before the final buzzer.
Louisiana led for a good chunk of the first half, taking a 7-0 lead early before Little Rock managed to score. But that would be the Cajuns' largest lead of the game as Little Rock came storming back. The Trojans took a lead with seven minutes left in the first half as Collins and Louisiana's Jaylyn Gordon battled for offensive supremacy.
By the end of the half, Collins got help from the rest of her teammates in scoring. DeGray put in 8 points in the first half on 4-of-4 shooting, Pratt scored 6 points and Townson added 4 including a buzzer-beater to end the half to go along with Collins' 18 points. That was enough to give the Trojans a 36-29 lead at the break while.
On the other side of the ball, Gordon had 21 of her team's points and two just other Cajuns managed to score in the first half. Gordon would go cold in the second half, scoring just 8 to finish with 29.
After ending the first half on a 6-0 run, the Trojans continued their offensive burst to start the third quarter. Little Rock scored 9 of the first 11 points including a 3-pointer by Townson that forced a Cajuns timeout with the Trojans leading 45-31. DeGray continued her dominance inside in the period, making all five of her field goal attempts and two more at the free-throw line to reach 20 points on the night.
The Trojans return home to the Jack Stephens Center next week, beginning the two-game homestand with Appalachian State on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
PANTHERS TRIP UP TROJANS TO WIN SECOND STRAIGHT
TROY, Ala. - Georgia State won its second game in a row with an exciting 68-65 victory at Troy Saturday afternoon. The win ended a six-game losing streak to the Trojans and handed Troy just its second conference loss of the season.
Three Panthers finished in double figures with Astaja Tyghter leading the way at 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting with six rebounds. Jada Lewis tallied 18 points and added four steals while Kierra Henry scored 15 points with five rebounds.
The Panthers were outrebounded 54-36, but outscored Troy in fastbreak points 14-2. In comparison, Troy scored 17 fast break points in the first meeting between these two schools on Jan. 5. The Georgia State defense held Troy to 30% shooting from the field while GSU shot 43% for the game.
Georgia State started off strong and took advantage of a sluggish start by the Trojans. Georgia State led 30-20 at halftime, holding Troy to it’s lowest half total since Auburn held the Trojans to 20 points on Nov. 16.
Georgia State led by as many as 12 in the third quarter before Troy went on a big run. The Trojans would score 31 points in the period to hold a one-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Georgia State retook the lead on a steal and layup by Lewis with seven minutes and would stay on top for the remainder of the contest. Troy got a steal with under 30 seconds to go, but missed a jumper that would have put them up by one with four seconds left. K.K. Williams grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Williams hit both free throws to put GSU up by three and Troy missed a half-court heave at the buzzer.
Georgia State (7-13, 3-6 SBC) returns to Atlanta to host Louisiana and UL Monroe this week in the Sports Arena.
Georgia Southern Defeats South Alabama 53-45
MOBILE, Ala. – The Georgia Southern women's basketball team (8-12, 4-5 SBC) never trailed South Alabama (7-13, 2-7 SBC) on Saturday evening, leading to a 53-45 win for the Eagles inside The Mitchell Center. The Eagles finished the game with a 34.5 percent (20-58) overall shooting percentage and forced 16 Jaguar turnovers to tack on their fourth conference win.
Junior Alexis Foulks had her second straight game in double-figure points, with 12 total off the bench for the Eagles. Patrice Butler recorded nine points, five rebounds and an assist, while Angel McGowan tacked on eight points. Rhein Beamon led the Eagles in rebounds with seven, and Sierra Butler and Alexis Sams each recorded six each.
Chyna Ellis led the Jaguars with 13 points, behind her was Genesis Perrymond with 12. Ellis also led the team with 13 total rebounds and three blocks on the night. Genesis Perrymond was South Alabama's largest threat from behind the three-point line, with a 26.6 percent (4-15) percentage from beyond the arc.
THE STORY
The Eagles jumped out to a quick lead and held the Jags scoreless until 3:50 remaining in the first quarter. GS out-rebounded South Alabama 14-8 in the first quarter and headed into the second quarter with a 16-10 lead. Their hot streak continued into the second quarter, where the Eagles started a completely different five players from the beginning of the game. Ten players touched the court within the first half, and eight of those scored before the first half was over.
GS had a 32-21 lead at halftime, but the Jaguars came out firing and cut that lead short during the third quarter. The Jaguars out-scored the Eagles 12-2 in the third quarter and and posted a 33.3 percent (5-15) percentage from the field in that quarter only. The Eagles were able to gain momentum back in the fourth and final quarter, out-scoring the Jags 19-12 and recording a 40.0 percent (6-15) from the field in the last ten minutes of play.
The Eagles were able to complete a weekend split in Alabama with their big win over the Jaguars Saturday night. GS forced a total of 16 turnovers, recorded nine steals and 38 rebounds on the night to defeat South Alabama on their home court.
Warhawks Down Arkansas State Saturday Afternoon
Monroe, La. - The ULM women’s basketball team recieved a pair of double-double performances as the Warhawks grabbed a 59-51 win over Arkansas State in Sun Belt Conferene play inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum Saturday afternoon.
TURNING POINT
With the score tied as the first quarter ticked to a close, Logan Oestreich hit a jumper to close the period and give the Warhawks a two-point lead. ULM would go on to take the lead for good on a three-pointer by Lauren Marker early in the second quarter and hold the lead the rest of the night in the tight contest.
NOTABLES
-Stephanie Ratliff led the Warhawks with her first double-double since December 4 at Northwestern State as she registered 14 points and 13 rebounds (9 defensive) in today’s win. The senior shot 7-of-9 from the floor, tallied six blocks and grabbed three steals.
-Alexis Collins also grabbed a double-double with a career-high 13 assists and 10 points. Collins did most of her damage from the free throw line, going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. The freshman filled out her stat line with four rebounds (three defensive) and one steal.
-Collins' final tally of 13 assists flirted with the ULM single game record, held by current Associate Head Coach E.J. Ok, who set the program benchmark of 17 assists against LSU in January 1984.
-Gabriella Cortez and Lauren Marker each finished the game with 11 points as Cortez was 5-of-15 from the floor and Marker was 4-of-9 with three three-pointers as she tallied a new career-high scoring night.
-ULM finished the contest with more points off of turnovers (18-5) and fast break points (6-0). As a team, the Warhawks shot at a 38.1 percent clip (24-of-63) and posted their highest shooting percentage in the second quarter at 42.9 percent (6-of-14 from the floor in the quarter).
-The Warhawks held the Red Wolves to just seven attempts from the free throw line, while the visitors to a shooting percentage of 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from behind the arch.