Troy Triumphant in Season Opener
TROY, Alabama – Six Trojans scored in double figures including three freshmen as the Troy women's basketball team opened the 2017-18 season with an 89-62 win over Stillman on Friday in Trojan Arena.
Sophomore guard Kalya Robinson led the way for the Trojans scoring a team-high 17 points and shooting 7-for-9 from the field. Freshmen Janiah Sandifer (14), Jasmine Robinson (10) and Jasmine Sanders (10) also scored in double digits while junior Sky'Lynn Holmes was one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine boards.
Troy (1-0) shot just 39.5 percent (32-81) for the game but fired at a 50 percent (18-36) clip in the second half. The team knocked down 84.6 percent (22-26) of its shots from the free throw line and was led by Amber River, who scored five of her 13 points from the charity stripe.
Harriet Winchester made her first career start and finished with a game-high six steals as the Trojans forced Stillman into 24 turnovers.
QUOTABLE
"[There were] a lot of newcomers on the floor trying to do what we want them to do," head coach Chanda Rigby said. "We thought our press was going to be a highlight and Stillman really picked it apart, we were counting on the press working and it never did."
UP NEXT
Troy travels 45 miles north to take on Alabama State on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Trojans have won six straight against the Hornets including three in a row in Montgomery.
NOTEWORTHY
• Jasmine Robinson, Janiah Sandifer, Harriet Winchester, Amahni Upshaw, and Sky'Lynn Holmes got the start for the Trojans. In total, five newcomers made debuts on Friday.
• Troy has won five of its six home openers under head coach Chanda Rigby.
• The Trojans have now scored 80-plus points in 74 games under Rigby, which is 46.5 percent of the games since her arrival in 2012.
• Troy is 45-25 at home over the last six seasons.
Coastal Carolina Women's Basketball Downs Lees-McRae in Season Opener
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina women's basket team opened the 2017-18 season Friday night at the HTC Center with a 73-47 victory over Lees-McRae. The Chanticleers (1-0) have now won four of their five season openers under head coach Jaida Williams, and eight of their last 10 overall.
Three Chanticleers scored in double figures, including the double-double efforts of sophomores DJ Williams and Naheria Hamilton.
Williams led all players with 22 points and 15 rebounds, and also had a game high in assists with five.
Hamilton's double-double included 13 points and 10 rebounds, and the 6-4 center led all players with four blocks.
Jas Adams was the third Chanticleer that scored in double figures, notching 15 points on 5-12 from the field and 4-8 from the line.
All 12 Chanticleers saw action in the victory.
Williams put up nine points in the opening quarter, the majority of which came in a five-minute stretch that saw Coastal score 11 unanswered to take a 13-4 lead.
Coastal stretched its advantage into double figures less than a minute into the second quarter after Breelyn Blanding scored three quick points on a layup and free throw. The Chants' remained ahead by at least 11 points for the remainder of the quarter, and Williams added another eight points to bring her halftime total to 17.
Entering the second half leading 37-23, the Chants wasted no time in nearly doubling-up the Bobcats. Coastal crossed the 50-point threshold at the 4:18 mark of the third as it shot 58.3 percent (7-12) from the field in the frame, including making three of four shots from beyond the arc. Adams made one of the three-pointers, and led the Chants with eight points in the quarter. Williams completed her double-double as the quarter drew to a close, and Coastal led 58-33 as time expired.
Coastal continued to widen the margin throughout the fourth quarter, taking its largest lead of the game -- 32 points -- with just over two minutes remaining.
The Chants continue their four-game home stand on Tuesday when UNC Greensboro comes to the HTC Center for a 6 pm contest.
Cajuns Top UNO In First Round Of The Preseason WNIT
LAFAYETTE – Lead by 18 points and nine rebounds from senior Simone Fields, and a stifling Cajuns defense, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns beat the University of New Orleans Privateers, 66-57, in the first round of the Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament here at the Cajundome on Friday night.
The win, the first Preseason WNIT win in school history, means the Cajuns head to College Station, Texas to take on Texas A&M on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2:00 p.m. in the second round of the Preseason WNIT. This is only the second time the Cajuns have ever taken part in the Preseason WNIT in school history.
Redshirt freshman Danyale Bayonne, playing her first game at the Cajundome, scored 11 points and added four rebounds and three assists, while the Cajuns defense held UNO to 39 percent shooting from the field and 11 percent shooting from beyond the three-point line.
HOW IT HAPPENED (First Quarter): UNO came out and scored the first points of the game, putting the score at 2-0 within the first minute of the game, but Louisiana's defense was not phased as they didn't let the Privateers get an easy basket in their next two possessions and the Cajuns tied the score at 2-2 when the clock hit the seven-minute mark.
Both teams began to trade baskets as the first quarter became a back and forth affair with both teams playing tough defense and crashing the boards. UNO attempted to pull away after going up by three with 2:47 left in the quarter, but a big three point shot from freshman Skyler Goodwin stopped that run in its track tying the score at 9-9.
As the quarter ended, Louisiana was trailing by a point but they took the final possession and with 22 seconds left drove down the floor looking for the final shot. Goodwin got that shot and as the buzzer rang she nailed a jumper to give the Cajuns a 14-13 lead after the end of the first quarter.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Second Quarter): Senior Nekia Jones came out on fire, nailing a three then showing her moves. She crossed over a UNO defender that sent the Privateer sliding on the ground. Jones then kicked it to Goodwin who nailed a three to give the Cajuns a 19-13 lead.
That basket ignited the Cajuns as they opened the second quarter on a 11-0 run to stretch their lead to 24-13 when the clock hit 7:33. Jones scored five of those 11 points providing great energy to the Cajuns off the bench.
Although UNO attempted to chip away at the lead, any time the Privateers got near the Cajuns pulled away yet again. Fields was big on the glass at the 4:20 mark when she grabbed a board, and stayed with the play hitting a layup to give the Cajuns a 31-18 lead.
With the Cajuns, up 36-20 as the half came to an end, the defense yet again showed up as Louisiana kept UNO off the board for the final two minutes of the game. Jones took and missed a three pointer but she stayed with the play, as she stole the ball right back from the rebounding Privateer which turned into a foul on UNO.
Bayonne wrapped up the half with two free throws that put the score at 38-20, with the Cajuns in the lead. When it was over the Cajuns had outscored the Privateers 24-7 in the second quarter to put themselves ahead for good.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Third Quarter): UNO came out and hit the first two baskets to cut the Cajuns lead to 38-25, but two free throws from Fields followed by a lay-up from the senior put the Cajuns up by 17 when the six-minute mark of the quarter hit.
UNO attempted to get back in the game, but Swain was there to answer every basket the Privateers had when at the 3:36 mark it became an up and down game for the next minute and half.
In that stretch, Swain nailed a three-pointer and a jump shot, and even after a UNO basket the Cajuns still had a 15-point lead, 49-34, as the back-and-forth stretch came to an end.
The quarter came to an end with Louisiana sitting comfortably ahead of UNO by 14 points, 51-37.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Fourth Quarter): Fields once again lead the Cajuns into the quarter nailing the first basket of the fourth, putting the Cajuns up by 16. But a UNO basket began a run for the Privateers that began to chip away at the Cajuns lead.
From the 8:13 mark until 4:57, Louisiana didn't score a basket from the field, only getting two points on a pair of Swain free throws. UNO had knocked down the lead to 10 points, 57-47, at the 6-minute mark, but senior Kendra Howard, playing in her first game for the Cajuns, nailed a jumper to stretch the Cajuns lead to 12 as the clock moved under five minutes.
Two baskets from Fields down the stretch gave the Cajuns a 13-point lead, and it was enough to hold off any late charges that UNO might have attempted to put together. As the final buzzer rang the Cajuns were on their way to the WNIT second round with a 66-57 win.
ONTO ROUND TWO: Louisiana now moves onto the second round of the Preseason WNIT where they'll face off against Texas A&M in College Station on Sunday Nov. 12, with tip scheduled for 2 p.m.
It's the first time the Cajuns have faced off against the Aggies since playing Texas A&M on Feb. 10, 1977. And it's the first trip to College Station that Louisiana has ever made, as the Aggies hold a 2-0 record all-time over Louisiana with both games being played at a neutral site.
NOTEWORTHY: Fields finished with 18 points, on 8-14 shooting, bringing her 10 points away from 1,000 career points; Goodwin finished 5-9 from the field and was a strong 3-4 from three-point range; Howard, Bayonne, Goodwin and freshman Ty'Reonne Doucet all made their Cajundome regular season debuts; head coach Garry Brodhead moved one closer to 100 wins with his 93rd career win putting him seven away from the mark.
Louisiana had 13 assists on the game which is the most the Cajuns have recorded in a game since recording 15 against Texas State on Mar. 9, 2017; UNO only shot 39 percent from the field and they were held to 11 percent from three-point range, while the Cajun finished shooting 46 percent and were 44 percent from three-point range; Louisiana out rebounded UNO 34-28 and the Cajuns had 24 defensive rebounds to UNO's 18.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN TO THE SECOND ROUND: Sunday's game will be televised on the SEC Network and it's available to watch through the WatchESPN App. Locally ESPN 1420 will broadcast the game with Steve Peloquin on the call. Texas A&M will have live stats available through their website as well and you can follow the game @RaginCajunsWBB on twitter.
SOUTH ALABAMA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL DOWNS GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN TO OPEN REGULAR SEASON
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team took down the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes, 73-42, to start the 2017-18 season.
Senior Chyna Ellis recorded a double-double, the 17th of her career, with 12 points and 14 rebounds to go with three blocks and a helper. Ellis shot 5-of-11 from the field.
Redshirt freshman Savannah Jones shot 60 percent from the field (6-of-10), including 4-for-7 from behind the three-point arc and 2-of-2 from the charity strike for 18 points. Jones also recorded a pair of rebounds and a pair of assists while recording a steal.
Freshman Antoinette Lewis opened her career with a nine point, 5 rebound effort. The freshman recorded three blocks and two steals while going 4-of-9 from the field.
GAME FACTS
- South Alabama led 22-7 at the end of the first quarter, including going on a 19-3 run in the final eight minutes of the opening frame
- The Jaguar defense held the Hurricanes to 1-for-11 from the field during the run
- GSW came back in the second quarter outscoring South Alabama 19-9 in the quarter, shooting 46.7 percent from the field
- USA shot 23.5 percent in the second, after going 9-of-17 (52.9%) in the first
- The Jaguars held the Hurricanes without a field goal during the final 5:35 of the contest.
- USA outscored GSW 42-16 in the second half.
NOTES
- Ellis set a career-high for rebounds in a game with 14.
- Jones set a career-high with 18 points in the game.
- The Jags held the Hurricanes to shooting just 25.9 percent from the field, including under 25 percent in three of the four quarters
- The Jags dominated the paint outscoring GSW 36-20
- USA scored 39 points off the bench in the contest
- South Alabama scored 22 points while forcing 22 turnovers and recording 13 steals in the game.
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Terry Fowler
Opening statement: "Great win on opening night. First of all, I want to thank the crowd that came out for opening night. A lot of things were going on here. I thought we had a good crowd, and I really appreciate the students for coming out and our fans. I thought in the first quarter, we really came out and executed and did the things we were supposed to do. We played really good defense, which led to some easy baskets. In the second quarter, our defense was not as good, and they were scoring, so we were going against their half-court since they slowed us down. The challenge at halftime was to just come out and get on the board. We had to pick up our defense and get some transition baskets, and I think that carried over to the third and fourth quarters."
On tonight's win: "We've got some kids that can score the basketball. Defensively, we held them down right where we wanted to, and we were just able to put the ball in the basket. At the same time, we gave away several opportunities, and we've got to be better at the free-throw line as well."
On things to build on: "We've got to go back and look at the film. We've got to get ready for a very talented and physical North Carolina State team and North Carolina next weekend. This is a great building block, but we're jumping into the fire of the ACC. I think the exhibition against Tulane last week help us to adjust to the size, the height, and the length, so it won't be a complete shock when we go over next week."
Chyna Ellis
On career high in rebounds: "It's my role as a rebounder, so I just decided to go and get it."
On dominating Georgia Southwestern: "It's big. I try to dominate every game because that's my role as a rebounder; at 6'2" that's what you're supposed to do. It's big because this is our first game, and we're just trying to set the tone for the rest of the season."
Savannah Jones
On what was working offensively: "My shot and my confidence. My teammates believed in me and kept telling me to shoot."
On importance of early wins: "It's really big because it's the start of our season, so it gives us confidence, and we've just got to keep moving forward from this win."
On how good the team can be: "This team has a lot of potential. We just have to tap into it, work hard in practice, and carry it over to the games."
UP NEXT
The Jaguars will travel to Raleigh, N.C., to take on North Carolina State on Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. (C.T.).
NC A&T Second-Half Run Downs GS Women's Basketball, 60-49, In Season Opener
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Georgia Southern women's basketball team dropped its 2017-18 season opener at North Carolina A&T by a 60-49 score on Friday evening in Greensboro, N.C.
The Aggies (1-0) avenged a season-opening loss to the Eagles (0-1) last season in Statesboro with the victory. Georgia Southern will return to Statesboro to open up its home slate on Monday, November 13th, hosting the College of Coastal Georgia at 5 p.m. at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Georgia Southern led, 45-39, with 1:40 left in the third quarter on an Alexis Foulks basket, but the Aggies ended the quarter on a 6-0 run, then continued that run into the fourth, holding the Eagles scoreless over a seven minute and 49 second stretch to take a 55-45 lead with what would end up being a 16-0 run. The Aggies finished off the contest, holding Georgia Southern to just one field goal and four total points in the first quarter.
"The bottom line, they started making baskets," Head Coach Kip Drown said. "We only had four points in the fourth quarter, shot nine percent from three. You can't turn the ball over 20 times, shoot what we shot, or you're gonna end up 49. The positive is that I thought we got some good shots, we've just got to make those. I'm disappointed in how we handled the press when they turned it up a little bit. We quit being aggressive and quit attacking.
"I told them if we'd won, it wouldn't define our year," Drown said. "And a loss is not going to define our year. We've got a lot of basketball to play. It's a situation where, yes, it's painful, but we're going to learn from it, we're going to grow from it. We're going to see a lot of pressure this year, and we knew it was coming. We'll go back and make it better."
The Eagles used an 11-0 run over a 3:30 minute stretch in the first quarter to build a 20-11 lead heading into the second quarter. North Carolina A&T closed the gap to five, 23-18, but back-to-back baskets by Sierra Butler and Jakayvea Akins stretched the lead back out to nine, 27-18, with 4:50 left in the half. A basket by Nakol Franks and a free throw from Sierra Butler in the final minute of the half would help the Eagles take a 32-24 lead into halftime.
After a first quarter that saw Georgia Southern hit 9-of-14 shots from the floor (64.3 percent), the Eagles made just nine of 45 shots (20 percent) over the final three quarters. The Eagles finished the contest 18-of-59 from the field (30.5 percent), while NC A&T shot 37.1 percent from the floor (23-of-62). Georgia Southern was just 2-of-21 from three-point range (9.5 percent) while the Aggies hit 6-of-21 shots from beyond the arc (28.6 percent).
Individually, Beamon led the Eagles on the night with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Alexis Foulks chipped in 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor. North Carolina A&T placed three players in double figures, led by Cinia McCray's 16 points. C'Coreia Foy had 15 points and Shantell Bostick added 10 points off the bench.
Georgia Southern went 11-of-17 from the free throw line (64.7 percent) and NC A&T was 8-of-11 from the line (72.7 percent). The Aggies won the rebounding battle, 46-41, and turned the ball over 17 times compared to 20 for the Eagles.
Appalachian State Women's Basketball Falls to GT in Season Opener
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State women's basketball (0-1) suffered a 75-41 setback in the season opener to Georgia Tech (1-0) on Friday evening at the Holmes Center.
It was the first time App had hosted a Power Five program since 2006-07 when the Yellow Jackets invaded the High Country. It was a matchup in which experience trumped youth as the Apps' five starters in Tierra Wilson, LaPresha Stanley, Nicola Mathews, Armani Hampton and Bayley Plummer have just one combined start between the five athletes, and four making their first-career start (Wilson, Stanley, Mathews, Plummer).
Wilson poured in a team-high 15 points with four of her field goals coming from 3-point land.
Appalachian had open shots but couldn't convert on a night where it shot under 30 percent from the floor, while GT turned in a 44.6 shooting clip to go along with nine 3-pointers. GT also took advantage of 26 App miscues that turned into 25 points.
With the Yellow Jackets holding onto an 8-3 advantage, Wilson hit her second trifecta in the first 4:12 of the contest to bring the Apps to within one possession of the 2017 WNIT runner-ups. However, GT finished the quarter with an 18-3 edge in the final 5:48 of the opening frame to go up 26-9.
GT wouldn't relinquish the lead the rest of the night, but the App State defense would impressively hold Georgia Tech to just five points in the ensuing period. Appalachian held the Yellow Jackets to only 16.7 percent shooting from the floor and 1-for-7 from beyond the arc, showing how stingy the Black and Gold defense can be.
Also, the Mountaineers battled all evening on the boards picking up 14 on the offensive end. Bayley Plummer registered a personal-best 13 rebounds, which was her fourth-career outing with at least 10 or more rebounds. Plummer also led the way with three steals.
Appalachian will look for its first win of the season in a quick turnaround in its road opener on Sunday against Radford at 5 p.m.