UTA Tops Incarnate Word With Strong Fourth
ARLINGTON, Texas - The Sun Belt favorites started the 2017-18 campaign out on a positive after a strong fourth quarter helped UTA to a 61-48 win over Incarnate Word on Saturday at College Park Center.
The Lady Mavericks (1-0) outscored the Cardinals (0-2) 20-12 in the final frame, helped along by 44.0 percent shooting from the field. Senior Rebekah VanDijk led the UTA effort with a game-high 11 points to go with nine rebounds. VanDijk was also second on the team in dishing three assists. With the win, the Lady Mavs improved to 32-12 all-time in home openers and 21-24 in season openers.
The contests was up for grabs entering the final 10 minutes with UTA being unable to put down free throws to pull away for the first three quarters. UTA entered the fourth shooting just 8-of-19 at the charity stripe, but dropped 8-of-13 in the finale, including all four in the final minute.
UTA will get a short break as a stretch of three games in five days continues on Monday night at College Park Center. Oral Roberts enters after dropping its opener at TCU on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN3.
KEY RUNS
First Half: As Incarnate Word continued to battle early, UTA's defense gave up just three field goals in the third quarter, holding the Cardinals without a point for several stretches of the frame. Freshman Kelsey Johnson then gave UTA the lead for the remainder as her rebound and put back as the half-time buzzer sounded sent the team into the locker room up 26-24.
Second Half: The Cardinals kept pecking away at the UTA lead, bringing it to as close as six points with 1:46 to play. However, UTA's Laurynn McGowen knocked down four consecutive free throws to go with Cierra Johnson's two as a 10-3 run closed out the contest.
KEY STATS
UTA took a lead in the all-time series with UIW, going ahead 2-1. The matchup was the first since 2013 in coach Krista Gerlich's first home game as the Lady Mav skipper... VanDijk finished a rebound shy of a double-double. Entering the night, the senior led NCAA active career leaders with 37... UTA finished the night shooting 39.6 from the field (21-53), while UIW shot 30.4 percent (14-46)... Aysia Evans knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers in the third quarter as she had two of the team's three from long range.
MILESTONE NOTES
VanDijk's nine rebounds put the senior at 856 for her career in her bid to become the first player to have 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career... Cierra Johnson recorded one steal to move into 16th in the Sun Belt all-time steal list with 248. She is one shy of 15th. UTA on a 6-0 run, UIW without a point in the last 3:48. Timeout taken by the Cardinals with 5:51 to play. UTA up 47-38 WEnt 5 minutes without a shot.
A-State Women's Basketball Falls at Indiana
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (11/11/17) – Akasha Westbrook scored 15 points but the Arkansas State women’s basketball team dropped its season opener to Indiana 93-51 at Assembly Hall Saturday afternoon.
Westbrook, a redshirt junior, was 7-of-11 from the field for a team-high 15 points. Freshman Peyton added eight points and four rebounds, while Tayton Hopkins scored seven points to round out the scoring for A-State (0-1). Tyra Buss lea Indiana (1-0) with 28 points.
A-State shot 34.4 percent (21-61) on the afternoon and struggled to 1-for-12 from the 3-point line. The Hoosiers shot 53.2 percent (33-62) from the field, while also knocking down 19-of-25 free throws (76 percent). Indiana also made 8, 3-pointers, including four in the third quarter.
Arkansas State matched Indiana on the 10 offensive rebounds each, but the Hoosiers held a plus-11 edge on the defensive glass to outrebound the Red Wolves 43-32. Indiana also turned 20 A-State turnovers into 21 points on the offensive end.
How It Happened (First Half):
Westbrook got the Red Wolves off to a solid start as she scored the first four points to keep the Red Wolves within striking distance in the opening minutes of the game. Westbrook led the way in the first half with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, but was plagued with foul trouble and played much of the second quarter with three fouls.
Indiana used a 7-0 run after the first quarter media timeout to build a 21-8 lead and held a 30-14 edge at the end of the period. A 12-2 run in the second quarter pushed the lead to 47-12 with 4:47 left in the half, while a 7-0 run to close out the half gave the Hoosiers a 56-26 lead at halftime.
Indiana shot 50 percent (17-of-34) from the field in half and made 18 of its 21 free throws. The Hoosiers made more free throws (18) than field goals in the first half (17), while A-State went to the foul line just six times and made two. The Red Wolves shot 35.3 percent (12-of-34) from the field.
How It Happed (Second Half):
Indiana continued its hot shooting in the second half behind a 75 percent (9-of-12) shooting mark from the field. The Hoosiers made all four its 3-point attempts in the period and held a 79-37 edge at the end of the quarter.
Westbrook continued her solid play and was the only A-State player to eclipse double-figures on the afternoon. She scored seven points in the second half to lead the way for A-State, while Peyton Martin found points in transition in the second half to help the Red Wolves match the Hoosiers point for point in the fourth quarter.
Notables:
A-State is now 24-20 all-time in season openers.
The Red Wolves fall to 7-15 in opening games on the road.
Indiana now leads the all-time series with A-State 1-0.
Today’s game marked the first the Red Wolves played a Big 10 opponent to open the season since 2004 when it played Minnesota.
Quoting Coach Boyer:
“I liked our energy and the speed at which we were playing but the fouls were really just too much for us to overcome. It is something we talked about in practice and we try to be aggressive and play with your hands off and the other lesson was just how aggressive Indiana was and that just caught us off guard I think.”
“I think as a whole there was a lot of positive possessions just not a lot of positive long possessions and my message to the team was that when we did things the way we wanted it worked, we just didn’t do that enough.”
Up Next:
The Red Wolves travel to Florida for a two-game game swing through the sunshine state that begins with a trip to Gainesville, Tuesday Nov. 14. Tipoff against the Gators is set for 6 p.m.
GATORS RALLY TO DEFEAT PANTHERS IN GAINESVILLE
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Georgia State's women's basketball team led Florida for most of the first half Saturday, but ended up falling 82-66 to the Gators to open the season.
Junior transfer Shay Fluker recorded a double-double in her Georgia State debut, finishing with 15 points and team-high 13 rebounds. Sophomore Jada Lewis, reigning Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, led the Panthers with 20 points. Madison Newby played for the first time since her season-ending injury following the third game of the season last year and totaled 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
Georgia State won the tip, made the first bucket of the game and didn't trail until under three minutes to go in the second quarter. The Panthers led by as many as eight in the first half, but a 15-2 run by Florida to close out the half gave the Gators the advantage at halftime.
Florida pushed its lead to 18 points with 7:14 to go in the game, but Georgia State mounted a comeback and cut the lead down to single-digits after forcing several turnovers with a full-court press.
Florida scored 20 points off turnovers and outrebounded the Panthers 46-38. The Panthers, however, held their own down low, scoring 32 points in the paint against the Gators while allowing 34.
The Panthers' win streak of three straight wins to start a season came to an end, but GSU has a big opportunity next Thursday when they head to Starkville, Miss., to face the No. 4 Mississippi State Bulldogs.