ULM falls to Auburn, 67-41
AUBURN, Ala. – The ULM women's basketball team jumped out to an 11-point first-quarter lead at Auburn; however, the Warhawks couldn't overcome 35 turnovers in a 67-41 loss Wednesday, Nov. 29 in Auburn Arena.
ULM (2-3) hit its first six shots from the field and took a 15-4 lead on Destini Lunsford's three-pointer with 5:20 left in the first quarter. Auburn forced turnovers on four-straight possessions and closed out the first quarter with a 10-0 run to cut its deficit to 15-14. The Warhawks shot 67 percent (6-of-9) from the floor over the first 10 minutes, including 3-of-4 from three-point range. ULM led for 8:49 in the first quarter.
Auburn (4-3) took control of the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Warhawks, 21-4, to build a 35-19 halftime lead. The Tigers converted ULM's 20 first-half turnovers into 19 points. Janiah McKay and Daisa Alexander scored 11 points each to pace Auburn in the first half.
ULM was unable to close the gap in the second half. Auburn led 48-28 after three quarters. The Tigers took their largest lead at 61-34 on a jumper by Emari Jones with 4:36 left in the fourth quarter.
"We were really encouraged to get off to such a fast start and essentially lead the entire first quarter," ULM women's head basketball coach Jeff Dow said. "We were thrilled to be up 15-4 in the middle of the first quarter against a talented team like Auburn on its home floor. Unfortunately, their length and athleticism got the better of us, resulting in the huge disparity in the points off turnovers category (31-5), and not coincidentally, that was the difference in the game. To their credit, they've established themselves as not only one of the premier programs in the SEC but in the nation.
"I was proud of the overall effort and competitiveness that we showed, but clearly, we've got to get better at taking care of the ball."
McKay hit 7-of-12 shots from the floor and finished with a game-high 21 points for the Tigers while Alexander contributed 16 points.
Alexus Johnson came off the ULM bench to score a team-high eight points in eight minutes. Gabby Cortez, who entered the game as the Sun Belt's leading scorer at 21.0 points per game, managed six points. Lunsford scored five of her six points in the first quarter.
ULM outrebounded Auburn, 33-31. Diamond Brooks led the Warhawks with a season-high seven rebounds.
Up next, the Warhawks return home to Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Sunday, Dec. 3 to face Northwestern State at 2 p.m.
Savannah State Holds Off GS Women's Basketball, 71-67, With Big Second Half
STATESBORO, Ga. - Savannah State University shot 59 percent from the floor in the second half and survived a final-minute rally to pull out a 71-67 victory over host Georgia Southern University on Wednesday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The win halted a four-game losing streak for the Tigers (2-4) and was the sixth win in the series between the two neighboring schools (GS leads 16-6). Georgia Southern had its modest two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 3-4 on the season. The Eagles return to action on Sunday, December 10th, traveling to UCF for a 2 p.m. contest against the Knights.
Georgia Southern held a 31-26 lead at the break, but Savannah State used an 8-1 at the end of the third quarter to take its first lead of the contest, 46-43, on Kaylee Allen's three-pointer with four seconds left in the period. The Tigers and the Eagles traded baskets for the first five minutes of the second half until Savannah State went on a 13-4 run to take a 68-59 lead with two minutes left.
With a minute remaining, the Eagles began a furious rally to close the gap to one. Freshman Tatum Barber made a pair of free throws, then stole the inbounds pass and went to the line to make another pair of free throws to cut the lead to five. Barber was then fouled on the blockout of the shooter on the second free throw, and another free throw made it 68-64 with 50 seconds left.
Again, the press form the Eagles forced a turnover, and Rhein Beamon's three-point play with 45 seconds left made it a one-point game, 68-67, with 46 seconds left. Savannah State's Jazmine Bartlett made one of two free throws, but a turnover by the Eagles in the final 20 seconds and subsequent foul allowed the Tigers to clinch the win at the free throw line as Bartlett drained two more tosses with 12 seconds left.
"I'm terribly disappointed in the loss," Head Coach Kip Drown said. "We had no turnovers in the first quarter and had a 10-point lead. We come back and turn it over seven times in the second quarter and let them get back in it. And once they got back in it, it was a game. You've got to tip your hat to them, they hit 12 of 25 from three. In the end, they made plays and we didn't."
In the second half, Savannah State hit 6-of-11 shots from long range included in its 16-of-26 performance from the field in the second half. Overall, the Tigers shot 44.2 percent from the field (23-of-52) while the Eagles hit just 32.1 percent from the field (18-of-56) and made just 7 of 23 three-pointers (30.4 percent).
Individually, four Eagles reached double figures, led by Beamon's 15 points that included a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line. Barber had a season-high 13 points, while Nakol Franks had 11 points and Hailey Dias-Allen added 10. Savannah State was led by the duo of Donasja Scott and Kaylee Allen, who each had 15 points. Scott added a game-high 11 rebounds for the double-double, while Bartlett finished with 12 points and Jaqueline Anderson notched 10.
Ragin' Cajuns fall to No. 3 Mississippi State
JACKSON, Miss. – In their final game during the month of November, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team lost to the No. 6 Mississippi State Bulldogs, 94-37 here at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson, Miss.
The loss, the Cajuns second in a row, drops their record to 2-5, while the Bulldogs remain undefeated, improving to 7-0 to start the season.
Freshman Skyler Goodwin scored a career high 14 points to lead the Cajuns in that category while sophomore Kimberly Burton added four points of her own while leading the Cajuns with six rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED (First Quarter): Louisiana came out and for the first five minutes of the game they held the Bulldogs to 33 percent shooting (4 for 12) but Mississippi State crashed the boards hard and they eventually broke through the Cajuns defense.
They went on a 18-2 run to finish the first quarter, the run started at the 4-minute mark of the quarter and it helped them to pull away from Louisiana halfway through the quarter. When the quarter came to an end it was 30-8 in favor of Mississippi State.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Second Quarter): Powered by another mid quarter run, the Bulldogs padded their lead through the second quarter. The Cajuns did improve in their shooting, going 6 for 14 through the quarter, but a scoring drought from Louisiana that started at the three-minute mark, after senior Nekia Jones hit a jump shot hurt their cause down the stretch. That drought was coupled with a 12-0 run by the Bulldogs which meant that going into the locker room the Cajuns trailed by 33 with the score sitting 56-23 in favor of Mississippi State.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Third Quarter): In a game of runs, Mississippi State added another run in the third piecing together an 8-2 run that started at the 7:43 minute mark of the quarter and lasted until the 5:30 point of the quarter. Louisiana was impressive from the line during the quarter going 6 for 6, as Goodwin drained two free throws midway through the quarter to give her a career high 14 points on the night.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Fourth Quarter): Louisiana's never give in attitude was on full display in the final quarter as they returned the favor, forcing Mississippi State into a scoring drought of their own that lasted from the 5:08 mark of the quarter until a free throw from the Bulldogs ended the drought with the clock sitting at 1:31 in the game. But in the end the Cajuns couldn't get much closer than they were when the quarter began and at the end of the game the Bulldogs came away with the victory as the final score sat at 94-37.
NOTEWORTHY: Goodwin's 14 points, a career high, surpasses the two times in her young career that she's put in 13 points in a game; For the fourth time in five games Burton led the Cajuns in rebounding, this time snagging seven in the game; The Cajuns had a perfect third quarter from the charity stripe going 6 for 6 during the period.
UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana returns to the Cajundome on Sunday, Dec. 3 as they take on their I-10 rivals, the McNeese Cowgirls with a 5 p.m. start. That game will be televised on COX Sports, with Tim Grubbs handling the play-by-play duties and John Brady by his side with the color commentary. ESPN 1420 will carry the game on the radio with Steve Peloquin handling the play-by-play duties.