Troy Downs App State Behind Chills’ Career Night
TROY, Alabama – Jayla Chills scored a career-high 27 points and Caitlyn Ramirez turned in 24 points and 14 rebounds as the Troy women's basketball team defeated Appalachian State, 86-77, on Thursday in Trojan Arena.
Troy (17-7, 10-3 Sun Belt) shot 46.7 percent from the field and outrebounded the Mountaineers 47-38. Claresa Banks came off the bench to score 11 points while La'Tia Fils-Aime' hauled in 10 boards.
The Mountaineers (10-15, 5-9) pulled ahead by seven in the opening quarter before a trio of free throws by Kristen Emerson and a Fils-Aime' layup cut the deficit to one. Troy took its first lead of the game early in the second quarter on a Ramirez free throw and Chills expanded it to four with a jumper just before halftime.
Ramirez was 4-for-4 from the field in the third quarter and helped the Trojans build its advantage 14 points. App State went on a 9-1 run mid-fourth quarter to close the gap to just two points, but Ramirez and Chills teamed up to score 11 of the game's last 24 points and put the game away. Chills finished the game shooting 9-for-15.
QUOTABLE
"We've been looking forward to this game for quite some time now because this team plays so similar to us," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "We knew that the team that could hit the most shots had a good chance of winning this game."
RUN OF THE GAME
Troy opened its lead to 12 points after a 9-0 run midway through the third quarter. Ramirez scored seven straight points before Banks closed the run with a jumper at the 3:10 mark.
UP NEXT
Troy hosts Coastal Carolina in the second and final Play4Kay game of the season. It is also the first meeting all-time between the schools.
Gibson, Clasen Lead Coastal Past USA
MOBILE, Ala. - The 3-point shooting of Ced Gibson and Courtney Clasen led the Coastal Carolina women's basketball team as the Chanticleers (10-14, 5-9) took a 61-45 road victory at South Alabama (8-16, 3-10) Thursday night at the Jaguars' Mitchell Center.
The senior, freshman combo combined to score all but 20 of Coastal's 61 points, and hit nine of the team's 10 3-pointers.
Gibson led the way with 23 points, her second straight game surpassing the 20-point plateau after scoring 22 points in her last outing versus Georgia Southern. The senior finished 9-of-13 from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. Gibson also led all players with seven assists, moving her into a tie for ninth place among Coastal's all-time leaders in career helpers with 276.
Clasen's career-high 18 points came on 7-of-10 from the field, and the redshirt freshman sank all but one of her five attempts from 3-point range.
Kennedy Archer added the final 3-pointer, and Coastal closed the game shooting a season-high 71.4 percent (10-14) from distance.
Defensively, Coastal limited USA to shooting 28.1 percent from the field, and held all but Genesis Perrymond (10 points) out of double figures. The Chants forced 16 USA turnovers, including eight steals, and notched 24 points off those giveaways.
Coastal was in full control of the game early, taking a 12-5 lead over USA in the first seven minutes of the opening quarter. Clasen and Archer led the Chants with four points each during that span, and the Chanticleer defense held USA off the board for four straight minutes. The Jags rallied towards the end of the quarter, however, scoring five straight points over the final two minutes to cut Coastal's advantage to two points, 12-10.
Gibson sparked Coastal's offense early in the second quarter with a pair of 3-pointers, and, shortly after, the Chants used an 8-0 run to push their lead into double figures, 26-16. Clasen capped the CCU run with her second steal-and-score sequence of the half, but it was Coastal's last basket for a significant amount of time as the Chants suffered a four-minute scoreless drought of their own. USA then nullified Coastal's previous run as the Jags tacked on eight straight points, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Colby Davis. Naheria Hamilton snapped Coastal's scoreless streak with the final basket of the first half, giving Coastal a 28-24 lead at the break.
USA opened the third quarter with five straight points, but managed just one field goal and a free throw for the remainder of the frame as Coastal outscored the Jags 18-3 over the final eight minutes. Coastal went 7-of-16 from the floor during the quarter, including a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point range as both Gibson and Clasen hit a pair of triples. Gibson also added a pair of jumpers to bring her scoring total for the quarter to 10 points.
Gibson and Clasen continued to lead the Chants through the fourth quarter, as the former scored seven points and the latter six, all from 3-point range. Coastal opened and closed the quarter with a 16-point advantage, the largest leads of the game.
Up next, Coastal heads to Troy for a 2 p.m. (CT) tip Saturday. The Trojans defeated Appalachian State in their Thursday night contest.
3-Pointer Heats Up To Lift UTA Over Eagles
STATESBORO, Ga. - The 3-point attack came alive in the second half to help UTA outlast Georgia Southern 69-60 on Thursday night at Hanner Fieldhouse to begin a two-game trip through Georgia.
The Lady Mavericks connected on just two of their 17 attempts in the first half, but knocked down five of 10 in the final 20 minutes to pull away. UTA improved to 17-6 overall and 10-3 in the Sun Belt. The 10 league wins are one shy of the most in the SBC since joining with five games to go in the regular season.
Georgia Southern (11-14, 7-7 SBC) attempted to mount a comeback late in the contest, trimming what was a 18-point deficit down to just seven. However, UTA answered the call by downing free throws down the stretch.
Cierra Johnson was one of four to reach double figures for UTA. Johnson joined Christina Devers with a team-high 14 points. Johnson finished with eight rebounds, two short of her second double-double of the season. The junior guard had seven in the first half. Devers had four of UTA's seven overall 3-pointers. Crystal Allen knocked down all four of her free-throw attempts as she reached 11 and Rebekah VanDijk battled through foul trouble to reach 12.
UTA was unable to take advantage of 13 first-half turnovers by Georgia Southern to attempt to pull away in the first half. UTA shot just 12-of-38, including 2-of-17 from deep in the opening 20 minutes.
Despite the offense's inability to knock down the shot, the defense was stifling the Eagles transition offense as well as holding a big edge on the boards. UTA outrebounded GS 24-16 in the first half, including a 12-1 advantage on the offensive end.
Johnson and Devers were able to give UTA a spark of offense as VanDijk had to spend over half of the opener on the bench in foul trouble. Johnson produced eight points on eight shots, while Devers knocked down each of UTA's treys, including a buzzer-beater from 10-feet beyond the 3-point line to go into the break.
The Lady Mavericks caught fire from long range late in the third quarter to get some space between themselves and the Eagles. Devers connected on a pair of treys in three trips down the floor and Lauren Billie added another as time expired in the frame. UTA outscored Georgia Southern 23-13 in the third and held GS without a field goal for more than six minutes.
The deep threat continued to propel the attack early in the fourth. Allen got in on the action with her first 3-pointer in seven attempts, she would reach double figures a minute later with a drive through the lane that gave UTA its 15-point advantage once again with six minutes to go.
With the team exchanging long-range attempts midway through the period, Lauren Billie answered the call with another, this time from the opposite side of the floor to force the Eagles into another timeout.
GS made a late charge to try a mount a comeback, but it was too little too late as UTA knocked down all of its free throws in the final minute.
KEY RUNS
First Half
With the offense unable to break the game open, UTA's defense held Georgia Southern at bay for much of the opening period. The Eagles did shot 40 percent in the first 20 minutes with help from four 3-pointers, but GS went two separate spurts without a field goal for more than four minutes. Using the turnover game to help things along, UTA was able to knock down Devers' buzzer-beater to trip a 10-9 deficit in scoring during the second quarter.
Second Half
The offense was able to catch up with the Lady Maverick defense through the third quarter. UTA reversed the first-half woes from deep by knocking down three 3-pointers in the final three minutes of the period. Devers connected on back-to-back attempts to give UTA a 14-point advantage. Lauren Billie knocked another buzzer-beater down to end the frame as she hit from the corner to give UTA a 15-point advantage going to the final 10 minutes.
KEY STATS
UTA outscored GS 38-14 in points in the paint and 27-16 in points off turnovers. ... UTA shot 42.9 percent overall, while GS bested it at 44.2, but had 21 less attempts. ... UTA forced 22 turnovers to match its season average. The Lady Mavs entered seventh in the nation in turnovers forced per game. ... VanDijk scored 10 points to achieve double figures in 22 of 23 games.
UPCOMING GAME
The two-game road trip continues when the Lady Mavericks head to Atlanta for a date with Georgia State on Saturday. The contest is featured on ESPN3 and tips at 11 a.m. CT.
Leavitt, Deer & Walla Lead Bobcats Past Georgia State 62-51
ATLANTA – Toshua Leavitt knocked down five first-half 3-pointers, Taeler Deer scored 15 and Kaitlin Walla added 13 to lead Texas State to a 62-51 win over Georgia State at the Panther's GSU Sports Arena Thursday evening in Sun Belt women's basketball action.
Texas State, winners of eight of its last nine games, improve to 14-10 overall and 9-4 in Sun Belt play. Georgia State falls to 10-15 (6-8 Sun Belt) with the loss.
Leavitt, who finished the game 5 of 8, went a perfect 5 of 5 from deep in the first quarter for her 15 points. Taeler Deer scored her 15 points on 5 of 9 shooting, including 2 of 4 from three, and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line. Walla was 6 of 8 from the floor and 1 of 2 from three. Overall, the Bobcats shot 51.1 percent (23 of 45) from the field, including 8 of 17 from three.
Texas State's Sun Belt-leading defense did not allow a Panther in double-figures as Astaja Tyghter led the GSU offense with nine. The Panthers, which outrebounded TXST 30-25, shot 39.6 percent overall (19 of 48), but turned the ball over 21 times, which lead to 23 Bobcat points.
Texas State led 20-8 after the first quarter, putting together a 13-0 run over the final 3:47 of the period. Georgia State led 8-7 until Deer knocked down a mid-range jumper and Leavitt followed with the game's next nine points via a trio of 3-pointer. Walla capped the quarter's scoring with a driving layup, giving TXST the 12-point advantage.
Walla scored 45 seconds into the second quarter for a 22-8 Bobcat lead, but neither team would score again until Haley Gerrin scored inside for the Panther at the 4:43 mark. The score, which was the Panthers' first since the 4:24 mark of the opening quarter, was answered immediately by Walla and followed a possession later by Leavitt's fifth triple of the game. Georgia State went on to outscore Texas State 8-2 over the final 2:50 of the quarter, cutting the Bobcats' lead to 29-18 at the intermission.
Scoring picked up in the third quarter with Texas State outscoring its hosts 19-12. The Bobcats shot 53.8 percent in the quarter, knocking down 7 of their 13 attempts, including two threes by Deer and one by Walla. Georgia State started the quarter making five of its first six shots, but misses on its final three attempts along with five turnovers allowed the Bobcats to stretch their lead to a game-high 18 points at 48-30.
Georgia State scored six straight to start the fourth quarter, cutting the Texas State lead 10 48-36 and forcing Bobcat timeout. Alaysia Mitchell and Jaylyn Harrison continued the Panthers' momentum out of the timeout, scoring on jumper to cut the Texas State lead to single-digits at 48-40. The Bobcats' Amber Jones then scored in the paint, but was quickly answered by a Williams 3-pointer, bringing the Panthers' deficit to 50-43.
After trading buckets, the Bobcats led 54-46 when Ericka May stole the ball at the right wing and raced down the court for a fast break layup. Kiani Lurry shot and made the ensuing free throw, pushing the Bobcats' back out front by double-digits at 57-46 with 2:40 to play. The Bobcats made five at the line down the stretch, secure their fourth conference road win of the season.
Up Next
• Texas State continues its Peach State road trip at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday at Georgia Southern. Texas State leads the all-time series against the Eagles 4-1. The Bobcats won the first three games, but Georgia Southern picked up a 78-64 win in the most recent meeting back on Feb. 6, 2016 in Statesboro.