Scoring Outbursts Lead Bobcats Past Arkansas State
SAN MARCOS, Texas – A 24-5 run that lasted from late in the first quarter through the entirety of the second quarter and a 15-7 scoring stretch in the third quarter proved to be the difference as Texas State defeated Arkansas State 63-43 Thursday afternoon in Sun Belt women’s basketball action at Strahan Coliseum.
Texas State, winners of six of its last seven, improved to 12-10 overall and 7-4 in Sun Belt play with the victory. Taeler Deer paced the Bobcats’ on the offensive end of the floor with 19 points on 8 of 15 shooting, including two 3-pointers. Erin Peoples also reached double-figures for the second straight game with her 11 on five buckets and a free throw. Ericka May reached double-figures in the rebounds column with 10, marking her fifth double-digit rebounding game of the season.
Texas State finished the contest shooting 44.6 percent (25 of 56) from the field. The Bobcats also held a slight 36-35 edge on the boards, outscored the Red Wolves 28-18 in the paint and 22-15 in second-chance points.
Arkansas State (5-19, 3-9 Sun Belt) was led by Tahlon Hopkins, Brittany Fowler, Dominique Oliver and Lauren Bradshaw with eight points each. The Red Wolves closed the contest shooting 31.4 percent (16 of 51) overall, including a 1 of 11 clip in the fourth quarter.
Arkansas State led 17-12 through one quarter opening the game making 7 of 12 shot attempts (58.3 percent). Texas State shot 36.4 percent in the period, connecting on just four of its 11 attempts. The Red Wolves took a 17-8 lead after a 7-0 run was capped by Payton Tennison’s 3-pointer from the right wing at the 1:58 mark. Texas State answered with final five points of the quarter as De’Jionae Calloway converted two at the free-throw line and Peoples connected on a baseline jumper.
Texas State continued its momentum and scoring streak into the second quarter, scoring the stanza’s first 11 points to take a 23-17 lead. The run featured points from four different Bobcats, including Toshua Leavitt’s team-leading 46th triple of the season. Arkansas State answered with five straight points to close the Bobcats lead to 23-22 with 2:55 to go before the half. Texas State would let the visitors get no closer as the Bobcats closed the half with a 10-0 run to take a 33-22 lead into the intermission.
Arkansas State’s Hopkins, Ogo Obinabo and Bradshaw each scored to start the third quarter, drawing the Red Wolves to with five of the Bobcats at 33-28. However, the next four minutes turned into the Deer and Peoples show as the duo matched each other shot for shot during a 13-8 Texas State scoring streak that left the Bobcats up 46-35 with 3:45 to go in the quarter. Neither team would score for the next three minutes until Leavitt went coast-to-coast for a layup after a steal, giving Texas State a 48-35 advantage with three quarters complete.
Texas State, which boasts the top-ranked defense in Sun Belt play, limited the Red Wolves to only eight fourth-quarter points (six at the free-throw line), while scoring 15 of its own. The Bobcats led by as many as 24 during the quarter as TXST counted its third conference win by 20-plus points with a 63-43 margin.
Little Rock Scores 28 in Fourth to Beat UTA, Move to 12-0 in Sun Belt
ARLINGTON, Texas – After struggling offensively for 30 minutes, the Little Rock women's basketball team caught fire in the fourth quarter.
First-place Little Rock scored 28 points in the final period to come from behind and defeat second-place UT Arlington 58-49 at College Park Center on Thursday afternoon.
The Trojans (18-6, 12-0 Sun Belt Conference) shot just 27.3 percent from the field in the first half but recovered to shoot 50 percent (13 of 26) from the field in the second half against the Mavericks (15-6, 8-3) and 71.4 percent (10 of 14) in the decisive fourth quarter.
The Trojans outscored UTA 28-17 in the final period.
Little Rock is now 12-0 in conference play for the first time in program history, breaking the team's record of 11 straight wins to begin conference play set in 2010-11.
Sharde' Collins led the way for Little Rock's offense with 17 points, and Kyra Collier was close behind with 14 points and a game-best nine rebounds while also adding three steals. Ronjanae DeGray scored in double figures with 10 points.
Little Rock also held Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year Rebekah VanDijk to just 6 points and six rebounds, well below her averages in both categories.
At the start of the fourth quarter, UTA held a 32-30 lead. A Collins and-1 play gave the Trojans a 33-32 lead, but the Mavericks jumped back out to a 2-point lead with a 3-pointer before Kaitlyn Pratt tied things at 35-35 with a layup.
From there, UTA went on a 6-0 run to make it 41-35 with seven minutes to play. But the Trojans answered with a huge run of their own, scoring the next 8 points to go ahead 43-41 with 5:21 left. The Mavericks fought to re-tie the game at 43-43, but Little Rock pulled away for good next with 4 straight points on a Collier layup and two Collier free throws.
The Mavericks hit a 3-pointer to make it 47-46, but the Trojans expanded their lead to 8 points with 36 seconds remaining with an 8-1 run over a 2:30 span. Collins hit a jumper and a layup, and DeGray did the same to provide those eight Trojan points.
Little Rock has now won 11 consecutive Sun Belt games on the road and seven straight games against UTA since the Mavericks joined the Sun Belt. Little Rock has also now won 25 consecutive Sun Belt Conference regular-season games dating back to last season.
The first half saw both defenses shine, with UT Arlington holding a narrow 21-19 edge at the break. The Mavericks' press kept the Trojans from taking open shots and forced 10 Little Rock turnovers, but UTA was only able to score 2 points off those 10 turnovers as Little Rock got back on defense.
The teams combined to shoot just 32 percent in the first half as the Trojans finished 6 of 22 from the field and the Mavericks went 8 of 21. Little Rock stayed close thanks to seven free throws including four from Pratt.
Little Rock is off to Texas State next for a Saturday clash with the Bobcats. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
LEWIS' 20 POINTS LEADS PANTHERS PAST CHANTICLEERS
CONWAY, S.C. - Freshman Jada Lewis led all scorers with 20 points as the Panthers handled Coastal Carolina 69-48 Thursday night. With the victory, Georgia State has now won four of its last five.
Georgia State hit seven of its first nine shots from the field and held a 21-12 lead after the first quarter. The Panthers came out on fire in the second period and Lewis would help Georgia State take a 38-24 lead into halftime. Lewis scored 15 of her 20 points in the first half.
After shooting 64% in the first half, Georgia State cooled off in the third quarter, but still managed to outscore CCU 20-12 in the third period and controlled the game the rest of the way. Astaja Tyghter joined Lewis in double figures with 10 points and Makeba Ponder would finish with eight.
Georgia State’s defense pressured the Chanticleers for the entire game and held CCU to just 35% shooting from the field. The Panthers forced 23 turnovers and scored 10 fastbreak points compared to CCU’s two.
Georgia State has now played five teams for a second time this season, winning four of the rematches. The win keeps Georgia State and App State tied for seventh in the conference standings with a 5-7 record each. GSU and App square off Saturday in Boone.
Suffocating defense, dominant interior play lead Mountaineers past Eagles
BOONE, N.C. - Suffocating defense, dominant interior play and a team-centric performance led Appalachian State University women's basketball (10-13, 5-7 SBC) to a convincing 73-48 victory over archrival Georgia Southern (10-13, 6-6 SBC) on Thursday evening at the Holmes Center.
All nine student-athletes who got in the game scored while four players notched double-figures in the scoring column. Appalachian did a great job moving the ball with 19 assists on 29 field goals.
Madi Story (Maiden, N.C./Bandys) led all scorers with 17 points for her seventh straight game in double-figures. The junior wing led the team with six assists and snagged four boards. Joi Jones (Duluth, Ga./Duluth) shot an efficient 7-for-10 from the floor with seven rebounds and four helpers.
Ashley Bassett-Smith (Pickerington, Ohio/UT Martin) turned in a solid effort on both ends of the floor with 12 points, four boards and four swats, surpassing KeKe Cooper (2012-15) for fourth place all-time with 131 career blocks and counting. Q. Murray (Baltimore, Md./George Mason) rounded out the leading scorers with 11 points, and Bria Carter (Spotsylvania, Va./Spotsylvania) corralled 10 off the glass for a game-high.
The Mountaineers led wire-to-wire never trailing in the contest, as a 13-0 start in the first 6:06 of the game was all the Black and Gold needed. App held the Eagles scoreless for the first 6:35 of the quarter and missed their first 10 shots of the contest en route to a 17-7 lead going into the second frame.
Appalachian stayed in front of the visitors for the rest of the half taking a 30-20 advantage going into the break. The 20 points by GS tied a season-low for fewest points in any half this season.
App State stayed in control with ease as the lead never dipped below 13 points in the second half, and eventually went up by 25 in the waning seconds of the game. App snapped Georgia Southern's three-game win streak and matched last season's win total.
The Black and Gold forced 18 Georgia Southern turnovers that led to 24 points while holding a dominating 23-5 advantage in second-chance points. The Mountaineers recorded a 32-26 advantage in points in the paint and a 46-33 rebounding advantage.
Defensively, the App defense held Georgia Southern's two leading scorers Angel McGowan (15. 3 ppg) and Patrice Butler (15.0 ppg) in check to a combined 9-for-25 shooting performance and just 24 points.
After making 30 3-pointers combined over the last three games, the Apps held Georgia Southern to 3-for-22 from beyond the arc, which was a season low in trifectas for the Eagles.
App will look for its third-straight conference win against Georgia State in the annual #Play4Kay game. Tip will start at 1 p.m. on ESPN3.
Troy Sprints Past ULM
MONROE, Louisiana – Five Trojans scored in double figures as the Troy women’s basketball team routed ULM, 94-67, on Thursday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
The Trojans (16-6, 9-2 SBC) earned their ninth Sun Belt Conference win behind balanced scoring and double digit performances from Claresa Banks (16), Caitlyn Ramirez (13), Ta’Kierra Gibbs (13), Amanda Mendoza (11) and Lauren Day (10); it was the third time this season five Troy players scored in double figures.
Troy battled through early shooting troubles and used a 16-6 run over the last 4:12 of the first half to jump start the offense. Banks landed eight points in a 19-3 run to open the third quarter which including a pair of 3-pointers. The Trojans had made just 1-of-8 shots from beyond the arc until Banks hit her first with 8:37 remaining the second period. From there, Troy knocked down 10 of its next 14 shots from distance and outscored the Warhawks 51-38 in the second half.
Alexis Collins kept ULM in the game early with 17 first-half points, but the Trojans defense stiffened and held the guard to just one point over the final 20 minutes.
QUOTABLE
“I thought our first eight players got into a really good rhythm especially on defensive rotations,” head coach Chanda Rigby said. “It was also really good to get all 15 players time on the court.”
RUN OF THE GAME
After winning the second quarter 24-14, the Trojans opened the third period on a 19-3 run. Banks hit a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws while Amanda Mendoza had five points in the stretch as Troy opened a 33-point lead.
UP NEXT
Troy wraps up its road trip with a 5 p.m. game at UL Lafayette on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.