Records Tumble as Troy Dismantles Arkansas State
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NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana – Troy posted 86 rebounds, the second-most in a game in NCAA history, as the third-seeded Trojans routed No. 11 Arkansas State 105-72 in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Lakefront Arena on Thursday.
Troy's rebound total was second only to the 92 Pittsburgh recorded against George Washington in 1982; it is also the most in a Sun Belt Conference Tournament game. Caitlyn Ramirez turned in a game-high 25 points and 22 rebounds, both are Trojan single-game Sun Belt Tournament records while her rebounding performance is the best in Sun Belt Tournament and Troy's Division I history.
The Trojans (20-10) also set a Sun Belt Conference record with 107 shots and tied the league's mark with 32 free throws made.
Ramirez, who set the school's Division I single-game rebound record earlier this season with 20 against Auburn and tied it against Georgia State, again set the bar with her third 20-plus rebound game. She leads the league and is top 25 in the NCAA with 10.4 boards per game. The Shawnee, Okla., native was 10-of-10 from the free throw line and 7-of-14 from the field.
Claresa Banks scored 19 points, one shy of her career-high, while Jayla Chills added 12 and Harriett Winchester finished with 10.
Troy eclipsed 100 points for the fourth time this season and the first time ever in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament; it was also the first 100-point game in the tournament since 2010.
The Trojans advance to face No. 2 UT Arlington in the semifinals on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Troy and the Mavericks split the season series and UTA advanced in the tournament by defeating South Alabama, 65-53, on Thursday.
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"Tonight was a rare, special moment for a coach," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "The one thing that we wanted to come out and focus on was rebounding and we really did that. Our seniors really set the tone, we had several players come of the bench and contribute, but our seniors set the tone.
Lady Mavs Claim First-Ever SBC Tourney Win
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NEW ORLEANS - Second-seed UTA claimed its first-ever Sun Belt Championship win and advanced into the conference semifinals after knocking off No. 10 South Alabama, 65-53, on Thursday night at Lakefront Arena.
The Lady Mavericks improved to 22-7 overall on the season and swept a three-game slate in the series with South Alabama (11-20). UTA improved to 1-2 all-time in the SBC postseason tournament and won its first tournament game since 2010 in the Southland Conference.
UTA will take on the winner of Arkansas State and Troy, who play in the night cap at 7:30 p.m.
Cierra Johnson finished with a game-high 20 points to lead UTA as she nipped Rebekah VanDijk, who had 19. UTA featured an impressive performance at the line as it finished 24-27, knocking down its first 15 shots from the charity stripe.
Leading by as much as 13 points in the second half, South Alabama didn't go quietely and trimmed the deficit down to just one point midway through the fourth. UTA was able to hit its defensive stride and forced four turnovers over the last two minutes and held the Jags to just 2-of-9 shooting down the stretch.
UTA shook off any questions of first-game jitters with a hot start to the matchup. The Lady Mavs knocked down four of their first five shots to force an early South Alabama timeout just four minutes into the game. The lead pushed above double figures right out of the break with VanDijk finding success inside, she helped UTA to a first quarter that saw the team shoot 70 percent from the field.
The early goings of the second quarter slowed the scoreboard down with neither team being able to find the rhythm that was displayed in the opening 10 minutes. Both teams were without a field goal for a three-minute stretch, but UTA built a 12-point lead with four consecutive free throws.
South Alabama made a late charge to trim the deficit down on a 5-0 run, but it was Christina Devers that gave UTA a 10-point lead at the break on a banked-in 3-pointer with seconds remaining on the clock.
A scoring drought from the Jaguars helped the Lady Mavs to their biggest lead of the game midway through at 13 points, but South Alabama chipped things back to a six-point UTA advantage after the third. UTA couldn't find its shot, missing on six of its final seven shots of the quarter. South Alabama took advantage and jumped to a 9-0 run.
Johnson was able to give the Lady Mavs a quick answer, putting in a jumper to hold its lead going to the final 10 minutes.
The momentum stayed on South Alabama's side in the first two minutes of the fourth. The Jags knocked down a 3-pointer and followed it up with a jumper to trim the deficit down to just one.
UTA responded right back from a shot from beyond the arc by Aysia Evans to go back by six. However, it was short lived with a trey from the other end.
VanDijk and Johnson each knocked down 10 free throws through the final four minutes of the contest with the team-high in scoring switching back-and-forth at each chance.
KEY RUNS
First Half
Leading by double figures for much of the first half, South Alabama had a 5-0 run that trimmed the deficit down to just seven points. With the UTA offense unable to find an open shooter with just seconds on the clock, Devers was able to make something out of nothing, with a little bit of luck, as her 3-pointers banked in at the buzzer to give UTA a 32-22 lead at halftime.
Second Half
With South Alabama on the heels of UTA late in the fourth, it was a pair of plays by Cierra Johnson that broke away from the Jags. Johnson picked up a turnover on the in-bounds pass for an easy lay in, and then following Ericka Mattingly's steal, put in another lay in for a quick 4-0 that sent the lead back above a single possession as it was the closest UTA would get on the night.
KEY STATS
UTA was just 5-of-25 from 3-point land, while South Alabama was 9-of-10, picking up four from Genesis Perrymond. ... UTA outscored USA 22-8 in the paint. ... UTA out-rebounded the Jags 37-32, with a 9-1 advance over the last two minutes.
UPCOMING GAME
UTA advances into the Sun Belt semifinals to take on the Winner of No. 3 Troy and No. 11 Arkansas State, who play in the day's finale at 7:30 p.m. The game is scheduled to tip at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Little Rock Women's Basketball Advances to Sun Belt Tournament Semifinals
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NEW ORLEANS – Monique Townson is never counted on to score big points for the Little Rock women's basketball team.
But in the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, Townson had the best offensive game of her career.
The junior guard put up a career-high 19 points and added seven assists, helping top-seeded Little Rock to a 69-53 victory over No. 9 Appalachian State at Lakefront Arena.
Townson went 3 of 6 from the 3-point line, making all three of her 3-pointers in the first half to keep Little Rock in the game as Appalachian State jumped out to an early lead. Townson tied her career high in made 3-pointers with that performance and surpassed her previous career high of 16 points.
Little Rock (24-7) got a team-high 20 points from Kaitlyn Pratt, and the senior also grabbed eight rebounds. Ronjanae DeGray scored 11 and led Little Rock with nine rebounds, and Sharde' Collins scored 11 points and brought down six boards as the Trojans ended the year for Appalachian State (12-19)
The Trojans will now advance to Saturday's semifinal game, playing either No. 4 Texas State or No. 5 Louisiana at 5 p.m. on ESPN3.
Little Rock trailed 26-21 with five minutes remaining in the second quarter against Appalachian State, but that may have been the turning point early as Coach Joe Foley took a timeout to regroup his team. After that timeout, Little Rock went on a 7-0 run and took the lead for the first time in more than 10 minutes. That offensive momentum continued for the rest of the half, and Little Rock was ahead 33-32 at the break.
In the first half, Townson scored 11 points to keep the Trojans in the game.
Little Rock started the first half hot, increasing its lead to 8 points in the first five minutes with a basket by Collier, two Pratt baskets, a Townson jumper, a DeGray free throw and another Collier jumper. The Little Rock defense also held strong in the quarter, keeping the Mountaineers to just 11 points and helping extend the lead to 53-43 entering the final frame.
The Trojans would eventually pad their lead to as many as 16 points by game's end as they shot 48.3 percent (14-29) from the field in the second half while holding the Mountaineers to just 32.0 percent (8-25).
Collier had another strong rebounding game, grabbing seven boards. She also added 6 points and four assists. As a team, Little Rock had 23 total assists and just six turnovers. Little Rock also outrebounded App State 44-33.
Little Rock now advances to the conference semifinals which will be held on Saturday at 5 p.m. The Trojans will face either No. 4 seed Texas State or No. 5 seed Louisiana with a trip to the Sun Belt championship game on the line.
Louisiana Advances To SBC Semifinals
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NEW ORLEANS – Simone Fields made a floater in the lane with 0.9 seconds left and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team defeated Texas State 66-64 in the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday at Lakefront Arena.
No. 5-seeded Louisiana (19-10, 11-7 SBC) advances to face No. 1-seeded Little Rock in the semifinals on Saturday at 5 p.m.
No. 4-seeded Texas State (16-14, 11-7 SBC) tied the game 64-64 on a 3-pointer from the corner by Kaitlin Walla with four seconds left in the game.
Fields then took an inbounds pass in the lane, dribbled and floated the ball off the backboard and in the basket with less than a second remaining to give the Cajuns the win.
The Bobcats opened the game on fire from the 3-point line. Texas State's Toshua Leavitt shot 7-of-8 from behind the arc in the first half and made a 3-pointer at the buzzer before halftime to give the Bobcats a 38-29 lead at intermission.
The Cajuns outscored the Bobcats 21-10 in the third quarter. After trailing 44-29, Louisiana rattled off 13 straight points to cut the Texas State lead to 44-42 with 4:12 left in the third quarter.
Fields made two free throws to give the Cajuns a 48-46 lead with 1:13 left in the third period. Louisiana led 50-48 at the end of the third frame.
Jasmine Thomas connected on a 3-pointer to put the Cajuns in front 58-54 with 6:53 remaining in the contest.
Texas State regained the lead 61-60 after Erin Peoples made a layup with 4:32 to go in the game. That was the last time that the Bobcats would hold the lead.
Thomas made a layup with 2:54 left to give Louisiana a 62-61 lead. Defenses held for the next two minutes and Texas State was forced to foul. Gordon knocked down two free throws with 12 seconds remaining and the Cajuns led 64-61.
Gordon led Louisiana with 17 points while Thomas had 15 points for the Cajuns.
Leavitt led Texas State with 21 points while Amber Jones had 14 points for the Bobcats.
Semifinals are held on Saturday, March 11 with the championship game being played on Sunday, March 12. All games of the 2017 Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Championship will be played at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans and broadcast live on ESPN3.