Little Rock Outscores Troy to Finish 17-1 in Sun Belt
TROY, Ala. – In the final regular-season game of her career, Sharde' Collins could not be denied.
The Little Rock guard had 27 points on 12-19 shooting, leading Little Rock to a 74-63 victory over Troy at Trojan Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Little Rock (23-7, 17-1) flustered Troy's league-best offense all game, allowing Troy (19-10, 12-6) to score a conference-season-low 63 points. Troy also committed 19 turnovers that resulted in 21 Little Rock points.
Many Little Rock's points came from Collins. The senior had 14 points at halftime and added 13 more in the third and fourth quarters to come 2 points shy of her career high. Collins did tie her career high with 12 made field goals.
Kaitlyn Pratt also scored in double figures, reaching 15 points and grabbing five rebounds. Ronjanae DeGray had 10 points and four rebounds, and Kyra Collier had 8 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Carolee Dillard led Little Rock with eight rebounds.
Little Rock has now won two consecutive games against Troy, and Saturday's win was Little Rock's 11th straight in a regular-season finale. Saturday also gave Little Rock a 17-win Sun Belt regular season for just the third time in program history.
Little Rock will open the Sun Belt Tournament on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. as the No. 1 seed, where it will play the winner of Tuesday's game between Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina.
With a 53-32 lead entering the fourth quarter, Little Rock still could not coast to the finish as Troy made things difficult. Troy scored 31 points in the final period and got Little Rock's lead down to just 9 points with 1:49 left. But Pratt scored 6 points in a three-second span to put Troy at bay, getting a layup, two free throws after a flagrant foul and another layup on the inbounds after those free throws.
Little Rock played an excellent defensive first half, forcing Troy into committing 11 turnovers and only allowing Troy to shoot 29 percent from the field (7-24) in the period. Little Rock, meanwhile, got 14 points from Collins and took a 29-22 lead into halftime. Troy's 22 points scored in the half was the team's second-worst scoring half of the season.
Little Rock got its lead up to as many as 21 points in the third quarter when it outscored Troy 25-10.
With the regular-season now complete, Little Rock will head to the Sun Belt Tournament at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, La., next week. The Trojans are the league's No. 1 seed and will take on either No. 8 seed Coastal Carolina or No. 9 seed Appalachian State in the tournament's quarterfinals on Thursday at 11:30 a.m.
Late Basket Gives ULM a Senior Day Victory
MONROE, La. - The ULM women’s basketball team ended the regular season on a high note Saturday afternoon on Alexis Collins' three-pointer with two seconds remaining as the Warhawks defeated Texas State 61-59 on Senior Day inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
TURNING POINT
-After a three-point play via a layup and free throw, Texas State took a one-point lead with 23 seconds left in the game, Collins sunk the three-pointer as the clock ticked down. Texas State's final inbound attempt was deflected by ULM on the inbound attempt to secure the victory.
NOTABLES
-Three Warhawks finished with double digit points, led by Collins' team-high 17 points. The freshman filled out her stat line with six rebounds (three defensive), five assists and two steals. Collins committed just two turnovers while playing all 40 minutes on Saturday.
-Andreanna Jackson and Stephanie Ratliff each finished with 10 points, with Jackson shooting 3-of-8, all from three-point range, and Ratliff shooting 5-of-5 from the floor.
-Gabriella Cortez pulled down 10 rebounds (six defensive) while adding eight points. Carissa Moody finished with nine points of her own, all coming from three-point range.
-The Warhawks forced 20 turnovers, turning those into 10 points, while ULM turned the ball over just 13 times in the win.
-Prior to tipoff ULM honored its four seniors: Dani Anderson, Journee Beard, Andreanna Jackson and Stephanie Ratliff. More information on the seniors can be found here.
FROM COACH DOW
"That was a great win for our team and for our seniors to go out like that is great. Senior Day is always a special day and sometimes magical things happen. Texas State is a very good program. Had they won today they had the inside track on being the number three seed in the Sun Belt Tournament. So there’s clearly a team that was motivated to beat us today. I thought our players showed a lot of resilience throughout the game. Even when Texas State went on some runs, we found a way to answer or stop the bleeding. We had several statistical categories that we won in today’s game like we had seven fewer turnovers, one more offensive rebound, one more made three-pointer, nine more shot attempts and more steals. It was a lot of positive things that go into winning a game and some of those have been a struggle for us in certain categories. I’m thrilled for all of our players."
UP NEXT
-The Warhawks will now await their opponent in the Sun Belt Conference Championship that is set to begin on Tuesday in New Orleans.
Richards Drains Buzzer Beater To Conclude Regular Season
LAFAYETTE, La.– Surviving a comeback bid by Louisiana, it was junior Shelby Richards that proved to be the hero in the regular-season finale.
The Ragin' Cajuns tied the game with less than 10 seconds remaining after being down by as much as 17 points in the fourth quarter. Christina Devers picked up the mid-court pass, dished it to Richards in the corner and the South Jordan, Utah native drained the game winner to give UTA the 79-76 victory on Saturday at the Cajundome.
With the win, UTA solidified itself as the No. 2 seed in next week's Sun Belt Championship tournament and improved to 21-7 overall and 14-4 in league play. The second-place finish is the best for the program since the 2008 season when it was second in the Southland Conference West Division. The 14 wins tie for the second best in a conference season.
Advancing into the quarterfinals with a bye, the Lady Mavs take on the winner of the No. 7 and No. 10 game on Thursday, March 9 at 5 p.m. at the Lake Front Arena. Tickets are available at UTATickets.com.
Including the game winner, UTA knocked down 11 treys on the evening, coming just two short of the program's all-time record.
Devers connected on five attempts from long range on the way to a game-high 19 points. Rebekah VanDijk picked up her 12th double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds. VanDijk achieved two major milestones against UL. The junior center moved up to fourth in UTA's all-time rebounding charts and into 10th in all-time scoring.
Cierra Johnson and Richards joined the pair in double figures as Johnson had 14 points and Richards finished with 12.
An inconsistent first half by the Lady Mavericks kept the Ragin' Cajuns in the contest. Louisiana used several runs during the first 20 minutes to overcome UTA leads. After a 6-0 run by UL was countered by a spurt of its own by UTA, Louisiana charged into the lead by scoring 13 consecutive, using four UTA fouls to earn points at the charity stripe.
However, UTA's offense was still able to provide itself and advantage at the break. Christina Devers was hot from 3-point land, knocking down 3-of-4 in the first half, including splashing a trey from the corner with less than 10 seconds left in the second quarter. UTA was just 11-of-26 from the field in the half, but knocked down five 3-pointers to match UL from deep.
The battle from beyond the arc continued into a high scoring third quarter. Devers continuing to be hot from long range as she connected on two of UTA's five 3-pointers in the period, joining Crystal Allen, Miranda LeJune and Johnson who all drained one from deep.
The Lady Mavs used the period to outscore Louisiana 29-20 in the period as UTA shot more than 51 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from deep.
UTA built the lead up to 17 points as it scored the eight of the fourth's first nine points but Louisiana did not go away. Unable to control the ball, UTA turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions and help spark a 9-0 run for the Ragin' Cajuns.
KEY RUNS
First Half
The final seconds of each quarter proved pivotal for the Lady Mavericks to have momentum at the break. Shelby Richards knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first, while Christina Devers added another with less than 10 seconds left in the second to send UTA into the break with a one-point edge.
Second Half
In a key stretch of the final minute, UTA knocked down five free throws to maintain a brief advantage. However, it was the final two that contreversially came off the board. Richards knocked a shot down, but the point was taken off due to a player fouling out for UL and a substitution needing to be made. She would miss the next two consecutively, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
KEY STATS
UPCOMING GAME
UTA heads to New Orleans for the 2017 Sun Belt Championship tournament as it will enter as the No. 2 seed. UTA will play at 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 9.
USA DEFEATS ARKANSAS STATE 71-49 ON SENIOR DAY
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama's women's basketball team (10-19, 5-13) sent out senior Colby Davis in winning fashion on senior day with a 71-49 victory over Arkansas State (6-24, 4-14) on Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center. The Jaguars distanced themselves from the Red Wolves with a 10-0 run near the end the third quarter as they led by double-digits for almost the last 13 minutes of the game.
"We talked a lot yesterday in our practice coming into this game about winning on Senior Day; that is something that we always want to do," said South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler. "We told our young ladies that everyone in the room is going to be a senior at some point, so play as hard as you want the players to play for you on your night. We went out and did that today, I am extremely proud of that."
The win over Arkansas State moved South Alabama up from No. 11 to 10 in the conference standings, and as the #10 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament it will face #7 seed Georgia State in the first round at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. The Jags split the season series with the Panthers, defeating them on the road handedly 77-47 on Jan. 7th and losing at home 55-45 on Jan. 26th.
"It was very important (to get a win today)," said Fowler. We've played decent our last five ball games, we just need to go out and play. This was good preparation this week with Arkansas State and Little Rock as we head over to the conference tournament on Tuesday."
Chyna Ellis broke another school record for blocks during the game. With a game-high five rejections she now has 87 blocks on the season for the most in a single-season in program history, moving past LaSandra Jenkins' 1983 total of 86 rejections. Already the all-time leader in blocks just as a junior, she has 225 career rejections.
South Alabama never trailed in the game and blew the game open in the third quarter by outscoring Arkansas State 16-6. The Jags held the Red Wolves to 2-13 (15.4%) shooting from the field and 1-5 (20.0%) from three in the quarter with four turnovers. The teams traded baskets to start the second half as Davis hit two three-pointers. Ellis started the Jags' 10-0 run with a pair of free throws as South Alabama held Arkansas State without a field goal for the last four and a half minutes of the quarter. Shaforia Kines hit consecutive three's, and Candice Williams added a pair of free throws in the following possession for a 16-point lead.
"I thought in the third quarter we did a really good job of executing the game plan," said Fowler. "We were trying to switch all of their dribble-drive actions and we contested shots. I think we had two or three steals in a row that led to transition baskets, that was big in giving us separation. That's the one thing we haven't done, we haven't gotten easy baskets, and tonight we were able to convert three-on-two, two-on-one and pitch ahead's. We made some great plays and finished."
The Jags were red-hot in the fourth quarter, going 9-11 (81.8%) from the field as they outscored the Red Wolves 22-15. Arkansas State cut its deficit to 11 points at 51-40 with a quick 6-0 run. The Jags' lead floated from 15-11 points before they ended the game with an 11-0 run at the end of a streak of eight-straight made field goals.
LaNeetra Guillory knocked down a jumper on a pass from Williams in the beginning of the quarter to start the streak and then made a layup on a dish from Genesis Perrymond. In the next two possessions Kines hit a jumper and Ellis got a wide-open layup off another drive and dish by Perrymond. Davis then made a three-pointer from a pass by Williams, and Ellis got another layup off a drive and pass by Perrymond. Ellis would get another layup created by Perrymond, and Davis added a layup herself in the next possession off a steal. Perrymond split a pair of free throws and Ellis made a jumper to close out the game.
"I thought we got off to a good start in the first half and was able to finish from that point. We really passed the ball well — 20 assist on 26 baskets is an outstanding day — and defensively, what else can you say when you hold a team under 50 [points]? Today we were able to put the ball in the basket and see the results."
It was an even first quarter between the two teams with Arkansas State never letting South Alabama get more than a four-point lead, and the Jags went into the second quarter leading 12-11. Guillory was a perfect 3-3 from the field and 2-2 from the charity stripe as she had eight points in the quarter. Davis got assists on two of Guillory's field goals and on the first basket of the game, a layup by Williams.
The offense started to pick up in the second quarter for both teams. Arkansas State went 5-13 (38.5%) from the field and 1-4 from three but made all six free throw attempts for 17 points. South Alabama went 8-14 (57.1%) from the field and 5-7 (71.4%) from three but missed all five attempts at the line.
Erin Autio began the quarter with a three-pointer off a pass by Williams. After nearly a three minute scoreless streak by both teams, Williams made a corner three as the Jags led by at least two possessions for the rest of the first half. Davis got a three and layup in consecutive possessions, and then Kines made a three after Kennedi Centers made a layup off Perrymond's pass. The Red Wolves last six points in quarter came from the free throw line as the Jags entered halftime with a 33-28 lead.
"We talked about it in the locker room right before we came out," said Fowler. "What is it that we need to do as we finish the warm ups to start the game off fast? I don't know that we did anything different, but luckily the ball was going in the basket and we didn't have that tense moment where everybody is waiting for us to score. We played off of that and had a lot of confidence, and once people saw the ball going in the basket Sha[foria] Kines gave us big, big three's and Colby was awesome; everybody saw that confidence, it was contagious."
The Jags set numerous season-highs on offense: field goal percentage (52.0% on 26-52), field goal percentage in the second half (61.9% on 13-21), three-pointers made (10) and three-point field goal percentage (58.8%). They also tied season-highs in assists (20) and also steals (14), set in the previous matchup against the Red Wolves.
Four different Jags scored in double-figures: Davis (20 points), Kines (14), Guillory (12) and Ellis (10). Davis had one of her statistically best games in her career. She set a new career-high in steals (five) and tied career-highs in field goals made (seven), made three-pointers (four) and blocks (one). Shooting an efficient 70% from the field and 80% from three, she also dished out five assists and had four rebounds.
Kines set career-highs in points, made field goals (five) and made three's (four), tied a career-high in steals (two) and also had three rebounds, two steals and an assist. Guillory tied a season-high in points and made field goals by going 5-7 from the field and 2-2 at the line and in addition pulled down four defensive rebounds. Ellis also had six rebounds and two steals.
Williams set a new career-high in assists (seven) and also scored seven points. Perrymond dished out six assists and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
PONDER'S LATE THREE LIFTS PANTHERS PAST EAGLES
ATLANTA - Makeba Ponder dropped 20 points on Saturday, but it was her last basket, a 3-pointer with four seconds left, that led Georgia State past rival Georgia Southern 63-62 on Senior Day in the Sports Arena.
Ponder hit six 3-pointers on the day, but none were as big as the final dagger. Coming off a timeout, the Panthers inbounded the ball and Ponder got loose on top of a screen, drilling the long range bomb. Georgia Southern missed a 3-point shot on the other end, but got a put-back at the buzzer to make the final score 63-62 in favor of the Panthers.
Jada Lewis joined Ponder in double figures with 17 points as the freshmen continues her stellar first season. Tiffany Holston led the team in rebounding with eight and Haley Gerrin added eight points to go with four rebounds.
As a team, GSU outrebounded GS 33-29 which led to a 21-9 advantage in second-chance points. The Panthers and Eagles traded blows all game with the lead changing 10 times.
Five Panthers were honored before the game as part of Senior Day. Haley Gerrin, Tiffany Holston, Tatianna Jackson, Alaysia Mitchell and Taleah Williams were each honored at midcourt and head coach Sharon Baldwin gave her five seniors the start in today’s contest.
Georgia State will be the No. 7 seed in next week’s Sun Belt Conference tournament. The Panthers will play Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET in New Orleans against No. 10 seed South Alabama.
Coastal Completes Second-Half Rally at App State
BOONE, N.C. - For the second time this season, the Coastal Carolina women’s basketball team overcame a double-digit second-half deficit against Appalachian State, and defeated the Mountaineers, 56-53, Saturday afternoon at the Holmes Center.
App State led by as many 19 points early in third quarter, but the Chants outscored the Mountaineers 38-21 over the second half, including 16-7 in the fourth quarter. In Coastal’s previous victory over App State on Jan. 14, the Chants trailed by as many 12 points in the second half, and limited the Mountaineers to eight points in the fourth quarter.
The two sides will meet for the third time this season on Tuesday, as the Chants and Mountaineers open the 2017 Sun Belt Conference tournament in New Orleans’ Lakefront Arena with a first-round contest at 11:30 a.m. CT, as the league’s eight and nine seeds, respectively.
It is the second time in the last three seasons that Coastal will open a conference tournament against the same team it closed the regular season with. The Chants began the 2015 Big South Conference tournament against UNC Asheville after closing the regular season against the Bulldogs.
Entering the day’s action, a Coastal win and Georgia State loss would have given the Chants the Sun Belt’s seventh seed in the upcoming conference tournament. That opportunity was lost by halftime of the Coastal/App State contest, as the Georgia State/Georgia Southern game went final with the Panthers squeezing past the Eagles, 63-62, to remain in seventh place.
Naheria Hamilton’s 11 points led Coastal, with seven coming in the second half. Ced Gibson and Kennedy Archer each finished with 10 points, the former scoring eight points in the second half, and the latter seven.
Gibson also dished out six assists, bringing her career total to 301 to surpass Nikki Reddick’s 300 and give her sole possession of sixth place among Coastal’s all-time career assists leaders.
Alexis Robinson’s 10 rebounds paced a Coastal team that edged App State on the boards, 44-43.
App State held a slight advantage over Coastal in field goal shooting percentage for the game, but managed just two baskets on 10 attempts in the final quarter. The Mountaineers were also just 3-of-8 from the line over the game’s final 10 minutes.
App State held a 17-10 lead at the close of the first quarter, but pushed its advantage to 32-14 in the second quarter with a 13-2 run that spanned over six minutes of the frame. Madi Story and Ashley Bassett-Smith directed the majority of the action during that span, with the former scoring five points and latter four.
Bassett-Smith also had four points in the opening quarter to finish the first half with a game-high eight points. Hamilton’s four points led Coastal in the first half, with all four coming in the half’s final minute as the freshman center snapped App State’s second-quarter run and brought the halftime margin to 32-18.
Coastal was plagued by turnovers throughout the game’s first half, coughing up the ball on 12 occasions, which translated to 15 Mountaineer points.
App State scored the first five points of the third quarter to take its largest lead of the game at 19 points. Coastal truly began its comeback in the final three minutes of the third quarter, when it went on a 10-2 run to trim the margin back to single digits with App leading 44-38.
Coastal opened the fourth quarter with five straight points on a Gibson 3-pointer and two Jas Adams free throws to cut the deficit to a single point. It wasn’t until the 3:52 mark of the quarter, however, that Coastal tied the game for the first time. Hamilton scored six straight points for CCU to force the tie, and Coastal grabbed its first lead with 2:06 to go on a Robinson jumper. The Chants’ lead held for the remainder of the game, and Archer closed the scoring with a free throw with 28 seconds remaining.
App managed just three points in the game’s final 4:33, and went scoreless for the final 3:40.