Little Rock Hangs On to Defeat UT Arlington, 59-57
LITTLE ROCK – In its toughest Sun Belt matchup to date, Little Rock women's basketball pulled out a narrow 59-57 victory over UT Arlington on Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center.

Little Rock (8-8, 5-0 Sun Belt) kept its unblemished conference record intact as it moved to 40-1 against Sun Belt opponents at the Jack since 2013-14. The victory was the Trojans' 21st consecutive against league opponents at the Jack and 10th consecutive against Sun Belt opponents on the road or at home dating back to last season.

Ronjanae DeGray led the Trojans with 14 points while bringing down five rebounds. Monique Townson and Tori Lasker each scored 10 points. Townson had five rebounds and two assists, and Lasker had three assists and two rebounds. Raeyana DeGray was the Trojans' leading rebounder as she came down with seven boards in addition to nine points and three assists. Little Rock shot 44.2 percent (23-for-52) from the field, 45.5 percent (5-for-11) from three and 66.7 percent (8-for-12) from the foul line.

Rebekah VanDijk led the Mavericks (8-8, 2-3 Sun Belt) with 17 points and 10 rebounds while committing a game-high six turnovers. Shelby Richards was the other UTA player in double figures with 15 points, three rebounds and a team-high two assists. The Mavs shot 39.5 percent (17-for-43) from the field, 66.7 percent (4-for-6) from three and 67.9 percent (19-for-28) from the charity stripe.

UTA made its run in the fourth quarter by outscoring Little Rock 14-9. After Townson made a layup to give the Trojans a nine-point lead at the beginning of the quarter, Little Rock's lead vanished as the Mavs went on a 10-0 run to take a 53-552 lead. A three by Lasker put the Trojans back in the lead momentarily until Laurynn McGowen knotted the game at 55 with a layup. Back-to-back jumpers by Raeyana DeGray put Little Rock up by four with 1:52 left on the clock. With 56 seconds remaining, VanDijk pulled the Mavs within two with a layup. From there, the Trojans drained the clock to 10 seconds until Ronjanae DeGray was fouled. In the bonus, DeGray missed both foul shots, but the Trojans' defense stepped up as Daiane Machado missed a layup with four seconds remaining. Raeyana DeGray pulled down the clutch rebound as time expired to give Little Rock its fifth consecutive win.

Little Rock took its largest lead of the game in the third quarter at 10 points thanks to an 8-0 run that was capped off by a layup and free throw by Ronjanae DeGray. The Trojans ended the quarter with a seven-point lead at 50-43 after shooting 53.8 percent (7-for-13) and outscoring the Mavs 20-14. The Mavericks struggled from the field as they went 2-for-8, but they made up for it by going 10-for-12 (83.3%) from the foul line.

The Trojans went to the half with a narrow one-point lead after Ronjanae DeGray put up a layup at the buzzer to give Little Rock a 30-29 advantage. The Trojans shot 50 percent (7-for-14) in the quarter while the Mavs shot 40 percent (4-for-10). Ronjanae DeGray led the Trojans five points in the quarter. Down 28-21, Little Rock finished the period on a 9-1 run.

The game began with a 17-15 lead for UT Arlington as both teams shot 41.7 percent (5-for-12) in the first quarter. Seven different Trojans scored in the first period with Raeyana DeGray and Tori Lasker each scoring three. The Mavericks' VanDijk led the quarter with five points.

Anna Hurlburt had a game-high two blocks in addition to six rebounds and three points. Keanna Keys ended the night with six points and three rebounds while Kira Shepard had three points, one assist and one rebound. Terrion Moore and Yanina Inkina ended the game with two points each while Moore led the game with four assists.

Little Rock will look to extend its winning streak to six games on Saturday as it hosts Texas State at 3 p.m.

Bobcats Cage the Red Wolves, 67-55
JONESBORO, Ark. – The Texas State women's basketball team (11-5, 4-1 SBC) earned its third straight conference victory, defeating Arkansas State (8-8, 3-2 SBC), 67-55, on Thursday evening inside of the First National Bank Arena. The victory improves Texas State's record to 4-1 in the Sun Belt Conference.

"Without one of our starters, I thought our team stepped up in a big way," head coach Zenarae Antoine said. "We knew it would take more than one player to replace Brooke Holle in this game, and we received contributions from a number of players. Zelor Massaquoi brought so much energy to this game, I think that made a huge difference. This was a tough, tough win and I am proud of these girls."

The start of the game was far from ideal for the Bobcats. Bailey Holle, earning her second start of the season, scored the first bucket of the game for TXST at the 6:41 mark of the first quarter. The next four points scored by the visiting team came via Dabrasia Baty. The Bobcats trailed at the end of the first quarter by a score of 12-6.

In the second quarter, Texas State gained some traction, outscoring the Red Wolves 19-11. Both Taeler Deer and Toshua Leavitt found a rhythm in the second frame, combining to score 13 of the team's 19 points. The Bobcats took a narrow two-point lead into the break, 25-23. TXST would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the contest, improving its record to 11-0 in games in which the Bobcats held a halftime lead.

Leavitt continued her hot-shooting streak in the third quarter, netting 10 of the Bobcat's 18 points in the frame. The junior guard knocked down four more 3-pointers in the contest, giving her 73 makes on the season. She now stands just six triples behind the school-record of 196 career-makes. Leavitt finished the game with 16 points.

Deer led the Bobcats in scoring, tallying a game-high 24 points, including 15 points in the fourth quarter alone. The senior guard also posted six rebounds, four on the offensive end of the floor, and five steals. It is the third time that Deer has topped 20 points in a game this season.

Ericka May was tenacious on the glass, ripping down a team-high 14 rebounds. She also grabbed 14 rebounds in Texas State's game against the Houston Cougars earlier this season. May also chipped in 11 points, giving her another double-double. She has registered double-doubles in three games this season, including back-to-back contests.

Against the Troy Trojans on Jan. 6, Texas State was badly outrebounded. Against the Red Wolves, the Bobcats righted the ship, outrebounding the home team 41-38. TXST yanked down 14 boards on the offensive end which led to 18 second chance points. Texas State outscored Arkansas State 18-8 off of offensive rebounds.

As has been the case most of the 2017-18 campaign, the Bobcats held the upper hand in the 3-point shooting category. Texas State sank seven triples, while holding Arkansas State without a made 3-point field goal in the game.

The Bobcats square off with the Little Rock Trojans on Jan. 13. The Trojans have posted a record of 35-2 in its last 37 regular season Sun Belt Conference games. Both losses have been to the Bobcats. Game two of the Arkansas trip will tip at 3 p.m. at Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Ark.

Coastal Women's Basketball Tops Georgia Southern, 54-51
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina women's basketball team extended its home winning streak to six games Thursday night as it defeated Georgia Southern, 54-51, at the HTC Center.

Coastal improves to 9-7, 3-2 with its ninth home win of the season. Georgia Southern remains winless in the Sun Belt at 0-5, and falls to 3-13 overall.

The Chants led by as many 13 points in the second half before Georgia Southern went on a 14-3 run over the final minute of the third quarter and first six minutes of the fourth quarter to tie the game. The Eagles even managed to take a brief one-point lead with just over three minutes remaining, but Coastal limited the visitors to a pair of free throws for the remainder of the game while scoring six points to seal the victory.

Jas Adams and DJ Williams led Coastal in the win, scoring 19 and 15 points, respectively. Williams also grabbed nine rebounds to finish just short of her third double-double of the season. Naheria Hamilton pulled in a game-leading 10 rebounds and scored eight points in 22 minutes of action.

Alexis Brown and Trell English-Lurry co-led the Eagles with 11 points.

Georgia Southern held a slim advantage in shooting percentage for the game, finishing 33 percent from the field compared to Coastal's 32 percent. The Eagles also made seven 3-pointers compared to three for the Chants. Coastal, however, received 13 points at the free-throw line, while Georgia Southern struggled, making just four of its 11 attempts.

Georgia Southern held a lead for the game's first seven minutes, but Coastal closed the opening quarter on a 10-3 run to carry a 15-13 advantage into the second. Four different Chants scored during that span, including four points by Janae Camp on consecutive layups.

The Chanticleer defense limited Georgia Southern to shooting 26 percent from the field in second quarter. The Eagles scored just eight points on four baskets, and were held scoreless for the final four minutes of the frame. Coastal, meanwhile, began the second quarter with six straight points and ended quarter with five unanswered, leading to a 28-21 lead at halftime.

Similar to the start of the second quarter, Coastal scored six straight points to open the third quarter to take its largest lead of the night at 13 points. English-Lurry halted Coastal's streak with consecutive 3-pointers to bring the margin back to singles digits. The two sides scored 15 points each in the third quarter, resulting in the same seven-point advantage for Coastal that began the second half.

With the score tied in the fourth quarter following the Eagles' 14-3 run, Williams hit a pair of free throws to give the lead back to Coastal. Williams scored Coastal's final eight points of the game, including six points at the line, in the game's final four minutes.

Thursday's victory is the first over Georgia Southern since the 1999-2000 season, and first since joining the Sun Belt.

Coastal returns to the HTC Center on Saturday to host Georgia State for the Sun Belt Game of the Week on ESPN3. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.

App State Cruises Past Georgia State
BOONE, N.C. - Four players in double figures and consistent shooting helped Appalachian State University women's basketball (4-12, 2-3 SBC) cruise past Georgia State in a 77-62 triumph on Thursday evening inside the Holmes Center.

App State snaps a seven-game skid at home with its first victory of the season inside the Holmes Center. The Mountaineers also capture their first win at home against Georgia State (4-12, 0-5 SBC) in Boone, as the Panthers held a 3-0 mark on the Apps' home floor coming into the game.

The Mountaineer offense was clicking on all cylinders scoring a season-high in points and posting a season-best 56.3 field goal percentage. Appalachian's mark was on target from beyond the arc as it shot 9-for-17 from the field, giving the Black and Gold a 52.9 percent shooting clip. Seven of the nine Mountaineers who played scored with four players shooting 50 percent or better from the floor.

Tierra Wilson poured in a game-high 22 points on an efficient 7-for-12 shooting from the field with a 5-of-8 performance from 3-point range. The freshman guard added three assists with just one turnover in 39 minutes. Bayley Plummer snagged her seventh double-double of the season with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and a game-high 12 rebounds. Nicola Mathews had her best game of the season at home, as she scored 13 points and shot 3-of-5 from deep while dishing out a game-best four assists. Mathews did her damage scoring all 10 of her second-half points in the third quarter.

LaPresha Stanley scored 10 points and corralled six off the glass, while Armani Hampton battled inside scoring nine points and picking up seven off the glass.

Both teams came out hot on offense as they shot above 50 percent from the floor. With 2:14 left in the opening frame, a Madison Newby 3-pointer gave the Panthers their largest lead of the game, 17-12. However, the Mountaineers climbed back to tie the game at 19-apiece to end the quarter on a 7-2 spurt. Plummer started the surge with a layup before Wilson canned a 3-pointer followed by Maya Calder a layup to tie up the contest.

Appalachian continued the hot shooting in the second half hitting its first four shots of the frame thanks to a layup by Hampton. The bucket pushed the lead to 31-24 and capped off a stretch of nine-straight made field goals. GSU stayed within striking distance to five at the end of the half, 36-31. App State shot a blistering 61.9 percent from the field, and the Black and Gold held GSU to just 33.3 percent shooting from the floor in the second period. Appalachian moved the ball around really well on offense assisting on 10-of-13 field goals.

Coming out of the second half, the Panthers tried to get back into the game when Kierra Henry hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to seven 43-36. But an 11-4 run over the next 3:21 pushed the advantage to 14, 54-40. Appalachian would stay ahead by double digits the rest of the period, as it went into the quarter with a 59-47 lead.

Georgia State sliced into the gap cutting the lead to single digits, 61-53. But the Mountaineers turned it on and pulled away going on an 11-0 spurt to balloon the lead at its most significant of 19 points, 73-52, thanks after a layup from Plummer. The Mountaineers cruised the rest of the way to pick up back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

After the Panthers shot 53.3 percent from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, the App State defense clamped down limiting GSU to 34.9 percent shooting and 3-of-14 from 3-point land. Kierra Henry scored a Panther-high 17 points but scored just seven points in the second half and shot just 3-of-9 (10 pts/5-of-8 - 1st half).

The battle on the boards belonged to Appalachian, as it outrebounded GSU, 38-23. App State allowed seven offensive rebounds in the 1st half but made sure that GSU wouldn't continue the trend in the second half with the Panthers only grabbing three in the stanza.

App State will go for its first weekend Sun Belt sweep since the 2015-16 season when it hosts conference archrival Georgia Southern on Black Saturday at 1 p.m. inside the Holmes Center.

Quotable
"Tonight was a great team effort. I am really proud of the way we took care of the basketball and how we rebounded. I love the continuous growth of our basketball team." - Head Coach Angel Elderkin

Tip-Ins
- The Mountaineers are 3-0 this season when Wilson scores 20 or more points
- Wilson and Mathews are averaging a combined 39.5 points over the last two games while shooting 55.6 percent from the floor and 60 percent from deep
- Appalachian has outrebounded its opponents over the past six games highlighted by an average rebounding margin of plus-10 over the stretch
- In four wins this season, the Mountaineers are shooting a solid 50 percent from 3-point range (25.3 percent in losses)
- App State's 1.185 points per possession is a season high, topping the previous season high of 1.023 in the win against ULM
- Calder led the team with a plus-16 in 13 minutes thanks to a solid game off the bench scoring five points with seven rebounds
- Plummer the led the Mountaineers with a PER of 27, while Wilson had a PER of 20
- Appalachian is 5-5 all-time against GSU