Trojans Extend Winning Streak Against Rival A-State
LITTLE ROCK – The winning streak continued for Little Rock women's basketball as it knocked off rival Arkansas State 53-43 to earn its seventh consecutive victory on Saturday afternoon at the Jack Stephens Center.

The win tied head coach Joe Foley with Arkansas State's Brian Boyer for the most all-time Sun Belt victories at 180. The Trojans remained undefeated against the Red Wolves at the Jack Stephens Center as they pushed their record to 13-0. Little Rock has now won 12 consecutive conference games dating back to last season and 22 consecutive Sun Belt games at the Jack.

Ronjanae DeGray continued her impressive play off the bench with a game-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds for Little Rock (10-8, 7-0 Sun Belt) in 32 minutes. Keanna Keys was the Trojans' second-leading scorer with 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Tori Lasker had a game-high five assists with seven points and two three-pointers. Monique Townson led the game with eight rebounds while scoring seven and picking up two assists. Little Rock was 19-for-49 (38.8%) from the field, 3-for-7 from three (42.9%) and 12-for-21 (57.1%) from the foul line.

Akasha Westbrook led Arkansas State (9-9, 4-3 Sun Belt) with 15 points and was the Red Wolves' lone scorer in double figures. Lauren Bradshaw led A-State with five rebounds and four blocks. The Red Wolves went 14-for-48 (29.2%) from the field, 2-for-6 (33.3%) from three and 13-for-18 (72.2%) from the charity stripe.

Although A-State outscored Little Rock 17-8 in the final 10 minutes, the Trojans' established lead was enough to keep the Red Wolves at bay. Westbrook put up seven of her 15 points in the period while Keys' tallied half of the Trojans' eight points.

The Trojans dominated the third quarter with an 18-7 advantage. Little Rock's shot was hot at 53.8 percent (7-for-13) while A-State was ice cold at 15.4 percent (2-for-13). The Trojans began the period with a 16-3 run over the Red Wolves. Lasker led the quarter by picking up all seven of her points for the game. Little Rock took its largest lead of the game at 22 points with 16 seconds left in the quarter as Townson made a jumper.

Little Rock outscored Arkansas State 19-12 in the second period to take a 27-19 lead to the locker room. The Trojans shot 46.2 percent (6-for-13) from the field and were 6-for-9 from the foul line. The Red Wolves shot 44.4 percent (4-for-9). Tied at 12, Little Rock went on a 7-0 run with two three-point plays by Moore and Townson and a free throw by Raeyana DeGray.

It was a low-scoring first quarter as the Trojans edged the Red Wolves 8-7. Baskets were hard to come by as Little Rock was 4-for-14 (28.6%) and Arkansas State was 3-for-13 (23.1%). Ronjanae DeGray led the quarter with six points off the bench.

Terrion Moore finished the game with six points, five rebounds and two steals, and Raeyana DeGray had six boards with two points and two steals.

Of Little Rock's 19 baskets, 13 were accompanied by an assist. Arkansas State had just four assists for the game — the lowest total by a Little Rock opponent this season.

The first-place Trojans will now put their undefeated Sun Belt record on the line at Appalachian State on Thursday. Opening tip is scheduled for 4 p.m. (CT) on ESPN3.

Coastal Sets Season Scoring High in Win at Troy
TROY, Ala. - The Coastal Carolina women's basketball team gained an early advantage over Troy and later used a fourth-quarter surge to remain in front of the Trojans for a 97-92 victory Saturday afternoon at Trojan Arena.

The Chants (11-8, 5-3) led for 35:33 of the contest, and surrendered the lead to Troy (7-10, 2-4) for just 1:50 in the fourth quarter before ending the game on a 13-4 run to claim its first road win of the season. It was also the first home loss for Troy this year.

Coastal's 97 points on Saturday marks its highest offensive output of the season. That included a season-high 56 points in the first half.

Jas Adams responded to a season-low scoring effort at South Alabama this past Thursday with 23 points against the Trojans to lead all players. Coastal's lone senior, who has surpassed 20 points in six games this season, was held off the board in the fourth quarter until the final 16 seconds, when she hit four crucial free throws to put the game out of reach.

Saturday's high-scoring affair saw four other Chants finish in double figures, including 21 points by Breelyn Blanding to match her career high. Blanding finished 8-of-13 from the field, and made three of her six attempts from beyond the arc.

Coastal made a season-high 10 3-pointers, including eight in the first half. Kaylin West led the Chants with four triples and finished with 14 points. DJ Williams had a 14-point, 10-assist double-double, and Naheria Hamilton rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points.

The Chants held a slight 42-41 advantage in rebounds as Hamilton and Blanding co-led the Chants on the boards with eight apiece.

Troy also had five players score in double figures, led by the 20 points of Amber Rivers. Kayla Robinson (16), Harriet Winchester (14), Jasmine Sanders (10) and Sky'Lynn Holmes (10) also passed that threshold.

Coastal led for the entirety of the first half behind a 55 field goal shooting percentage. The Chants made 21 baskets on 38 attempts, including eight makes from 3-point range. Adams, Blanding and West had all reached double digits in points by the end of the 20 minutes after combining for seven 3-pointers. Troy's conference-leading offense pushed the pace in the first half with 47 attempts, but the Chanticleer defense held the Trojans to just 19 baskets, including only four 3-pointers.

Coastal had pushed its advantage to 10 points by halftime, and claimed its largest lead of the game, 14 points, at 7:47 of the third quarter after scoring seven unanswered. Troy responded by scoring eight straight points to cut the margin to six points, and then went to work at the free throw line after Coastal put the Trojans in the bonus with half the quarter remaining.

Troy went 16-of-22 at the line for the game, and made 12 of its free throws in the third quarter alone. The Trojans supplemented their free throws with seven field goals to outscore the Chants 28-20 in the third and make it a one-possession game heading into the fourth.

After Troy went ahead by four points at the 6:14 mark of the fourth quarter, Coastal rattled off nine straight points to go back in front by five. Rivers attempted to bring the Trojans back to even, but Adams was able to close out the game at the line.

The Chants return to the HTC Center next week to close out the month of January hosting Arkansas State (Jan. 25) and Little Rock (Jan. 27) at the HTC Center.

Ragin' Cajuns Put Defensive Clamps On Texas State
SAN MARCOS, TEXAS – 19 points from senior Troi Swain and a great defensive showing gave the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team a big road Sun Belt Conference win over the Texas State Bobcats, 65-58, here at the Strahan Coliseum.

The win improves the Cajuns record to 10-9 (5-2 SBC) and it gives them a split on the Texas road trip. While the loss drops the Bobcats record to 12-7 (5-3 SBC).

Louisiana held Texas State to just about 13 points under their season scoring average of 71 points per game and they kept the Bobcats to 31 percent shooting which is 10 percent lower than what they've been shooting so far through this season.

Senior Nekia Jones joined Swain in double-digit scoring adding 18 points of her own to the mix. On the boards the Cajuns were strong, finishing with 44 rebounds, and they were led there by sophomores Kimberly Burton (nine) and Jasmine Thomas (eight), along with freshman Skyler Goodwin grabbing seven rebounds of her own.

HOW IT HAPPENED (First Quarter): The first quarter, was the Troi Swain show as she scored 10 points for the Cajuns on 4 for 6 shooting from the field, 2 for 3 from beyond the arc. While Swain was draining shots the Cajuns where protecting the paint as Burton and Goodwin each grabbed four rebounds in the quarter. As the final four minutes rolled along the Cajuns trailed by four points but they started to take control of things as a 9-2 run powered them down the stretch and put them into the lead.

Fittingly Swain started the run at the 3:44 mark of the quarter and she hit the final basket of the quarter for the Cajuns at the 55 second mark. A shot under 30 seconds from the Bobcats ended the 9-0 run for the Cajuns but the damage had been done as Louisiana took a three-point lead into the second quarter with the score sitting at 16-13.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Second Quarter): Senior Simone Fields came out strong to start the second quarter scoring the Cajuns first two baskets as the Cajuns continued to put a lid on the basket for the Bobcats. After holding Texas State to 29 percent in the first quarter the Cajuns again kept Texas State to under 29 percent in the second period as well.

An 8-0 run midway through the period, powered by a three-point shot from Jones and Swain helped the Cajuns extend their lead to eight points. A late attempt from the Bobcats to cut into that lead before the half was met by a counter-punching Cajuns offense that wrapped up the half with a 5-2 run take an eight-point lead into the locker room with the score sitting at 33-25.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Third Quarter): Louisiana stretched their lead to a game high 12 points on two baskets from Jones and sophomore Malachi-Seraphin Williams to put the score at 37-25 within the first minute and a half of the quarter. Texas State tried to cut back into the lead with a few baskets of their own but several baskets through the middle portion of the quarter, but right after they cut the lead down to eight points, Jones put a stop to the Bobcats run with a three-point basket and it sent the on a 6-0 run.

Both teams traded free throws, and Texas State hit a basket with three seconds left, but the Cajuns still held a double-digit lead staying up by 10 points as the game moved into the final period with the score sitting at 45-35.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Fourth Quarter): Texas State finally woke up three minutes into the quarter, with a 7-0 run from the 5:49 that went to the 2:21 mark of the quarter to cut the Cajuns lead to five points. It meant that down the stretch Louisiana had to dig deep to come away with the big win.

With 1 minute left in the game, and the score sitting at 55-48 after a Jones layup a minute prior, Texas State began to send the Cajuns to the line in an attempt to extend the game. But the Cajuns answered the call, going 10-12 from the line down the stretch to ice the game and finish off a big road conference win. When the final whistle blew Louisiana was sitting on top by seven points and the final score read 65-58.

NOTEWORTHY: Thomas (eight) and Goodwin (seven) each had career highs in rebounds; The 44 rebounds the Cajuns had were the most they've had in conference play so far this season.

UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana returns to the Cajundome for their final home stand in the month of January, when on Thursday, Jan. 25 the South Alabama Jaguars visit the Dome. And they'll wrap up the weekend on Saturday, Jan. 27 when the Troy Trojans visit Lafayette for a game that's also the 2018 Women's Basketball Reunion Game.

FOLLOWING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS: Follow the Cajuns on twitter @RaginCajunsWBB for updates during the game and links to game recaps and ways to follow upcoming games.

VanDijk Stars As Lady Mavs Top ULM
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rebekah VanDijk charted her school-record 43rd-career double-double to lead the UTA Lady Mavericks to a 70-61 win over ULM on Saturday afternoon at College Park Center.

UTA (10-9, 4-4 Sun Belt Conference) cruised to the win over ULM (4-14, 1-6 Sun Belt) behind a strong defensive effort that held the Warhawks to under 35-percent from the field and a dynamic all-around performance from VanDijk.

The Lady Mavs led nearly throughout, with ULM's lone lead coming in the opening minutes of the first quarter. UTA owned a 44-37 advantage on the backboards, scoring 32 points in the paint and owning a 23-18 advantage in points off the bench.

LEADING THE MAVS
VanDijk, a native of Nazareth, Texas, and the preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, had 29 points on 12-of-17 shooting, adding 14 rebounds and an assist in 38 minutes of action. VanDijk connected on all five trips to the free-throw line while earning her 44th career double-double and the seventh of 2017-17.

The Mavs also got 11 points from senior guard Crystal Allen, who added five boards and four assists. Daiana Machado had nine points and five boards, with Laurynn McGowen leading the team with five assists, adding nine points. Shelby Richards was a force on the boards with seven rebounds, while earning four steals.

NEXT
The Lady Mavs will return to action on Thursday, traveling to face Georgia State at 4 p.m. CT in Atlanta.

FOURTH QUARTER RALLY PROPELS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PAST APP STATE
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team (13-5, 6-1 SBC) powered past the Appalachian State Mountaineers (5-13, 3-4 SBC), 54-52, with a fourth-quarter rally to win its fourth game in-a-row and remain undefeated at home in conference play on Saturday at the Mitchell Center. The Jaguar win ended the Mountaineers' three-game win streak.

Chyna Ellis stepped for USA after her historic night on Thursday. The senior center recorded a team-high 13 points, on a 6-of-11 shooting night, and eight rebounds. She also rejected three shots and collected a steal and a helper.

Candice Williams came up big in the fourth quarter draining 5-of-6 attempts from the free-throw line as part of her seven-point game. LaNeetra Guillory had five of the Jaguars 10 blocks in the game.

Antoinette Lewis was the only other Jag to reach double-digit points with 12, while shooting 6-of-9 from the field. The freshman forward brought down four rebounds and rejected a shot in the win.

Shaforia Kines recorded eight points on two made buckets and went a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. The sophomore guard also collected seven rebounds, dished out four assists and had a steal.

South Alabama held Bayley Plummer to just two rebounds before she fouled out with 2:39 in the fourth. Plummer averaged over 12 boards per game coming into the contest.

The Mountaineers offense was led by LaPresha Stanley and Nicola Mathews who had 15 and 13 points, respectively. Stanley also brought down a game-high nine rebounds, while Mathews had six.

GAME FACTS
- The Jags and Mountaineers went back-and-forth in the first quarter as each team scored 14 points.
- South Alabama shot 50 percent, 7-for-14 from the field, in the opening frame.
- The second quarter saw USA struggle as it shot 3-of-11 and finished with 22 points for the half, tied for the lowest in the first-half this season.
- The Jags trailed 28-22 at the half, and went 0-for-9 from beyond the arc in the first two quarters.
- USA came out gunning in the third, opening the quarter on a 7-0 run and grabbing its first lead since midway through the first on an Ellis layup.
- However, the Jags trailed 43-40 at the end of the third quarter.
- South Alabama trailed by 2 with just under three minutes remaining in the game.
- USA closed out the contest on a 7-2 run in the final 2:38 to take the nail-biter from App State.
- The Jags blocked 10 Mountaineer shots without having one of their attempts rejected.
- South Alabama had four steals to App State's two.
- USA took points in the paint and off the bench 32-18 and 21-7 respectively.
- The Jags only allowed four second-chance points off 13 Mountaineer offensive rebounds, while converting eight points off nine offensive boards.
- South Alabama won the turnover battle 9-10.
- USA only led for 7:44 while App State held the lead for 27:35 during the contest.

NOTES
- South Alabama is 9-2 at home this season, including 5-0 in SBC action.
- This was the fourth time this season South Alabama did not have a shot attempt get rejected.
- USA's 13-5 record is the best since the 2008-09 squad possessed the same win-loss total.
- South Alabama's 6-1 SBC record is the best since the 2009-10 squad started conference play 7-0.
- The five-game home SBC win streak is the first for the program since the 2015-16 season.
- This was the Jags second-time this season that they came back from a half-time deficit and their second victory when trailing after the third quarter.
- USA only turned the ball over nine times, tied for the fewest in a game this season when they had the same amount at Southern Miss (Nov. 30).
- Guillory's five blocks are a career-high besting her previous record of three, which she had done six times.
- Ellis had more than 10 points for the seventh consecutive game.
- Williams' seven points is a season-high.
- Lewis collected her third double-digit scoring effort of the season.
- The Jags have played 107 consecutive games without going to overtime.

GEORGIA STATE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WINS FOURTH STRAIGHT AGAINST RIVAL EAGLES
ATLANTA – Georgia State’s women’s basketball team picked up a big win at home Saturday afternoon, defeating rival Georgia Southern 71-56 at the GSU Sports Arena.

Georgia State was strong in nearly every facet of the game Saturday, but was especially dominant on the boards. The Panthers out-rebounded the Eagles 56-24 led by Francesca Minali’s career-high 18 rebounds. Up until the fourth quarter, Minali had more rebounds than the entire Georgia Southern team combined.

Kierra Henry paced the Panthers on offense, finishing with 18 points and eight rebounds. She added four assists and a steal. Shay Fluker totaled 13 points and Janessa Murphy scored 11 points to join Henry in double figures.

Madison Newby distrusted the ball efficiently all game, tallying a season-best eight assists. Newby helped GSU in transition as the team finished with 17 fast-break points.

Georgia State out-scored Georgia Southern 28-14 in the paint and 19-6 on second-chance points. Minali and K.K. Williams each finished with six offensive rebounds.

The Panthers also continued to get to the free throw line and knock down their shots, something that’s been a team strength all year long. GSU shot 18-for-22 from the strip while the Eagles took just 12 free throws.

The turning point in the game was the second quarter. Georgia Southern jumped out to a 6-2 lead and only trailed Georgia State 14-11 after the first 10 minutes. The Panthers, however, would go on a 14-3 run to close out the first half. Georgia State scored 26 points in the second period while holding the Eagles to 14.

Georgia State (5-13, 1-6 SBC) snapped a seven-game losing streak and also picked up its first Sun Belt win on the year. With the victory, Georgia State has now won four straight against the rival Eagles.

The women’s basketball team earned a point for GSU towards the Rivalry Series which GSU currently leads 7.5-0.5.

Next up for Georgia State is UT Arlington Thursday at the Sports Arena followed by Texas State Saturday. Both of those games will be on ESPN3.