Blistering Start Paces Lady Mavs Past Troy
ARLINGTON, Texas -- A blistering start and the 40th career double-double from Rebekah VanDijk helped pace the Lady Mavs to a 76-57 win over the defending league champion Troy Trojans on Thursday evening at College Park Center.
UTA (8-6, 2-1 Sun Belt) scored the first nine points of the game and used the hot start to cruise past Troy (7-7, 2-1 Sun Belt). The Mavs built a 20-point lead in the first half and saw their lead balloon to as high as 29 in the win over the Trojans, the defending Sun Belt Conference Champions, who claimed two of the three meetings in the series during UTA's historic 2016-17 season.
The win marked the third for the Lady Mavs in their last four games, including a New Years Eve win at Appalachian State. UTA finished the win holding advantages in rebounds (49-46), points in the paint (36-28), assists (20-9) and second-chance points (25-8). UTA finished the game shooting 41 percent from the field and held the Trojans to 29 percent, including 3-for-21 from behind the arc.
LEADING THE MAVS
A native of Nazareth, Texas, VanDijk charted a season high with 25 points, adding 14 rebounds. VanDijk, the preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, added five blocks to move into sole possession of second place in UTA career history. VanDijk was efficient from the field, connecting on 10-of-14 attempts and going 5-for-6 at the free-throw stripe.
Shelby Richards finished with 14 points on a 6-of-8 game, with four rebounds, two assists and two steals. UTA also got nine points - on a trio of triples - from Brooke Alexander, who added six rebounds and a block. Laurynn McGowen totaled seven points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals, with Lauren Billie and Aysia Evans each charting five-point games. Kelsey Johnson and Daiane Machado each finished with four points.
NEXT
The Lady Mavs will hit the court next in a home doubleheader with the men's program, hosting South Alabama on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT at College Park Center. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.com.
FIRST QUARTER
The Mavs opened the scoring with an offensive rebound from Evans on the first possession, with VanDijk sinking a jumper. UTA rolled to a 9-0 start, getting a triple from Evans, a second jumper from VanDijk and a pair of free throws from McGowen. A pair of triples and a layup spurred the Trojans to within a point but UTA answered with a bucket at the rim from Machado and a free throw from Richards for a 14-8 lead. After trading defensive stops, UTA finished the half with a basket from VanDijk to take a 16-10 lead into the break.
SECOND QUARTER
Richards sparked the Mavs out of the quarter break, sinking a jumper and getting a basket in the paint to take UTA's lead to 20-10. Baskets from Billie and Richards and three buckets from VanDijk helped the Mavs take a 31-14 lead with six minutes remaining in the half. An Alexander triple and a pair of baskets from Johnson stretched the UTA lead to 38-18. The Trojans responded with five straight points from the charity stripe, forcing a UTA timeout with a 40-23 lead and just under a minute remaining. Richards took the ball to the basket to stretch UTA's lead to 40-25 at halftime. VanDijk led the Mavs with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting in just five first-half minutes, grabbing five rebounds. UTA outshot Troy in the first half, holding the Trojans to 26 percent from the field while sporting a 44 percent clip offensively. UTA collected 24 of its points in the paint in the half, adding 19 second-chance points and owning a 26-25 lead in rebounding.
THIRD QUARTER
Crystal Allen wasted little time getting on the board, sinking a triple seven seconds into the third quarter. After Troy answered with a bucket, UTA stretched the lead to 47-27 with a basket from VanDijk and a pair of free throws from Evans. McGowen executed a steal on the defensive end and turned it into a breakaway layup and a triple from Alexander pushed the Lady Mavs to a 52-29 lead with just under five minutes left in the period. Alexander's third connection from behind the arc lifted UTA to its biggest lead in the game, 55-30 with 4:19 left in the third period. The Mavs ballooned their lead to 29 with a 59-30 advantage following a jumper from VanDijk, with UTA taking a 59-34 lead into the break.
FOURTH QUARTER
A pair of connections from the charity stripe from VanDijk and a layup from Richards saw UTA take a 63-38 lead early in the quarter. Billie's triple out of the media timeout stretch UTA's lead to 70-45 and after Troy snapped a scoreless stretch, VanDijk's basket pushed the Mavs to a 72-47 lead with 4:32 left. McGowen sank a triple to give the Mavs a 76-50 lead with just over three minutes left in regulation.
Bobcats Quiet the Jaguars, 78-63
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State women's basketball team (9-5, 2-1 SBC) toppled South Alabama (9-5, 2-1 SBC), 78-63, in the team's Sun Belt Conference home-opener on Thursday evening at Strahan Coliseum. The Bobcats have won all five conference home openers since joining the Sun Belt in 2013-14.
"We came into this game knowing that rebounding was going to be huge for us," said head coach Zenarae Antoine. "In eight of South Alabama's nine wins coming into tonight, they won the rebounding battle. We grabbed 16 offensive boards, which means our girls understood the magnitude of the rebound tonight. It was really good to see that. "
Outside of rebounding, the biggest point driven home by the Bobcat coaching staff was making sure the team was able to start fast. The message was received as TXST leapt out to a 24-12 lead after the first quarter of action, and extended the lead to 45-26 heading into the halftime break. Ti'Aira Pitts came up big for the Bobcats in the opening half of play, scoring 11 of her 14 points. The senior forward canned both of her 3-point attempts and connected on 3-of-4 shots from the free throw line.
The Jaguars made a run in the third quarter, pulling within five a handful of times late in the quarter, but Texas State scored the final four points of the frame and clung to a nine point lead heading into the fourth. Toshua Leavitt, fresh off of a career-high 34 points against Coastal Carolina, poured in 14 points in the fourth quarter, allowing TXST to surge to a 15-point victory.
Leavitt led all scorers with 28 points. She has notched at least 20 points in six games this season, including each of the last two ball games for the Bobcats. The hot shooting she displayed against the Chanticleers continued as the junior guard buried 6-of-13 shots from behind the 3-point line. The game marked the sixth occasion in which she has made at least six 3-point attempts. Leavitt has already connected on 62 triples this season, the sixth highest season total in Bobcat basketball history. In career, the sharpshooter has made 179 3-point attempts, which ranks second in school history. She trails only Sarah Wagner, who knocked down 196 from 1996-2000.
Senior guard Taeler Deer was honored prior to the game for becoming the 16th player in Texas State women's basketball history to eclipse 1,000 points. She responded with a near triple-double, tallying 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Her seventh assist of the contest placed her in rarified air as she became the third Bobcat in program history to score at least 1,000 career points and dish out 300 or more career assists. Shelley Borton was the first to achieve this feat, scoring 1,893 points and dropping 595 dimes in her illustrious career. More recently, Ayriel Anderson scored 1,149 points and gave out 348 helpers during her four years in a Bobcat uniform. Deer has amassed 1,018 points and added 301 assists to her career stat line.
Brooke Holle rounded out the Bobcats to reach double figures in the scoresheet. The sophomore guard hauled down six rebounds and grabbed a pair of steals in the contest. Ericka May stuffed the stat sheet, collecting 11 rebounds, dishing out six assists and ripping three steals.
The Jaguars were led by Savannah Jones, who tallied 19 points and four steals off of the South Alabama bench. Chyna Ellis registered a double-double with 11 points and 13 boards in a losing effort.
The Bobcats will be back to host Troy in the second game of the set with the Sun Belt's Alabama schools on Jan. 6 inside of Strahan Coliseum. Tip is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live via the WatchESPN app.
Cajuns Get Red Hot In Second Half To Beat App State
LAFAYETTE – 14 three-pointers and 22 points from senior Troi Swain were more than enough for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team as they shot the Appalachian State Mountaineers out of the Cajundome for the 61-45 win.
The win, the Cajuns' second straight Sun Belt Conference win of the season, improves their record to 7-8 (2-1 SBC) and the loss drops the Mountaineers' record to 2-12 (0-3 SBC).
Louisiana's 14 three-pointers made in the game were one off tying a school record, while Swain's 22 points was one away from tying her career high. Sophomore Malachi-Seraphin Williams added 11 points of her own while going 3-4 from beyond the arc herself (4-7 from the field).
HOW IT HAPPENED (First Quarter): Senior Nekia Jones picked up right where she left off at Arkansas State, nailing a three-pointer to start the scoring off for the Cajuns. Things went back and forth through the first few minutes, but the Cajuns remained hot and in the first five minutes of the quarter they hit three shots from beyond the arc.
Two back-to-back three pointers from freshman Skyler Goodwin and Seraphin-Williams put the Cajuns on a 6-0 run through the middle part of the quarter, and the score sat at 11-9 Cajuns when App State broke the run. The Mountaineers went on a 5-0 run and they took tied things up at 2:20, with the score at 11-11. Louisiana tied it back up on two free throws from Jones, but a buzzer beating three pointer from App State's LaPresha Stanley gave the Mountaineers a three-point lead after the first quarter.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Second Quarter): The quarter started what would be a back and forth affair through the entire period. Goodwin's second three-pointer of the game followed by a quick 5-0 run from Seraphin-Williams tied things up at 21-21. Jones nailed a layup to put the Cajuns up by two and the score sat at 23-21 Cajuns as the clock ticked by seven minutes.
Louisiana took their biggest lead of the quarter, tying what was at the time, their biggest lead of the game, with a three-point basket from senior Kendra Howard the Cajuns went up by five points with the score sitting 28-23 points in favor of the Cajuns.
Neither team scored over the second stretch of the quarter, but a three-point basket from App State's Nicola Mathews at the one minute mark kicked off a 7-0 run for the Mountaineers to end the half and a layup from App State's Bayley Plummer at the buzzer put App State up by two points at the end of the half, with the score sitting at 30-28 in favor of the Mountaineers.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Third Quarter): App State came out extended their lead to seven points as they carried their 7-0 run into the third quarter pushing it to an 11-0 run. A three-point basket from Swain ended that run and sophomore Jasmine Thomas pulled the Cajuns within two points, but App State responded and they hit back to extend their lead to eight points.
It would be the largest lead that App State would have in the game, as Goodwin nailed yet another Cajuns three-pointer, to wake Louisiana up. Swain, who was unstoppable in the second half, finished the quarter with five points of her own, including a last second three-pointer to bring the Cajuns within two points of App State as the score sat at 43-41.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Fourth Quarter): Swain came out and in the first possession of the quarter put the Cajuns up for good with yet another three-point basket and just like that the score sat at 44-43. Louisiana proceeded to set the building on fire, with their next three baskets being from beyond the arc as they took advantage of App State's tired legs.
Swain hit four of her six three-pointers in the final quarter as the Cajuns came alive from downtown, they shot 40 percent in the quarter and added to their lead throughout the entire quarter. A jumper from Plummer at the 4:30 mark of the quarter would be App State's last basket of the game.
Two more three-pointers from Swain and the Cajuns going 4-4 from the line, put the gap well over 10 points and when the final whistle blew the Cajuns finished 14 of 26 from three-point line (5-9 in the fourth quarter) to finish the game with a comfortable 16-point lead with the final score sitting at 61-45 Cajuns.
NOTEWORTHY: The 14 three pointers are the most the Cajuns have made since draining 14 against Georgia Southern on Jan. 14, 2017; The 53 percent from three-point line (with at least 20 attempts) is the highest percentage from beyond the arc since the Cajuns shot 52 percent against Georgia Southern (1/14/17);
Swain's six made three-pointer (6 for 11) is a career high; It's the second game in a row where the Cajuns had double-digits in assists; It's the second straight season where the Cajuns have followed up beating Arkansas State with a win at the Cajundome in conference play.
Cajuns head coach Garry Brodhead is now one win away from 100 wins, as this was his 99th career win.
UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana returns to the Cajundome court to take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on Saturday, Jan. 6 with that tip scheduled for 4 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the Ragin' Cajuns Digital Network with Dan McDonald handling play-by-play duties and on the radio Steve Peloquin of ESPN 1420 AM will handle the broadcast and play-by-play duties of the game.
FOLLOWING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS: Follow the Cajuns on twitter @RaginCajunsWBB for updates during the games, links to recaps and ways to follow the games.
Trojans Move to 3-0 in SBC Play With 65-50 Win at GSU
ATLANTA – Earning its third consecutive double-digit victory, Little Rock women's basketball defeated Georgia State 65-50 on Thursday night at GSU Sports Arena.
For the Trojans (6-8, 3-0 Sun Belt), Ronjanae DeGray led the game with 22 points, eight rebounds and three steals as she went 9-for-14 from the field. Monique Townson came up a basket shy of setting a new career high as she finished the game with 18 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals. Raeyana DeGray was the third Trojan in double figures as she ended up with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Kierra Henry had 17 points and four assists for Georgia State (4-10, 0-3 Sun Belt) while Deja Mitchell had 10 points and four rebounds.
The Trojans began the game with a 12-11 deficit after going 5-for-16 (31.3%) in the first quarter. Ronjanae DeGray led the quarter with five points as she went 2-for-2 from the field and 1-for-2 from the foul line. Sister Raeyana DeGray put up four points while Anna Hurlburt led the Trojans with three rebounds. Down 10-6, Little Rock went on a 5-0 run with five consecutive points by Ronjanae DeGray to take the lead at 11-10. Georgia State had the last say in the quarter with a pair of free throws by Henry.
Little Rock outscored the Panthers 17-12 in the second quarter to go to the half with a 28-24 lead. Townson came alive offensively in the second period as she scored 11 of Little Rock's 17 points. After Little Rock went on a 5-1 run to begin the quarter, Georgia State went on an 8-0 run of its own to go up 21-16. The Trojans ended the Panthers' run by outscoring GSU 12-3 for the remainder of the quarter. Little Rock's run consisted of five and seven-point streaks.
After shooting 50 percent (8-for-16) in the third quarter, Little Rock advanced its lead to 48-37 over Georgia State as it outscored the Panthers 20-13. The Trojans took their largest lead of the quarter at 13 points after Townson drilled a three to give Little Rock a 46-33 lead.
The Trojans took their largest lead of the game in the fourth quarter at 15 points on an old-fashioned three-point play as Ronjanae DeGray was fouled on a jumper. Little Rock's lead never went below 11 points for the rest of the contest as it shot 50 percent (5-for-10) for the second consecutive period.
Hurlburt ended the game with six points, six rebounds and two assists while Terrion Moore tallied a career-high six points with five rebounds. Keanna Keys ended up with five rebounds and three points.
Little Rock ended the game shooting 42.4 percent (25-for-59) while Georgia State shot 37.5 (18-for-48). The Trojans held the advantage in free-throw percentage (81.3-80.0), rebounds (37-30) and assists (14-6).
The Trojans will conclude their tour through Georgia with a visit to Georgia Southern on Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT).
Westbrook's Double-Double Helps A-State to Win
STATESBORO, Ga. (1/4/18) – Led by Akasha Wesbrook’s second career double-double, the Arkansas State women’s basketball team defeated Georgia Southern 71-62 Thursday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Westbrook finished the night with 13 points and 10 rebounds. She scored nine points and grabbed seven boards in the second half as the Red Wolves (7-7, 2-2 SBC) pulled away from the Eagles (3-11, 0-3) down the stretch.
Lycia Peevy, one of four A-State players in double-figures, tied Westbrook for the team-high with 13 points, while Jada Ford added 11 points and Morgan Wallace added 10.
The A-State bench provided a spark on the night with 33 points and made the Eagles pay for their miscues on the night with 25 points off turnovers on the evening.
The Red Wolves held the Eagles to just a 28.1 shooting percentage on the night, but the Eagles made eight, 3-pointers through the night to keep the score close throughout much of the contest. A-State shot 37.9 percent from the field and made 16-of-24 free throws, including 8-of-14 in the second half.
How It Happened (First Half):
A-State used a 6-0 run midway through the first half to take a 21-16 and the lead grew to its largest point for the Red Wolves at 28-19 after Peevy scored on a layup with 3:26 left in the half. Georgia Southern responded with a 7-1 run to close the margin to 29-26, but Starr Taylor drained a pair of free throws with 29 seconds to go to set the halftime score at 31-26.
Both teams combined for 19 turnovers in the first 10 minutes and the Eagles went the final 4:09 of the first quarter without a field goal. A-State had eight different players score in the first half, but no player scored more than five points (Ford, Madison Heckert and Wallace)
How It Happend (Second Half):
Georgia Southern cut the lead to 39-36 early in the third quarter, but the Red Wolves responded with a 7-0 run with 1:54 to go to push the lead to 50-40. Peevy knocked down one of her two 3-pointers in the second half during the run.
The Eagles battled back and got the lead down to 68-62 near the end of the third quarter, but Ford opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to push the advantage back to double-digits, while Peevy hit another trey to squash a Georgia Southern that had gotten the edge down to 55-49 with 7:58 left in the game.
Wallace matched A-State’s biggest lead of the night with an acrobatic up and under layup to push the lead to 60-49. The Eagles cut the lead to 68-62 with 28 seconds left, but the Red Wolves went 3-of-4 from the free throw line in the final 20 seconds to help secure the victory.
Notables:
Akasha Westbrook recorded her second career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Her 10 rebounds also tied a career-high.
Morgan Wallace scored in double-figures for the second time this season and finished one point away from tying a career-high.
The Red Wolves had four players score in double-figures for the second straight game and the third time this seaso.
Akasha Westbrook has scored in double-figures in seven straight games.
A-State has scored 70 points in three straight games and has also done so in four out of its last five contests.
A-State had 10 players record minutes Thursday night and each one scored in the game, marking the first time this season the Red Wolves had every player that played in a game score a basket.
Quoting Coach Brian Boyer:
“I think start to finish we were pretty solid. We weren’t great but we weren’t bad either. We led pretty much throughout the entire thing and we had some chances to pull away, but never could seem to capitalize on those. Our biggest thing was that we knew they would start in zone and we just did not handle that very well. We turned it over 11 times and we were trying to make plays but we were going for the home run plays and once we calmed down we really did a good job of taking care of the basketball and then we were able to score.”
Up Next:
A-State will conclude its road through the state of Georgia when it takes on Georgia State Saturday morning at 11 a.m. from the GSU Sports Arena.