Troy Knocks Off Sun Belt Leaders
TROY, Alabama – Behind another stellar performance from its underclassmen, the Troy women's basketball team knocked off the Sun Belt's top team with a 76-70 overtime victory over Little Rock on Saturday in Trojan Arena.
Troy (13-10, 8-4 Sun Belt) won its sixth straight and snapped Little Rock's (15-9, 12-1) 12-game winning streak, it's just the fifth win for Troy in 22 games in the all-time series.
Sophomore Kayla Robinson made her case for a third straight Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week award scoring a game-high 18 points to compliment six rebounds and five assists. Sophomore Harriet Winchester was 5-of-6 in the game and knocked down all three of her 3-point attempts to finish with 13 points.
Against the nation's No. 3 defense – Little Rock entered the game allowing just 52.7 points per game – Troy trailed for just 12 seconds in the game and scored the second-most points against Little Rock behind the 86 put up by then-No. 3 Mississippi State on Dec. 10.
Leading by 10, 56-46, with 7:40 to play, Little Rock held Troy scoreless over the final 2:57 seconds of regulation to force overtime. Robinson took control in the extra period scoring eight of the team's 12 points. She has scored 18-plus in six consecutive games.
Sophomore Amber Rivers finished the game with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting while Sky'Lynn Holmes scored 11 to go with a team-high eight rebounds.
QUOTABLE
"This is a team that makes you play a half-court offense," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "I was really pleased with how poised our team was and how we settled down and ran it time and time again."
UP NEXT
Troy hits the road for a two-game east coast road swing when it takes on Coastal Carolina on Thursday and Appalachian State on Saturday in Sun Belt Conference action.
UTA Defense Leads Mavs Past Bobcats In Overtime
ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington needed overtime, but a career-high effort from Miranda LeJune and 20 points from Rebekah VanDijk helped the Lady Mavs top Texas State 61-59 on Saturday at College Park Center.
UTA (14-10, 8-5 Sun Belt) outlasted Texas State (16-8, 9-4 Sun Belt) in its third overtime game of the 2017-18 season. The game was tied or the lead changed hands 20 times over the course of the contest, with UTA fighting back from a hole going to the final 10 minutes to force overtime and outscore the Bobcats 8-6 in the extra period.
After Texas State opened the overtime with a three and a quick 57-55 lead, the Lady Mavs scored six of the final eight points to earn the win, with Richards sinking a pair of free throws and a basket at the rim to provide the difference.
LEADING THE MAVS
Shelby Richards provided the late-game heroics and finished with 14 points and four rebounds in 36 minutes, sinking all eight of her free-throw attempts, a career best. Senior Rebekah VanDijk totaled 20 points and nine rebounds on 9-of-12 shooting while logging 40 minutes. UTA also got a career-high 13 points from LeJune, with LeJune sinking three triples in the first half. Lauren Billie had a team-high and career-best 10 rebounds, with Crystal Allen adding five points and six boards. Brooke Alexander finished with a career-high eight rebounds.
NEXT
The Lady Mavs return to action on Thursday with the first leg of a road swing through Louisiana. UTA will face ULM at 5 p.m. CT on Thursday in Monroe, before traveling to face Louisiana on Saturday in Lafayette, La.
FIRST QUARTER
Billie opened the scoring before Texas State used a 7-0 run to take a 7-2 lead and force a UTA timeout with the Lady Mavs mired in an 0-for-5 stretch. Texas State stretched its lead to 9-2 before VanDijk collected four straight points, including a tip in. The Lady Mavs then used back-to-back triples from LeJune to cut the lead to 15-12 at the end of the period.
SECOND QUARTER
The Lady Mavs continued the hot finish to the first quarter with a leyup from Richards and a free throw from Daiane Machado to even it at 15. VanDijk answered the Bobcats free throws with a basket in the paint and LeJune's third triple of the first 15 minutes of game action earned UTA its second lead of the game, 20-19. Richards got the rim and forced a foul, sinking both free throws for a 22-19 lead. LeJune's hoop amongst contact in the paint gave the Mavs a 24-21 lead but Texas State rallied with four straight - including a buzzer beater - to take a 25-24 lead at the break. LeJune led the way with a game-high 11 in the first half, with Alexander grabbing five rebounds from the wing.
THIRD QUARTER
The teams traded layups out of the break, with LeJune answering a Texas State triple with a jumper. Allen's offensive rebound and putback evened it at 30 and a pair of free throws from VanDijk took the UTA lead to 32-30 with five minutes left. The Mavs used the 6-0 run to take a 32-30 lead, forcing Texas State into misses in six straight games. The Bobcats snapped the stretch and started an 8-0 run to take a 38-32 lead as UTA missed five straight from the field and went four minutes without points. UTA started the crawl back after Allen sank a layup amongst contact but a technical foul negated the momentum and saw the Bobcats take a 43-37 lead after three quarters.
FOURTH QUARTER
Allen snapped the Texas State run by getting to the charity stripe with a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 43-39. VanDijk's basket cut the lead to two and Allen evened it up after creating space with the dribble and sinking a jumper from 16 feet out in the corner. Texas State sank a pair of free throws but VanDijk answered with a finish on a nice find in traffic for a 45-45 game.
After UTA gave up two points for the Bobcats in transition, Machado evened the game back up with a falling away 15-foot jumper from the wing, taking the game to 47-47 with 5:49 left. After the Bobcats took the lead, VanDijk cleaned up an offensive rebound and the putback to match the score at 49. Richards gave UTA the lead with a pair from the charity stripe with just under four minutes left in regulation.
The teams traded layups, with Richards giving UTA a 53-51 lead with 1:25 left but Texas State answered with a jumper to even it at 53 with under a minute left. The teams couldn't come up with the difference in the final seconds, with Richards' half-court heave just missing.
OVERTIME
Texas State opened the overtime with a critical three pointer and the Mavs were able to answer on the strength of VanDijk's offensive rebound and putback. The Bobcats went up 57-55 after a free throw. On the ensuing offensive possession, Richards drove into the paint and drew a foul, sinking both to even the game at 57 with under two minutes left. After Billie secured the defensive rebound, Richards gave the Mavs a 59-57 lead with a drive to the basket but the Bobcats drilled a pair from the charity stripe to even it at 59. Richards forced a blocking foul with 45.1 seconds left and hit both free throws for a 61-59 lead. The UTA defense forced a pair of stops but couldn't secure the defensive rebound with Texas State calling timeout with 11.3 seconds left, trailing 61-59.
Westbrook, Ford Lead A-State to Road Win
MOBILE, Ala. (2/10/18) – Akasha Westbrook poured in a career-high 23 points, while Jada Ford added 20 as the Arkansas State women’s basketball team defeated South Alabama 75-60 Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center.
Westbrook scored 13 points in the second half as the Red Wolves (13-11, 8-5 Sun Belt) withstood a South Alabama (15-8, 8-4) run in the fourth quarter to cut the lead down to three with under six minutes to play in the game. A-State, responded however, and held the Jaguars scoreless for the final 3:55 as the Red Wolves closed the game on an 11-0 run.
Lauren Bradshaw also finished in double-figures with 10 points, while Westbrook lead the team with seven rebounds and tied a career-high with six steals. Ford also added four steals, finishing one off her career-high in the category.
A-State shot 46.7 percent (28-of-60) from the field and tied a season best by shooting 50 percent (4-of-8) from beyond the arc. The Red Wolves also shot 75 percent (15-of-20) from the free throw line in the contest and had a season-high 19 fast break points.
How It Happened (First Half):
A-State used a huge first quarter to grab a double-digit lead and take the Jaguars out of their offensive sets with pressure on the defensive end. A 13-0 run gave the Red Wolves a 15-5 lead late in the in the period and the run extended to run 22-5 by the end of the frame to push the lead to 24-10.
Arkansas State shot 75 percent (11-of-15) from the in the opening 10 minutes and got four steals on the defensive end that all lead to fast break layups.
Akasha Westbrook led the way with 10 points in the first half as A-State continued to play a faster pace on both ends of the floor. Madison Heckert took advantage of her size in the paint and score six points, while Jada Ford added nine points, including a 3-pointer in transition near the end of the first quarter.
The Red Wolves led by 16 with 9:32 to go in the half, but South Alabama began working the ball inside and cut the deficit down to 35-23 with 3:21 remaining, but pushed the advantage back to 39-23 after a layup by Lycia Peevy and a pair of free throw from Westbrook.
A 3-pointer and another layup from the Jaguars got them within 11 at 39-28 with 34 left, but Lauren Bradshaw knocked a jumper with five seconds left to give the Red Wolves a 41-28 lead at the break.
How It Happened (Second Half):
South Alabama slowly chipped away the Red Wolves’ lead in the second half and eventually got the deficit down to single digits with a 6-0 run to get within 54-47 with 58 seconds to go in the third quarter.
Tahlon Hopkins answered the Jags’ run with a 3-pointers early in the final period, but South Alabama again answered got within 59-56 after a 3-pointer from Candice Williams with 5:40 remaining.
Westbrook answered the trey with a drive to the basket that resulted in an and-1 opportunity, which she converted to push the lead to 62-56. South Alabama closed to the gap once more to get within 66-60, but Ford sparked an 11-0 run for the Red Wolves with a 3-pointer with 2:18 to go.
A-State held the Jaguars scoreless over the final 3:55 of the match and made five of their final six field goals to close out the game.
Ragin' Cajuns Defense Locks Down Win At Georgia Southern
STATESBORO, Ga. – A stifling defensive performance and yet another game by sophomore Jasmine Thomas doing just about everything, gave the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team their third straight road Sun Belt Conference win over the Georgia Southern Eagles, 58-48, at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The win improves the Cajuns record to 13-11 (8-4 SBC) and it gives them a sweep of the Georgia trip, while the Eagles suffered their third straight loss and it drops their record to 5-19 (2-11 SBC). Louisiana held the Eagles to the lowest shooting percentage they've held a team to all season, 25 percent, and the 48 points is the fourth time that the Cajuns have held a team to under 50 points this season, third time in conference play.
Thomas finished with 15 points, a career high nine rebounds, five assists and three steals to yet again set the tempo in the game for the Cajuns. Senior Troi Swain added 14 points on 5-14 shooting, while senior Simone Fields was solid on the night finishing with 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting 63 percent and she had seven rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED (First Quarter): Things started slowly for both teams offensively, but the Cajuns defense played a big role in the slow start for Georgia Southern. They drew a charge and had two blocks over the first five minutes of the game and the Eagles didn't get their first basket of the game until the 6:17 mark of the quarter.
Both teams entered a bit of a stretch through the heart of the quarter, but during the final three minutes of the quarter the Cajuns began to get their shots to fall, while maintaining their defensive fortitude. A 7-2 run during those three minutes, finished off the quarter with the Cajuns sitting on top 11-4.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Second Quarter): Things got started with a Georgia Southern 5-0 run as they began to cut into the Cajuns lead. The run was ended by two free throws from, Thomas who put the Cajuns back up by four points. It was at that point, with the score sitting at 13-11 after a Eagles' layup, that the Cajuns put a gap between themselves and the Eagles. Starting with the ever-hustling Thomas, the Cajuns went on a tear from beyond the arc, making five straight threes starting at the 5:15 mark of the quarter. Thomas nailed the first two to push the Cajuns lead to six, and Swain took over from there.
The sharpshooting senior nailed the next three from beyond the arc, without missing, as she proceeded to set Hanner Fieldhouse on fire during the final three minutes of the quarter. Swain's third basket from downtown came with five seconds left in the half, and the Cajuns went into the break leading 28-11.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Third Quarter): Louisiana struggled to score through the period, only getting eight points that were sprinkled throughout the period. But their defense maintained their foothold on the game. And for the first six minutes of the quarter they answered every basket that the Eagles hit. But after a Fields basket at 3:39 the Eagles took what was to that point their best shot of the game at the Cajuns.
They hit back-to-back three-point baskets to draw within six points of the Cajuns. But a timeout from head coach Garry Brodhead calmed the Cajuns down, and they responded with a strong finish. Freshman Skyler Goodwin and Fields each got layups, giving the Cajuns not only six points in the paint in just that period alone, but it pushed their lead back to 10 points and they entered the final quarter leading 36-26 having weathered the storm.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Fourth Quarter): Both teams again struggled to score through the first few minutes of the quarter, and there was a scoring drought between both teams starting at the eight-minute mark of the period and lasting until the six-minute mark of the quarter. At that point Georgia Southern again gave the Cajuns all they could handle over a three-minute stretch where they went on a 6-0 run.
But Louisiana again had an answer, and it started with a familiar face. Thomas nailed a three-point basket when the clock hit 2:24 and on the next possession, less then 15 seconds later, freshman Ty'Reonne Doucet made the play of the game. She met Georgia Southern's Amira Atwater at midcourt and came away with the steal. A quick few dribbles later she was hitting the layup while drawing a foul, and after converting the free throw, the Cajuns again sat on top by double-digits, with the score at 48-36.
The Eagles didn't entirely go away, but Louisiana answered every shot that the Eagles took at them, and they finished the game going five for five from the field, and they hit eight of nine free throws over the final minute of the game to lock up their third straight conference win on the road, with the final score sitting at 58-48.
NOTEWORTHY: Thomas' nine rebounds is a career high; Goodwin's 10 rebounds are a career high; Fields passed Yolanda Jones to move into sole possession of sixth place on the Cajuns All-Time career rebounding list and she now has 648 career rebounds; Although she didn't make a three, the three attempts from senior Nekia Jones meant she made the minimum required attempts of 175 to be placed in the Cajuns all-time list for 3-PT field goal percentage and her .339 career percentage places her third all-time.
UP NEXT FOR THE CAJUNS: Louisiana returns to the Cajundome on Thursday, Feb. 15 when they host Texas State and they finish that weekend hosting UT-Arlington on Saturday, Feb. 17, which will be the Cajuns Pink Game.
Coastal Defeats App State in Overtime
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina women's basketball team won its second overtime game of the season at the HTC Center on Saturday, defeating Appalachian State 73-68.
Coastal (12-12, 6-7) led for over 40 minutes of game time, but App State (6-18, 4-9) forced overtime on LaPresha Stanley's game-tying shot with 2.8 seconds remaining in regulation. The lead changed hands five times during the overtime period before the Chants scored seven unanswered points to close out the game.
The victory snaps a four-game losing streak for Coastal and keeps the Chants in eighth place in the Sun Belt, one spot ahead of ninth-place App State. Coastal is also now 2-0 in overtime games this season. The Chants previously defeated Fort Wayne in overtime at the HTC Center on Dec. 4.
Jas Adams led the game scoring 29 points, tying her career high. Her efforts bring her career total to 1,052 points, moving her into 12th place among Coastal's all-time leading scorers.
Three other Chants finished in double figures, including DJ Williams, who collected her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Williams' total on the boards led the game, as did her eight assists. Breelyn Blanding added 11 points, and Alise Davis scored 10.
Stanley led the Mountaineers with 24 points, followed by Lainey Gosnell with 13 points.
Coastal took a 15-5 lead at the end of the first quarter after holding App State to only a pair of baskets and one make from the free-throw line. The Chants themselves only scored five points in the opening six minutes, but finished the remainder of the quarter on a 10-2 run. Adams scored seven of Coastal's points during that span, all coming consecutively and unanswered during the final two minutes.
The Chants continued building their lead in the first half of the second quarter, going in front by as many as 11 points after scoring eight unanswered. App State then strung together seven straight points to make it a two-possession game. Williams and Adams broke the Mountaineers' streak with consecutive baskets, but App finished off the final minute of the first half with six straight points to leave Coastal with a 29-26 advantage at the break.
App State took a one-point lead, its first lead of the game, late in the third quarter following a 12-4 run. The Mountaineers remained in front for less than 20 seconds, however, as Adams made a pair of shots from the line. The Chants added three more points in the quarter's final minute to lead 42-38 heading into the fourth quarter.
Coastal's lead returned to double figures early in the fourth quarter as Adams and Hamilton combined to outscore App State 12-2 over the first four minutes. Plummer stopped Coastal's streak with a pair of free throws, and the Mountaineers countered with a 15-6 run that carried into the final minute of regulation. Stanley scored eight of App's points during that stretch, and Coastal nursed a two-point lead with 25 seconds remaining.
Adams went to the free-throw line with six seconds remaining and the Chants leading by two. Adams missed the first, and hit the second to put Coastal ahead by three. App called a timeout following the make and chose to advance to ball, which set up Stanley's 3-point shot to send the game to overtime.
Coastal limited App to three baskets in the overtime period. Adams and Williams accounted for all 12 of Coastal's points in overtime, the former scoring seven and the latter five.
Coastal plays its final home games of the season next week when it welcomes Troy and South Alabama to the HTC Center for Thursday and Saturday contests, respectively. The Chants faced both teams on the road in January, falling at South Alabama and defeating Troy. The victory over the Trojans' saw Coastal score a season high of 97 points.
MURPHY'S 17 POINTS LEADS GSU PAST WARHAWKS
ATLANTA – Georgia State’s women’s basketball team defeated ULM 70-57 Saturday at the GSU Sports Arena. Janessa Murphy led the Panthers with 17 points.
Georgia State won the rebounding and turnover battles and shot 47% from the field while holding the Warhawks to 38%.
The Panthers grabbed 37 rebounds to ULM’s 27 and scored 28 points off turnovers.
Along with her 17 points, Murphy added six rebounds and three assists. Madison Newby did a little bit of everything, finishing with 15 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals. Kierra Henry also reached double figures with 13 points and six assists.
Freshman Deja Mitchell also totaled six board and added eight points.
Georgia State led by seven after the first quarter and held a comfortable 39-25 lead at the half. GSU’s best quarter was the third, as the Panthers’ lead grew to 24 points. Murphy scored 13 points in the quarter including 10 straight to end the period.
ULM climbed closer in the fourth quarter as GSU slowed the pace and used more of the shot clock, but the Panthers secured the win to move ahead of the Warhawks in the conference standings.
Next up for Georgia State is rival Georgia Southern Saturday in Statesboro, Ga.