Georgia State 50, UTA 48
ATLANTA - Allison Johnson hit a game-winning jumper with just 1.7 seconds remaining as Georgia State pulled out a thriller over UT Arlington 50-48 Thursday at GSU Sports Arena.
Johnson’s game-winner gave her 17 points, tying her career-high. She also finished with a game-high nine rebounds.
Georgia State (7-5, 1-0) led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but UT Arlington inched its way back into the game, cutting the Panther lead to one on a 3-pointer by Brooke Alexander with two minutes left. Madison Ervin answered, hitting one out of two free-throws to put Georgia State back up by two. But on UT Arlington’s next possession, Cierra Johnson laid the ball in to tie it up at 48. After what turned out to be Johnson’s game-winner, UT Arlington had one more chance to win or send the game to overtime, but Claire Chastain’s shot was closely contested by Walnatia Wright and bounced off the rim to seal the win for the Panthers.
Troy 82, Coastal Carolina 81
CONWAY, South Carolina – Troy erased a 17-point deficit in four minutes to surge ahead and take its Sun Belt Conference opener, 82-81, at the HTC Center on Thursday.
The Trojans (10-2, 1-0 SBC) outscored CCU, 35-17, in the fourth quarter and shot 67 percent (14-21) from the field over the final 10 minutes, while the Chanticleers (8-4, 0-1) were just 2-for-9 shooting over a crucial 5:23 span.
Trailing, 64-47, heading into the final quarter, things looked bleak for the Trojans, who were shooing just 28.7 percent (16-66) from the field. After the teams traded baskets to open the frame, Troy scored the next 19 points to claim its first lead of the game. Coastal Carolina retook the lead briefly after a 3-pointer from Torrie Cash, but the Trojans continued to pile up the points scoring on all but five possessions in the final five minutes of play.
Texas State 64, Georgia Southern 52
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Texas State women's basketball team (6-7, 1-0 Sun Belt) won consecutive games for the first time in the 2018-19 season by defeating the Georgia Southern Eagles (5-7, 1-0 Sun Belt), 64-52, on Thursday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.
TXST improves to 6-0 in league-opening games since joining the Sun Belt Conference and 7-1 in conference openers under the guidance of head coach Zenarae Antoine. GS has yet to win a Sun Belt opener in five attempts since committing to the league.
Little Rock 63, ULM 44
LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock Trojans opened up Sun Belt Conference play with a 63-44 win over ULM Thursday evening. Ronjanae DeGray led the offensive attack with a season-high 23 points, two shy of tying her career high, and shared the work on the glass with Kyra Collier, both registering seven rebounds.
The Trojans are 9-7 in the first game of conference play under Coach Foley and have won the initial Sun Belt Conference game for five straight seasons. This was the second time that Little Rock has kicked off conference play against the Warhawks.
Little Rock put the pedal to the metal in the opening 10 minutes, holding ULM to just a single field goal in the first quarter and only four points, the lowest point total by an opponent in a quarter this season and the lowest since holding South Alabama to four points in the first quarter of last year's meeting.