Thursday, February 25
Arkansas State Wins Outright Regular Season Title with Rout of Bobcats
JONESBORO, Ark. (2/5/16) – The Arkansas State women’s basketball team claimed the outright regular season Sun Belt Conference championship with a 87-50 victory over Texas State Thursday evening.
A story, with quotes from head coach Brian Boyer, along with photos of the game and postgame celebration will be sent out later this evening following the conclusion of the men’s basketball contest with Texas State.
Defense Shines in Little Rock's 10th Consecutive Win
More clutch free-throw shooting and stifling defense led the Little Rock women's basketball team to a 49-43 victory over UT Arlington at the Jack Stephens Center on Thursday night, extending the team's season-long winning streak to 10.
Shanity James had a team-high 12 points and was 8 of 10 from the free-throw line, and the rest of the Trojans combined to go 12 of 12 from the free-throw line to have the Trojans finish the night with a season-best 90.9 percent accuracy from the charity stripe. The Trojans missed just one free throw in the second half and knocked down six out of six in the final 12 seconds to seal the victory.
Little Rock (14-12, 9-7 Sun Belt Conference) remained all alone in second place in the Sun Belt Conference with the victory over UT Arlington (13-13, 8-8), its sixth straight win against the Mavericks. The Trojans can now finish no worse than fourth in the conference standings.
But Thursday's result was in doubt until the final seconds. The teams entered the fourth quarter with Little Rock holding a narrow 38-33 lead. UT Arlington, though, cut that down slowly over the next seven minutes and tied the game at 41-41 with 1:44 to go thanks to two free throws by LaShanda Green.
On the next possession, Little Rock got just its second field goal of the quarter as senior guard Alexius Dawn stepped back and hit a long 2-pointer. That put the Trojans ahead 43-41 with 1:18 to play. A bad Mavericks pass into the paint was stolen by James on UTA's next possession, and Little Rock had the ball with 45 seconds left.
With a 2-point lead, junior Kaitlyn Pratt missed a layup but fought hard for her own rebound and called timeout. Dawn then hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to make it a 45-41 lead with 12 seconds remaining. UTA made a jumper with just six seconds showing on the clock, and Pratt answered that with two more clutch free throws to give Little Rock a 47-43 edge with five seconds remaining.
The Mavericks failed to inbound the ball after that, and two more Dawn free throws sealed the victory.
James finished the night two rebounds shy of a double-double, getting 12 points and eight rebounds. She also had a season-high three blocks and added two steals and two assists. Pratt finished with 10 points, and Keanna Keys had 8 including 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. Dawn had 9 points.
After starting the night with a 17-11 lead after the first quarter and getting 12 points in the paint in that period, the Mavericks had just 2 points in the paint in the entire rest of the game. The Trojans held the Mavericks to just 31.3 percent shooting in the second half and forced the Mavericks into 24 total turnovers that resulted in 22 Trojan points.
The Mavericks got out to a hot start offensively, scoring 17 points in the first quarter including 12 in the paint. Little Rock, on the other hand, did not make a 2-point field goal in the quarter. The Trojans scored 11 points in the first 10 minutes on three 3-pointers and two free throws from Keanna Keys. The team would not make a 3-pointer the rest of the night.
With a 17-11 lead heading into the second quarter, the Mavericks faltered a bit at the start of the next period. After an early UTA basket, Little Rock went on a 6-0 run to begin the second, getting baskets from Pratt and Keys along with two more Keys free throws. That forced a UTA timeout with the visitors' lead down to just 19-17.
That run continued after the timeout, though, as Little Rock stretched it to 10 straight points thanks to baskets by Pratt and Autummn Williams. A UTA 3-pointer gave the Mavericks the lead back at 22-21, but that was their last points of the quarter. Little Rock closed things with 7 straight points – 5 of which came on free throws – and led 28-22 at halftime. The Trojans outscored the Mavericks 17-5 in the quarter and benefitted from seven UTA turnovers.
The Mavericks had a slight 11-10 edge in the third quarter that began with a 5-0 run to start the period. But Little Rock answered with four straight points of its own – all on James free throws – before the Mavericks again cut things to a 1-point lead late in the quarter. A Pratt layup and a Townson steal-and-score led to a 5-point Trojan edge entering the decisive fourth quarter.
Little Rock stays at home for Saturday's contest against its other conference rival from the Lone Star State. Texas State and Little Rock will tip off at 4 p.m.
Troy Knocks Off UL Lafayette, Earns Tournament Berth
TROY, Alabama – The Troy women's basketball team didn't miss from the field or the line in the final three minutes and used that late run to beat UL Lafayette, 90-83, at Trojan Arena on Thursday night.
Troy (14-12, 9-8) made its last six field goals and its last seven free throws after UL Lafayette (18-8, 11-6) took a three-point lead with 3:11 to play. The Ragin' Cajuns came in with the Sun Belt's top scoring defense, allowing just 54.8 points per game, but Troy passed that mark in the third quarter.
The 90 points were the most scored against UL Lafayette this season and gave Troy, averaging 82.6 per game coming in, its 16th game over 80 points this season.
ArJae' Saunders led four Trojans in double figures with 21 points, including 16 in the first half as Troy built a lead. Claresa Banks added a career-high 18 points off the bench for Troy, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Caitlyn Ramirez scored 15, including eight in the final three minutes. Ashley Beverly Kelley struggled from the field, but scored 12 on 3-of-11 shooting and added 10 assists with just one turnover for her seventh career double-double.
"This win was important because it was close," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "We were down by three points with three minutes to go, but we fought back and were calm enough to make the plays to win. That shows growth as a team."
After the Trojans led by as many as 11 points late in the third quarter, the Cajuns began to chip away. Keke Veal, who scored a game-high 34 points, scored or assisted on 16 straight Cajun points and put ULL up, 68-66, early in the fourth quarter.
The Cajuns held the lead, 74-71, with 3:11 to go in the game, but that is when the Sun Belt's top offense got going. Ramirez took and made her first 3-pointer of the game, tying the score 74-74 with 2:50 to go.
From there, the Trojans would not miss as Ramirez gave Troy the lead just 35 seconds later on a fast break bucket after Kristen Emerson grabbed a rebound and found Ramirez streaking down the floor. Emerson pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds and led Troy to a 49-37 rebounding advantage on the night. Emerson grabbed 10-plus boards for the third straight game and is averaging 10.4 in the last five games.
After Veal missed a 3-pointer on the Cajuns' next possession, Amanda Mendoza hit a pull jumper, got fouled, and made the free throw to put Troy up by five, 79-74. The Trojans then forced a turnover on the defensive end, and Ramirez hit her second 3-pointer to put Troy up by eight, 82-74, with just 1:16 to go.
Veal would hit three 3-pointers down the stretch, but Troy always had the answers as Banks, Saunders and Beverly Kelley all scored in the final minute for the Trojans.
On the night, Troy shot 44 percent (30-of-69) from the field, 43 percent (9-of-21) from deep and 21-of-31 (68 percent) from the free throw line. The Ragin' Cajuns shot 41 percent (28-of-68) overall, 8-of-14 from deep and 19-fo-25 (76 percent) from the line.
Troy has won four of its last five games and moves into a tie for fourth place in the Sun Belt standings with just three regular season games remaining before the Sun Belt Championships begin on March 9 in New Orleans.
Troy returns to the court on Saturday when ULM visits Trojan Arena for Ashley Beverly Kelley's senior day. The Warhawks are last in the Sun Belt standings, but fighting for their tournament lives and beat South Alabama in Mobile on Thursday night.
ULM Runs Away with 67-54 Road Win over Jaguars
MOBILE, Ala. – Chelsea Tieuel scored a career-high 25 points, and the Warhawks led by as much as 22 in a 67-54 win at South Alabama on Thursday night.
“I thought it was a great, all-around effort by our team for 40 minutes,” head coach Jeff Dow said. “I thought we played well in all three phases: offense, defense and rebounding. The 14 offensive boards were huge not just for second-chance points, but to run clock in the fourth quarter as well.”
Emery Wilson’s short jumper with 9:12 remaining in the game gave ULM a 58-36 advantage, its best of the night, but the Jaguars scored seven straight points to force a ULM timeout with 6:18 to play. Tieuel helped stave off any potential rally with three free-throws and a layup to finish the night.
“It was certainly a great effort on three-pointers to go 8-of-19 for 42 percent,” Dow said. “Obviously, Chelsea led the way there. It was a balanced effort to have eight players with double-digit minutes as well as score. Chelsea’s 25 points were huge and she was efficient in only needing 14 shots. We got a lift from everyone off the bench. Journee [Beard], Andreanna [Jackson] and Stephanie [Ratliff] all made plays to help us out.”
The Warhawks (10-16, 4-13 SBC) took a 34-26 lead, its largest of the first half, with 39 seconds left after Alayshia Hunter hit a pair of free-throws. Jackson capped off the first half-ending 11-4 run with a twisting runner in the paint that gave ULM a 36-26 lead heading into the locker room.
“I knew we had to win since we had lost the last two on this trip,” Tieuel said. “Even though we lost those, I felt like we had good games. We are playing more as a team now.”
ULM took a 48-30 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter. The 7-0 run also included seven straight missed field goals by USA.
South Alabama (13-13, 9-8 SBC) had the first five points of the night, but ULM ended the first quarter on a 12-4 run that gave it an 18-13 lead. Tieuel had 11 points in that opening period.
The Warhawks will stay in the Yellowhammer State for Saturday’s 2 p.m. game at Troy.
Big Plays Down the Stretch Pushes Mountaineers Past Eagles
STATESBORO, Ga. - Appalachian State University women’s basketball (9-17, 6-11 SBC) needed big plays down the stretch to pull out an exciting 68-62 victory over archrival Georgia Southern (7-20, 4-14 SBC) Thursday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.
For the Mountaineers, the win snaps a four-game losing streak and a three-game skid on the road.
Joi Jones poured in a team-high 15 points (eight in the fourth quarter) on an efficient 5-for-8 shooting from the field while dishing out five assists. Madi Story followed suit with 14 points to round out the leading scorers, and pulled six off the glass. Bria Carter had perhaps her best game of the season with nine points, a game-high 12 rebounds and five helpers.
Eight of the nine student-athletes that came into the game scored, including 17 points from the second unit, which outscored Georgia Southern’s bench by 12 (17-5). Appalachian got huge contributions from Ashley Bassett-Smith, as she scored eight points on four shots and grabbed four boards. Kaila Craven and Elizabeth Norregaard combined for nine points on three trifectas.
App State hit a season-high nine 3-pointers, including three pivotal shots from long distance by senior Farrahn Wood. The Black and Gold did an excellent job of sharing the ball with 18 assists on 24 field goals (75 percent), 10 of those assists came from Carter and Jones.
Appalachian showed poise down the stretch in a tight contest that finished with six ties and nine lead changes. With 2:56 left in regulation and the game tied, 60-all, the Mountaineers went on an 8-2 run to capture their fourth win in the last five games in Hanner Fieldhouse.
Jones scored six-straight points and gave App State the lead for good when KeKe Cooper found Jones for a layup that led to getting fouled and converting picking up three points the old-fashion way. Appalachian hit some key free throws over the final minutes going 6-for-7 after going just 5-for-14.
Appalachian went 6-for-8 from the field over the final 6:27 of the game while Jones had an incredible fourth-quarter performance where she had a hand in 16 of the final 18 points overall when the Apps were trailing 51-50 and found Craven from beyond the arc to give App State a 53-51 lead.
Georgia Southern started the contest with a 5-2 advantage before App State found its first lead of the game, 6-5, when Bassett-Smith hit two of her four field goals. With App State holding a 9-5 advantage thanks to a 3-pointer from Craven, the hosts came back to tie the contest, 9-9. Appalachian scored seven of the final nine points to go into the second period with a 16-11 lead, while the tandem of Jones and Story scored all seven points.
The lead ballooned in the opening minutes of the second quarter with back-to-back treys from Jones and Wood that capped off a 13-2 run dating back to the 5:13 mark of the opening frame. Defensively, the Mountaineers forced GASO to miss seven-straight shots and endure a 6:51 scoring drought.
But the Eagles clawed their way back with a 9-0 run to cut the App State lead to one possession, 22-20. The Black and Gold responded by scoring the next eight points to take an eight-point lead, 30-22, once Norregaard drained a 3-pointer. Georgia Southern would slice the deficit on two more occasions before hitting one from long distance to put the Mountaineer lead to two, 33-31, entering the break.
Carter had herself an all-around half with five points, six boards and five assists while the Apps got 12 points from the bench and nine of the Mountaineers’ 13 field goals were assisted on. App State also shot 6-for-11 (54.5 percent) from the field in the second period with five of the field goals being assisted on.
Georgia Southern came out of the gate with some momentum, putting together an 11-3 run over the first 5:52 of the third quarter to take its largest lead of the game, 42-36. Appalachian dug deep to climb back when Story and Jones scored seven of the next points including a Story trifecta that dwindled the GASO lead to one, 44-43. A Cooper jumper and a Wood 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions spurted App State to a 48-44 lead before Georgia Southern answered with a three of its own to put App State’s lead to one, 48-47, going into the final period.
In the fourth quarter, both teams wouldn’t lead by no more than six until the final buzzer when App State claimed the triumph. With 6:27 left in the game, the Apps and Eagles traded baskets on three straight possessions up until the final few minutes that gave the crowd an exciting game between the two rivals.
App State will have another important Sun Belt game as the season winds down. The Mountaineers will travel to Atlanta for a 12 p.m. contest against Georgia State. The Panthers are a game behind App State in the race for the eighth seed in the conference tournament.