Northwestern State stays on top of Southern
Northwestern State 66, Southern 53
NATCHITOCHES, La. ? Northwestern State raced to a 19-4 lead in the first eight minutes Tuesday night as Lyndzee Greene and Jessica McPhail each had 14 points to lead four double-digit scorers for the Lady Demons in a 66-53 homecourt win over Southern in non-conference women's basketball.
It was the home opener for Northwestern, 1-1, which held Southern, 1-1, to 25 percent shooting. The Lady Jags shaved the margin to six points early after halftime, but got no closer afterward and trailed by double digits for all but 15 seconds in the final nine minutes of play.
Carneta Henderson had a game-high 16 points while hitting 4 of her 6 shots, including both of her 3-point tries, for Southern. The other 10 Southern players combined to make only 13 of 62 shots.
Adding 10 points apiece for Northwestern were Brooke Shepherd and Britany Kinlaw.
McPhail scored NSU's first 7 points, while Greene and Shepherd drained consecutive 3-pointers before a layup by Kinlaw to carry the Lady Demons into their 19-4 advantage.
But Northwestern stalled afterwards, shooting 35 percent in both halves. The Lady Demons sank only 15 of 28 free throws and connected on just 5 of 24 3-point tries.
"Getting out to the big lead didn't really work the way it should have," said fifth-year NSU coach Jennifer Graf. "Very pleased with the way we played in the first 10 minutes of the game, we were able to turn them over and convert, but after that it got sloppy. Southern refused to fade away and made it into a 40-minute game after a horrible start for them. They made some surges but we did enough to keep the lead."
Southern scrapped back to a 33-25 halftime deficit, then scored the first basket of the second half. Northwestern responded by running off seven straight points, getting three by McPhail and a 3-pointer from Shepherd to rebuild a comfortable advantage at 40-27.
The Lady Jags made one more push, when a Henderson jumper preceded three free throws from Kimberly Griffin that drew the visitors within 42-36 with 11:40 remaining. White hit a mid-range jumper and McPhail a layup as Northwestern ran off six unanswered points to reestablish control with 10 minutes remaining.
"The shooting percentages for both teams weren't very good. I'd like to think that was good defense but it was more missed layups and open looks on both sides," said Graf. " I'm more upset with our free throw percentage. We got plenty of trips there, but so did they. We didn't knock down free throws that could have given us a better cushion,"
The game brought former Lady Demon star Sandy Pugh, the veteran Southern head coach and Natchitoches Parish native, back to Prather Coliseum, where she was the conference most valuable player and an Academic All-America candidate as a senior in 1986-87.
Central Arkansas 41, Southeast Missouri State 60
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. ? Facing a large second-half deficit, the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears made a run at Southeast Missouri State but couldn't get over the hump as they fell 60-41 to the Redhawks at the Show Me Center on Tuesday.
After trailing by as many as 21, the Sugar Bears (0-2) battled back to trim the lead to 11 with 8:26 remaining, but the two-time defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Redhawks (2-0) were able to keep UCA at bay to record their third straight win in the series.
Down 21, the Sugar Bears started the comeback with a layup from freshman Aly Sherman with 10:56 to play. Sherman then added a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 17 and fed Jamye Adair in the post for an easy basket inside to trim it to 15 with 9:17 to go.
UCA cut it to 13 after a steal by Sherman led to a layup by Laura Beth Anderson. Then a steal by freshman Marci Moffitt, who made her first collegiate start, led to a layup by Mariesha Piggee to cut the SEMO lead to 11.
Trailing 52-41, UCA had a number of opportunities to trim the SEMO lead to single digits but couldn't convert. Piggee had a 3-point attempt go halfway down before spinning out, and the Sugar Bears squandered many other opportunities as they went without a score for the final 5:41.
Unable to cut any further into Redhawk lead, the Sugar Bears saw their chances slip away as SEMO hit a pair of free throws and then turned a steal on the ensuing inbounds pass into an easy layup to extend the lead to 15 with under two minutes to play.
After a foul by Whitney Betts ? one of 26 on the night for the Sugar Bears ? SEMO's Crysta Glenn made two more free throws to push the lead to 17 with 1:20 remaining. SEMO's Tierra Johnson scored inside with 31 seconds for the game's final score.
Jamye Adair led the Sugar Bears in scoring for the second consecutive game, scoring 11 after putting up 15 in the season opener at Louisiana Tech; and led UCA in rebounding with seven. Anderson added 10 points and five rebounds.
Glenn had 17 points and eight rebounds to lead SEMO, which limited UCA to just 19 second-half points.
For the game, UCA shot 32.6 percent (15 of 46) from the floor while the Redhawks shot 42.6 percent (20 of 47).
The Sugar Bears were just 1 of 13 on 3-point attempts (7.7 percent) to narrowly miss ending their streak of 210 straight games with a 3-point basket. The Redhawks shot 42.9 percent on 3-of-7 shooting.
After being outrebounded by 25 at Louisiana Tech, UCA outrebounded SEMO 37-31, limiting the Redhawks six offensive rebounds and one second-chance point. The Sugar Bears had 11 offensive rebounds, four by Adair, that they converted into 10 second-chance points.
UCA was handcuffed much of the game by foul trouble, having committed 16 first-half fouls and finishing with 26. Both of UCA's centers, Chorcelle Taylor and Megan Moss, both fouled out along with Aly Sherman. SEMO took advantage, shooting 27 free throws and making 17.
It was the third straight season the Redhawks have beaten the Sugar Bears, winning 64-60 two years ago in the Show Me Center and scoring a 91-60 victory over UCA in the Farris Center last season.
The Sugar Bears will play their home opener on Saturday at 1 p.m. when they host Grambling.
Southeastern Louisiana 47, New Orleans 61
NEW ORLEANS, La. ? A 10-0 UNO run midway through the second half stopped a Southeastern Louisiana comeback, as the Lady Lions fell to the Lady Privateers, 61-47, in a non-conference contest on Tuesday at Lakefront Arena.
Southeastern (0-2), which trailed by as many as 16 in the opening half, fought back to cut it within six eight minutes into the second half. The Lady Lions kept the margin within singles digits, but UNO held a 42-35 lead with 8:21 time remaining.
The Lady Privateers (2-0) took over in the next two minutes, rolling off 10 consecutive points to put Southeastern down, 52-35 with 6:45 remaining. Southeastern could get no closer than 12 the rest of the way.
“We missed too many easy scoring opportunities,” Southeastern head coach Lori Davis Jones commented. “We have to be tougher - both mentally and physically - and withstand our opponents’ runs.”
Southeastern senior forward Kristy Carlin posted her sixth career double-double with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Bethany Sinclair added seven points with five rebounds and a game-high four steals. Southeastern hit 28.1 percent (16-for-57) from the floor.
Brittany Helm led UNO with 16 points, while Ty Felder added 12 for the Lady Privateers. Ashley Gorsh led UNO with 10 rebounds, as the Lady Privateers had a 46-34 rebounding advantage.
UNO led by as many as 16 in the opening half, as the Privateers hit 46.9 percent (15-for-32) of their field goal attempts. Southeastern shot just 27.6 percent (8-for-29) in the opening half, but a pair of Carlin buckets cut the halftime advantage to 12, 35-23.
Carlin led all scorers with 11 points in the opening half, while Helm and Felder had seven points apiece for the Privateers. UNO did its damage on the glass in the initial period with a 24-14 rebounding advantage as Gorsch pulled down six rebounds for the Lady Privateers.
Southeastern will return to action and open up its 2008-09 home schedule on Saturday, hosting North Florida at 3 p.m. in the University Center. Saturday’s game will be broadcast on the Internet only at www.LionSports.net.
McNeese State 56, #19 Oklahoma State 89
STILLWATER, Ok. ? McNeese State’s Shante’ Perry led the Cowgirls with 18 points here Tuesday night in a 89-56 loss at 19th ranked Oklahoma State. Caitlyn Baggett pitched in with 15 points, 11 coming in the second half. Baggett was 3 of 7 from three-point range.
“We had a great first half. We played well defensively but had a few break downs. We learned a lot of the little we need to work on. I am proud of the fight we put forth, especially in the first half,” said head coach Brooks Williams.
Andrea Riley, who is the Big 12 player of the year candidate, national player of the year candidate and on the preseason Wade Watch List, scored a game high 22 points. Riley was held to eight points in the first half behind the defensive effort of Conceita Contrer.
McNeese trailed 38-26 at the half and Perry led the Cowgirls in scoring with 12 points. Perry was 5 for 10 in the first half and 2 of 5 from three-point range. The Cowgirls shot 35.7 percent from the field and made both free throws attempted.
McNeese held a five point lead (7-2) at the 17:16 mark in the first half and led until 13:19 left. Oklahoma State took a 14-13 lead on a three-pointer by Taylor Hardeman. OSU went on a 14-5 run and held a 28-18 lead at the 7:54 mark.
The game concludes a week long trip that began at Sun Belt Conference member New Orleans last Friday where McNeese fell 70-65 then a 58-56 loss at Conference USA member Tulsa Sunday night.
“We are excited about coming home and sharing our first home game with the McNeese and Lake Charles community. We invite everyone to come out and support our Cowgirls and welcome this new team to Burton Coliseum.”
McNeese State will host Arkansas-Monticello in its home opener this Saturday in a 5 p.m. game at Burton Coliseum.