Women's Basketball: Nov. 21 Scoreboard
Stephen F. Austin 82, ULM 54
Eastern Kentucky 56, Central Arkansas 55
Troy 80, Southeastern Louisiana 78
Wiley 65, Sam Houston State 48
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Stephen F. Austin 82, ULM 54
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Sophomore Taylor Ross turned in her third straight 20-point scoring performance, senior Porsha Roberts had a monster double-double and the Stephen F. Austin women’s basketball routed the University of Louisiana at Monroe 82-54 on Friday night inside William R. Johnson Coliseum. The Ladyjacks improve to 2-1 with the win.
For the third time in as many games this season, Ross poured in more than 20 points, scoring a game-high 23 points on 5-for-11 shooting. She did most of her damage from the free throw line, however, knocking down 12 of 13 shots from the charity stripe for a career-high. Ross also dished out a career-high eight assists to finish a well-balanced game.
Roberts completed her third double-double of the season with 18 points and 15 rebounds. She went 7-for-11 from the field and also rejected six balls defensively. The Ladyjacks (2-1) have already accumulated 22 blocks in three games this season thanks in large part to Roberts – SFA’s all-time leading shot blocker.
Sophomore Brentney Branch also stayed hot from the field, hitting five three-pointers on nine tries, four of which came in the first half. Her final three-pointer with 47 seconds left in the game gave SFA itslargest lead at 28 points and bumped her to a career-high 16 points in the game.
Senior Brittney Matthew chipped in a season-high 11 points for SFA.
The Ladyjacks limited ULM (1-1) to 20.8 percent shooting in the second half and 35.2 percent overall to keep the Warhawks under 55 total points on the night. The scrappy defensive play by SFA helped create 17 turnovers, while the Ladyjacks gave the ball away just 11 times.
SFA jumped out to an 8-0 lead with six early points from Ross, and never relinquished control. ULM tied things up at 20-20 but the Ladyjacks outscored the Warhawks 23-12 over the final eight minutes of the first half to take a 43-32 lead into the break.
ULM would come no closer as SFA cruised to the 82-54 victory.
The Ladyjacks willhave one more home game at William R. Johnson Coliseum in the four-game home stretch to begin the season. The Ladyjacks host St. Edwards on Tuesday, Nov. 25 before flying to Albuquerque, N.M. for the University of New Mexico Thanksgiving Classic from Nov. 28-29.
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Eastern Kentucky 56, Central Arkansas 55
MACON, Ga. — A late pair of free throws from Eastern Kentucky and a turnover in the final seconds was enough to do in Central Arkansas on Friday as the Sugar Bears fell 56-55 to the Colonels in Preseason WNIT action at Mercer University.
After taking a 55-54 lead with 1:38 to play on a score inside from senior forward Terai Sadler, the Sugar Bears (0-2) forced three turnovers over the next minute to keep EKU (1-1) at bay. But the Colonels forced a turnover of their own with less than 30 seconds to play, getting a steal by Alexus Cooper. The Colonels worked the ball to Michaela Hunter, who was fouled with 10 seconds to play to earn a trip to the free throw line.
Hunter knocked down the pair to give EKU the lead, and then on the Sugar Bears' ensuing possession, Cooper came up with another steal to clinch the come-from-behind victory for the Colonels.
The Sugar Bears built a lead as large as 10 late in the first half, but the Colonels closed out the half with a 12-2 run over the last 4:25 to send the teams into the locker room tied at 29. EKU continued the run in the 2nd half, scoring the first six points to assume a lead that they would hold for the next 15 minutes before the Sugar Bears chipped away and eventually drew even at 51 with 4:35 left on a basket from Sadler. The teams then traded leads the rest of the way, with the margin remaining within two throughout the final five minutes.
UCA got a game-high 21 points and career-high tying 8 rebounds from sophomore guard Brianna Mullins, who was 4 of 10 from 3-point range. Mullins also added a pair of assists and steals in 33 minutes. Sophomore guard Maggie Proffitt, who had 22 in last week's season opener at Western Kentucky, followed with 16 on Friday, hitting 2 of 4 from beyond the arc and shooting 6-for-11 overall. Sadler had 10 points and a career-best 8 rebounds, and freshman Olivia McWilliams had a team-high four assists to go with two points, four rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes before going down in the final minute with a knee injury.
The Sugar Bears out rebounded the Colonels 39-33, made six 3-pointers to four for EKU, were 9 of 13 (69.2 percent) from the free throw line and had just one more turnover (17) than did the Colonels (16). However, EKU converted the UCA turnovers into 20 points while the Sugar Bears generated just nine off of EKU's. The Sugar Bears did hold a 15-7 advantage in second-chance points on the strength of 16 offensive rebounds, with five different players registering two apiece.
With the loss, the Sugar Bears will conclude their Preseason WNIT swing at 3 p.m. Central on Saturday when they face Jackson State, which lost 80-48 to host Mercer on Friday.
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Troy 80, Southeastern Louisiana 78
TROY, Ala. – Troy sophomore forward Lauren Day scored the game-winning basket with four seconds remaining, as the Trojans rallied past Southeastern Louisiana for an 80-78 victory in non-conference women’s basketball action Friday afternoon at Trojan Arena.
SLU (1-2) led by as many as 22 points early in the second half and held a 20-point lead with just under eight minutes remaining. However, Troy (1-2) closed the game on a 32-10 run to spoil the Lady Lions’ bid to earn their first road win of 2014-15.
Junior forward Nanna Pool posted her first double-double of the season for Southeastern, finishing with game-high totals of 23 points – tying a career-high - and 10 rebounds. Pool was joined in double figures by junior guard Peaches Anderson, who scored a career-high 15 points, and senior guard Elizabeth Styles, who scored in double figures for the third straight game, chipping in with 12 points.
SLUs senior forward Jameika Hoskins shared team-high rebounding honors with Pool, finishing with a career-high 10 boards. Styles, senior guard Symone Miller and junior guard Erica Hernandez each dished out a game-high four assists for SLU. Miller also finished with a team-high three steals.
Troy was led by senior guard Aissata Maiga, who came off the bench with a team-high 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four steals. Maiga was joined in double figures by junior guard Ashley Beverly-Kelley (15 points) and senior forward Ronita Garrett (11 points).
Southeastern took command of the game with its most efficient half of the young season. Pool scored 15 points in the initial 20 minutes, as Southeastern opened the game with a 55.2 field goal percentage (16-for-29) on the way to a commanding 42-25 halftime advantage.
The lead would grow to as many as 22 early in the second half and after a pair of free throws by Styles, SLU maintained a 68-48 lead with 8:57 remaining.
However, Troy just wouldn’t go away, roaring back into the game. The Trojans finally tied the game on a layup by Beverly-Kelley with 2:49 left in the contest.
Southeastern would retake the lead four more times, leading for the final time on a bucket by senior guard Annessa De La Cruz with 40 seconds left. However, senior guard Kourtney Coleman quickly tied the game with a layup to knot the score at 78-78 with 32 seconds remaining.
Miller was fouled on SLU’s next trip down the floor, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Day grabbed the defensive rebound, setting up the game-winner.
Southeastern will play its next three games in the University Center. The home stand begins on Tuesday, when SLU will host Mobile at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at
www.LionSports.net, where live video (LionVision subscription required) and live stats will be available.
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Wiley 65, Sam Houston State 48
Huntsville, Texas – Taylor Dorsey and Shernise Robertson each scored 13 points but the Sam Houston State women’s basketball team fell 65-48 to Wiley College Friday at the annual “Pack the House” game.
The Bearkats held an early 12-11 lead in the first half before Wiley College went on a 10-2 run to go ahead. The Wildcats would lead the rest of the way.
Wiley was led by Tyeka Ranton who scored 23 points and pulled down eight rebounds. The only other Wildcat player to score in double digits was Jimelliah Price who added 14 points.
The Kats were outrebounded 65-48 and outscored 32-24 in the paint. Wiley’s bench contributed 32 points while the SHSU bench managed just six points.
Sam Houston falls to 0-2 early in the season and will hit the road for the long trip to Brookings, South Dakota to take on South Dakota State Monday at 6 p.m.
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