Women's Basketball: Dec. 17 Scoreboard
Northwestern State 61, Arkansas-Monticello 56
Oakland 61, A&M-Corpus Christi 54
Texas 76, McNeese State 59
Texas Southern 92, Houston Baptist 80
Prairie View A&M 70, Sam Houston State 53
Northwestern State 61, Arkansas-Monticello 56
NATCHITOCHES, La. – Trailing at halftime Wednesday against Arkansas-Monticello, Northwestern State needed a wake-up call.
Third-year co-head coach Brooke Stoehr delivered it in a longer-than-usual halftime speech, and the Lady Demons put it into action in the second half, rallying past the visiting Cotton Blossoms for a 61-56 victory in front of a crowd of 315 at Prather Coliseum.
Buoyed by a newfound aggression, NSU (5-4) nearly doubled its scoring output in the second half, posting 40 of its 61 points after the break to snap a three-game losing streak and remain unbeaten at home in 2014-15.
Despite the more aggressive approach, NSU was unable to pull away from the Cotton Blossoms (4-5) for much of the second half. Chelsea Rogers’ second 3-pointer of the second half gave the Lady Demons their largest lead of the game at 44-38.
UAM, a Division II team counting Wednesday’s game as an exhibition, responded with a 10-3 run that gave it a 51-49 lead with 4:11 to play and set up a back-and-forth final few minutes.
NSU took the lead for good at 57-56 on a Presley Owens layup with 47 seconds left. From there, NSU forced UAM’s Tori Nichols into a turnover with 20 seconds left, and Perez and backcourt mate Keisha Lee hit four free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal NSU’s fifth home win of the season.
Perez led four NSU scorers in double figures with 13 points – all after halftime. Rogers, Owens and Lee each had eight points in the second half, as the Lady Demons shot 55.6 percent from the field (10-for-18) and knocked down 17 of their 22 free throws.
It was a drastic turnaround offensively from a first half in which NSU shot 8 for 29 from the field (29.6 percent) and made just half of its 10 free throws.
Lee and Rogers each had 12 points for the Lady Demons while Owens added 10 points for NSU, whose 32 free throws marked the second most it has attempted in a game this season. Rogers’ total was a season high and equaled the second-best scoring night of her NSU career.
Nikki Mullen and Nelsha Peterson each had 15 points to lead UAM, while Jordan Goforth, who entered the game averaging 19.6 points per game, was held to 10 points on 3-for-9 shooting.
The Lady Demons wrap up a stretch of three games in six days when they travel to Jackson State for a 2 p.m. Saturday tipoff.
– Return to top –
Oakland 61, A&M-Corpus Christi 54
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball dropped a close one to Oakland University, 61-54, at the American Bank Center Wednesday evening.
Down the stretch, the Islanders traded baskets with the Golden Grizzlies. A&M-Corpus Christi closed the gap to just four points at 58-54 with 2:37 left on a
Jennifer Ramirez jumper, but Oakland's Olivia Nash answered quickly as she did all night with a quick jumper on the other end. Nash finished with a game-high 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting.
Oakland (5-4) took 20 shots from behind the arc in the game, but during a 9:23 minute stretch to end the first half and begin the second half, the Golden Grizzlies hit four of their five treys as the team went on a 28-7 run.
Trailing by as many as 16 points, the Islanders (2-7) were able to get back into the game thanks to their gritty play in the paint. Several times throughout the game, shots were put up but corralled by an AMCC player for the easy putback. A&M-Corpus Christi outscored the Golden Grizzlies 36-24 in the paint on the night, to go along with 10 points coming off of offensive rebounds. The team also set a new season-high in blocks, finishing with 10 in the game.
The first half featured six lead changes in a back-and-forth affair. The Golden Grizzlies made a late run to take a 33-26 lead into the locker room. In final minute of the half, Oakland was able to go on a 5-0 run to push its lead to seven. Nash hit a three-pointer while Leah Somerfield drained two free throws with 16 seconds remaining. Nash led Oakland with 15 first half points on 7-of-9 shooting. A&M-Corpus Christi shot 37 percent in the half, its best first half since playing at UT-Pan American.
A&M-Corpus Christi was led by junior
Shay Weaver who scored 15 points off the bench.
Forward
Camesha Davis put in 10 points to go along with a career-high 11 rebounds to record her first double-double of her career. Ramirez, a Bronx, N.Y. native scored a season-high nine points.
The Islanders will wrap up play at the American Bank Center with a matchup with Texas Southern on Saturday at 1 p.m. The team will then take the holidays off before returning to action on Dec. 30 as they play host to Huston-Tillotson.
For the latest team information, like the team on Facebook (Islanders Women's Basketball), and follow the Islanders on Twitter and Instagram (@IslandersWBB).
– Return to top –
Texas 76, McNeese State 59
AUSTIN, Texas --The eyes of Texas were upon McNeese State women’s basketball Wednesday night as the Cowgirls gained respect despite falling 76-59 to third ranked Texas.
The 59 points scored by the Cowgirls equals the third most points given up by Texas this season. Tennessee, who was ranked no. 4/5 also scored 59 points in a 72-59 loss to Texas on Nov. 30. Stanford scored 81 and UCLA scored 65 against the Longhorns earlier this season.
McNeese trailed 44-19 at the half behind a 27.6 shooting percent including a 14.3 three-point field goal percent. Texas pulled out to its lead behind second chance points and their transition off of Cowgirl misses. The Cowgirls had good looks but couldn’t hit the shots.
The Cowgirls (5-4) shot better in the second half, 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range. Junior guard Jayln Johnson kick started the Cowgirls that started scoring run to cut the lead to 10 points with 11:11 to play. Allison Baggett scored the Cowgirls’ first five points of the second half before Johnson scored the Cowgirls’ next 14 points including a three-point play and three straight treys. Baggett scored a game-high 22 points and Johnson chipped in 20 points, 18 coming in the second half.
Texas (9-0) go double figure scoring from four players. Nneka Ememkpali who is on three of the major national player of the year watch lists led Texas with a double-double (18 points, 14 rebounds). Kelsey Lang also scored 18 points, Brianna Taylor chipped in 14 and Celina Rodrigo ended the game with 10.
McNeese will conclude its road trip on Friday when the Cowgirls take on Rice in a 6 p.m. game.
– Return to top –
Texas Southern 92, Houston Baptist 80
HOUSTON, Texas – Senior guard Tayler Jefferson scored a season-high 25 points and tied her career high of five 3-pointers, but visiting Texas Southern forced Houston Baptist to commit 23 turnovers and defeated the Huskies, 92-80, Wednesday evening at Sharp Gym.
Jefferson shot 8-of-12 from the floor, 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 4-for-4 at the charity stripe to lead HBU (4-4). Monet Neal and Rachel Arthur scored 15 and 11 points, respectively. Shanice Steenholdt earned her sixth double-double of the season as she had 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. HBU shot 54 percent from the floor.
Alexus Johnson scored 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting to lead Texas Southern (2-6). Morgan Simmons recorded a double-double of 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Diamonisha Sophus almost had a double-double, as she finished with 17 points and nine assists. The Lady Tigers also shot 54 percent from the floor.
HBU led 5-2 following a steal and layup by Steenholdt, but Texas Southern tied the game on a Johnson three-pointer at the 17:08-mark.
A three-pointer by Heidi Sihvola gave HBU a 10-9 lead with 15:11 remaining in the opening half before Texas Southern used a 13-0 run to take a 22-10 advantage with just under 12 minutes to go.
HBU cut the deficit to four, 22-18, following a layup by Steenholdt, but the Lady Tigers used another big run, this one being 12-0, to take a 30-18 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the half.
The Huskies cut the deficit to single digits, coming as close as eight, 37-29, but the Lady Tigers would outscore HBU, 12-7, in the final 3:52 to take a 13-point lead into the locker room, 46-39. Sophus culminated the run with a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Jefferson led the Huskies with 11 first-half points, as she was perfect in the half: 4-for-4 from the floor and hitting all three long balls. The Huskies shot 63 percent from the floor, but converted 16 turnovers which resulted in 18 TSU points. Brianna Sidney led the Lady Tigers with 13 points, as TSU shot 54 percent from the floor.
HBU cut the deficit in single digits, 53-44, causing TSU to take a timeout at the 16:49-mark of the second half. The breather worked for the Lady Tigers, as they scored six-straight points to lead by 15, 59-44, with 15:53 remaining.
Texas Southern led by as many as 17 before HBU went on a furious run, outscoring TSU 17-4 to cut the deficit to four, 67-63, halfway into the second half. Jefferson hit back-to-back three pointers and forced a steal which resulted in two made free throws, all in a span of 1:27, during the run.
A three-pointer by Johnson gave the Lady Tigers a seven-point lead, as HBU could not get closer than six the rest of the way.
Jefferson had 14 second-half points, while Ashleigh Nwanguma came off the bench to score seven. The Huskies shot 49 percent in the half. Johnson led Texas Southern with 13 points, as the Lady Tigers shot 53 percent.
HBU will look to rebound when it hosts McMurry Friday at 6 pm from Sharp Gym.
– Return to top –
Prairie View A&M 70, Sam Houston State 53
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Despite 23 points from junior guard Shernise Robertson, the Sam Houston women’s basketball team fell 70-53 to Prairie View A&M Wednesday night at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
Chelsey Rosier scored 16 points and Jeanette Jackson added 14 to lead Prairie View A&M as the Panthers won their second game in row to up their season mark to 3-6.
Taylor Dorsey added 10 points and Amanda Barnes scored seven for Sam Houston as the Kats dropped to 1-7 for the year.
Sam Houston jumped out to a 10-0 lead as the Panthers missed their first five shots. Prairie View did not score until the 12:58 mark in the first half. But the basketball by Panther guard Kaitlyn Parker ignited a 10-0 run to tie the contest.
The Bearkats held two brief two-point leads, the second on a pair of free throws by Shedijah Moore to make the score 14-12 with 7:48 before intermission. The Panthers finished the half with a 17-13 run to go into the locker room up 29-25.
Prairie View out-scored Sam Houston 41-28 in the second period.
Shamiya Brooks led Prairie View with seven rebounds as the Panthers won the battle of the boards 39-34. Moore pulled down 10 rebounds for Sam Houston.
Bothered often by Prairie View’s press, the Bearkats gave up 34 points on their 29 turnovers. Sam Houston shot 32.6 percent (14-of-43) from the field while the Panthers answered with 41.9 percent shooting (26-of-62).
Sam Houston travels to Fort Worth to play TCU in the SHSU women’s next contest Sunday.
– Return to top –