Women's Basketball: Feb. 12 Scoreboard
Lamar 79, Houston Baptist 62
Stephen F. Austin 64, UIW 47
Abilene Christian 63, Sam Houston State 48
Northwestern State 54, Central Arkansas 52
Texas A&M-Corpus Christ 66, New Orleans 52
McNeese State 66, Southeastern Louisiana 62
Lamar 79, Houston Baptist 62
BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar Lady Cardinals became the first team to clinch a berth in the Southland Conference women’s basketball tournament with a 79-62 win over visiting Houston Baptist on Thursday.
JaMeisha Edwards poured in a game-high 26 points for Lamar (14-10 overall, 11-2) as the Lady Cardinals ran their winning streak to six games and maintained a one-game lead over Stephen F. Austin at the top of the Southland standings.
The Lady Cardinals, who entered the game 10th in the nation in steals, averaging 11.6 per game, had 17 steals against HBU, as the Huskies (9-14, 3-9) committed 33 turnovers on the night. The Lady Cardinals outscored HBU 34-10 in points off of turnovers. Caroline Adesulu tied a career high with six steals, while Edwards had five steals, one shy of her career best.
Kiandra Bowers registered he r second double-double of the season for Lamar, finishing with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Shauna Long came off the bench to add 12 points for Lamar. Baileigh O’Dell added nine points in the win.
Dominique Edwards fouled out with just three points, but moved into 10th place on Lamar’s all-time scoring list with 1,057 points, one ahead of Carolyn Ford.
Erin McGarrachan led Houston Baptist with 19 points. Rachel Arthur had 18 points and Anna Strickland added 14 for the Huskies, who are 1-6 all-time against Lamar.
Lamar returns to action at 7 p.m. Feb. 19 when it travels to Stephen F. Austin in what is shaping up to be a showdown for first place in the conference. Stephen F. Austin held on for a 59-55 win at Lamar on Jan. 22.
Lamar’s next home game is 4 p.m. Feb. 21 against McNeese State.
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Stephen F. Austin 64, UIW 47
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin women’s basketball team flexed its muscles in the second half to pull away from Incarnate Word in a 64-47 victory on Thursday night inside the Alice P. McDermott Convocation Center. The Ladyjacks improve to 16-6 overall and 9-2 in Southland Conference play with their fourth straight win.
The 16-6 start to the season is the best start through 22 games for the program since the 2001-02 season when SFA started with a 17-5 record.
For the fourth straight game, the Ladyjacks got double digit scoring efforts from Porsha Roberts, Tierany Henderson and Taylor Ross. Roberts was nearly unstoppable through extended stages of Thursday’s contest, pouring in 20 points on an impressive 8-for-10 shooting. She also collected eight rebounds and rejected two shots on the evening.
Ross got off to a quick start in the game with nine points in the first half and finished with 12 points overall, shooting at a 5-for-11 clip. Henderson chipped in 10 points, all of which came in the second half. The senior forward led SFA with four steals and four blocks, including two monster rejections of UIW three-point attempts.
The Ladyjacks were a force down low for the full 40 minutes, outscoring the Cardinals (5-17, 2-9 SLC) 38-22 in the paint. Sophomore center Adrienne Lewis showcased her strong post play on Thursday, hauling in a career-high nine rebounds to lead all SFA players.
The Ladyjacks built a 30-26 halftime advantage with low block dominance and hot shooting from Roberts and Ross. Roberts, who made her first seven shots from the field overall on the night, was a perfect 4-for-4 in the first half and went into the locker room with 10 points. Ross added nine points on 4-for-7 shooting. Both Ladyjacks helped SFA outscore UIW 20-10 in the paint in the first 20 minutes.
Roberts banked in a shot with 14:10 to play in the first to give SFA its first lead of the game at 10-8 and the Ladyjacks didn’t relinquish control the rest of the night.
SFA started the second half red hot, extending its lead to 41-28 at the first media timeout (15:39) with an 11-2 run out of the gate. Henderson came alive with her first five points coming during the span.
Great defense the rest of the way helped the Ladyjacks create separation for the 17-point victory. SFA led by as many as 18 points in the second half after Henderson converted a three-point play with 9:17 to go.
The Cardinals mustered just 21 points in the entire second half and shot 25.8 percent (8-for-31) from the floor. UIW turned the ball over 12 times after halftime due to the increased SFA defensive pressure.
Brittney Matthew distributed the SFA attack with a team-high six assists as the Ladyjacks shot the ball at a 44.1 percent rate on the night. Freshman Charisma Alexander had another nice game off the bench, scoring six points (3-for-6 shooting) with six rebounds.
The Ladyjacks will look for their fifth straight victory on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. when they take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas. SFA beat the Islanders 64-55 earlier this season on Jan. 31 at home.
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Abilene Christian 63, Sam Houston State 48
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Alexis Mason scored 20 points off the bench Thursday night and ACU’s defense held Sam Houston State to its third-lowest point total of the season as the Wildcats knocked off the Lady Bearkats, 63-48, in a Southland Conference women’s basketball game at Johnson Coliseum.
Coming off the bench for the second straight game, Mason rebounded from a scoreless game last Saturday in ACU’s win over Southeastern Louisiana to score 20 points in a game for the fourth time this season. She also had her best shooting night from the field (5 of 11, 45.5 percent) since she hit 8 of 15 from the field (53.3 percent) against Incarnate Word on Jan. 24.
Thursday night’s game turned less than seven minutes into the second when with the Wildcats leading, 42-40. But Sam Houston State went scoreless from the 13:19 mark to the 5:03 mark of the second half while ACU outscored the Lady Bearkats 13-0 during the span.
Sydney Shelstead had four points in the run, while Suzzy Dimba had three points and Paris Webb, Ellyn Avery and Whitney West added two points apiece in the tide-turning burst. ACU’s lead was never below 11 points the rest of the way.
In the first game between these teams (Jan. 22 in Abilene), the Wildcats led 58-51 with 1:39 to play before allowing Sam Houston State guard Shernise Robertson to go nuts in the final 90 seconds. She scored 10 of her game-high 28 points in the final 90 seconds to lead the Lady Bearkats to a 63-58 victory.
But Thursday night in Huntsville, the Wildcats shut down Robertson, holding her to her third-lowest point total of the season as she scored just seven points on 3 of 11 shooting. As a team the Lady Bearkats hit just 16 of 46 shots from the field (34.8 percent), including just 5 of 17 from beyond the 3-point arc (29.4 percent).
On the other side, the Wildcats were led by Mason’s 20 points and Suzzy Dimba’s ninth double-double of the season (20th of her career) with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Every Wildcat who played scored, and the ACU bench scored 29 points, led by Mason’s 20 points.
The Wildcats’ second straight win and fifth in their last seven games pushes them to 13-10 overall and 5-7 in the Southland. Sam Houston State, meanwhile, falls to 6-16 and 5-7. ACU won’t play again until Wednesday at 7 p.m. when it hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (11-11, 7-4) at Moody Coliseum.
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Northwestern State 54, Central Arkansas 52
NATCHITOCHES, Texas – In a tight game down the stretch, most people who follow Northwestern State women’s basketball know Janelle Perez will have the ball in her hands.
It happened Thursday night and, somewhat predictably, Perez delivered, drawing a foul and draining the game-winning free throws with 2.9 seconds left as the Lady Demons eeked out a 54-52 victory against Central Arkansas in Southland Conference action.
Perez’ game winners were set up off an inbounds feed from Keisha Lee, who found Perez cutting to the basket before drawing the foul on Jameka Watkins.
Perez did the rest, sinking the final two of her game-high 19 points to compete a 6-for-6 outing from the free-throw line. Perez scored NSU’s final eight points of the contest.
Perez’ free throws also helped Northwestern State (13-10, 8-4) snap a three-game losing streak and gain a measure of revenge for a 63-46 loss in the teams’ first meeting this season.
And the Lady Demons did it, for the most part, with defense.
Northwestern State limited UCA’s Maggie Proffitt to just three shot attempts and four points. In the Sugar Bears’ 63-46 win at Conway, Ark., Proffitt set a career high with 28 points.
After shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half, NSU hit just 25 percent of its second-half shots. The Lady Demons, however, sunk all five of their second-half free throws and 11 of 12 overall from the line.
Lee, who shadowed Proffitt for much of the game defensively, gave Northwestern State a second double-figure scorer, chipping in 10 points. Brianna Mullins led Central Arkansas with 10 points, while Kendara Watts finished with 11 for the Sugar Bears (13-10, 6-5).
The teams swapped better offensive halves, as Central Arkansas struggled to 33.3-percent shooting in the first half before making 44 percent of its second-half shots (11 of 25).
The Sugar Bears took their largest lead of the game, 45-41, with 6:14 to go on a Watts jumper before NSU put together a quick 5-0 surge on an Amy Staha jumper and a three-point play from Beatrice Attura.
A layup by Mullins gave UCA its final lead of the game with 1:52 to play before Perez knocked down a game-tying jumper 16 seconds later.
Another Perez jumper put NSU up two with 1:14 to play before Proffitt answered with her only field goal of the second half with 50 seconds to play.
The Lady Demons got one final defensive stop with 24 seconds to play. UCA had fouls to give and fouled Perez twice in the final 10 seconds before the third proved to be decisive.
The Lady Demons have a quick turnaround, as they head to Lake Charles for a Saturday 1 p.m. meeting with Southland Conference foe McNeese State. That game is the opener of a doubleheader with the Demons and Cowboys men’s game to follow.?
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Texas A&M-Corpus Christ 66, New Orleans 52
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball team cruised to a 66-52 win over the New Orleans Privateers Thursday night at the American Bank Center. Olivia Fouty scored a team-high 16 points and narrowly missed her 10th double-double of the year, while Camesha Davis scored 10 points and blocked two shots in the win.
It was all Islanders (12-11, 8-4 SLC) in the first half as the team shot 49.9 percent (15-of-32) from the field on their way to a 39-17 halftime lead. Fouty led the first half charge with 10 points and seven rebounds while junior Ashanti Plummer had a tremendous first half, scoring six points and grabbing eight rebounds on her way to a career-high 13 rebound night.
New Orleans (3-18, 1-11 SLC) opened the second half on an 13-2 run to cut the lead to 11 points at 41-30 before Kassie Jones entered the game and immediately put the Islanders on the board with a jumper on the fast break. Several times throughout the game Jones made immediate impacts off the bench including her three steals. The sophomore has racked up 13 steals over the past three games, many of which have been taken the length of the court for easy transition buckets. She finished with 11 points, including a buzzer-beating jumper from the top of the key with one-second remaining on the shot clock as well as a floater from the left elbow to end the first half.
The Islanders answered UNO's run with a 14-0 run of their own from 9:46 to 5:12 in the second half. Junior Shay Weaver, who is the Islanders leading scorer, recorded seven of her nine total points during the spurt, pushing the lead to 21 points.
The Privateers outscored the Islanders in the second half 35-27, but could not overcome a 22-point deficit. Freshman guard Randi Brown scored a game-high 17 points for New Orleans.
UNO used the 3-pointer to close the gap in the second half, connecting on four of their five total treys in the frame. Danielle Thomas and Octavia Wilson each finished 2-of-4 from downtown for the Privateers.
Jennifer Ramirez added four points and three assists for the Islanders while junior Gee Lawler grabbed a career-high six rebounds and blocked two shots.
A&M-Corpus Christi had its chances to blow the game out completely in the final period by way of the free-throw line, but were unable to capitalize at the line, shooting 35.3 percent (6-of-17)
The Islanders will have a quick turnaround as they host Stephen F. Austin on Saturday which will be a doubleheader at the American Bank Center with the Islander men. Both games will be stream live on ESPN 3. The women will take the floor at 1 p.m. and the men will follow.
For the latest team information, like the team on Facebook (Islanders Women's Basketball), and follow the Islanders on Twitter and Instagram (@IslandersWBB).
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McNeese State 66, Southeastern Louisiana 62
LAKE CHARLES, La.—Freshman Frederica Haywood grabbed a career high 20 rebounds and McNeese snapped its two game losing skid with a 66-62 Southland Conference win over Southeastern La. Thursday.
Haywood was five rebounds shy of tying the single game record that is held by Hall of Famer Pat Jean. Haywood picked up 13 of her 20 rebounds in the first half. The last Cowgirl to grab 20 or more rebounds was Kendra Wells during the 2011-12 season. Wells grabbed 21 against Southeastern La.
As a team, McNeese (13-10, 7-5 SLC) dominated the board by a 59-39 count. The Cowgirls picked up 31 defensive rebounds and held the Lady Lions to five-second chance points. Talisa Boyd also go in on the rebounding, ending the game with 10.
While Haywood and Boyd took care of the rebounding, Allison Baggett and Jayln Johnson took care of the scoring for the Cowgirls. Both players ended the night with 14 points.
The Cowgirls held the lead for most of the first half but a scoring drought allowed Southeastern La. to cut the lead to one point (23-22). McNeese closed out the first half on a 10-0 run to lead 32-25 at halftime.
McNeese started the second half on another run to take a 41-31 lead, four minutes into the second half for its largest lead of the game. Southeastern La. cut the lead to seven but a three-pointer by Hannah Cupit brought the lead back up to 10 points.
Southeastern La. outscored McNeese 13-3 over a four-minute span to cut the lead to 50-49. McNeese kept its composure and extended the lead to five on a jumper by Baggett and a breakaway layup by Amber Donnes.
With McNeese leading by seven (60-53) with 3:27 to play, Southeastern La. once again got within two points (64-62) on a Jameika Hoskins layup. Free throws by Johnson and Haywood in the last seconds of the game sealed the win.
Peaches Anderson and Hoskins led Southeastern La. in scoring with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
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