SUN BELT WOMEN

UALR overcomes its pitiful start

The UALR women’s team overcame a nine-point first half to defeat Oral Roberts 53-51 on Saturday at the Mabee Center in Tulsa, giving Coach Joe Foley his 200th victory at UALR.

Taylor Gault hit a baseline jumper from the right side of the court with just six seconds left, capping UALR’s rally from an 11-point deficit.

Trailing 39-28 midway through the second half, UALR (3-2) used an 18-4 run to take its first lead. The Golden Eagles (1-5) fought back, though, tying the game at 51 after making 1 of 2 free throws with 35 seconds to go.

The Trojans brought the ball upcourt and gave it to Gault, who made her way through the paint and drained a jumper from the right side to put UALR ahead with eight seconds left. Gault then cut in front of a pass by Christian Key and fell to the ground with the ball in her hands as the buzzer sounded.

Taylor Ford led the Trojans with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting, and Shanity James scored 12 points to extend her streak of games with at least 10 points to 11. Gault finished with 11 points and moved into sole possession of eighth place on the school’s career scoring list.

James and Kaitlyn Pratt had six rebounds apiece for UALR, while Hannah Fohne - playing in her first game of the season after missing the first four because of a back injury - had two points and two rebounds in 12 minutes.

A UALR victory seemed unlikely after a first half that saw the Trojans score just nine points - the smallest total in Foley’s 14-year tenure in Little Rock. UALR shot 11.5 percent from the field (3 of 26) and turned over the ball over 19 times in the first 20 minutes. Still, the defense held Oral Roberts to just 18 points.

It took the Trojans only five minutes to double their first-half total. Ford, Gault and Fohne all scored, cutting a nine-point lead to 24-19 with 15:30 left in the game.

Oral Roberts’ lead remained fewer than 10 points for the next few minutes before a three-pointer by Key made it 36-26 halfway through the period, and the Golden Eagles built their lead to as many as 11.

Trailing 39-28, UALR began its 18-4 run that lead them leading 46-43 with three minutes to go. James and Clark had six points each in the six-minute stretch while Pratt, Gault and Ford had two points each. Multiple players drew offensive fouls and forced the Golden Eagles into bad shots, and ORU had two turnovers during the run.

Oral Roberts tied the game at 48 on a three-pointer with two minutes to go. Gault matched that play with a three-pointer of her own, giving UALR a 51-48 lead with 1:40 left. That was followed by another Golden Eagles basket to make it 51-50, and Atoe’ Jackson made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game at 51 and set up Gault’s last-second heroics.

ARIZONA STATE 69, ARKANSAS STATE 66

Arkansas State (4-4) managed to get within one point of Arizona State (6-1) with less than minute to play Saturday, but the Sun Devils hit their free throws and pulled out a victory in the Cancun Challenge at Hard Rock Resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico.

The Red Wolves trailed 62-56 with 1:01 to play, but Aundrea Gamble cut the deficit to four with a layup and a Sun Devils turnover on the inbounds pass resulted in a three-pointer by Jane Morrill as Arkansas State pulled to within 62-61 with 35 seconds to play.

Arkansas State fouled Deja Mann, who made 1 of 2, but the Red Wolves failed to come down with the rebound off the miss and the Arizona State made two more free throws to push the advantage to 67-63with 14 seconds to go.

Morrill hit another three-pointer with four seconds to go cut the lead to 67-66, but the Red Wolves turned over the over after Arizona State made two free throws to set the final.

Promise Amukamara led Arizona State with 15 points, and Sophie Brunner added 13.

Morrill made 7 of 10 shots and finished with 16 points. Gamble had a game-high 23 points, including 15 in the second half.

Arkansas State led briefly in the second half when Brittney Gill scored to start the half and put the Red Wolves ahead 32-31, but the Sun Devils responded with two free throws to go up by one and never trailed again. Arkansas State tied the game twice more when Jalen O’Bannon made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 37-37 and Carlisha Wyatt tied the game at 39 with 12:48 to go with a layup.

SOUTHLAND WOMEN AUSTIN PEAY 81, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 60

Tiasha Gray scored 28 points on 13-of-20 shooting to lead Austin Peay (3-3) in a rout of Central Arkansas (5-2) at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tenn.

The Lady Governors led 35-22 at halftime. They shot 59.3 percent (35 of 59) from the field and held UCA to 20-of-57 shooting (35.1 percent).

The Sugar Bears’ two-game winning streak ended Saturday. UCA had beaten Louisiana-Monroe and Jacksonville (Ala.) State after losing at Indiana on Nov. 18.

Terai Sadler led UCA with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Maggie Proffitt had 13 points, including 3 three-pointers. Kelsei Ewings added seven points while Courtney Duever was held to 6 points on 3-of-13 shooting and 2 rebounds.

SUN BELT MEN ARKANSAS ST. 95, LAMAR 89

Senior Melvin Johnson III made his first eight three-point field goals and finished with a season-high 26 points to lead Arkansas State (4-2) past Lamar (1-7) at Montagne Center in Beaumont, Texas.

Johnson III knocked down all three of his three-pointers in the first half and hit five more within the first eight minutes of the second half. His eight three-pointers were one shy of matching the school’s single-game mark of nine shared by three former Red Wolves.

Senior forward Kirk Van Slyke added 13 points and hauled in nine rebounds for ASU, while senior forward Kendrick Washington had 12 and nine boards. Senior guard Ed Townsel scored 11 points, and senior guard Brandon Reed added 10.

Amos Wilson led Lamar with 20 points. Rhon Mitchell and Nimrod Hilliard added 17 points each.

SWAC MEN HAMPTON 72, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 65

Du’Vaughn Maxwell scored 17 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to lead Hampton (3-5) over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-6) in the Corpus Christi Basketball Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Hampton ended a five-game losing streak.

Hampton went on an 11-0 run, nine scored by Maxwell, to take a 58-56 lead with 5:27 remaining. Tevin Hammond made 1 of 2 free throws for UAPB before Brian Darden answered with a three-pointer to make it 61-57, and the Pirates led the rest of game.

Maxwell, fourth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in blocked shots, had three blocks to go with his 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. Darden made a game-high five three-pointers and scored 17 points.

UAPB led by as many as seven points in the second half. Daniel Broughton scored a team-high 16 points before fouling out.

Sports, Pages 36 on 12/01/2013

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