SUN BELT WOMEN

Troy ends ASU’s winning streak at 3

Arkansas State’s winning streak came to an end Saturday night, but its spot atop the Sun Belt Conference standings is still intact.

Aundrea Gamble was held to 10 points and Joanna Harden scored 29 to help Troy upset Arkansas State 83-65 on Saturday at Trojan Arena in Troy, Ala.

The loss ended ASU’s three-game winning streak, but considering Georgia State lost Saturday to Texas-Arlington, ASU (13-8, 7-2) is still alone on top of the league standings.

Troy (7-13, 3-6) took a 14-7 lead less than seven minutes in and led 23-13 just more than 10 minutes into the game. Troy, which ASU beat 74-65 on Jan. 8 in Jonesboro, made seven three-pointers in the first half and led 40-28 at halftime.

Harden, who leads the Sun Belt with an average of 25.0 points per game, scored 18 points in the first half while making five three-pointers.Troy made 11 of 19 threes for the game.

Gamble, who was second in the Sun Belt in scoring at 18.4 points, struggled through her worst offensive game in a month. She had 14 points the last time ASU played Troy but was held to 3-of-12 shooting Saturday. She had nine rebounds, but ASU wasn’t able to make up for her lack of scoring.

Jalen O’Bannon had 12 points and Hanna Qeda 10 for the Red Wolves, who were held to 36.1 percent shooting.

ASU corralled 47 rebounds but Troy had 50, led by Ashley Beverly-Kelley, who had 15 to go along with 21 points. Kourtney Coleman also had 10 points for Troy, which has won three of its past four games after losing its first five Sun Belt games.

SOUTH ALABAMA 61, UALR 56

The UALR women’s basketball team’s shaky defense prevented it from taking another winnable road game Saturday afternoon.

Taylor Gault scored 26 points, and UALR shot 47 percent from the floor as a team, but the Trojans let South Alabama make 22 free throws and shoot 50 percent in the second half of a 61-56 loss in Mobile, Ala.

UALR (10-10, 5-5 Sun Belt Conference) entered Saturday leading the conference in scoring defense, giving up 57.7 points per game and was three weeks removed from a 61-42 victory over the Jaguars on Jan. 8 in Little Rock.

But South Alabama (7-12, 5-4) got 19 points from Breanna Hall, who made 10 of 11 free throws, and 17 from Meghan Dunn, who made 6 of 6 free throws. The Jaguars made 22 of 26 free throws as at team and shot 47.2 percent from the floor for the game. UALR made 5 of 6 free throws.

Gault’s 26 points came on 10-of-21 shooting and was one off her season-high, which she scored in the last game against South Alabama. Shanity James and Kiera Clark each added eight points for the Trojans, who had 16 turnovers that the Jaguars turned into 21 points.

SWAC WOMEN ARK.-PINE BLUFF 64, GRAMBLING STATE 58

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-16, 1-7) won its first Southwestern Athletic Conference game of the season, beating Grambling State (7-12, 4-4) at H.O. Clemmons Arena in Pine Bluff.

The Lady Lions also won their first game since winning their season opener Nov. 8 against Philander Smith.

UAPB trailed 28-22 at halftime but outscored Grambling 36-30 in the second half. The Lady Lions scored 21 points off 18 Lady Tiger turnovers and outrebounded Grambling 40-30.

Cassidy Wright scored 11 points to lead the Lady Lions. Marion Thompson added a game-high 11 rebounds.

Jasmine Godbolt led Grambling with 14 points and seven rebounds.

SOUTHLAND WOMEN NICHOLLS STATE 69, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 60

Central Arkansas (13-7, 7-2 Southland Conference) blew a 15-point halftime lead and saw its five-game winning streak snapped against Nicholls State (11-9, 5-4) at Stopher Gymnasium in Thibodeau, La.

The Sugar Bears led 41-26 at halftime but were outscored 43-19 in the second half as the Colonels shot 50 percent (13 of 26) from the field and made 14 of 16 at the free-throw line.

UCA trailed 61-57 with 1:27 remaining, but the Sugar Bears turned over the ball and Nicholls State’s Jenny Nash extended the lead to 63-57 at the 1:00 mark. Nash then blocked Kelsey McClure’s layup attempt and the Colonels’ Emani White made two free throws to make it 65-57 with 45 seconds left.

Courtney Duever led the Sugar Bears with 13 points and eight rebounds. Mc-Clure, Micah Rice, Brianna Mullins and Terai Sadler each had 11. Rice became the 24th UCA player and fifth in the school’s NCAA Division I tenure (since 2006) to score at least 1,000 points.

White, the Southland’s leading scorer at 18.5 points per game, had a game-high 23 points, including 21 in the second half. KK Babin finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

Sports, Pages 32 on 02/02/2014

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