SEC Women's Basketball Results for Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009.


South Carolina 70, High Point 52


COLUMBIA, S. C. - The Gamecocks (4-3) expanded a three-point halftime lead with an 8-0 surge to open the second period, putting the Panthers (2-3) in a deficit from which they could not recover. South Carolina shot a sizzling 65.2 percent in the second half, helped by 14 second-half fast-break points. Junior guards Valerie Nainima and Samone Kennedy stuffed the stat sheet with 20 and 14 points, respectively, with Kennedy packing on a career-high seven steals as well.

The first half was a battle as neither team could assert itself. The Panthers took the lead early and survived six ties, the last of which came courtesy of a long Nainima jumper at the top of the key to knot the game at 20-20 with 7:48 left in the half. South Carolina built four-point leads four different times before the break, but could not shake the Panthers.



A renewed energy marked the opening of the second period, keyed by relentless drives to the bucket and solid defense by the Gamecocks. La'Keisha Sutton opened the half with a drive, followed by a pair of free throws from Ebony Wilson and two more driving layups from Nainima and Kennedy, which gave South Carolina a 38-27 lead and forced High Point to call a timeout.



The Panthers had more fight in them, twice pulling within six points, but each time they were turned away by the aggressive Kennedy.



The Gamecock point guard hounded the Panther guards on defense, forcing many of Erin Reynolds' nine turnovers, and drove hard to the bucket on offense to stymie any kind of Panther surge.



South Carolina got balanced scoring as Kelsey Bone added 13 points to the effort, while fellow freshmen Ashley Bruner and Ebony Wilson netted seven and eight points, respectively. Bone's nine rebounds were a game high as the Gamecocks out-boarded the Panthers 42-26.

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Vanderbilt, 63, Wright State 46




FAIRBORN, Ohio(AP) -- Merideth Marsh scored 21 points and No. 16 Vanderbilt used a strong second half to beat Wright State 63-46 on Wednesday night.

Hannah Tuomi had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Commodores (7-0), who led 30-23 at halftime. Vanderbilt then went on a 11-2 run to open the second half, stretching the lead to 16 on Lauren Lueders' layup.

Marsh, who went 7 for 11 from the floor and 3 for 6 on 3-pointers, led the run with five points. She also had four steals.

Lueders' 3 pushed Vanderbilt's lead to 49-29 - its largest of the game - with 11:17 left in the half. Lueders finished with nine points in 11 minutes.

Maria Bennett scored 10 points for Wright State (3-2), which cut the deficit to 11 on Kanisha Ward's 3-pointer with less than 2 minutes left.

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Ole Miss 71, Arkansas Little Rock 51




LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - All-SEC guard Bianca Thomas became the 23rd player in Ole Miss history to score 1,000 or more career points in leading the Rebels to a 70-51 victory over UALR Wednesday evening from the Jack Stephens Center.



Thomas finished with a game-high 29 points and tied the school record for the most three-pointers in a game with seven. It is the second time in her career that she has hit seven treys, duplicating the feat last season at Mississippi State. She joins Becky Myatt as the only two players in Rebel history to have seven three-pointers in a single game.



Thomas has scored 1,006 points during her career at Ole Miss.



Kayla Melson returned to the Ole Miss lineup after missing a pair of games and finished with 14 points, a game-high nine rebounds and five assists.



UALR forward Chastity Reed paced the Trojans with 23 points and seven rebounds, while guard Shanika Butler added 13 points and seven rebounds.



UALR (3-4) took its largest lead of the game midway through the second half when Britteni Williams scored her only two points of the game on a layup following a pass through traffic from Asriel Rolfe. Exactly one minute later, Elizabeth Robertson hit a three-pointer from the wing to stop the Trojans’ 6-0 run and pull the Rebels with three points.



Reed answered on the other end with a basket to put UALR up by five points, but Ole Miss quickly responded with an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 52-46 lead with 7:26 left to play. During the run, Thomas hit a deep three-pointer at the 10:27 mark to put Ole Miss ahead for good.



UALR cut the Rebel lead to four points with just under seven minutes remaining on a layup from Butler, but Robertson swished a three-pointer in transition on the ensuing Ole Miss possession to stretch the lead back to seven points.



Reed pulled the Trojans back within five points with six minutes left on the clock before Thomas hit another dagger from three right in the face of her defender to push the Ole Miss lead out to eight.



The Rebels closed the game on a 12-1 run highlighted by three-pointers from Thomas, Shantell Black and Whitney Hameth.



Ole Miss improves to 6-1 this season and has now won three road games to match all of last season’s total.


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Mississippi State 85, Southern Mississippi 52





STARKVILLE, Miss. -- An 11-0 run late in the first half gave Mississippi State the lead for good as the Lady Bulldogs rolled over in-state rival Southern Mississippi 85-52 in a women’s basketball game played Wednesday night in the Humphrey Coliseum.


After a sluggish first half, the Lady Bulldogs (5-3) pulled away with 47 points in the game’s final half. MSU moved to 5-0 at home this season and also snapped a three-game losing streak with Wednesday’s victory. The Lady Bulldogs have won all five home games by 29 or more points on the young campaign.


In the rivalry, the Lady Bulldogs have now won their last three regular season matchups against the Lady Eagles.


Southern Miss (3-4) managed only one field goal over the final 7:43 of the first half - a 3-point basket by Danielle Johnson in the final half minute of the half. The Lady Eagles committed 17 turnovers in the opening half. MSU led 38-28 at halftime.


In the final half, the Lady Bulldogs started things with a 12-5 run and were never threatened in the game’s final 20 minutes. MSU received five late points from Danielle Rector as it closed out business on a game-ending 14-4 run.


Robin Murphy and Pauline Love each had 14 points for Southern Miss. Love had a game-high 10 rebounds for the Lady Eagles.


The Lady Bulldogs had 20 assists and 18 turnovers, while the Lady Eagles had nine assists and 27 turnovers. MSU has forced 20 or more turnovers in seven of their first eight contests this season.


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Arkansas 60, Kansas State 58





FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It’s long been said that defense wins championships and defense was certainly what sparked a non-conference win for the University of Arkansas women’s basketball team over Kansas State in Bud Walton Arena Wednesday.

Trailing, 55-58, with 1:12 to play, the Razorbacks (5-1) began fouling Kansas State (2-4) in a comeback effort. Fouls from freshman Dominique Robinson, sophomore C’eira Ricketts and sophomore Lyndsay Harris sprinkled among a pair of 30 second timeouts ran the clock to 20 seconds when Ricketts laid the ball up and in cutting the lead to one.

The Razorbacks forced a Kansas State turnover out of a timeout when Ricketts tipped the inbounds pass. The loose ball bounced in the corner and Ricketts scooped it up. She spun, dribbled to the paint and her short jumper over a pair of defenders gave Arkansas the lead with 15 ticks remaining.

Kansas State had a final opportunity out of their last timeout, inbounding the ball and having to go the length of the court. Taelor Karr took possession for the Wildcats and drove down the left side of the floor. She sprinted to the paint for the layup but Razorback freshman Sarah Watkins was waiting.

Watkins planted her feet and took the charge all but ending Kansas State’s hopes. Watkins next stepped to the line calming swishing the first free throw but missed the second. A wild, last second shot by Kansas State never reached the basket and Arkansas escaped with the win.

Arkansas finished the night shooting just 43 percent in a 25-of-58 performance. Ricketts led the Razorbacks with 16 points with 10 each from senior Charity Ford and freshman Quistelle Williams. Ricketts was 8-for-15 with five rebounds and six assists.

The Razorbacks had just three three-pointers and were 7-of-9 from the line. Arkansas was out-rebounded 24-33 but outscored Kansas State, 15-2, on second-chance points.

Kansas State had four players in double figures led by Ashley Sweat with 18. Four Wildcats played all 40 minutes of the game, something that may have been a factor down the stretch.

The first half was steady and methodical for much of the period. Arkansas committed just seven turnovers and there were only seven combined fouls by both teams. The score was tied four times and there were nine lead changes in the opening stanza but neither team really controlled the pace of play. Kansas State managed as much as a seven-point lead but couldn’t put Arkansas away in the first half.

The second half got out to a similar start with no real spark by either team. Kansas State just chipped away at the scoring increasing its lead to 12, 50-38, but a 13-2 Razorback run put the game back in reach for Arkansas.

The Wildcat lead dwindled to three, 54-51, with just over five minutes to play when Arkansas stepped up the defensive effort changing the game for good, ending the game with a 60-58 final score.



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