Women's Basketball Results for Friday, November 27, 2009

NOTRE DAME 78, SOUTH CAROLINA 55


ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands(AP) -- Melissa Lechlitner scored 15 points to lead four Notre Dame players in double figures, and the No. 5 Fighting Irish defeated South Carolina 78-55 in the Paradise Jam on Friday.

Ashley Barlow scored 14 points for Notre Dame (5-0). Skylar Diggins contributed 12 points and Becca Bruszewski had 11.

Valeria Nainima led South Carolina (2-3) with 15 points, and Kelsey Bone scored 14 points.

Notre Dame went on a 15-2 run midway through the first half and led by as many as 17 points at 40-23.

After South Carolina pulled to within six early in the second half, the Irish reeled off an 11-0 run and cruised from there.

Notre Dame takes on No. 20 Oklahoma on Saturday. South Carolina plays No. 23 San Diego State.

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VANDERBILT 95, AUSTIN PEAY 51


NASHVILLE, Tenn.(AP) -- Jordan Coleman scored a career-high 17 points and No. 21 Vanderbilt scored 21 straight points after halftime to rout Austin Peay 95-51 on Friday.

Hannah Tuomi scored 15 for the Commodores (5-0), who play the winner of North Carolina State-Northwestern State on Saturday in the final game of their Thanksgiving Tournament.

Ashley Herring scored 21 points for Austin Peay (1-4), going 4 for 4 on 3-point attempts and helping the Governors take a 19-12 advantage.

Meredith Marsh hit three 3-pointers in the second half, including two in the 21-0 run, and Jence Rhodes also scored six of her 10 points in the streak for Vandy.

Marsh finished with 12 points.

Tuomi had 12 first-half points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field, including six straight points. She tied it 23-23 when she missed a free throw after a basket and then put back her own rebound.

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RUTGERS 62, MISSISSIPPI ST 54


ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands(AP) -- Brittany Ray scored a career-high 27 points to help Rutgers upset No. 19 Mississippi State 62-54 on Friday night in the Paradise Jam.

Rutgers trailed 7-4 early before going on a 15-2 run. April Sykes had seven of her 12 points during the spurt. Ray started off the burst with back-to-back jumpers. Mississippi State would close to 23-19, but Ray scored five points in the final 1:17 of the half to restore the lead to 10 at the break.

The Lady Bulldogs would only get within seven in the second half.

Alexis Rack scored 17 points and Armelie Lumanu added 12 to lead Mississippi State (4-2), which lost to Texas in its opening game Thursday. Rutgers will take on the Longhorns on Saturday while Mississippi State will play Southern Cal.

Rutgers (4-2) held Mississippi State to just 29 percent shooting (20 for 69).

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FLORIDA ST 82, AUBURN 67


TALLAHASSEE, Fla.(AP) -- Alysha Harvin scored 18 points to lead No. 12 Florida State to an 82-67 win over Auburn on Friday night at the Seminole Classic.

The Seminoles (5-0) used an 11-0 run early in the second period to gain the lead and kept it. That run included FSU's first two 3-pointers of the game. Florida State hit 6 of 9 from 3-point range in the second period after missing all six first-half threes.

The Tigers (3-3) led by as many as nine in the first period, thanks to freshman guard Nicolle Thomas. Thomas scored 18 first-half points, including four 3-pointers. Auburn's long distance touch faded in the second. The Tigers missed 9 of 11 3-point attempts after hitting 4 of 8 in the first.

Jacinta Monroe added 17 points and seven blocks for FSU, while Courtney Ward added 12 and Alexa Deluzio added 11.

Thomas led Auburn with 27 points.

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GEORGIA 77, TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI 58


HATTIESBURG, Miss.(AP) -- Porsha Phillips had a double-double by halftime as No. 14 Georgia defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 77-58 on Friday night in a matchup of undefeated teams.

Phillips had 10 points and 11 rebounds in the first half of the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic and finished with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. She also had three assists and a block.

The Bulldogs (5-0) also got 18 points from Jasmine James and 16 from Ashley Houts in the first game between the two schools.

Georgia jumped out to an 8-0 lead and led by as many as 13 before taking a 38-28 lead at the half. The Bulldogs increased their lead to 70-48 with 7:06 left.

Adrienne Scott led Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-1) with 16 points, Jade Davis added 14 and Deziree Green had 13.

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ARKANSAS 69, WESTERN KENTUCKY 51


CANCUN, Mexico – Four players in double figures and a balanced, confident defensive effort were the keys to the game in Arkansas’ 69-51 win over Western Kentucky at the Caribbean Challenge Friday in Cancun, Mexico.

Arkansas (4-1) put together a complete-game win leading WKU (3-2) by as many as 21 before the 18-point win.

"This is going to be a big win on our resumé," Arkansas head coach Tom Collen said. "Western Kentucky is going to be a good team down the road somewhere. We grew up this week. We’re still not where we want to be but it’s early and we’re moving in the right direction."

Arkansas was paced by senior Charity Ford who finished with 16 points and four rebounds. Sophomore Lyndsay Harris added 15 and freshman Dominique Robinson had 11 and a team-best seven rebounds. Sophomore C’eira Ricketts rounded out the double-figure scoring with 10. Harris and sophomore Ashley Daniels each had six rebounds in the win.

The teams opened the game with even efforts and the score remained close through the first 10 minutes of play. Arkansas took a two-point, 11-9, lead at the 13:13 mark of the first period on a 10-foot jumper from Daniels and that would begin the Razorback run.

Arkansas would go up 28-11 on a 19-2 run behind a seven-point effort from Ford. The lead would grow to as many as 19 in the first half before Arkansas went to the locker room up by 17, 36-19.

Arkansas was 13-for-27 in the first half with five threes and a 5-of-6 performance from the line. They held WKU to 23.3 percent shooting in the first half and no three-pointers.

The Razorbacks maintained the momentum early in the second but Western Kentucky’s Lashay Davis got hot from behind the arc and hit three consecutive three’s helping the Hilltoppers close within eight points, 52-44.

Davis finished with a game-high 19 points and was 5-of-8 from long distance.

"I knew they were going to come back on us," Collen said. "They threw a small lineup at us and it gave us some trouble but I like the way we recovered."

The Razorbacks remained composed and continued to play solid, unhurried basketball. Robinson was fouled and hit one of two from the line followed by a jumper from Harris and a layup from Ford as the Razorback lead increased to 14.

Ricketts was fouled on back-to-back Arkansas possessions and went 3-for-4 as Western Kentucky began sending Arkansas to the line in an effort to get the ball back.

Arkansas made just enough bonus shots to maintain the lead for the win. The Razorbacks finished the game 17-for-25 from the line for 68 percent. It was the team’s second-best free throw performance of the young season.

"I think we looked pretty poised for the game," Collen said. "We didn’t get ahead of ourselves. This is a work in progress but I think we came a long way this week. We had to come back from an eight point deficit against Iona and played a very good team in Western Kentucky today."

Arkansas hosts Kansas State in just the second game in Bud Walton Arena this year Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. Tickets for the game are available at the Razorback Ticket Center and on-line.

For more information regarding Razorback women’s basketball or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

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ST. JOHNS 61, FLORIDA 49


MIAMI, Fla. – St. John’s used a 16-0 run over a nine-minute span midway through the second half and defeated the Florida women’s basketball team, 61-47, in the first round of the FIU Thanksgiving Classic Friday evening a the U.S. Century Bank Arena.

With the halftime score tied at 30-all, the Red Storm (4-0) outscored the Gators, 31-17, in the second half, hitting 48 percent (12-25) from the floor, while UF managed only a 28.6 percent effort (8-28) in the final frame, including a 1-of-11 performance from beyond the arc.

"We had a stretch in the second half when we just quit scoring," UF head coach Amanda Butler said. "We didn’t put the ball in the hole. When we had good looks, we didn’t convert them. It’s tough when we’ve got players who play a lot of minutes and aren’t giving us any offensive production. The effort was there. The fight was there, but when you’re playing a good team, you have to have results, too. We also got killed on the boards."

Sharielle Smith (Bradenton, Fla.) scored a team-high nine points with five rebounds for Florida (2-3), which didn’t produce a double-figure scorer for the first time in Butler’s two-plus years with the Gators.

St. John’s held a commanding 45-33 rebound advantage over Florida, while shot a mere 32.2 percent overall (19-59), including 21.7 percent from the three-point arc (5-23). The Gators also turned the ball over 21 times that resulted in 22 Red Storm points.

Florida scored the opening points of the second half and the teams traded field goals for nearly the first six minutes before Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.) and Sharielle Smith (Bradenton, Fla.) connected on consecutive scores that gave UF a 42-38 lead with 13:17 to play.

The Gators’ offense then went cold, as St. John’s ripped off a devastating 16-0 run over the next nine minutes and assumed a 54-42 lead with less than four minutes left in the game. Florida missed 10 consecutive shots and turned the ball over seven times during that stretch, during when the Red Storm converted those miscues into 10 points.

Smith finally ended the draught with 3:05 to go, draining a trey from the top of the arc. George followed with a tough bucket inside and dropped the deficit to seven points, 54-47 with 2:24 remaining.

Shenneika Smith led all scorers with 17 points, while Da’Shena Stevens tallied 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Red Storm, which converted 15-of-20 from the free throw line, compared to UF’s 4-of-6 effort.

Florida failed to score again and St. John’s hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final 2:30 to secure the victory. The Gators (2-3) will face host FIU (2-3) in the consolation game on Sunday, Nov. 29, at approximately 4 p.m., while the Red Storm take on Saint Joseph’s for the title at 2 p.m.
The audio from Florida’s game will air live in Gainesville on WBXY-FM
99.5 and through the internet at www.GatorZone.com, the official website of the Florida Gators.

The first half featured the teams trading scoring runs, as St. John’s opened the game scoring the first five points. Susan Yenser’s (Marietta,
Ga.) three-pointer at the 16:58 mark began an 11-0 march for Florida, as Lonnika Thompson (New Orleans, La.) scored six points thanks to a trey and a three-point play. Trumae Lucas (Greensboro, N.C.) also contributed a 6-foot bank shot during the run that helped the Gators take an 11-5 lead six minutes into the game.

SJU chipped away at UF’s lead and got within two points at the 12:15 mark after Shenneika Smith’s field goal made the score 13-11.

The Gators then used an 8-1 run sparked by a three-pointer from Jordan Jones (Suwanee, Ga.), a three-point play from Jennifer George (Orlando,
Fla.) and an inside jumper from Ndidi Madu (Antioch, Tenn), as UF’s leadswelled to nine points, 21-12, with just under 11 minutes to play in the first half.

That’s when St. John’s offense began to come alive, as the Red Storm mounted a 13-2 spree and took a 27-23 lead with six minutes to play in the half. Jones knocked down her second trey of the period and brought the Gators within one, 27-26.

The teams traded buckets for the next two and half minutes before Sharielle Smith (Bradenton, Fla.) knocked down two free throws and tied the score at 30-all with 18.7 seconds left in the period. Neither team could convert a bucket in the waning seconds and the scored remained deadlocked entering the break.

Eight different Gators scored during the first half, with Jones’ eight points leading the way for Florida, which committed 13 turnovers that St. John’s was able to convert into 12 points.

UF struggled with its shot during the half, hitting just 35.5 percent
(11-31) from the floor, including a 28.6 percent (4-14) mark from the 3-point arc. The Red Storm didn’t fair much better, connecting on 34.4 percent (11-32) of their shots, missing all four attempts from beyond the arc.

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OLE MISS 78, SAN JOSE ST 33


BOCA RATON , Fla. - Katorra Lewis scored a career-high 18 points, was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field and pulled down three rebounds to lead Ole Miss to a 78-33 rout of San Jose State Friday afternoon in the first round of the Florida Atlantic/Boca Raton Bridge Hotel Holiday Tournament.

Whitney Hameth finished with a career-high 15 points and was 4-for-8 from three-point range, while Nikki Byrd tallied 14 points and was 6-for-7 from the field. All-SEC guard Bianca Thomas rounded out the Rebel quartet in double figures by posting 11 points to go along with five rebounds.

LaTosha Laws recorded a career-high seven points, and freshman Courtney Marbra collected a career-high five rebounds as the Rebel bench outscored the Spartan reserves by a 40-10 tally.

San Jose State guard Chasity Shavers finished with a team-high 13 points and was the only Spartan to score in double figures.

Ole Miss (4-1) held San Jose State to 26.8 percent shooting and limited the Spartans to 11 field goals, which included just three in the first half.

The Spartans managed just 12 points in the first half and shot 15.0 percent on 3-for-20 shooting, and the 33 points San Jose State finished with were the second-fewest allowed by Ole Miss in school history.

The Rebel defense also caused San Jose State to commit 26 turnovers, resulting in 29 points for Ole Miss.

Lewis scored the first four points of the game for the Rebels in helping Ole Miss take a 4-0 lead just over a minute into the game. San Jose State scored the next five points to take its only lead of the game at 5-4 capped by a layup from Shavers.

Thomas answered on the following possession with a three-pointer to give the Rebels the lead back and start a 14-0 run over the next 6:20 to put Ole Miss ahead 18-5. Already leading by 18 points with just under five minutes to play in the first half, the Rebels closed the opening stanza on a 16-1 run to take a 33-point lead into the dressing room.

Ole Miss continued to pull away in the second half and would go on to lead by as many as 46 points.

The Rebels will look for the tournament championship Saturday afternoon when Ole Miss takes on host Florida Atlantic at 3 p.m. (CT) from the FAU Arena.



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