Louisiana Tech 66, Alabama 57
Louisiana Tech used a 23-7 run to start the second half to pull away and defeat Alabama 66-57 Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Leading 28-26 at the half, the Lady Techsters (4-7) hit 9 of their first 11 shots of the second half to build an 18-point lead and hold off a late Crimson Tide rally for their second win over a Southeastern Conference team in four days.
Alabama (7-4) entered the game shooting 48 percent from the field for the season but a tenacious Tech man-to-man defense limited
Offensively, Tech saw all five starters score in double figures as Shan Moore led the way with 13 points, followed by Tamika Kursh with 12, and Metoyer, Ty Moore and Eboni Mangum with 11 each.Tech shot 42 percent from the field for the game, including 48 percent (12-of-25) in the second half.The Lady Techsters return to action Thursday when they host Rice at 7 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Fresno State 55, San Francsico 48
Fresno State’s home court advantage worked its magic one more time Saturday, as the Bulldogs rebounded from a 12-point deficit at the beginning of the second half to win their fourth home game of the year 55-48. Tierre Wilson led the Bulldogs with the team’s first double-double on the year, scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Initially trailing San Francisco 28-19 at the half, Fresno State shot 58.3% from the field in the second half to keep their record unblemished in the Save Mart Center this year.
Both teams came out slowly in the first half, as the Dogs grabbed a 4-2 lead early in the game prior to nearly three scoreless minutes in the game. San Francisco took a 6-4 lead after breaking through the ice at 14:30, but Fresno State came back and tied it twice as Chantella Perera had six early points to knot the score at 8.
At that point however, the Dons put the pressure on the bulldogs, going on a 16-4 run over the next seven minutes as Fresno State had trouble knocking down open looks, as the teams moved through another long scoreless stretch, as neither team scored for another three minute period from 9:39 to 6:15 remaining in the first half. As a team, the Bulldogs shot only 9-31 from the field (29%) and entered the half with a 28-19 deficit.
The Bulldogs missed an easy layup to open the second half, and Heidi Heintz of the Dons nailed a three-pointer to give San Francisco their largest lead of the game at 31-19 with 19:33 remaining. Fresno state slowly began to chip into the lead, first keeping it even with defensive stops and then bringing it down slowly. The Bulldogs first got the lead under ten, and then knocked it down to five as Chantella Perera scored on a fast break layup to make the score 37-32. The teams traded quick baskets, but then Heintz converted a three-point play to move the lead back to eight, and then scored again to give the Dons a 10-point lead at 44-34 with 9:48 to play.
Buckling down defensively, Fresno State then made their move.
Wilson hit on a floater and Perera made two free-throws to bring the advantage back into single digits, and then Andrea Roberson hit the first trey of the game for the Bulldogs at 7:46, cutting the lead down to three with 7:46 remaining. With the crowd and momentum on the Bulldogs side, Fresno State cut the lead to one at 44-43, and finally tied the game with 3:54 left as Wilson took a long three from the wing that bounced high off the back iron but came back down through the net to make the score 48-48. Another floater in the lane from Wilson gave the Bulldogs their first lead since the first five minutes, and the team clamped down defensively one more time, holding the Dons scoreless for the last four minutes of the game.
New Mexico State 72, Wichita State 69
Junior guard Monique Bribiescas banked in a half-court shot as time expired to give the New Mexico State women’s basketball team a 72-69 win over Wichita State, Saturday, Dec. 16, at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas.
Wichita State tied the game at 69-69 after senior center Antionette Wells made the first of two free throws. Wells missed the second and junior forward Anikia Jawara made a quick outlet pass to Bribiescas, who raced up the right side and tossed in the game winner.
Both Bribiescas and Jawara had strong second half performances. Bribiescas collected nine of her 11 points and Jawara had 12 of her 14 in the final frame.New Mexico State had four players in double-digits with senior guard Cecilia Russell-Nava recording a team-high 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting from beyond the line. Junior forward Sherell Neal was also strong offensively with 13 points.
Chattanooga 65, Hawai`i 62
The University of Hawai`i women's basketball team nearly came back from a 17-point deficit, but ultimately fell short to Chattanooga, 65-62, in the championship of the Paradise Classic Saturday afternoon at the Stan Sheriff Center. Rainbow Wahine Janevia Taylor reached a milestone during the game when she scored her 1000th career point midway through the first half.
Taylor reached 1000 on her third point of the game - a free throw at the 10:33 mark. The senior from Pasadena, Calif., became just the 15th player in program history to accomplish the feat.
Taylor scored 12 of her 17 points in the second half and Pam Tambini poured in a career-high 22 points to lead a UH second-half rally. Hawai`i fell behind, 37-20, late in the first half, went into the locker room with a 13-point deficit and trailed by double-digits with seven minutes remaining. The Rainbow Wahine would not fold though and a late charge allowed them two opportunities to tie the game in the waning moments. However, Tambini missed a three-point bomb and when UH regained possession on a UTC turnover, Taylor's last ditch three-pointer in the final seconds was also off the mark.
The Lady Mocs, who controlled nearly the entire game and trailed only during the game's opening bucket, held on for the victory, the team's third straight. Tournament MVP Alex Anderson led the Chattanooga with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Shanara Hollinquest added 14 points and nine boards.
Chattanooga bolted out from the get-go, building a 10-point lead just five minutes in. The Rainbow Wahine struggled to keep up, shooting just 29 percent in the first half. Tambini scored 14 of the team's 26 first-half points as the rest of the team shot a combined 4-of-21 from the field.
Chattanooga kept UH at bay for most of the second half, but with seven minutes remaining, Hawai`i made a final push. Tambini's three-pointer at the one-minute mark cut the UTC lead to, 65-62, its smallest advantage since the opening moments of the game. However, that's as close as UH would get as the Rainbow Wahine were unable to convert on its final two possessions.