NCAA tournament preview: No. 7 Texas vs. Alabama State

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: Erwin Center (16,500)
Records: Alabama State, 19-11; Texas, 28-4
TV: ESPN 2
Radio: 104.9, 1260
Note: Winner will play BYU-Missouri winner at 8 p.m. Monday.

Alabama State update
The Hornets beat Southern 55-51 a week ago to win their second straight SWAC Tournament championship. Tournament MVP Britney Wright scored 17 points in the victory while teammate Daniele Ewert added 12. … Jasmine Peeples holds the single-season team record of 95 blocks. She recently passed Gail Norris as the school’s all-time leader in blocks with 195. … Coach Freda Freeman-Jackson, who played at Alabama State, has a record of 275-258 in 18 seasons at her alma mater.

Texas update
Last season, senior post Imani Boyette combined for 51 points and 33 rebounds in three NCAA tournament games. … The Longhorns, who are making their 29th appearance in the NCAA tournament, hold a 35-27 all-time record. This will be the first time they have been the host for early round games since 2010. Texas has a 19-9 record in NCAA Tournament games at the Erwin Center. … This season is the fifth time Texas has been a No. 2 seed in the tournament. It also happened in 1983, 1984, 1989 and 2003. The Horns are 10-4 in tournament games when seeded No. 2.

CONTINUE READING

Return to NCAAs is extra special for ASU’s Peeples

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Alabama State senior center Jasmine Peeples said her final season with the Hornets has meant more to her than any time in her basketball career.

Her season almost ended before it got started as Peeples suffered a leg injury during a pick-up game last summer.

Peeples was going for a rebound when she landed on another player. Peeples required micro fracture surgery in her knee.

“At first when I went to the doctor and did an MRI, they couldn’t find anything,” Peeples said. “It was crazy because I couldn’t put any weight on it. Finally, they did a scope on my knee and found pieces of bone from my femur. I was on and off crutches, hopping around all summer.”

Peeples said doctors told her she wouldn’t be able to play again until January, but she was determined to prove them wrong.

Peeples rehabbed twice a day after surgery and returned to the team for the Preseason WNIT in November, but she admits she wasn’t the same player.

CONTINUE READING

XU Rush lose 69-68 in OT in opening round at nationals

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Rich Tesmer's basket with five seconds remaining in overtime Thursday lifted fourth-ranked Lewis Clark State to a 69-68 victory against Xavier University of Louisiana in the opening round of the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship at Municipal Auditorium.

Tesmer scored a career-high 20 points, including a layup with four seconds remaining in regulation to tie the score at 61.

Xavier's Gary Smith missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer in regulation, and teammate Morris Wright missed a 2-pointer at the buzzer in overtime.

The Gold Rush (21-13) led 53-43 with three minutes remaining in the second half and missed four free throws in the final 1:09 of that period. Xavier made 15-of-29 free throws for the game, 9-of-20 after halftime.

The Warriors (29-4) led for about two minutes out of 45, including 46 seconds after halftime, and never led by more than a point. Xavier led for approximately 39 minutes.

Wright's fast-break basket at 1:36 gave Xavier its final lead, 68-67.

RJ Daniels had 14 points and seven rebounds for Xavier. Wright scored 12 points — his 42nd consecutive game in double figures — and Smith and Lucas Martin-Julien scored 10 apiece. Wesley Pluviose-Philip led the Gold Rush with eight rebounds, his most since late November.

Xavier's defense was stellar against one of the NAIA's most proficient offenses. The Gold Rush limited the Warriors to their second-lowest point total this season — they entered the tournament averaging 89.1 points per game — and a season-low 35.1 percent from the floor. LC State entered shooting an NAIA-best 51.4 percent. The Warriors also committed a season-worst 19 turnovers, well above their 11.7 average.

Nick Emerson scored 13 points for LC State, and Jacob Wiley had 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.

"This was a good game against a good team, but unfortunately we needed a couple more plays down the stretch to close it out," XU coach Dannton Jackson said. "It was a tough loss and some calls did not go our way at the end, but we hurt ourselves by not making free throws."

Xavier was eliminated in the first round at nationals for the sixth consecutive year. It was Xavier's second overtime game of the postseason — it beat Tougaloo in double-OT in the opening round of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament — and its first in 17 trips to nationals.

LC State will play Our Lady of the Lake, an 87-81 winner against Freed-Hardeman, in the round of 16 at 9:45 p.m. Friday.

NOTES: The overtime game was Xavier's fourth of the season and third in its final five games . . . It was the final XU game for four seniors: Daniels, Smith, Wright and Jarvis Thibodeaux . . . Wright extended his streak of consecutive games with a made 3-pointer to 41 . . . Wright also became the first Gold Rush player to reach 600 points and 100 assists in the same season (626 and 101) . . . Wright finished with 99 made 3-pointers, No. 2 on XU's all-time season list, and 1,552 career points to rank No. 4 at Xavier . . . Sophomore Elex Carter blocked two shots to finish with 41. He's the second XU player in the last 28 seasons to reach 40 in a season . . . Smith's 131 games played are an XU career record . . . Xavier was trying to become the third first-round winner from the GCAC, which would've been the most ever for the 35-year-old league. Regular-season champion Talladega beat Westmont 63-61 Wednesday, and tournament champion Dillard defeated Hope International 111-91 Thursday. It's the first time since 2004 that two GCAC teams advanced.

BOX SCORE

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold 

Baltimore Ravens (Texas Southern) cornerback Tray Walker dies of injuries from dirt bike crash in Miami-Dade

MIAMI, Florida -- Baltimore Ravens cornerback Tray Walker, who was hit by a car while riding on a dirt bike in northwest Miami-Dade on Thursday night, died Friday, according to both his agent and his team.

Walker, 23, who grew up in Miami and graduated from Miami Northwestern High, was pronounced dead at around 5 p.m., Walker’s agent Ron Butler told the Miami Herald.

“There was a lot of head trauma. The doctors tried to get the swelling down but I guess his brain went too long without oxygen,” Butler said.

Miami-Dade police could not immediately confirm the report. But the Ravens issued a statement at 7 p.m. confirming “that Tray has passed.” Both Butler and the team cited conversations with the NFL rookie’s godmother.

Walker was critically injured at about 7:50 p.m. Thursday while riding a white Honda dirt bike westbound on Northwest 75th Street, according to a statement issued by the Miami-Dade police. He collided with a Ford Escape going southbound on Northwest 21st Avenue driven by Donzetta Coaxum, 62. He was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital where, Butler said, he may not have regained consciousness after the crash.

CONTINUE READING

Florida A&M Baseball Wins 9th Straight, 14-8 Over Alabama State on Wednesday

MONTGOMERY, Alabama  – Florida A&M (12-5, 3-0 MEAC) scored in seven of the nine innings and used home runs from Dylan Dillard and Willis McDaniel to win its’ ninth straight game, a 14-8 win over Alabama State (10-9, 3-0 SWAC) at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex on Wednesday. The Rattlers had 15 hits in the win, while Jacky Miles, Jr. went 3-for-6 to help pace the FAMU offense. The Rattlers have now had at least 10 hits in 11 games this season.

Dillard drove in three runs, while going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Alec Wong (2-for-6), Ryan Hutson (2-for-2) and Peter Jackson (2-for-4) had multi-hit performances.

FAMU starter Ryan Anderson (2-1) earned the win after working a pre-determined outing. Anderson allowed five runs (three earned) on eight hits with two strikeouts and one walk in 4.2 innings of work.

The Rattlers jumped out early with two runs in the top of the first inning for a 2-0 lead. Marlon Gibbs led off the game with a walk and came around to score as Wong ripped a double down the left line. With two outs, Miles, Jr. singled off the pitcher to put runners on the corners and Wong came home for the second run of the inning on a wild pitch.

ASU cut the lead in half at 2-1 with an unearned run in the home half of the first inning. Carlos Ocasio reached on a throwing error by AJ Elkins that would have ended the inning. Dillon Cooper then doubled down the left line and a misplayed ball in left field allowed Ocasio to score from first.
Florida A&M added to its’ lead in the third inning with a two-run home run from Dillard to make the score 4-1. Ben Ellzey was hit-by-pitch with one out and Dillard followed with an opposite field, two-run, home run to push the FAMU lead to three runs.

The Hornets picked up another unearned run in the third inning for a score of 4-2. Diandre Amion led off with a single just passed the diving Dillard at first base and was later able to advance to third on a throwing error down to first base from Miles, Jr. Amion later came home on a sac fly to center field from Cooper.

FAMU kept the offensive pressure going and increased its’ lead to 8-2 with four unearned runs in the fourth inning. Elkins led off the fourth reaching on an error as Hornet shortstop Priolea booted a ground ball. McDaniel then advanced Elkins to second with a sac bunt towards third base before Jackson plated Elkins with an RBI single to center. Gibbs then dropped in a one-out single to right center to place runners on the corners and Ellzey was hit-by-pitch for the second straight at bat to load the bases with two outs. Jackson was then able to come home from third as Dillard drew a bases loaded walk. A wild pitch from Hornet pitcher Michael Tellado scored Gibbs and Miles, Jr. followed with an RBI single to bring home Ellzey for the fourth run of the inning.

The Rattlers scored for the third straight inning, courtesy of a two-run home run by McDaniel that made the score 10-2. Elkins led off the inning, just as he did the last inning, by reaching on an error, this time by the first baseman Chris Biocic. McDaniel then crushed his third home run of the season, a deep two-run shot to left field.

Alabama State cut the lead to 10-5 with three runs in the fifth inning. Ocasio walked and Cooper followed with a single to left to put runners on first and second and no outs. Biocic was then hit-by-pitch to load the bases as Hernandez then singled home Ocasio. Still with the bases loaded and no outs, Hunter Allen grounded out to short as Cooper scored from third. Biocic would later score on an infield single from Eriq White.

FAMU was able to answer back with a run in the sixth inning for a score of 11-5. Dillard led off with a walk and stole second as Miles, Jr. went down on a called third strike. Dillard went to third on an infield single from Hutson and later came home on a safety squeeze from Elkins.

ASU kept battling and made the score 12-7 as they were able to get a two-run home run from Amion in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Florida A&M plated a single run in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth for their final runs of the day. The Hornets would score an unearned run in the ninth for the final score of 14-8.
Hornet starter Patrick Coffin (0-2) suffered the loss after he gave up two runs on two on two hits in the first inning including a leadoff walk to Gibbs.

Florida A&M returns to MEAC play this weekend as they travel to face Savannah State for a three-game series. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 1:00 PM, and Sunday’s series finale will also start at 1:00 PM.

As always, fans can follow Rattler Baseball on Twitter @BaseballFAMU and on Facebook.

BOX SCORE

COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Campbellsville eliminates Nuggets in NAIA's 1st round

INDEPENDENCE, Missouri — Xavier University of Louisiana made a late-season push to qualify for the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, but Campbellsville snuffed out that momentum with a 75-50 victory Wednesday morning in the tournament's opening game.

The Lady Tigers (26-7), ranked eighth nationally and a No. 2 seed at the tournament, used a 21-2 first-half run to pull away from the Gold Nuggets (22-12), ranked 25th and a No. 7 seed.

"I had really big hopes for our team," XU coach Bo Browder said. "I felt we were capable of making a great run in the tournament. But we didn't play very well, and Campbellsville played great throughout."
    
Whitney Gathright, one of six seniors in their final XU game, led the Nuggets with 16 points and became the program's eighth to reach 1,400 for a career. But no teammate scored more than five points.
    
Campbellsville had three double-figure scorers, led by Lindsey Burd with 22 points and Emily Fox with 21. Fox made five 3-pointers, the most by an XU opposing player this season, and made a pair of treys during the Lady Tigers' first-half run which gave them a 26-7 lead at 8:29 of the second quarter.
    
Campbellsville led 20-7 at the end of the first quarter, 36-22 at halftime — Xavier closed the half with a 13-8 run in the final six minutes — and twice by 29 points in the final 90 seconds.
    
The other XU seniors are Emoni Harvey, Trana Hopkins, Donyeah Mayfield, Amara Person-Hampton and Alesha Smith. Person-Hampton led her team with five rebounds and matched her career high.
    
Xavier, ranked ninth in early December, fell out of the top 25 for four consecutive weeks and was approaching the tournament bubble late in the season, then won five in a row, three in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, to earn its 19th trip to nationals in the last 22 seasons. But the Lady Tigers outshot the Gold Nuggets 46.4 to 35.2 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 38-27. Campbellsville made nine 3-pointers, the most by an XU opponent this season.
    
Campbellsville is 4-0 all-time against Xavier, including a 59-55 victory at nationals in the 2014 second round. Xavier had won in the first round in three of its previous four trips (also 2011 and 2012).
    
Campbellsville, the national runner-up a year ago, will play seventh-ranked and No. 3 seed The Master's — a 59-57 winner against another New Orleans school, Loyola — in the round of 16 at 9 a.m. Friday. Eight more first-round games will be played Thursday, including GCAC regular-season champion Talladega against Lindsey Wilson at 4:30 p.m. The 32-team tournament will conclude Tuesday.

BOX SCORE

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold 

XU's Gathright selected first-team NAIA All-America

NEW ORLEANS -- Not long after Xavier University of Louisiana was eliminated Wednesday morning from the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, senior point guard Whitney Gathright received news to lessen the sting. She was named first-team NAIA All-America by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

Gathright -- from New Orleans and a graduate of John Curtis Christian School -- is the first Gold Nugget to earn first-team All-America since Cassee Davis in the 1997-98 season. Gathright was honorable mention the past two seasons on the NAIA's committee-selected teams and last season on the WBCA team.

"What can I say? Whit is most deserving," XU coach Bo Browder said. "She has been a huge part of our success during her time at Xavier and a steadying influence. She will be very difficult to replace."
Gathright led the Gold Nuggets with 16 points in a 75-50 first-round loss to Campbellsville at Independence, Mo. She led Xavier in scoring this season with 14.4 points per game and set XU season records with 184 free throws and 226 attempts. She is the Nuggets' career leader in made free throws (463), free-throw percentage (.782) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.367). She scored 1,414 career points and is the eighth at Xavier to reach 1,400.

Gathright was first-team All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference three times and third-team All-Louisiana each of the past two seasons. She was MVP of the GCAC Tournament this year and in 2014.

The 2015-16 WBCA NAIA All-America team:

Natalee Faupel, Montana State-Northern
Lindsey Burd, Campbellsville
Jatoria Carter, Auburn-Montgomery (Player of the Year)
Taleeah Cross, Freed-Hardeman
Whitney Gathright, Xavier 
Abbey Hengesbach, Olivet Nazarene
Alex Kneeland, Mount Marty
Kara Krolicki, Saint Xavier
Melissa Norman, Vanguard
Daniela Wallen, Oklahoma City

Honorable Mention
Petrolina Chilaka, Columbia (Mo.)
Kassidy De Jong, Northwestern (Iowa)
Samantha Doucette, Vanguard
Jessica Foster, Georgetown (Ky.)
Emily Fox, Campbellsville
Sydney Greiner, St. Ambrose
Taylor Hamilton, Our Lady of the Lake
Erin Legel, Great Falls
Aundrea Matchen, Pikeville
Caelyn Orlandi, Lewis-Clark State
Miranda Palmer, Huntington
Alyssa Ramos, Southeastern (Fla.)
Charnelle Reed, St. Francis (Ill.)
Chanel Roberts, Lindsey Wilson
Ashley Romig, Ottawa
Chayla Rutledge, Benedictine (Kan.)
Christin Strawbridge, Southeastern (Fla.)
Brandy Uchtman, Ozarks (Mo.)
Martessia Williams, Bethel (Tenn.)
Hannah Wisdom, Ozarks (Mo.)

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold