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HOUSTON, Texas -- Last week, Texas Southern defeated Alcorn State to clinch the SWAC regular-season basketball championship at the H&PE Arena.
On Wednesday at Toyota Center, the two teams met again. This time there was more at stake.
TSU again beat the Braves. And with the 95-74 win, the Tigers advance to the SWAC Tournament semifinals on Friday, where they could potentially meet Prairie View, which plays its first game in the tournament on Thursday.
"We were trying to set the tone here, being the first game," said Tigers forward Malcolm Riley, who had a team-high 21 points with 10 rebounds. "We're going to keep it going. We did a good job of that. We really emphasized it on the defensive end."
NEW ORLEANS -- Repeat MVP Shondel Stewart scored 20 points Sunday, leading NAIA No. 1 Talladega to a 76-58 men's basketball victory against Xavier University of Louisiana in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at the Convocation Center.
The Tornadoes (28-4) won the tournament for the second consecutive year and earned the GCAC's automatic berth to the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship, which will begin March 18 at Kansas City, Mo. The Gold Rush (24-9) -- ranked 18th and owner of NAIA DI's longest streak of top-25 appearances, 48 -- will receive strong consideration for an at-large bid. Pairings will be announced Wednesday.
Brandon Peters scored 19 points, Courtney Mack 14 and Wendell Pierre 13 for Talladega.
Morris Wright scored 21 points, Sydney Coleman 16 and Anthony Goode 13 for Xavier. Coleman grabbed nine rebounds.
In the final five minutes, Talladega pulled away by making 17-of-18 free throws and outscoring Xavier 21-4.
For the game, Talladega outshot Xavier 50 to 39.6 percent from the floor and made 31-of-41 free throws to Xavier's 15-of-19. Peters was 15-of-17 from the line.
Xavier shot better than 60 percent from the floor in both of its tournament victories, including a season-high 63.8 percent Friday against Dillard.
Xavier twice led by five points in the first four minutes before Talladega rallied for a 30-28 halftime advantage. There were two ties and five lead changes in the second half before Pierre's basket with 8:16 remaining put the Tornadoes ahead to stay, 51-50.
Joining Stewart on the five-player all-tournament team were Peters, Wright, Coleman and Teviin Morris of Philander Smith.
Coleman extended his streak of consecutive field goals made in the tournament to 21 before missing three times in the final 7:49. Those were his only misses of the tournament.
Xavier seeks a school-record fifth consecutive invitation to the national tournament and its ninth of the last 11 seasons.
NEW ORLEANS -- Brandy Broome scored 13 of her 18 points in the second half Sunday and lead top-seeded SUNO to a 55-47 women's basketball victory against Xavier University of Louisiana in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at the Convocation Center.
The Lady Knights (21-4) won the tournament for the second time in three years and earned the GCAC's automatic berth to the NAIA Division I National Championship, which will begin March 18 at Independence, Mo. The Gold Nuggets (18-15), are expected to miss the national tourney for the first time since 2009 and just the third time in the last 21 seasons.
Broome, the tournament MVP and the GCAC's regular-season player of the year, narrowly missed a triple-double. The senior guard had 13 rebounds, five assists and nine steals, all game highs.
Marquetta Stokes scored 12 points for SUNO, and Rayvin Miller had 10 points.
Trana Hopkins scored 16 points and Vinnie Briggs 10 for Xavier, and Whitney Gathright grabbed a career-best nine rebounds.
Xavier led 25-22 at halftime. Miller's basket with 12:59 remaining put SUNO ahead to stay, 35-34. It was still a 1-point game in the final six minutes before Kishaun Williams scored a pair of baskets in an 8-0 run. Williams' second score concluded the run and gave SUNO a 51-42 lead with 1:19 remaining.
SUNO outshot Xavier 38.9 to 25.8 percent from the floor, 42.9 to 24.1 in the second half.
SUNO denied Xavier its fifth GCAC Tournament title in six years. The Gold Nuggets won the tourney in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
This was the closest of three meetings this season between the longtime city rivals. SUNO defeated the Gold Nuggets by 30 points at Xavier in January and by 10 at SUNO in February.
NORFOLK,Virginia -- Trailing 17-9 on Tuesday afternoon to North Carolina Central, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore women needed to make some plays if they wanted to stay alive in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament.
But that's just what they did at both ends of the court.
The defense ratcheted up the pressure on one end and freshman forward TeAmber Burke scored seven of the team's next nine points off the bench.
The Hawks (12-16) took their first lead — 18-17 — since the opening possession, on a Burke free throw with nine minutes to go before the half.
"TeAmber's play off the bench was huge," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "Her 15 points was the difference in the first half. It was huge because it allowed us to get in our pressure which they had problems with."
NORFOLK,Virginia -- Sophomore guard Jasmine Hill scored a career-high 20 points to lead four players in double figures and help Howard University upset South Carolina State, 70-57, in the first round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament at the Norfolk Scope Arena.
The Lady Bison (4-26), the Number 12 seed, advance to the next round where they will play Norfolk State, the Number 4 seed, on Thursday at 2:30 pm.
Howard, which lost to the Number 5 Lady Bulldogs (16-12) in their only game this season in Orangeburg, SC, set the tone early in the first half as junior guard Imani Bailey came off the bench to score 10 points and Hill and sophomore forward Sydni Johnson contributed seven each. It helped the Lady Bison maintained a 34-28 lead at the half despite not having leading scorer, Victoria Gonzales, who played only seven minutes due to foul trouble.
"It was a hard-fought game and our young ladies stepped up today," said Howard Coach Tennille Adams. "We are not our record. The toughness and competitiveness in which we play does not always show up in the win column."
In the second half, Howard opened with a 14-9 run that opened a 48-37 lead six minutes into the second stanza.The rally was fueled by Hill, sophomore guard Allese Morrison and Johnson, who combined for 12 of the points.
From there, Howard controlled the tempo and kept the Lady Bulldogs at bay, maintaining a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
SCSU's Kourtney Williams, Jasmine Coleman and Jazzmine Johnson took turns scoring, but each time South Carolina State would get close, Howard would have an answer.
"We didn't expect this kind of performance from them," noted Williams.
The Lady Bison had one of their better shooting performances of the year, hitting on 54 percent (27 of 50) for the game, including 61 percent in the second half. The Howard defense limited the Lady Bulldogs to 33 percent shooting and held a 40-33 advantage on the boards.
"Howard played extremely well," said South Carolina State coach Doug Robertson. "They shot the ball extremely well and we didn't defend the way we needed to. They were the better team for 40 minutes today."
In addition to her 20 points on eight of 13 from the field, Hill added four steals and a career-high seven rebounds. Johnson added 14 points, Morrison with 10 and Bailey with 14 off the bench.
"Jasmine Hill and Imani Bailey stepped up in a big way," said Adams. "I'm glad we have it all coming together now at tournament time."
South Carolina State got a team-high 13 from Coleman and 10 from Amber Howard.
NORFOLK, Virginia -- Silver linings abounded for Hampton University's men after their Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament opener.
The Pirates believed they were better than a No. 6 seed, and thus merited a later start than opening day.
But Hampton's 91-71 win against Morgan State on Monday night at Scope provided a jolt of confidence. It permitted the Pirates to shake off a late-season dip that saw them lose three of their final four games.
Because of the tournament format, the Pirates (13-17) also have a couple of days to rest and prepare for Thursday's 6 p.m. quarterfinal matchup against No. 3 seed Maryland Eastern Shore, a team they defeated in the regular season.
Perhaps most important, it gives leading scorer and rebounder Dwight Meikle time to recover from an ankle injury he suffered in Monday's win.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Florida A&M (7-7, 4-2 MEAC) pounded out a season-high 16 hits and a season-high 14 runs to crush Mercer (9-9) 14-2 at Moore-Kittles Field on Tuesday afternoon. FAMU has now won six of its last eight games. Five Rattlers had a multi-hit game including Marlon Gibbs who went 3-for-5 with a double, four RBI and three runs scored. Kendal Weeks (2-1) had a strong outing on the mound, pitching eight innings and only allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with two strikeouts for the win.
Jared Walker went 2-for-3 with a run scored, Alec Wong was 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, Jeremy Barlow went 2-for-4 with two RBI and AJ Elkins was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Robby Jolley recorded a pinch hit, three-run, home run in the eighth inning for his first hit of the season.
The Rattlers scored three runs on four hits in the first inning to grab a 3-0 lead. Walker led off the home half of the first with a bunt single and moved to second on a passed ball. Wong also reached on a bunt single, which allowed Walker to advance to third with no outs. Gibbs plated Walker for the first run of the game while reaching on a fielder’s choice. Gibbs then stole second and came around to score on Ryan Kennedy’s RBI single back up the middle. Still with one out, Brian Davis singled through the left side and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. Kennedy later scored the third run of the inning on Barlow’s RBI groundout.
Charlie Madden led off the top of the second inning, on the first pitch, with a solo home run to left for the Bears to cut the lead to 3-1.
FAMU scored four runs in the fifth inning to extend their lead to 7-1. Gibbs, Barlow and Peter Jackson each had a RBI in the inning as eight Rattlers went to the plate.
Florida A&M increased its’ lead to 8-1 with a run in the sixth inning. AJ Elkins led off the sixth with a double off the fence in left and went to third on a sacrifice bunt from Walker. Wong’s sac fly to left scored Elkins for the eighth run of the game.
The Bears would score an unearned run in the eighth to make the score 8-2. Pinch hitter Jackson Ware reached on an error and went to second on a groundout before scoring from second on Nate Moorhouse’s RBI single up the middle.
The Rattlers poured on six more runs in the bottom of the eighth for a final score of 14-2. Jolley recorded his first hit of the season in the inning, a three-run home run to left. Gibbs also had a two-run single in the inning to highlight the scoring.
Mercer starter Ryan Askew (2-2) who’s normally in the weekend rotation for the Bears suffered the loss. Askew allowed three runs in the first inning on four hits.
Florida A&M and Mercer finish up the mid-week series on Wednesday afternoon at Moore-Kittles Field. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 PM.
NORFOLK, Virginia -- Sterling Smith had 14 points, Daquan Brickhouse made two game-clinching free throws with two seconds left and ninth-seeded Coppin State beat No. 8 seed Bethune-Cookman 64-60 on Tuesday in the first round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament.
The teams have met in the opening round each of the past three seasons — with Coppin State winning two straight.
Coppin State will play top-seeded North Carolina Central (24-6), the reigning tournament champions, on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
Brickhouse finished with eight points for Coppin State (8-22), including an off-balance 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down for a 60-53 lead with 3:04 left.
NORFOLK, Virginia -- Jalen White and Edward Stephens both scored 16 points and seventh-seeded South Carolina State survived a late rally Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs (11-21) will face second-seeded Norfolk State in a quarterfinal game at 8 tonight.
S.C. State made 6 of 8 3-pointers in the first half to build a 19-point lead and withstood a second-half surge. The Aggies (9-23) shot 54.2 percent in the second half to tie the game at 52-52 with 3:43 remaining before S.C. State pulled away.
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern University officials have been notified by the Southwestern Athletic Conference of the immediate reinstatement of two players who were initially suspended for suspected involvement in Saturday's on-court altercation at Texas Southern.
In communication provided to Southern athletics, The SWAC office rescinded the suspensions of senior guard Kendra Coleman and sophomore forward Cortnei Purnell "in light of additional video review by the Conference office."
Both Coleman and Purnell are eligible to play in Southern's tournament game and will not have to serve a one game suspension.
Southern has also been elevated to the No. 1 seed as a result of Texas Southern's decision to withdraw from the 2015 SWAC Tournament at the Toyota Center in Houston. The Jaguars will face No. 8 seed Mississippi Valley State in the tournament quarterfinal round Wednesday night at 6 p.m.
HOUSTON, Texas -- Although the Texas Southern women’s team will not have a chance to compete in the women’s NCAA Tournament with its withdrawal from the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament this week, the Tigers still have postseason hopes through the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, which will announce its 64-team field on Sunday night.
Each conference receives an automatic berth in the WNIT, and TSU, as the regular-season SWAC champion, would be the conference’s most likely candidate.
A WNIT spokesman said the tournament will consult with the SWAC and Texas Southern on a potential tournament invitation.
TSU withdrew from the SWAC tournament this week after ...
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- The Southwestern Athletic Conference took away Southern’s share of the conference regular-season title Monday night as it suspended seven Jaguars and eight Texas Southern players for their involvement in a brawl Saturday.
The suspended Southern players will be unavailable when the Jaguars play Grambling in a quarterfinal game in the SWAC tournament at noon Wednesday in the Toyota Center in Houston.
That leaves six Jaguars eligible to participate.
The Lady Tigers announced Monday night that they would not participate in the tournament because their suspensions left them incapable of fielding a full five-person lineup.
The altercation, which included cheerleaders and spectators, erupted with 12:37 left in the game and Southern leading 51-49 in a showdown for first place in the regular-season finale. After the officials imposed mandatory ejections for each player who left the benches during the skirmish, the game was declared a double forfeit because neither team could field five players.
RICHMOND, Virginia -- Virginia Union University women's basketball coach Barvenia Wooten-Cherry has resigned, the school announced Monday afternoon.
Wooten-Cherry just finished her fifth season with the Panthers, who went 9-18 overall and 4-12 in the CIAA this year.
“We accept Coach Wooten-Cherry’s resignation and thank her for all of her efforts while leading our women’s basketball program," VUU athletics director Joe Taylor said in a press release. "We wish her success in all of her future endeavors."
Wooten-Cherry returned to VUU, her alma mater, in 2010 and compiled a 48-85 (.361) record with the Panthers. She spent the previous 10 years as the coach of Prince Georges Community College.
NEW ORLEANS — Donyeah Mayfield scored a career-high 17 points Saturday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 68-55 women's basketball victory against Edward Waters in the semifinals of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at XU's Convocation Center.
The Gold Nuggets (18-14), seeded second, will play top-seeded SUNO (20-4) for the championship at 3 p.m. Sunday at Xavier. SUNO defeated Talladega 76-65 in the other semifinal.
Mayfield also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Vinnie Briggs scored 11 points for the Gold Nuggets, and Trana Hopkins scored 10.
Britany Rowell scored 18 points, Amber Antoine 17 and Kyeshia Dawkins 12 for Edward Waters (19-13).
Xavier outscored the Lady Tigers 17-4 in the first seven minutes and led 41-36 at halftime. The Gold Nuggets led for the final 38:12, and Edward Waters never came closer than six points in the second half.
Xavier shot 45.5 percent from the floor — its second-best accuracy this season — and limited Edward Waters to 35.3 percent, including 1-of-13 on 3-pointers. The Gold Nuggets outrebounded the Lady Tigers 42-29.
Xavier is 12-0 all-time against Edward Waters. Eight of those victories occurred since the Jacksonville, Fla., school joined the GCAC in 2010.
Xavier is in the GCAC final for the seventh time in nine years. During that period the Gold Nuggets won the tournament in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014. SUNO won its only GCAC Tournament championship in 2013 and is in the final for the fourth time.
MONTGOMERY, Alabama — Xavier University of Louisiana earned men's and women's tennis victories Saturday against Cumberland at the AUM Invitational. The Gold Rush, ranked sixth in the NAIA, won 8-1, and the Gold Nuggets, ranked seventh, won 7-2.
The XU men (8-1) produced their third victory of the season against a ranked NAIA opponent and their second against a top-10 team. Cumberland (1-3) is No. 10.
The XU men have won seven in a row, their longest streak since the first half of 2012.
The Gold Nuggets (9-5) lost 2-of-3 doubles matches, then swept the singles to win a dual for the fifth consecutive time.
Winning in doubles and singles for the Gold Rush were Kyle Montrel and Nikita Soifer. Brandi Nelson and Jana van der Walt did the same for the Nuggets. Clinching the duals were Manav Chakma in a 6-0, 6-0 decision over Madison Mummert and van der Walt in her 6-2, 6-4 victory against Tarsha de Souza, No. 45 in the ITA's NAIA singles rankings.
Also beating a ranked player was NAIA No. 1 Nour Abbes, who defeated No. 11 Angelica Sepulveda. Abbes won the first set 6-2, then Sepulveda retired because of injury.
Cumberland's women are 4-3.
The Rush and Nuggets will play Auburn Montgomery — whose teams are ranked third in the NAIA — at noon Sunday at Lagoon Park Tennis Center in the fina
le of this three-day event.
CLINTON, Mississippi — Xavier University of Louisiana senior Catherine Fakler won the women's 1,500-meter run in 4 minutes, 51.07 seconds Saturday at the Mississippi College Opener.
The meet was the first of the outdoor track and field season for XU's men and women.
Fakler won by slightly more than three seconds over runner-up Ashley Litoff of Rhodes.
Other high finishes for Xavier were Brent Kitto with a third in the men's 800 (1:59.44), Alex Xavier with a third in the men's 110 hurdles (15.45), Chelsea James with a fourth in the women's 100 (12.63), and a fifth in the 200 (26.02), Carlie Calais with a fifth in the women's 800 (2:28.68), Terri Cunningham with a fifth in the women's 400 hurdles (1:08.59), Hannah Finnegan with a fifth in the women's 3,000 steeplechase (13:22.75) and Devinn Rolland with a fifth in the women's long jump (5.36 meters/17 feet, 7 inches).
There was no team scoring.
Xavier's next meet will be Saturday at the McNeese Cowboy Relays in Lake Charles, La.
HOUSTON, Texas -- Dr. Charles McClelland, vice president for intercollegiate athletics at Texas Southern, said contrary to reports fans and Southern University cheerleaders were not involved in the altercation that erupted during the women's basketball game between Southern and TSU Saturday night on the campus of Texas Southern.
McClelland said Texas Southern was able to determine what occurred during the altercation after a review of a tape of the game.
"There are a couple of reports that stated the Southern cheerleaders and fans were involved in the altercation," McClelland said in an interview with FOX26 Sports.
"After a review of the tape Southern University cheerleaders were not involved, and the individuals that came from the stands were (TSU) athletic employees to assist in the break-up of the altercation."
Officials declared the game over following the altercation with Southern leading 51-49, and while the officials ruled a double forfeit, Southern was awarded the victory.
Tennessee State Captures 2015 OVC Women's Basketball Championship
2015 OVC All-Tournament Team Tierny Austin, SIUE Ashia Jones, UT Martin Chelsea Hudson, Tennessee State Rachel Allen, Tennessee State Brianna Lawrence, Tennessee State (MVP)
NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- It took overtime, but the Tennessee State women’s basketball team was crowned Ohio Valley Conference Champions following a, 64-60, win over No. 1 seeded UT Martin on Saturday.
With the win, TSU is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995.
“I have had some great games as a coach, but none of them are any better than this one,” Head Coach Larry Joe Inman said. “Our team struggled through a lot of hard times, but we overcame and didn’t back off.”
Brianna Lawrence led TSU with 22 points, 18 of which came after halftime. Her performance earned her OVC Tournament MVP honors following the game. Rachel Allen (13 points) and Chelsea Hudson (eight points) joined Lawrence on the All-OVC Tournament Team.
UTM’s Ashia Jones, who came into the game averaging 34.5 points per game in the OVC Tournament, was held to 23 on 6-of-18 shooting (33.3 percent).
“We did an awesome job on defense inside. We had Jones isolated one-on-one for most of the game, but our help defense was always there to lend a hand,” Inman said.
Jones was UTM’s only offensive weapon early in the game and she was ineffective at best. The Lady Tigers limited her to three points through the first 10 minutes and they did it with only one defender guarding her.
Meanwhile, TSU spread to ball around on offense to get both its shooters and post players open looks. The sharing tactic led to a pair of early threes from I'mani Davis and Allen and a commanding, 19-7, lead through the first quarter of action.
“I thought we seized momentum early in the game, and that shows you the mentality that we had, we weren’t backing down,” Inman said. “We took the initiative and then we took control.”
The Skyhawks slowly crept back into the game and it started with Jones canning a pair of jump shots. Defensively, UTM forced TSU to keep the ball on one side of the court by bracketing the other. The strategy forced six Lady Tiger turnovers and a Tennessee State scoring drought of 4:37.
With the score, 23-21, UTM’s Danielle Woolfolk canned a wide-open three pointer to give the Skyhawks’ their first lead of the game. Allen made sure that it was short-lived as on the next possession, she converted on a driving layup with 1:32 to play in the half.
Hudson continued the charge with an old-fashioned three-point play to end the first half and the Lady Tigers took a 28-26 lead into the locker room.
Lawrence poured in a pair of threes to highlight the start of the second period, but TSU fouls eventually proved costly. The Skyhawks entered the double-bonus with 8:47 to play and went up, 45-41.
The Lady Tigers figured out UTM’s 1-3-1 zone later in the half and a slashing Davis layup made it five straight makes to tie the game at 49 with 5:29 to go.
Lawrence made back-to-back shots for TSU, but UTM countered with four free throws to leave the score tied with 53 seconds to play. Allen stole the ball from Jones to give the Lady Tigers one shot for the win, but Davis travelled on TSU’s possession.
UTM had a final shot at the buzzer but UTM’s shot didn’t beat the horn, forcing overtime.
Lawrence got TSU off to a good start in extra time with a jumper in the lane and an Allen three-pointer with two minutes left gave the Lady Tigers a 58-57 advantage.
Again, Lawrence proved why she was named MVP by hitting her third triple of the game to pad the lead to an insurmountable four points.
The Lady Tigers find out where and who they will play in the NCAA Tournament on Monday, March 16.
“We don’t care who we play in the NCAA Tournament, whoever it is, let’s line them up and play it… who’s next?”
FINAL BOX COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
HOUSTON, Texas -- For the past two months, Southern and Texas Southern have been battling neck and neck for the Southwestern Athletic Conference title.
On Saturday at HP&E Arena, the two teams came to full blows.
An ugly brawl underneath Southern’s basket involving players, cheerleaders and fans saw multiple punches thrown and security storming the field.
The officials ruled a double-forfeit, but since Southern was winning the game 51-49, the Jaguars were awarded the victory and a share of the SWAC championship.
“I’ve been involved with basketball for 30-plus years, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Southern coach Sandy Pugh said. “It’s an embarrassment.”
MOBILE, Alabama -- The Spring Hill College baseball team swept a conference doubleheader away from the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers by the scores of 10-5 and 17-7 on Saturday afternoon at historic Stan Galle Field.
In the first game the Badger did all the damage they need to do with a 10-run 2nd inning that featured seven Spring Hill hits and two Tuskegee errors in the field including a costly dropped sacrifice fly in left field.
Christian Bahlinger (2-0) was the winner in three innings of relief for Spring Hill with four hits allowed, no walks and three strikeouts while Cameron Summers (0-1) took the loss in two innings of work with eight hits given up along with four walks and a strikeout.
Game Two saw SHC build out an 8-0 lead after three innings of play, but Tuskegee rallied to make it an 8-6 game with two runs in the 4th and four runs in the 5th inning before the Badgers exploded once again for a 9-run fifth inning off six hits and four walks.
HOUSTON, Texas -- Last week, Texas Southern defeated Alcorn State to clinch the SWAC regular-season basketball championship at the H&PE Arena.
