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NEW ORLEANS — For the first time in four years, Xavier University of Louisiana has climbed in three consecutive NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 polls. The Gold Nuggets (5-6) moved Tuesday from 10th to ninth. The XULA women have improved by 10 spots since the preseason poll, mainly on the strength of four victories against ranked opponents. Their most recent dual match was a 9-0 victory at No. 22 St. Thomas (Fla.) March 17. The 2013 Gold Nuggets climbed six consecutive times in the polls en route to the first-ever NAIA No. 1 ranking by a XULA team in any sport. The ranking is the Gold Nuggets' highest since No. 4 on May 20, 2015. This is the 27th all-time top-10 appearance for XULA's women. Next for XULA will be a pair of duals Saturday at Alexandria (La.) City Courts. The Gold Nuggets will play NAIA No. 13 LSU-Alexandria at 9 a.m. and Grambling of NCAA Division I at 1 p.m. The Gold Nuggets' next home appearance will be April 13 at 11 a.m. against NAIA No. 10 William Carey at XULA Tennis Center.
NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through March 26)
Rank
Team
Record
Points
Last
1
Georgia Gwinnett (14)
18-0
374
1
2
Lindsey Wilson
11-4
362
2
3
SCAD Savannah
10-3
350
3
4
Keiser
11-5
338
4
5
Northwestern Ohio
10-4
303
15
6
William Woods
4-6
300
6
7-tie
San Diego Christian
9-2
298
8
7-tie
Mobile
18-2
298
7
9
XULA
5-6
279
10
10
William Carey
9-2
264
9
11
Indiana Wesleyan
22-6
257
11
12
Cardinal Stritch
2-8
248
5
13
LSU-Alexandria
10-0
243
12
14
Davenport
5-4
205
tie-13
15
Arizona Christian
11-6
201
16
16
Middle Georgia
12-5
194
18
17
Olivet Nazarene
1-6
170
17
18
Campbellsville
3-4
163
RV
19
SCAD Atlanta
5-6
141
21
20
Cumberlands
8-6
122
RV
21
McPherson
1-2
114
20
22
St. Thomas (Fla.)
4-8
108
22
23
Lewis-Clark State
3-10
104
tie-24
24
Marian (Ind.)
12-7
102
tie-24
25
Coastal Georgia
10-8
99
RV
Dropped from rankings: No. 13 (tie) Brenau, No. 19 Cumberland, No. 23 Reinhardt
Others receiving votes: Reinhardt 90, Cumberland 84, Brenau 76, Georgetown (Ky.) 47, Tennessee Wesleyan 22, Southwestern (Kan.) 7, Westmont 7, Missouri Valley 5, Huntington 5, Texas Wesleyan 3 Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director XULAgold.com XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA twitter.com/xulagold www.facebook.com/xulagold
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Citing an unnamed source on a Twitter post Monday night, ESPN College Basketball Insider Jeff Goodman said Howard senior guard James “J-Byrd” Daniel III, the top scorer in the 2015-16 NCAA Div. I season who played in just two games for the Bison this season, will play his final year of eligibility elsewhere.
Contacted by phone early Tuesday afternoon by the Black College Sports Page, Daniel said he is not necessarily transferring. “Howard is one of my top choices,” said Daniel who is graduating from Howard in May but will have another year of eligibility based on his short stint on the court this season.
“I’m more or less weighing my options,” Daniel said. “Howard is still in consideration.”
As to whether he talked with Goodman, Daniel said “Not me personally. I’ve just put my name out there. I’m open to everything.”
Daniel sustained a high sprain to his left ankle in the preseason that kept him out of all except two games in January for Howard this season. He scored 24 points in a 78-66 home loss to Florida A&M on Jan. 4 and 10 points in a 66-48 loss at Columbia three nights later.Oon
PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland -- The University of Maryland Eastern Shore got the news it was waiting for Wednesday as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Champion bowling team earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years.
“You can say that this is the whole year worth of work that we put in,” said graduate student Thashaina Seraus in a news release. “This is one of the main goals we wanted to accomplish. Of course, USBCs too, but this is the one that we really fought for over three years and finally we made it.”
The Hawks (84-39, 19-5 MEAC) will now travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for the NCAA Championships at the Raising Cane’s River Center after being one of the eight teams to receive an invitation.
Eastern Shore hadn’t been to the NCAA Championships since 2014, when it finished third behind Sam Houston State and Nebraska.
The NCAA released the competing teams one-at-a-time on a live webcast. When the eighth and final berth was announced, the screams came and three years’ worth of tension left the room.
Results: Men • Women HOUSTON, Texas — Xavier University of Louisiana's Tramaine Shannon, Martina Wright and Clarke Allen recorded their team's best marks of 2017 in the women's division of the Rice Victor Lopez Classic track and field meet Saturday.
Shannon finished 10th in the 400-meter dash in a career-best 57.69 seconds. Wright ran the 100 in a career-best 12.57 to finish 25th, and Allen was 41st in the 200 in 26.17.
Brianna Pace placed ninth in the women's 800 in 2:23.88. In men's competition, Khalil Gallien finished 13th in the 110 hurdles in 15.77.
There was no team scoring in the meet, which is the fourth of the season for XULA. Next for the Gold Nuggets and Gold Rush will be the Mississippi College Twilight Invitational at 1 p.m. Friday in Clinton, Miss. The meet replaces the Southern Miss Invitational on the XULA schedule.
Here are all XULA results from the Rice Victor Lopez Classic:
Women
100: Martina Wright, 25th in 12.57 seconds; Alexis Milton, 33rd in 12.73; Justyce Riggs, 36th in 12.82
200: Clarke Allen, 41st in 26.17; Alexis Milton, 42nd in 26.21; Janelle Jones, 49th in 26.44; Martina Wright, 54th in 26.55; Justyce Riggs, 58th in 26.86
400: Tramaine Shannon, 10th in 57.69; Ry-Anne Riley, 15th in 58.35; Ariane Williams, 18th in 58.48; Janelle Jones, 28th in 59.50
800: Brianna Pace, 9th in 2:23.88
400 Relay: Martina Wright, Alexis Milton, Janelle Jones, Justyce Riggs, 12th in 48.33
HOUSTON, Texas -- In a blink, Derrick Griffin was gone. He adeptly escaped from the grasp of a Prairie View A&M cornerback as he accelerated downfield into a smooth fly pattern.
The former Texas Southern wide receiver easily gathered in a long touchdown catch as a feeble attempt at press coverage was easily broken through by his superior size and athleticism.
Griffin is typically bigger, stronger and faster than anyone he faces on a football field or a basketball court.
Dismissed from the football team after violating team rules last season when he got in an argument with his position coach Griffin opted to declare for the NFL draft and the reigning SWAC Basketball Player of the Year has signed with veteran NFL agent James "Bus" Cook.
On Monday morning on the Rice campus, the physically gifted 6-7, 235-pound former blue-chip Miami and Texas A&M recruit will audition for NFL scouts. CONTINUE READING
GLENDALE, Arizona -- Former 4th round pick Rodney Gunter came to the National Football League from the small school of Delaware State. Weighing in at 6’5″ and 305 pounds, the defensive lineman made the first All-MEAC team in 2013, and the second team All-MEAC team both in 2012 and 2014.
“I wanted to come back and tell somebody I might have seen one of the best defensive line prospects in this draft,” Cardinals’ scout Buckner said.
The selection of Gunter could be attributed to his accolades from the college ranks, such as his aforementioned all-conference selections, or it could be due to his game day statistics. Even with the accolades and statistics, many people, including Gunter himself, were surprised when the Cardinals selected him with their 4th round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
As a four year starter, Rodney Gunter produced 188 tackles, 18 sacks, and 37 tackles for loss in college. These stats average out to about 47 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and 9.25 tackles for loss each season. For a down lineman of Gunter’s size, these numbers are impressive, and his pro-day performance explains how he was able to put up those numbers.
During the Delaware State pro day, Gunter posted a 5.00 second 40-yard dash, an astounding time for someone over 300 pounds. He also posted a 27 inch vertical, a number that is only 1.5 inches less than running back Leonard Fournette posted in this year’s combine. This type of athleticism that the defensive lineman has displayed shows flashes of his enormous potential.
CHICAGO, Illinois -- Every day we are taking a look at a new 2017 NFL Draft target for the Chicago Bears. We are going deep for today’s prospect, taking a look at North Carolina A&T running back Tarik Cohen.
Cohen was an extremely productive back in college, leaving North Carolina A&T as the leading rusher in the history of the MEAC conference (5,619 yards). Cohen also won the MEAC Offensive Player of the Year award three separate times and was named an FCS All-American in 2016. Simply put, he was a big-time playmaker on the football field.
Cohen is an explosive back who can take it to the house from anywhere on the field. However, he has one huge negative in his game — size. Cohen measured in at 5-6, 179 pounds at the combine. That kind of size typically does not play at the next level. However, Cohen has a special overall skillset that makes him an intriguing late round sleeper to think about.
The Human Joystick
An extremely slippery and elusive runner, Cohen is ridiculously difficult to bring down in open space. He has fantastic short area quickness and elite-level start-and-stop ability. Also, despite being so small, Cohen is a relatively compact runner who has a bit of power behind his pads. He did a great job of bursting through arm tackles in college.
NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- The Tennessee State football team’s offense shined in the first scrimmage of the spring semester at Hale Stadium on Saturday.
“I thought it went well,” TSU Head Coach Rod Reed said. “What I liked was our effort. I think the offense ran the ball really well today. Defensively, we didn’t tackle as well as I would like us to tackle. I think that’s something that can be corrected very easily. All in all, the effort in the game was great.”
Running back Sabree Curtis, Jr. ran for a touchdown and caught another out of the backfield, while tight end Mahlon Medley added a receiving touchdown on the day. Quarterbacks Treon Harris, who is in his first semester at TSU after transferring from Florida, and Michael Hughes finished with one passing touchdown apiece.
The defense came out strong, forcing a three-and-out on the first possession of the game. After a 30 yard rush by Tyler Black, the defense was again up to the task, getting a stop on fourth down on a tackle by Justin Culpepper.
Hughes scrambled for positive yards on two occasions on the next possession, which resulted in a seven yard TD pass to Medley. Safety Larry Wilhoite broke up a pair of passes for the defense on the drive.
With Harris under center, the offense continued to move down the field in a drive capped by a five yard Curtis touchdown run up the middle.
The defense responded with a pair of three and outs highlighted by a Sidney Hammond sack.
The final touchdown drive on the day was a seven-play outburst orchestrated by Harris. The quarterback completed passes to Ronnie Killings and Patrick Smith in addition to two positive rushes for Harris to get in the red zone. Curtis continued to shine with a nine-yard touchdown catch from Harris to finish things off.
The Tigers will resume practice on Monday with the next scrimmage scheduled for Saturday, April 1, at 11 a.m.
TSU Head Coach Rod Reed
"We made some big plays. Sabree Curtis did a good job running the ball. Treon (Harris) did a really good job running our offense today. The big thing I wanted to see was, could we run the football? I thought we ran it pretty well. On the flipside of that, our ability to stop the run came in the form of a lot of missed tackles today. We can fix that. I’m really excited about where we are right now and where we are moving forward.”
- Thoughts on the first scrimmage
“Without question it’s important, especially defensively having a new coordinator. I thought Coach Fisher and his staff did some really good things today, but there are a lot of things to clean up also. It’s great to get it on tape in a live scrimmage situation with officials, and we are happy with how today went.”
- On how important it is to build throughout the spring
TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Larry Joe Inman, the winningest coach in Ohio Valley Conference history, has announced his resignation as the head women’s basketball coach at Tennessee State University.
“I am resigning for personal reasons and want to thank Ms. Phillips for the opportunity to coach at Tennessee State University,” said Inman. “I’ve had a very positive experience here and I will always cherish the memories and relationships that I’ve had the opportunity to develop. Most of all, the memories that I’ve had with my players through the years have been wonderful and they’ve made such a difference in my life.”
Inman, who has spent the past five seasons at the helm of the women’s basketball program, led the Lady Tigers to an OVC Tournament Championship in 2015 and helped the team earn an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time in 20 years.
During his stint at TSU he coached one All-OVC first team selection, one OVC Tournament MVP and four members of the All-OVC second team.
An eight-time Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Inman has won seven OVC Tournament championships at three different schools and has 10 regular season titles under his belt.
Inman began his collegiate coaching career at Middle Tennessee in 1978 before spending 20 years at Eastern Kentucky. As his success continued, his name became synonymous with winning. Entering this season, with a total of 535 wins, he was the 24th all-time winningest coach among active Division I coaches. He is also a member of three Halls of Fame - Ohio Valley Conference, Middle Tennessee and Eastern Kentucky.
“We are thankful to Coach Inman for guiding the Lady Tiger program and taking TSU women’s basketball back to the top with the 2015 OVC championship and NCAA tournament berth,” commented Director of Athletics Teresa Phillips. “I view Larry both as a friend and colleague and personally wish him all the best as he moves into a new phase in his life’s journey. Tennessee State has been blessed by his time here with us.”
The university will conduct a national search to identify the next head coach of the women’s basketball program. TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Virginia Union might not have been the best team in its national quarterfinal and semifinal, but it was the best team on those nights.
However, No. 1 Ashland was the best team all season, and that was no different in the NCAA Division II women's national championship Friday night at Ohio Dominican University's Alumni Hall in Columbus, Ohio.
Alexis Johnson scored a season-high 28 points, and Lady Walker had 19, but the Panthers lost 93-77 loss to the Ashland Eagles.
Jodi Johnson and Laina Snyder led Ashland (37-0) with 19 and 17 points, respectively.
Ashley Smith scored only 6 points following her 28-point performance in the semifinals for Virginia Union, which finished national runner-up for the second time in program history.
Union (28-5) had the lead at points in the second quarter and trailed by just 2 halfway through the third quarter. But from the five-minute mark on in the third, Ashland took over the game, outrebounding the Panthers 19-13 in the second half and expanding its lead to 16 points in the fourth quarter.
"They finished their easy baskets, where we missed a lot of easy baskets," VUU coach AnnMarie Gilbert said. "Oftentimes, it looked like we were playing a little fatigued or just not balanced."
Virginia Union made its first three field goals of the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 1. But with VUU down 2 with 5:07 remaining in the quarter, Ashland went on an 8-2 run in a span of three minutes with only one made field goal. Maddie Dackin hit six free throws before the end of the third, giving Ashland a commanding 68-58 lead.
An Alex Henning layup and a 3 from Johnson put the Eagles up 15 to start the final quarter, and they never led by fewer than 12 points in the fourth. Ashland made 18 of 20 free throws in the second half and 20 of 22 in the game. Virginia Union was 5 of 15 from the line.
"In a game in this magnitude, you cannot miss assignments, you cannot leave shooters wide open, you cannot miss free throws," Gilbert said. "All the little things that took for us to get here, we just failed in some of those areas today."
Virginia Union struggled to convert from the floor early, missing 10 of its first 14 shots, where Ashland hit at a 64 percent clip in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Panthers started with a 7-0 run to take a 3-point lead before Ashland's second-ranked 3-point shooting was on full display. The Eagles hit 5 of 9 shots from beyond the arc in the quarter, but Union hung with the No. 1 team, with 20 combined points from Walker and Johnson in the quarter.
For 30 minutes of the game, the margin was either one or two possessions. However, what had gotten the Panthers to the title game was their rebounding, and Friday night, after grabbing 60 rebounds as a team in the semifinal, Virginia Union was outrebounded 37-34.
The offense proved particularly difficult for Gilbert to solve. She said her team had yet to play a team that plays like Ashland.
"We tried a little zone, we tried a little man, we pressured a little bit," Gilbert said. "But they push tempo so well. They get it out of the net and they go."
In Johnson's first year in the program, she was one of the most productive players and led the team in scoring in the national championship — a feat she credits to Gilbert.
"It's a learning experience," Johnson said. "We want to come back and make sure we learn from our mistakes."
It is Ashland's second national championship in four years, winning it all in 2013 also.
Virginia Union made the national final in Gilbert's second year at the helm, proving the program is trending in the right direction.
"We are a program that is on the rise," Gilbert said. "We are rebuilding a program that won a national championship in 1983, and the Lady Panthers are back." BOX SCORE VIRGINIA UNION UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
RICHMOND, Virginia -- The Virginia Union University women's basketball team has finished the 2016-17 season ranked #2 in the final Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll of the season, released on Saturday, March 25. The Lady Panthers moved up from #18 due to a miraculous run through the NCAA Tournament, culminating in an appearance in the 2017 National Championship game against Ashland University on Friday, March 24. The #2 ranking is the highest finish ever for a VUU women's team in the WBCA poll. VUU finished the 2016-17 with a 28-5 record.
DURHAM, North Carolina -- North Carolina Central University will not renew the contract of women's basketball head coach Vanessa Taylor, the Department of Athletics announced Thursday (March 23).
"I would like to thank Coach Vanessa Taylor for her years of service to North Carolina Central University. Coach Taylor worked hard to grow our program," said NCCU Director of Athletics Dr. Ingrid Wicker McCree. "However, at this time, we will look to new leadership for our women's basketball program."
In five seasons as head women's basketball coach at NCCU, Taylor led the Lady Eagles to a win-loss record of 33-113. This season's team finished with an 8-21 overall record.
Associate head coach Kendra Eaton will serve as interim head coach and oversee women's basketball operations until a head coach is hired. A national search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Pat Kennedy cherished his 11 years in Tallahassee as the successful men’s basketball coach at Florida State. If given the opportunity, Kennedy wants to return to the state capital and Florida.
The veteran coach has applied for the men’s basketball coaching vacancy at Florida A&M.
“I have always had great respect and admiration for FAMU,” Kennedy told the Tallahassee Democrat Friday.
“Remember, I was the coach who last played FAMU at FSU. The Lawson Center is a first class facility and they are a prestigious academic institution."
Kennedy, 65, led the Seminoles to Sweet 16 and Elite Eight appearances during his tenure (1986-97), compiling a 203–130 record and earning ACC Coach of the Year honors (1992). He has an overall coaching record of 499-497, including stops at Iona (1980-86), DePaul (1997-2002), Montana (2002-2004), Towson (2004-11) and Pace (2013-15), a Division II school in the New York metropolitan area.
Kennedy has coached 23 players who played in the NBA, including former Seminoles and first-round selections Charlie Ward, Sam Cassell, Bob Sura and George McCloud.
NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana continued its home success, and Antoine Richard and Catalin Fifea defeated regionally ranked singles players Wednesday in a 5-2 men's tennis victory against Ouachita Baptist.
The XULA men (8-3), ranked second in the NAIA, won for the 16th consecutive time at XULA Tennis Center and the eighth time in their last nine dual matches overall. It was the fifth Gold Rush victory of the season against a ranked opponent — the Tigers (3-8) are No. 39 in NCAA Division II.
Richard and Fifea won in singles and doubles. Fifea won 7-5, 6-0 against Juan Moncada, ranked 16th in the D2 Central Region, and Richard used a late surge to beat Lennart Lonnemann, ranked seventh in his region, 6-4, 7-5.
"Antoine was in a pretty good battle," XULA coach Alan Green said. "He got down in the second set, got down mentally, but he overcame that and put together five good games in a row to close out his match."
Karan Salwan got the other XULA singles victory, a 6-1, 6-1 decision against Dan Kaplun. Salwan and Fifea have 6-match singles win streaks.
Richard and Moses Micheal won 9-8 (7-0) against Moncada and Luis Chab, and Fifea and Adam Albrecht — paired for the first time in doubles — rallied from 5-2 and 7-4 deficits to defeat Andre Stefano and Braydon Montgomery 9-8 (7-4).
Next for the Gold Rush will be a noon dual match April 8 at Jackson State.
NOTES: The Gold Rush are 3-0 at home this season after going 7-0 in 2016 and 6-0 in 2015 . . . The XULA men are 19-7 against ranked opponents (all venues) the last three seasons . . . Green said he added Grambling to the Gold Nuggets' schedule. They'll meet at 1 p.m. April 1 at Alexandria, La. As a result, the XULA dual that same day with LSU-Alexandria moved to 9 a.m. Alexandria City Courts will be the site of both duals.
