Franklin reaches 1,000 career points in XU win over Fisk

NEW ORLEANS -- SiMon Franklin reached 1,000 career points, and NAIA No. 12 Xavier University of Louisiana led wire-to-wire Monday in a 63-41 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball victory against Fisk.

Franklin, a senior guard from Baton Rouge, La., and a graduate of St. Joseph's Academy, rebounded teammate Jessica Savannah's missed shot under the basket and scored a layup at 7:09 of the first half to reach the milestone and give the Gold Nuggets (14-4 overall, 4-2 GCAC) a 26-9 lead.

Franklin finished with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in 26 minutes and has 1,002 points in her career. She is the third recruit in Bo Browder's 14 seasons as XU's head coach to reach 1,000; the others were Jackie Tucker in 2004 and Jarryn Cleaves in 2007.

Whitney Gaston-Loyd led Xavier with 11 points and eight rebounds. She and Franklin were the only Gold Nuggets with more than seven points, but 13 XU players scored.

Also reaching a milestone was XU associate head coach Darrilyn Broussard, who reached her 300th victory since joining the program in 2000-01. The Nuggets are 300-89 during her tenure and never have won less than 23 games in a season. Browder is 338-115 in 14 seasons as XU's head coach.

Janine Davis scored a season-high 23 points, 15 in the first half, for Fisk (4-12, 0-6), which has an eight-game losing streak and hasn't won in more than six weeks.

Xavier held a double-digit lead for the final 31 minutes and led 38-21 at halftime, but the Nuggets never built the lead to 20 points until the 38th minute. The final margin was their largest of the game.

The Gold Nuggets outshot the Lady Bulldogs 36.9 to 25 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 50-37.

It was the first time this season that Xavier recorded back-to-back GCAC victories. The Gold Nuggets gained ground on the leaders when Talladega lost 76-68 at SUNO to move those teams into a first-place tie with 5-1 conference records. Xavier shares third place with Tougaloo, a 76-51 winner at home against Edward Waters.

The victory concluded a four-game home stand for Xavier, whose next game will start at 5 p.m. Saturday at GCAC and city rival Dillard. The Nuggets' next home game will start at 6 p.m. on Jan. 31 against William Carey.


By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Six TSU Tigers Named as NFCA Academic All-Americans

Courtesy: Sam Jordan / TSU Athletics

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- The Tennessee State University softball team had six tabbed as 2012 NFCA All-America Scholar Athletes. Susie Burke, Brittany Davis, Ashley Haynes, Tayler Shimizu, Kelly Troglin, and Aisha Walker were honored among the 863 student-athletes representing 140 different NCAA D-I academic institutions.

 

The award is bestowed upon any player who achieved a 3.50 grade point average or higher during the 2011-12 academic year. Burke (HPSS), Davis (Arts & Sciences), and Troglin (HPSS) each graduated from TSU in the spring of 2012. The trio also earned their degrees in four years and, along with juniors' Haynes (Psychology) and Walker (Criminal Justice), has received the honor for the third consecutive year.

 

Shimizu (Education) was acknowledged for her work during her freshman year.

 

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Beltran, SU Jaguars hold off Alabama A&M

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Alabama A&M had whittled Southern’s 17-point lead down to 11 with a little more than six minutes remaining Monday night at Elmore Gym.

The Jaguars, who entered the game unbeaten in Southwestern Athletic Conference play, weren’t about to let their nine-game winning streak come to an end.

Southern coach Roman Banks called a play for guard Derick Beltran, and the 6-foot-4, 185-pound senior delivered.

Beltran banked in a 3-pointer, his third on the night, and that pushed the Jaguars’ lead back to 71-57.
The Bulldogs never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

When it was over, Southern emerged with an 82-68 victory before an announced crowd of 1,284 and a national ESPNU television audience.

“Coach ran a play for me, but I think A&M knew it was coming,” said Beltran, who finished with a game-high 24 points.

“I tried to tweak it a little bit, so I faded off, and the defender went under the screen, and I was able to knock it down.”

Beltran finished 7-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line.

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20-point performances help XU Simmons earn GCAC award

NEW ORLEANS — Back-to-back 20-point performances — the first of his career — helped Xavier University of Louisiana's Anthony Simmons earn Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week in men's basketball for Jan. 14-20.

Simmons, a 6-foot-8 senior forward from Rochester, N.Y., and a graduate of Allendale Columbia School, averaged 21.5 points, five rebounds and three steals and shot 76.2 percent from the floor and 78.6 percent from the line in GCAC home victories against SUNO and NAIA-ranked Philander Smith. Simmons matched his season high of 20 points and had a career-best five steals — the most in a game by a Xavier player this season — in a 70-68 overtime decision over SUNO, then exceeded his scoring high with 23 points in an 84-79 victory against Philander Smith.

This is the fourth time that Simmons received the GCAC award. He won it as a sophomore and twice as a junior.

Simmons has started 20-of-21 games this season, averaged 12.9 points and 7.7 rebounds and shot 63.5 percent from the floor. He has shot 62 percent from the floor in his career to rank second all-time at Xavier. Simmons is 19th at XU with 516 career rebounds.
    
The Gold Rush have accounted for five of the GCAC's 11 weekly awards this season. Philander Smith has four, and SUNO and Talladega have one each. XU's Denzell Erves and Wanto Joseph have won twice each.
    
Xavier — ranked 11th in NAIA Division I, 17-4 overall and the GCAC co-leader with Philander Smith at 5-1 — will visit conference and city rival Dillard at 7 p.m. Saturday.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
XULAATHLETICS

Last-place Fisk pushes Gold Rush back into first-place tie

NEW ORLEANS -- Xavier University of Louisiana grabbed sole possession of first place in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference on Saturday. But on Monday the Gold Rush were sharing again.

Brandyn Mungo scored 14 of his career-high 27 points during a second-half rally which gave Fisk a 74-65 men's basketball victory and snapped Xavier's six-game win streak.

The Gold Rush (17-4 overall, 5-1 GCAC), ranked 13th in NAIA Division I, share the conference lead with 22nd-ranked Philander Smith, a 102-80 winner at Dillard. Xavier had broken a tie at the top two days earlier by defeating Philander Smith 84-79. New NAIA rankings will be announced late Tuesday afternoon.

Xavier led 49-37 after Renard Smith's basket with 14:28 remaining, but Fisk (4-12, 1-5), which began the day in sole possession of last place, outscored the Rush 37-16 the rest of the way -- 21-8 in the final five minutes.

The Bulldogs didn't miss a shot in the final three minutes, a streak which began when Mungo -- a senior in his first season at Fisk after transferring from NCAA Division II Ferris State -- passed to Bradley Grayson for a 3-pointer which put Fisk ahead to stay, 62-61, at 2:50. Fisk made eight consecutive free throws in the final 40 seconds.

Jewaun Wynn scored 15 points, Cameron Lewis 13 and Grayson 12 for Fisk, a third-year member which won for the fourth time in 24 GCAC regular-season games. Grayson scored all his points in the final 11½ minutes.

Smith scored 20 points -- he made four 3-pointers -- and Anthony Simmons 18 for Xavier. Denzell Erves recorded his 13th double-double this season, 16 points and 14 rebounds. But senior guard Wanto Joseph, Xavier's leading scorer, did not start and finished with no points -- 0-of-7 from the floor, 0-of-1 from the line -- and five assists in 20 minutes. Joseph averaged 17.7 points and 11 assists in the previous three games.

Fisk made nine 3-pointers -- five by Mungo, three by Lewis -- and outshot Xavier 46.9 to 43.1 percent from the floor. The Gold Rush outrebounded Fisk 41-21 and had a 17-0 advantage in second-chance points, but the Bulldogs' bench outscored Xavier's 39-8.

Smith scored 16 points to lead Xavier to a 33-32 halftime advantage.

Fisk finally broke through for a conference victory after 2-point losses to Tougaloo and Edward Waters and a 3-point loss to SUNO. The Bulldogs' average losing margin in nine losses to NAIA opponents this season was 5.2 points.

Xavier's next game will start at 7 p.m. Saturday at GCAC and city rival Dillard. Fisk and Dillard share last place in the conference.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Former Howard U. QB/Coach hired as OC for NFL Colts

INDIANAPOLIS,
Indiana  –  Pep Hamilton is returning to the NFL after a very successful three-year career at Stanford that found part of his official title including the verbiage, “Andrew Luck Director of Offense.”

The title was an endowment from an alumnus after Luck’s marvelous Cardinal career, and now that Hamilton etched a solid career there, he will implement an offense in Indianapolis that includes his former quarterback.

“He (Luck) will be a tremendous asset helping me to make the transition to the Colts,” said Hamilton. “As I install my offense, obviously, he’s had a couple of years of experience. It makes a huge difference when the quarterback is, for the most part, well-versed in the offense.”

This past year, Stanford was 12-2, winning the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1972. The Cardinal made a third consecutive BCS Bowl appearance, and it did so after the departure of Luck and others such as linemen Jonathan Martin and David DeCastro and tight end Coby Fleener.

Stanford has used the West Coast offense in building a 34-5 record over the past three years, and Hamilton was the coordinator for the two past seasons. He envisions installing the same type of attack with Indianapolis.

“It’ll be a variation of the West Coast,” said Hamilton. “(It will have) the West Coast principles, the short, efficient passing game, a high completion rate.”

Stanford was more than just a passing offense. In averaging 43.15 points a game in Luck’s final season, the Cardinal rushed for 210.6 yards per game.

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Howard cruises past North Carolina Central

DURHAM, North Carolina  --   The Howard University women's basketball team extended its Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference win streak to three games with a 56-30 win over the Lady Eagles of North Carolina Central University on Monday, Jan. 21 in the McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium on the NCCU campus.

Senior standout Saadia Doyle led the squad with 24 points, while Kara Smith contributed 14 points to the offense. Cheyenne Curley-Payne finished with eight points and nine assists, as Doyle pulled down seven rebounds and Nicole Deterville blocked five NCCU shots.

As a unit, Howard shot 48 percent from the field, 29 percent from the long range and 40 percent from the free-throw line.

The mighty blue and white dominated the contest within the first six minutes of play, as they held NCCU scoreless until the 14:12 mark, with a score of 14-0.

The Lady Eagles put a point on the scoreboard at the 13:09 mark with a single free-throw at the 13:09 mark.

Howard continued its surge with a 6-1 run for a score of 20-1 at the 9:30 mark.




On a 9-8 maroon and gray run, NCCU reached double-figures, 28-10. The North Carolina host continued to score as they finished the first half on a 6-4 run, for a 16-point HU margin lead, 32-16 at the end of the first half.

Howard quickly extended the margin lead to 20 by the 16:39 mark of the second half and reached a night-high 26 margin lead on three occasions prior to the final 26-point 56-30 win.

Howard advances to 10-7 on the season and 5-1 in the MEAC.

HU steps away from conference play and heads to New Jersey, to take on New Jersey Institute of Technology on Thursday, Jan. 24 in Newark, N.J.

For more information on Howard Women's Basketball, visit the official athletics website at www.howard-bison.com.


By Ariel V. Germain, Assistant Sports Information Director
HOWARD-BISON.COM
HOWARD UNIVERSITY