TSU Lady Tigers begin OVC quest with Eastern Kentucky

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NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- The Tennessee State University women's basketball team will face Eastern Kentucky in the opening round of the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 29 at 2 p.m. in Municipal Auditorium.

The Lady Tigers enter the tournament as the seventh seed and will face the sixth seeded Colonels in the second game of Wednesday's daytime doubleheader.

The first rounds and quarterfinals will be available on OVCSports.TV for free. The semifinals and final will be broadcast on ESPN 3, ESPN Full Court and select stations in OVC markets. Among the select stations are WEIU, WLJT-DT and WCTE.

TSU dropped both contests against EKU this season, falling to the Colonels, 79-59, on the road before suffering a disappointing, 73-66, loss in the Gentry Center.

In the first meeting between the two teams, Tayla Foster led TSU with 21 points while Destiney Gaston finished with 13. Alana Morris grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.

TSU shot 30.6 percent (22-of-72) from the field, including 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from three-point range while knocking down 66.7 percent (10-of-15) from the free-throw line. EKU shot 50.8 percent (30-of- 59) from the field, 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from long range and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the charity stripe.

In the second match-up of the season, Tennessee State was led in scoring by Kim Haynes' 19 points while Simone Hopes added 16. Rachel Allen (12) and Chelsea Hudson (10) also recorded double figures as TSU's leading scorer Jasmin Shuler was held to only three points.

Although Tennessee State only committed 10 turnovers, the Lady Tigers seemed out of sync the entire game. TSU shot 32.1 percent (25-of-78) from the field and 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from three-point range.

Eastern Kentucky knocked down 43.1 percent (25-of-58) of its shots, including 30.8 percent (4-of-13) from long range.

This season, TSU averaged 62.5 points per game vs. Eastern Kentucky while shooting 31.3 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from long range. Tayla Foster led the Lady Tigers in scoring with an average of 10.5 ppg while TSU's leading scorer Jasmin Shuler was held to a combined 12 points through both games of the season series.

EKU averaged 76.0 ppg behind a .470 field goal percentage, including .429 from three-point range. The Colonels also shot 83.3 percent from the charity stripe.

FIRST ROUND - Wednesday, Feb. 29

Game 1 - #5 Morehead State vs. #8 Austin Peay - 12 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
Game 2 - #6 Eastern Kentucky vs. #7 Tennessee State - 2 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)  Watch Replay of TSU Game at OVCSports.TV

QUARTERFINALS - Thursday, March 1
Game 3 - #4 Murray State vs. Game 1 winner - 12 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
Game 4 - #3 Tennessee Tech vs. Game 2 winner - 2 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)

SEMIFINALS - Friday, March 2
Game 5 - #1 UT Martin vs. Game 3 winner - 12 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 6 - #2 Eastern Illinois vs. Game 2 winner - 2 p.m. (ESPN3)

CHAMPIONSHIP - Saturday, March 3
Game 7 - Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner - 4:30 p.m. (ESPN3) All Times Central

COURTESY: TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

2011-12 All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Basketball Teams

2011-12 All Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Team
Name School Position Height Class Hometown PPG

Christine Conners SUNO Forward 5-10 Senior Prairieville, La. 9.2
Portia Craft Tougaloo Guard 5-4 Sophomore McComb, Miss. 12.4
Lauren Daniel Dillard Guard 5-7 Senior New Orleans, La. 10.0
Nacori Foreman Fisk Center 5-10 Sophomore Atlanta, Ga. 8.1
SiMon Franklin Xavier Guard 5-7 Junior Baton Rouge, La. 9.8
Jasmine Grant Xavier Guard 5-8 Senior Shreveport, La. 9.4
Keldra Hall Xavier Center 6-0 Senior Dallas, Texas 10.0
Megan Iloff Talladega Guard 5-7 Junior Los Angeles, Calif. 15.4
Caryan Jones Philander Smith Guard 5-4 Freshman Star City, Ark. 15.0
Victoria Jones Tougaloo Forward 5-10 Senior Saginaw, Mich. 15.2
Ariel Mitchell Dillard Guard 5-7 Senior St. James, La. 14.8
Ebony Presha Edward Waters Guard/Forward 5-9 Senior Jacksonville, Fla. 14.7
Ebony Richardson Talladega Guard 5-4 Senior Oakland, Calif. 15.2
Jazzmin Smith Dillard Forward 5-11 Junior Lake Charles, La. 14.8
Kelly Stewart SUNO Guard 5-3 Senior Baton Rouge, La. 14.9
Bianca Thomas Talladega Center 6-3 Junior Forest, Miss. 12.0


Player of the Year: Victoria Jones, Tougaloo College
Newcomer of the Year: Megan Iloff, Talladega College
Freshman of the Year: Caryan Jones, Philander Smith College 
Coach of the Year: Bo Browder, Xavier University of Louisiana

2011-12 All Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Team

Name School Class Position

Ken Brown Philander Smith Senior Guard
Carlton Darling Edward Waters Sophomore Forward
Kadon Day Tougaloo Sophomore Forward/Center
Denzell Erves Xavier Junior Forward
Kerry Harvis Talladega Senior Guard
Chris Iles Xavier Senior Guard
Marquise Mems Tougaloo Senior Guard/Forward
Anthony Simmons Xavier Senior Forward
Devin White SUNO Junior Forward/Center
Horace Whitehead Tougaloo Senior Forward

Player of the Year: Ken Brown, Philander Smith College
Freshman of the Year: Kevin Dukes, Southern University at New Orleans
Newcomer of the Year: Ken Brown, Philander Smith College
Coach of the Year: Dannton Jackson, Xavier University of Louisiana

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

XU's Hall, Franklin, Grant selected to GCAC all-conference team

Keldra Hall

Jasmine Grant

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Keldra Hall, SiMon Franklin and Jasmine Grant were named Tuesday to the 2011-12 All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball team. XU's Bo Browder was a repeat selection as Coach of the Year.

The eight GCAC head coaches chose the 16-player team.



Hall, a 6-foot senior center from Dallas and a graduate of Molina High School and Angelina College, is All-GCAC for the second straight season. She averaged 10 points and shot 51.2 percent from the floor and blocked 18 shots, all team bests, in 30 regular-season games. She averaged 6.3 rebounds.

Franklin, a 5-7 junior guard from Baton Rouge, La., and a graduate of St. Joseph's Academy, averaged 9.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals and shot 45.6 percent from the floor in 30 games.



SiMon Franklin



Coach Bo Browder



 Grant, a 5-8 senior guard from Shreveport, La., and a graduate of Southwood High School, averaged 9.4 points and 2.2 assists in 30 games and made 66 3-pointers. She overcame a knee injury which sidelined her the final 26 games this past season to rank 15th in NAIA Division I in 3-pointers made and among the top 50 in 3-pointers made per game, 3-point accuracy and assist/turnover ratio.

Browder, 320-110 in 13 seasons at Xavier, is GCAC Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season and the fifth time overall. His Gold Nuggets (22-8) won the GCAC regular-season championship by a game over Talladega and have been ranked in the top 25 all season.

Xavier, two-time defending champion of the GCAC Tournament, will play Fisk at 10 a.m. EST Thursday in the quarterfinals at Jacksonville, Fla.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

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WSSU women roll past Lincoln

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- Now they can start thinking about Johnson C. Smith.

Before the Winston-Salem State women played Lincoln (Pa.) in their CIAA tournament opener, coach Steve Joyner feared that his players would look past that game and anticipate a rematch with the Golden Bulls.

He can put his fear to rest. Courtney Medley scored 17 points, and Winston-Salem State defeated Lincoln 79-57 in the first round Tuesday at Time Warner Arena. Next is Johnson C. Smith in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m. today. The Golden Bulls swept the Rams in the regular season.

"We have to take better care of the ball, defend and rebound against them," Joyner said of Johnson C. Smith. "We also have to keep them off the glass."

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St. Aug advances in CIAA Tourney on Kindred buzzer-beater

JON KINDRED
6'-5" 195 FORWARD, JUNIOR
HOMETOWN: RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
MOUNT ZION CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
MAJOR: SPORTS MANAGEMENT

Charlotte, North Carolina — Junior forward Jon Kindred (Raleigh, N.C.) scored the last five points for Saint Augustine's College including the game-winning shot at the horn for a 50-49 victory over Lincoln (Pa.) University Tuesday (Feb. 28) in the nightcap game on the first day of the the CIAA Tournament. The Falcons (14-13), seeded sixth in the Southern Division, advance to the second round Wednesday where they will face Fayetteville State at 9 p.m.

"We live to fight another day," Kindred said.

Kindred caught a pass and buried a jumper at the top of the key with no time remaining. Once the ball swished through the nets, Kindred ran around the court as his teammates chased him in jubilation. Earlier, Kindred drilled a three-pointer with 39 seconds left to tie the score at 48-48. George Jackson of Lincoln hit one of two free throws to give the Lions a 49-48 lead which set the stage for Kindred's heroics

Tyquan Stroman led the Falcons with 16 points. Denzel Mooney scored 12 points and Jackson added 10 for the Lions (11-18), the No. 5 seed in the Northern Division.

BOXSCORE

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Holt lifts Virginia State Over Livingstone to Open CIAA Tournament

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – Twice the Livingstone Blue Bears left Brianna Holt alone on the wing in the second half of Tuesday’s opening round CIAA Tournament game.

And twice Holt burned them.

Holt led all players with 19 points, hitting those two pivotal 3-pointers to spark a decisive 17-5 run as Virginia State held off the upset-minded Blue Bears 72-54 to advance to the tournament’s second round at TimeWarner Cable Arena.

Virginia State will play the North’s No. 2 seed, Bowie State, at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. The Lady Trojans split the regular season meetings with the Lady Bulldogs.

The game was close throughout as both teams struggled to find any consistency with their shooting from the floor. Livingstone (7-22), the Southern Division’s No. 6 seed, finished shooting just 35 percent from the floor while Northern Division third seed Virginia State (17-12) shot just 38 percent.

But Holt was the constant throughout, hitting 7 of 8 from the foul line in the first half to help the Lady Trojans to a 26-21 edge at the break. The two 3s were even more critical, spurring the run not long after the Blue Bears had just ripped off an 11-3 spurt to take a 38-37 lead with 11:56 to go in the game.

Holt answered with a pair of foul shots to give the lead back to Virginia State, then hit 3s on two of the next three possessions to put Virginia State back in front, 46-38, with 10 minutes left. Livingstone never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

“We came out of the huddle and wanted to run our overload play, setting up shooters on the right and the left,” said Virginia State head coach James Hill, who notched his 99th career victory. “We knew we would have an opportunity to get a couple of open looks, and if you don’t shoot it, you’ll never know whether you’ll make it or not.”

Livingstone coach Angelyne Brown said Holt’s two 3s were daggers.

“We tried to switch up defensively and when we did, (the Lady Trojans) were able to kick it back out, and that was the difference,” Brown said. “We had opportunities, but couldn’t capitalize.”

LaMesha Deal added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Trojans while Da’Shae Jones had 14 points.

Kelcyn Manurs led Livingstone with 13 points while Jasmine Murray had 12. Tyesha Tharpe led all players with 13 rebounds.

The first half was a struggle for both teams, with Livingstone shooting just 29 percent from the field. Virginia State wasn’t much better, connecting on just 32 percent of its shot attempts.

That enabled the game to stay close, though the Lady Trojans managed to build their largest lead after Marquilla Evans capped a 9-2 run with 3-pointer for a 25-17 lead with 3:18 to go in the period.

Virginia State’s defense frustrated the Lady Blue Bears, forcing 11 turnovers and holding Livingstone without a field goal for nearly 4 ½ minutes at the end of the half. Still, the Blue Bears remained close, snapping the drought with a three-point play by Sophie Lepzem with 41.2 seconds to go, leading to the halftime score of 26-21.

“I knew having the 11 a.m. game it would be a slow game,” Hill said. “This is the first time for a lot of our girls to have the arena experience, but I think we were able to get the butterflies out of our stomachs by playing this morning.”

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Livingstone Blue Bears Roll 67-52 Over Chowan Behind Mark Thomas' Career-High 28 Points

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina  –  Mark “AJ” Thomas scored a career-high 28 points as the Livingstone men's basketball team, after a slow start, cruised to a 67-52 victory over the Chowan University Hawks in the opening round of the 2012 CIAA Tournament hosted at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

Livingstone couldn't have imagined a slower start as the Blue Bears went 1-for-13 from the field to start the game and had only two points through the first nine minutes. Luckily for the Blue Bears, Chowan wasn't hitting shots either and Livingstone trailed only 7-2.

Despite the slow start, the Blue Bears responded in a big way, fueled by Mark “AJ” Thomas. Livingstone went on a 19-3 run with Thomas hitting three three-pointers and having 11 total points to take a 21-10 lead with 5:55 left in the first half.

Chowan got back within four points of the Blue Bears with 149 left in the opening half, but Livingstone was able to close the half on a 6-2 run to take a 30-22 lead into the break.

The Hawks came out and knocked down a three-pointer to start the second half, but the Blue Bears responded with a 15-0 run to open a 20-point cushion, 45-25, with 14:39 left in the game. Chowan fought back on an 8-0 run and trailed 45-33 with 10:20 on the clock.

Chowan continued to trail by 12 at 52-40 with 7:19 remaining, but the Blue Bears rattled off seven-straight points to regain a 19-point edge with 5:55 remaining. The Blue Bears were able to maintain a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game to take home the victory.

Mark Thomas scored his 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range. Also in double figures was Trone Jackson with 15 points and Greg Henry with 11. Tyler Johnson led the Blue Bears with 11 rebounds

The Blue Bears shot 48 percent for the game including a blistering 59 percent in the second half. Livingstone also connected on 45.5 percent of its three-point attempts and 66.7 percent of its free-throw attempts.

Livingstone will now play Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against the Trojans of Virginia State University in the second round of the 2012 CIAA Tournament.

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