Gold Nuggets' second-half rally knocks out Belhaven

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Xavier University of Louisiana's women's basketball team used a second-half run Friday to rally past Belhaven 63-47 in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Huntingdon College's Roland Arena.

Andraquay Quinnine scored 12 points and SiMon Franklin 10 for the Gold Nuggets (9-1), ranked ninth in NAIA Division I. It was Xavier's seventh consecutive victory and its third in a row by double digits.

Belhaven (5-7) held its biggest lead, 38-29, after Alisha Rayborn's layup with 15:55 remaining. But Xavier gained 14 turnovers while outscoring the Blazers 30-4 during the next 13½ minutes. Reserve freshman guard Emoni Harvey scored all seven of her points during the burst, including a jump shot in the paint with 9:13 remaining to put the Nuggets ahead to stay, 42-40.

Eight Nuggets scored during the run, with Quinnine and Danielle Tucker each getting six points.

Ashley Wakefield, with 15 points, was Belhaven's lone double-figure scorer. Sarah Carr made 3-of-4 3-pointers, and Wakefield scored eight points to lead the Blazers to a 27-23 halftime advantage. But Carr was scoreless in 19 second-half minutes.

Belhaven outshot Xavier 40.5 to 39.1 percent from the floor, but the Nuggets outshot the Blazers 50 to 43.8 percent in the second half. Xavier had a 40-32 rebound advantage and was plus-11 in turnovers, gaining 25 and committing 14 to match a season low. The Nuggets made six free throws -- their second fewest of the season -- in 10 attempts, and Belhaven was 10-of-21.

It was the first time this season that Quinnine and Franklin produced double-figure points in consecutive games. It was Xavier's first game since a 62-42 victory at William Carey two weeks ago.

Ed Cassiere, SID

Xavier, which entered the event leading NAIA D-I in scoring defense, allowed less than 50 points for the third consecutive game and the seventh time this season. It was the first time this season that the Nuggets won after trailing at halftime.

The Nuggets matched their second-best 10-game start of the Title IX era. Xavier was 10-0 in 1980-81 and 9-1 in 2010-11 and 2004-05.

Xavier will play NAIA No. 24 Faulkner in the final game of this event at 9 p.m. Saturday.

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

Texas A&M Defeats Prairie View A&M 74-52 in Return to Reed Arena

COLLEGE STATION, Texas  --  Texas A&M used strong team offense to prevail over Prairie View A&M on Friday night at Reed Arena by a score of 74-52 in front of 4,915 fans. Texas A&M improves to 9-4 with the victory while Prairie View A&M fell to 3-7 with the loss.

Reigning SEC Player of the Week, espnw.com National Player of the Week and Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week Kelsey Bone continued her strong play with her sixth straight game of double figure scoring with 18 points, Bone has raised her season average in points in each game during the stretch. Over the last three weeks Bone is averaging 23.8 points and 9.5 rebounds, Bone was just shy of yet another double-double with nine rebounds on the night. In addition to scoring and rebounding the basketball Bone dished out six assists on the night.

"Kelsey enjoys the pass as much as the shot," Head Coach Gary Blair said after the game. "This is the first time we've ever had a national player of the week. I hope that will give our team and her some good national attention. She's playing like an All-American right now."

The Aggie offense jumped out to an early 10-6 lead at first media timeout, Kristi Bellock (6) and Bone (4) combined for all 10 of A&M's points. Beginning at the 17:05 mark in the first half the Aggies went on a 11-0 run over 2:16 of game play capped off by an old-fashioned three point play from Tori Scott to make the score 17-6.

The Maroon and White began the game on an impressive run of nine assists on the first nine made field goals in the game, en route to 24 Aggie points. The assist streak came to an end with a Karla Gilbert offensive rebound and put-back to make the score 26-10 with 7:46 remaining in the first half.

The Aggie offense continued to share the ball throughout the game as the Aggies ended with 23 assists on the night, just one off the season high of 24 set against Old Dominion eight days ago. Texas A&M has had at least 19 assists in each of the last four games and is averaging an impressive 22.3 assists per game in that stretch.

The home team used an early 6-2 run in the second half to stretch the Aggie lead out to a then game high 23 points with 17:25 remaining. Senior Adrienne Pratcher ignited the run with a nifty step-back jumper, Pratcher ended the game with four points and seven assists to lead the team.

Later in the second half the Aggies put the game out of reach with an impressive 16-4 run to give Texas A&M a game-high 32 point lead. In the run Texas A&M post players combined for 12 of the Aggie points, Freshman Courtney Walker made two jumpers for the remaining four points on the run.

Bellock had an efficient night scoring 14 points and pulling down eight rebounds in 25 minutes of play. Joining Bone and Bellock in double figures scoring were Walker and Gilbert with 11 points apiece. Texas A&M forced 13 Panther turnovers leading to 25 points and out-rebounded Prairie View 38-21, limiting the Panthers to only four offensive rebounds.

The Aggies will return to Reed Arena for a New Year's Day contest against Rice at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday's game will continue the half-price holiday hoops promotion.


 COURTESY TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Jackson State's Comegy is shopping for a new job

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  Less than one month after leading Jackson State to the SWAC championship game, football coach Rick Comegy is shopping for a new job.

According to The Tallahassee Democrat, Comegy applied for the coaching vacancy at Florida A&M, an opening FAMU athletic director Derek Horne says he wants to fill by Jan. 12.

Comegy, who has coached JSU for seven seasons, recently expressed his desire to remain with the school — even though he appears set to enter the 2013 season with just one year left on his contract.
“I’d love to be here,” Comegy said earlier this month. “I haven’t had any talks about an extension or anything like that. I think that’s up to the president and the (athletic director) and what they want to do with Rick Comegy.”

Comegy received a two-year contract extension in 2011, with a 3 percent raise to $191,580 per year. He has a $50,000 buyout clause.

Comegy’s contract also called for improvement in the football team’s Academic Progress Rate score, a sore subject for a program that had scored below the then NCAA-mandated benchmark of 900 for three straight years. Low scores led to JSU receiving a postseason ban in 2011 and a second ban was imminent until the NCAA approved a rule change allowing low-resource schools a longer window to meet the 930 mark.

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Texas A&M Welcomes Prairie View A&M to Reed

COLLEGE STATION, Texas  --  No. 22 Texas A&M will return to Reed Arena after a 3-1 road trip including a trip to the championship game of the World Vision Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. The meeting on Friday will be the 17th all-time between the schools separated by only 50 miles, the Aggies lead the series 14-2.

Friday will be three years to the day that the two teams met on the hardwood, on that date No. 10 Texas A&M won 81-64 behind a strong performance by Danielle Adams off the bench with 19 points, Tanisha Smith added 17 in the winning effort. Two other Aggies scored in double figures with Tyra White adding 11 and Kelsey Assarian finished with 10 points on the night.

On the season the Aggies are led in scoring and rebounding by Kelsey Bone at 17.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Bone won many accolades for her performance in the World Vision Classic including SEC Player of the Week, ESPNW.com National Player of the Week and was named the Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week by the US Basketball Writers Association. In Las Vegas Bone averaged 27.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game including a new career high in points of 33 against Old Dominion.

Prairie View is coming off a difficult loss to Toledo in the championship game of the Toledo Invite by a score of 76-41. The Panthers were led by Latia Williams with 14 points and JaQuandria Williams added 12 points. Prairie View had a rough shooting night from deep making only one of the 20 three-point shot attempts.

Tickets for Friday's game are available online at tickets.12thmanfoundation.com or in person at the Reed Arena box office. The Prairie View A&M game will continue the half-price Holiday Hoops promotion and will be Christmas Night at Reed.

Season tickets are also on sale and fans are encouraged to make sure they have a seat for all the exciting Aggie basketball action by visiting the 12^th Man Foundation's Ticket Center or calling 1-(888)-992-4443.

Aggie Women's Basketball Game #13:

Texas A&M (8-4; 0-0 SEC) vs. Prairie View A&M (3-6; 0-0 SWAC)
December 28, 2012 · 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Reed Arena (12,989)
College Station, Texas
TV: None
RADIO: Texas A&M Radio Network
Mike Wright, Play-by-Play
Tap Benz, Commentary
Local: KZNE-AM 1150 (College Station/Bryan)
LIVE VIDEO/AUDIO/STATS: AggieAthletics.com
TICKETS: Available at the door or online at tickets.12thManFoundation.com


COURTESY TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

East Gadsden QB Robinson commits to play at FAMU

QB Robinson selects FAMU over offers from Division I FBS FAU and Troy

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  Treveze Robinson proved that he has the arm to be a solid quarterback during his high school career at East Gadsden. He also has some intangibles that should put his college coaches at ease.

While confirming Thursday that he’s committed to play college football at FAMU, Robinson was brimming with confidence. That was clear in the matter-of-fact way that he said he wants to challenge Damien Fleming for the starting job.

“I think I can come in and start as a freshman,” Robinson said. “I can win the team over. I plan to enroll for the summer because I want to be ready to compete as a true freshman.”

Corey Fuller, head coach at East Gadsden, said it’s been Robinson confidence that made him one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Bend this past season.

“As quarterback, that’s what you want,” Fuller said. “He is confident but not cocky. We support our kids and we want them to be confident because they make the team that they’re going to look better and it makes the program that they come from look better.”

Robinson, 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, is the first quarterback commitment for FAMU. It caps an impressive week for him after he was named the first-team quarterback on the Democrat’s All-Big Bend team.

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HU Lady Pirates use strong second half to beat Saint Peters

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey  –  The Hampton University women’s basketball team picked up speed late in the first half and carried that into the second half on Thursday, beating host Saint Peter’s 62-40 at the Yanitelli Center.

The Lady Pirates (9-4) have held each of their last five opponents under 50 points. Hampton is also a perfect 6-0 on the road so far this season.

Senior forward Keiara Avant (Chesapeake, Va.) led three Lady Pirates in double figures with 14 points, while junior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) added 13 points and tied her career high with 13 rebounds.

Junior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) added 10 points and seven assists.

Saint Peter’s, in looking for its first win of the season, hung tough early, going up 11-9 at the 13:02 mark of the first half after a layup from Kristal Edwards. The Lady Pirates fought back, capping an 8-1 run with a layup from sophomore guard Kenia Cole (Burtonsville, Md.) at the 9:26 mark to give Hampton a 17-12 lead.

The Peacocks took a 20-19 lead with 4:26 left in the half, when Lovisa Hagberg hit a jumper to cap an 8-2 Saint Peter’s run. But the Peacocks only had one more field goal for the rest of the half, and the Lady Pirates closed the frame with a 14-2 run.

Senior guard JoNiquia Guilford (Chesapeake, Va.) capped that run with a baseline jumper as time expired, sending Hampton into the locker room with a 33-22 lead.

A 9-3 Hampton run opened the second half, as the Lady Pirates took a 42-25 lead with 13:16 to play after a layup from Avant. The run ballooned to 22-10 when Bennett hit a fastbreak layup with 7:22 remaining to give the Lady Pirates a 55-32 lead.

From there, the Peacocks never got any closer than within 20.

Hampton’s largest lead of the night came with 5:11 to play, after Cole hit a free throw to put the Lady Pirates up 58-34.

The Lady Pirates shot 38.7 percent (24-for-62) from the floor – including a 41.4 percent (12-for-29) clip in the second half. Hampton also went 10-for-12 (83.3 percent) from the free throw line, and the Lady Pirates out-rebounded the Peacocks 44-37.

Hampton also scored 29 points off of 23 Saint Peter’s turnovers.

The Peacocks (0-10) shot just 27.3 percent (15-for-55) from the floor and hit just one of their 13 3-pointers. Saint Peter’s only converted six field goals in the second half.

Aziza May and Kaydine Bent each had a team-high 10 points for the Peacocks.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Sunday, when they head to Blacksburg, Va. to take on Virginia Tech at 2 p.m. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

Box Score

COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

HU football coach dismisses two assistant coaches



Head Coach Donovan Rose
HAMPTON UNIVERSITY

HAMPTON, Virginia  --  Hampton University head football coach Donovan Rose fired two assistant coaches as part of a staff shake-up in the wake of the Pirates' disappointing season.

Defensive coordinator Keith Goganious and wide receivers coach Lamar Thomas were let go, Rose announced Friday.\

Goganious was the coordinator for the past three seasons and was on the Pirates' staff the past four years. Thomas, a former NFL receiver for the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was on the staff for two years.

Earnest Wilson, who just completed his first season as offensive coordinator, will remain in that position and will coach running backs, rather than quarterbacks. Running backs coach David .

Hampton finished 3-7 overall, 3-5 in the MEAC this season, its worst since 1991. The Pirates' defense took a step back this year, allowing 30.4 points and 362.2 yards per game. Two years ago under Goganious, HU was third in FCS in total defense (271 ypg) and fourth in pass defense (141 ypg).

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