TSU Tigers Down Middle Tennessee 7-1, Drops Game to Troy

Courtesy: Sam Jordan / TSU Athletics

 

STATESBORO, Georgia -- A tale of two games describes the day for Tennessee State softball on day two of the Eagle Classic. The Tigers were no-hit in a 7-0 loss to Troy to open Saturday’s play, but bounced back to grab a 7-1 win over Middle Tennessee. The Trojans improved to 8-8-2, the Blue Raiders fell to 5-14 and the Tigers are now 5-13.

 

Middle Tennessee tried to add to TSU’s misery by jumping out to a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Shea Morris walked leadoff hitter LaRi Mitchell to start the game. Mitchell stole second and scored on a single off the bat of Kayla Toney. Two batters later, Morris issued another walk to give MTSU two runners on and one out. The junior hurler settled in by striking out the next batter she would face.

 

The punch out by Morris moved her into the top spot of the TSU career strikeout list. Morris passed Amanda Vaught, who completed her Tiger career in 2008.

 

The Lawrenceburg, Tenn., native would retire the next 14 Blue Raiders allowing the offense a chance to take control of the game. The streak was erased by Toney who ripped a double into right center with one out in the sixth. Morris retired the next two to end any threat.

 

Morris’ twin sister, Kate Morris, would be the first Tiger to scratch a hit on the day with a single into center to leadoff the second inning. Two batters later, with Kate on third, Kiarra Freeman hit a hard grounder to short for an RBI single, evening the score at 1-1. Tayler Shimizu followed with a ground ball up the middle; Freeman did not break stride rounding second and forced the play at third. Freeman slid in safely as the ball would get away, allowing the speedy sophomore a chance to charge home giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

 

TSU would not look back as they added two runs in each, the third and fourth innings. With one out in the third, the Tigers would string three hits together to take a 4-1 lead. Kate Morris delivered a two-run single to center to plate Courtney Gearlds and Lindsey Burgess.

 

In the fourth, TSU loaded the base on a single by Freeman, a hit-by-pitch of Shimizu and a sacrifice bunt, fielder’s choice by Liz Stansberry. Jayna Hanawahine wasted no time as she ripped the first pitch she saw up the middle to chase home Freeman and Shimizu, making the score 6-1.

 

The Tigers added a single run in the fifth to provide the margin. Shea Morris and Freeman sandwiched hits around Rebekka Gross getting plunked to load the bases. Stansberry followed two batters later with a walk to force home Gross.

 

Freeman finished the game 3-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Kate Morris was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI.

 

Hanawahine, Gearlds and Burgess all ended the game 1-for-4. Shimizu went 1-for-2 with a run scored and Shea Morris was 1-for-3 at the plate. Morris earned the win and improved to 4-6 allowing three hits, while fanning four.

 

In the first game of the day, the Tigers could only manage two runners on base against pitcher Jaycee Affeldt. Shimizu was the first to reach base with a walk to open the third inning, while Burgess reached on an error two innings later. Affeldt (3-5) finished the game with eight strikeouts.

 

Olivia Gamache (1-6) took the loss as she surrendered five runs, four earned, on three hits and four walks. Gamache finished with two strikeouts and made way for Hannah St. Clair who pitched the final two innings. St. Clair allowed two runs on two hits and fanned one.

 

The Eagle Classic wraps up on Sunday with the Tigers playing in the final two games. TSU will take on Middle Tennessee at 12:00pm ET and Georgia Southern at 2:00pm ET. Both games can be heard on tsutigers.com.

    TSU-Middle Tennessee Boxscore

        TSU-Troy Boxscore


COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Hampton Lady Pirates Upend NSU Spartans, Win MEAC Again

HAMPTON, Virginia – Fourth verse, same as the first.

With an 83-54 win over Norfolk State Saturday evening at the HU Convocation Center, the Hampton University women's basketball team clinched its fourth straight MEAC regular-season title – and the corresponding No. 1 seed in the MEAC Tournament (March 10-15, Norfolk Scope).

Fitting, since the Lady Pirates (24-4, 15-0 MEAC) lowered the banners celebrating last season's championship as well.

Freshman guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) led the festivities with 19 points, while senior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) scored 17 points and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season.

Senior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) added 18 points – including four 3-pointers in the second half – and junior guard Kenia Cole (Silver Spring, Md.) poured in 16 points.

Hampton jumped out to its 14th straight win in short order, opening the game with a 13-0 run that ended in a jumper from Tate-DeFreitas at the 16:07 mark. Norfolk State answered with a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 15-7, before the Lady Pirates scored the next 14 points.

A Hamilton layup at the 10:12 mark ended that run and gave the Lady Pirates a 29-7 lead.

Norfolk State cut the lead to 29-14 at the 8:16 mark, when Dominique Harper ended a 7-0 Spartans run with a free throw. But that was as close as the Spartans would get in the remainder of the half, and Hampton used a 9-2 run to take a 38-16 lead with 5:41 left in the half after a Tate-DeFreitas trey.

Cole's layup with 39 seconds left in the half sent the Lady Pirates into the break with a 44-23 lead.

The Spartans only managed six first-half field goals.

The offensive struggles continued for Norfolk State in the second half, despite seven field goals in the first eight minutes. Koryn Lawrence hit a layup with 12:18 left to cut Hampton's lead to 56-40, but that was the last field goal for Norfolk State but Ebony Brown hit a layup with 1:41 remaining.

All 10 Norfolk State points in the interim came at the free throw line.

A free throw from Logan Powell at the 9:47 mark cut Hampton's lead to 58-45, but a 10-1 Lady Pirates run grew the lead to 68-46 with 6:54 remaining after a free throw from Bennett. That run included back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers from Hamilton.

A layup from sophomore guard Ryan Jordan (Manassas, Va.) with 2:42 left gave the Lady Pirates an 80-50 lead, and Hampton had its largest lead of the game with 1:01 to play, after freshman guard Bayley Coleman-Cox (Durham, N.C.) hit a trey to put Hampton up 83-52.

The Lady Pirates shot 34.6 percent (27-for-78) from the floor and made 10 of their 26 3-pointers (38.5 percent). Hampton also forced Norfolk State into 21 turnovers, converting them into 22 points.

Hampton also held a 32-22 edge in points in the paint.

Norfolk State (11-14, 7-7 MEAC) shot just 23.8 percent (15-for-63) from the floor and made just two of its nine 3-pointers. The Spartans did hold a 57-52 edge in rebounding.

Powell led the Spartans with 18 points.

The Lady Pirates will close the regular season on Thursday at the HU Convocation Center, celebrating Senior Night against North Carolina A&T at 6 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 ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS

Alabama State Hornets Fall at Texas Southern

HOUSTON, Texas  -- Alabama State fell into a tie for second place when they fell to Texas Southern 86-66 in a Southwestern Athletic Conference game.

The Tigers (13-14/9-6 SWAC) shot over 50 percent from the field in pulling even with the Hornets in the SWAC standings.  They hit six of 17 from beyond the three point line and hit 18 of 24 free throws.

The Hornets (15-11/9-6 SWAC) struggled shooting the ball finishing hitting only 38 percent from the field and that includes only hitting four of their 20 three point field goals and also struggled from the free throw line only hitting 10 of its 19 attempts.

"We have to get guys who want to play with the effort it takes to win games on defense," Head Coach Lewis Jackson said.  "Our last three ball games we have given up 86 points to all three of those opponents and we were fortunate enough to win one of those games at home but the other two we lost."

"We have to get people to change their minds because if we play like this the rest of the way we may not win another game."

Luther Page led ASU with 14 points and Maurice Strong added 10.  ASU's two leading scorers Jamel Waters and DeMarcus Robinson only managed 16 points combined with Robinson scoring nine and Waters seven.  Combined they were seven for 25 from the field.  Tony Armstrong came off the bench to score nine points.

D'Aris Scarver led TSU's offense with 21 points, but had plenty of offensive help.  D'Angelo Scott scored 13 and Lawrence Johnson-Danner scored 10.  ASU held the SWAC's leading scorer Aaric Murray to 11 points which is half of his 22 points per game average.

"You have to come out and match intensity and our guys, one through five, are not getting it done," Jackson said.  "Over these last three games we have to find some guys that are going to come out and play with some enthusiasm."

ASU also lost the rebounding battle 47-28 with Strong's six leading the Hornets.  Waters finished with a game-high seven assists and also added two steals.  The Hornets only turned the ball over five times while forcing 14 turnovers.

TSU came out in the first half and shot 58 percent (19-33) from the field.  They hit three of their nine three point attempts and six of eight from the free throw line.

Scarver led the Tigers effort with 17 first-half points as he hit eight of his 13 field goals.   Johnson-Danner added seven and Scott six.

For the Hornets Robinson had seven and Armstrong came off the bench to add six.  ASU only shot 34 percent (11-32) from the field and that includes hitting only two of their 11 three point field goal attempts and also struggled from the free throw line only shooting two of six.

ASU will continue its final road trip of the regular season with a game at Prairie View A&M trying to hang on to a tie for second place, Monday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m.

"This is what basketball is all about," Jackson said.  "Everyone is trying to do the little things to win ball games and right now we are sitting at 9-6 with TSU and these last ball games are going to be crucial and we have to step up and do our job.  On the road you want to try and win both games but if you get a split you are doing ok.  So we have an opportunity to get a split here at PV before going home.  But no matter where you play you have to come out and play with some energy and you have to play with some toughness."

Box Score

COURTESY ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

Southern men clinch SWAC title

LORMAN, Mississippi — The Southern men’s basketball team learned Saturday that it will be able to compete in the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament.

Then the Jaguars left little doubt that they will be the team to beat when tournament play starts March 11 in Houston.

Southern clinched the regular-season title outright when it defeated Alcorn State 67-54 in the Davey Whitney Complex. The Jaguars (18-11 and 14-2) can’t be caught even with two league games remaining at home against Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. The Braves are 11-17 and 8-8.

The regular-season title and berth in the conference tournament took some of the sting out of an NCAA postseason ban due to inadequate reporting of date relating to student-athletes’ Academic Progress Rates. Southern learned Thursday that the ban will not be lifted in time for this year’s
NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens in the SWAC Tournament.

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Cinderella Watch: Can North Carolina Central Repeat the MEAC's NCAA Tournament Success?

DURHAM, North Carolina  -- The Eagles have been the class of the MEAC this season, but that is unlikely to even guarantee them an auto-bid, especially given their streaky nature. However, they still have a chance to make the Big Dance and match some historic surprise success by their league.

As we enter the home stretch in conference play everybody is going to be looking for this year's Florida Gulf Coast. That's why we've put together "Cinderella Watch" to profile all the mid-major teams you should know before heading into March.

North Carolina Central Eagles

Mid-Eastern Athletic ConferenceOverall Record: 22-5
Conference Record: 12-1
RPI: 126
Key Wins: North Carolina State (55)
Worst Losses: Florida A&M (296), IUPUI (313)
Average RPI Win: 286
Average RPI Loss: 142
NCAA Tournament History: 0 Appearances

 

This Season

I think it says a lot about NCCU's non-conference schedule that they have two losses against opponents in the bottom 60 of the RPI and the average RPI of the five teams they've lost to is still that high - that's thanks to early season games against Cincinnati, Wichita State, NC State, and Maryland - all on the road.

 

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SWAC finally decides on basketball bracket

MONTGOMERY, Alabama  -- After a week of waiting on a decision from the NCAA, Southwestern Athletic Conference officials announced that all 10 teams would participate in the 2014 conference tournament despite the fact that four teams are barred from NCAA tournament play because of poor Academic Progress Rates.

In the past, the conference barred those teams from participating in the conference tournament, which earns the winner an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. Last year, only seven men’s teams competed in the tournament, which was held in Garland, Texas.

This year, at the insistence of SWAC commissioner Duer Sharp, a teleconference that included the presidents of the 10 teams in the conference voted on whether to include the ineligible teams along with the six eligible teams. The presidents voted 8-2 to include the teams, with Alabama State president Gwendolyn Boyd and Jackson State president Carolyn Meyers voting to exclude Southern, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Grambling and Mississippi Valley State from the tournament.

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SWAC allows four ineligible teams in conference tournament

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama  -- Last season, only seven teams played in the SWAC tournament as three teams were ineligible for the NCAA tournament due to APR penalties.

This year, the league has decided to let every team play in the postseason tournament -- including four teams that are banned from the NCAA tournament for 2013-14.

According to USA Today, the 10 school presidents voted to include the ineligible teams: Southern, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Mississippi Valley State and Grambling.

Southern will be the top seed in the conference tournament, but they cannot play in the NCAA tournament. As a result, the NCAA released a statement regarding what would happen in the event one of the four ineligible teams wins the conference tournament.

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