S..C. State Women Knock Off USC Upstate 60-50

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina –  Senior guard Kourtney Williams had game-highs of 18 points and three blocks, while teammate junior guard Amber Howard tallied 14 points and six rebounds to lead the South Carolina State women's basketball team to a 60-50 win over USC Upstate on Wednesday night at the S-H-M Memorial Center.
 
Upstate (3-3) got on the board first with a jumper by Brittany Clency with 18:57 left in the first half and led by four, 13-9, after a layup by Brittany Starling at the 11:28 mark. Seventeen seconds later, freshman guard Brittany Drumgoole was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer and made all three free throws. Drumgoole forced an Upstate turnover and Howard scored a bucket to give SC State (3-0) a two-point lead (15-13). With 10:31 left in the half.
 
The Lady Bulldogs extended their lead to nine, 32-23, after a pair of free throws by junior forward Toni Grier to go into halftime.
 
SC State kept the Spartans at bay the entire second period, leading by as many 17 (51-34) along the way.
 
Upstate shot 33.3 percent from the floor for the game (18-of-54), was 3-of-17 from the 3-point line and made 11 of its 19 free-throw attempts. Raven Jefferson led the Spartans with 11 points, while Starling had a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
The Lady Bulldogs were 20-of-48 from the floor, including 3-of-10 from beyond the arc. They missed just one free throw (17-of-18), but lost the rebound battle 35-33 on the boards. Junior forward Jasmine Coleman grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and added four points, two blocks and a steal.
 
The Lady Bulldogs hit the road for the first time this season when they travel to Clinton, S.C. to take on Presbyterian on Saturday.  Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

Box Score 

Karen M. Carty, Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations
COURTESY SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
 

Daniel, Miller Combine To Lead Howard To Road Win Over UMBC

BALTIMORE, Maryland -- James "J-Byrd" Daniel scored a game-high 19 points and James "JT" Miller and James "JC" Carlton added 18 and 10, respectively to lead Howard University (3-3) to a 68-54 win over the University of Maryland Baltimore County at the RAC.
           
Daniel, who suffered a thigh contusion in the last game and was doubtful up until game time, got the Bison going by scoring 12 of his points in the first 20 minutes.  With the attention focused on Daniel, Miller stepped up as Howard led 26-19 at the half.
           
"J-Byrd was doubtful for the game but he pushed through his thigh contusion and he and JT led the charge early for us," said Howard Coach Kevin Nickelberry.
       
Added UMBC assistant coach John Zito, following the game, "We knew going in that we had to stop Daniel but he got them going.  His play was key for them early."
           
Buoyed by the play of Daniel and Miller, Carlton, Damon Collins and Jared Norsworthy began to contribute and resulted in a 28-16 second half run that opened a 17-point lead and all but decided the outcome.
 
The Bison defense and rebounding were also keys.  Howard forced the Retrievers (0-4) into a 2 for 15 shooting from beyond the arc.  The Bison swarming defense forced too many scoring droughts.  Howard held a 38-28 advantage on the boards.
 
"I'm very proud of this group of young men," said Nickelberry. "They played in another loud arena, but you could tell they learned from earlier losses. They started the game with the mentality that no matter what we were coming out with a victory.  A very solid performance on the road  and relieved to break the non-conference losing streak."
 
Collins finished with 9 points and 7 rebounds, Norsworthy with 6 points and 5 rebounds in 10 minutes off the bench and Carlton with a team-high 8 rebounds.
 
UMBC was led by Aaron Morgan with 13 and Charles Taylor and Jourdan Grant with 11 and 10, respectively.
 
NEXT UP: Howard will look to go above .500 when it hosts Gwynedd Mercy University at 4 pm Saturday in Burr Gymnasium.  

BOX SCORE

COURTESY HOWARD UNIVERSITY BISON SPORTS INFORMATION

Gold Rush end losing streak at Wiley, win 80-44

Jarvis Thibodeaux
6'-8"  200 lbs,,  Junior
Houston, Texas
St. Pius X (Presbyterian) 

MARSHALL, Texas -- Xavier University of Louisiana ended its long men's basketball losing streak at Wiley with a decisive 80-44 victory Tuesday.

The Gold Rush (8-2), ranked 13th in NAIA Division I, had lost six straight to the Wildcats at Alumni Gymnasium since a 96-68 victory on Dec. 11, 2003.

Guard Troy Salvant, a 26-year-old freshman who spent seven years in the Army before enrolling at Xavier, scored all of his career-high 20 points in nine first-half minutes. Gary Smith and Morris Wright scored 12 points apiece, and Jacques Johnson and Wesley Pluviose-Philip scored 11 apiece. Smith and Pluviose-Philip reached season highs.

Xavier shot a season-high 59.6 percent from the floor and made 11-of-16 3-pointers for its most accurate long-range performance in nearly three years.

"We played well and hit shots," XU coach Dannton Jackson said. "This was close to being one of our best games."

Xavier took the lead for good in the second minute and led 47-24 at halftime after shooting 62.1 percent from the floor. Salvant was 7-of-7 from the floor, 4-of-4 from 3-point range and 2-of-2 from the line in the first half.

"Troy hit an early first shot and was feeling it," Jackson said, "so we kept him in there."

Xavier made 11 treys for the first time since its Convocation Center debut against Morehouse on Nov. 3, 2012. Wright made three, and Smith and Johnson made two apiece.

Xavier led by 30 or more for the final 5:27. The Gold Rush posted the third-largest winning margin in the 59-game series and the biggest since a 41-point victory in the 1972-73 season.

Wiley (2-4) shot 31.4 percent from the floor, the lowest this season by an XU opponent.

The Gold Rush outrebounded the Wildcats 36-31. Wright and Pluviose-Philip grabbed a seaosn-high six apiece.

"Jacques Johnson hit some big shots in the second half," Jackson said. "Mo Wright was steady. Another guy who played steady was Josh Freeman in relief of Mo. Josh didn't fill up the stat sheet, but he did the small things well, got us into the offense and defended at a high level."

Xavier produced its biggest winning margin on an opponent's floor since a 110-61 decision against Faith Baptist on Dec. 8, 1994.

Xavier, 6-0 this season against NAIA opponents, will play NAIA No. 9 William Carey at 7 p.m. Monday at the Convocation Center.

Box score

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

XULAATHLETICS

XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

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Xavier Classic matchups revised

Trana Hopkins

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana announced Tuesday a revision in the pairings of this week's Xavier Classic women’s basketball event.

The revised pairings will consist of two games at XU's Convocation Center. Fisk will play Langston at 5 p.m. Thursday, and Xavier will play Fisk at 4 p.m. Friday. Xavier will not play Thursday. The original schedule called for four games over two days.

Tickets for each day will cost $10 for ages 13 and older. There will be free admission for ages 12 and younger and for XU students, faculty and staff with a valid XU ID.

Langston, coached by hall-of-fame player Cheryl Miller, is 6-0 and ranked 24th in NAIA Division I. The Lady Lions won 71-68 at home Nov. 15 against NAIA No. 1 and defending national champion Oklahoma City.

Xavier (3-4) is ranked 18th and has a 21-game home winning streak.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

XULAATHLETICS

XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

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Derrick Burroughs will not return to Jackson State

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Derrick Burroughs was among the first hires by Jackson State head coach Harold Jackson.

Now, he's the first one out.

Burroughs will not return as JSU's defensive coordinator, the school announced in an email late-afternoon Tuesday.

"I thank Coach Burroughs for the contributions he made to the Jackson State football program," Jackson said in the email.

It comes shortly after after the Tigers concluded their season with 34-31 win over Alcorn State on Saturday.

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With Grambling improved, excitement grows for the Bayou Classic

NEW ORLEANS -- There was a time when conventional wisdom held that, when it came to the Bayou Classic, records didn’t matter. Fans would fill the Mercedes-Benz Superdome regardless.

And they did, making Thanksgiving weekend in New Orleans a must for those wanting to both see and be seen — the model for such events around the country.

But times change and, with one program or the other down in recent years — sometimes both — turmoil inside and outside the athletic departments of both schools and even a post-Hurricane Katrina malaise, that hasn’t been the case.

Some even suggested the Classic needed a major shakeup — namely, dropping Grambling and finding another foe to face Southern.

That didn’t happen.

And now, with the SWAC Western Division title on the line for both teams Saturday for ...



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Grambling defensive coordinator back in Bayou Classic

NEW ORLEANS -- On Thanksgiving Day in 2010, Terrence Graves sat like many others, surrounded by his family and with food covering the table.

“It was different,” Graves said Sunday. “First time in almost 16 years I had been able to go home.”

Coaching is Graves’ calling. An intense competitor who refuses to let much hinder preparation for the next game, Graves’ Southern defenses often practiced straight through Thanksgiving Day, preparing for the Bayou Classic alongside longtime head coach Pete Richardson.

But when Richardson and his coaching staff were fired in 2009, Graves’ journey changed. He became Mississippi Valley State’s assistant head coach and linebackers coach, unsure if he’d ever be back in the rivalry.

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