College roundup: ULM scores road upset of first-place Texas State
SAN MARCOS, Texas — Michael Ertel and Travis Munnings scored 13 points apiece and Louisiana-Monroe held off Texas State's late rally for a 63-60 victory on Thursday night.
Louisiana-Monroe had a nine-point lead with less than 4 minutes to play before Eric Terry's layup with 39 seconds remaining capped an 8-2 surge by Texas State for the final score. The Bobcats had possession with 12 seconds left, but Tre'Larenz Nottingham had a 3-point attempt blocked and he missed on a second attempt in the closing seconds.
Louisiana-Monroe (14-11, 7-6 Sun Belt Conference) snapped a seven-game road losing streak. JD Williams added 11 points and Andre Washington had 10 for the Warhawks.
Nottingham had 22 points for the Bobcats (21-6, 10-4), whose four-game winning streak was snapped. Terry added 19 points and 10 rebounds. Nijal Pearson had six rebounds.
Louisiana-Monroe takes on Texas-Arlington on the road on Saturday. Texas State faces Louisiana-Lafayette at home on Saturday.
Women
ULM: A 21-4 third quarter run by Texas State gave the Bobcats the lead as they pulled away for a 62-51 win over ULM on Thursday night at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
"It's one thing to not be able to score," head coach Jeff Dow said. "As we've been preaching all year long, whether you're a good team or have a sub-.500 record, regardless of what the case is, you got to find a way to buckle down and start getting stops. There's no reason to give up 21 points in just over six minutes of basketball."
ULM trailed 29-25 at halftime, and opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take a 32-29 lead on a traditional three-point play by Whitney Goins. After a Texas State free throw by Zandra Emanuel, Arsula Clark converted her own traditional three-point play to give ULM a five-point lead at 35-30 with 6:46 left in the third quarter. Texas State then outscored ULM 21-4 over the remainder of the period, including eight points with two three-pointers for Toshua Leavitt, to give the Bobcats a 51-39 lead going to the fourth quarter.
The Warhawks wrap up their three-game home stand on Saturday against UTA with tip-off at 2 p.m. at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
LSU: At Baton Rouge, head coach Nikki Fargas has said that Ayana Mitchell and Faustine Aifuwa were a force to be reckoned with. On Thursday night, they were just that.
The LSU women’s basketball team cruised to a 69-51 victory against Florida on Thursday evening in the PMAC.
“They’re being patient,” Fargas said of Mitchell and Aifuwa. “I felt like with the looks that they were getting and the play action that we were calling, they were taking their time and they weren’t feeling rushed. They were scoring in a crowded area in the paint. Faustine Aifuwa and Ayana Mitchell have done a nice job of working and doing extra. We want them to be a dominant post presence.”
Aifuwa put up her third consecutive double-double with career highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Mitchell finished the night with 22 points and eight rebounds. It was the first time since February 25, 2018 that two LSU players scored 20 points in a game.
Next up, LSU will go on the road to face nationally ranked Kentucky in Memorial Coliseum on Sunday with tip-off set for 1 p.m.