GAME 15
ARKANSAS STATE RED WOLVES
at DENVER PIONEERS
Wednesday, January 7, 2009 7:00 p.m. (MT)
Magness Arena (7,200) Denver, Colorado
Radio: KWHF 95.9 FM “The Wolf” & AStateRedWolves.com
LiveStats Available at AStateRedWolves.com
Video: AStateRedWolves.com
TIPPING IT OFF: Arkansas State begins a two-game road trip Wednesday when the Red Wolves travel to Denver for a Sun Belt Conference West Division clash with the Denver University Pioneers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (MT) at Magness Arena and the game will be broadcast on KWHF 95.9 FM “The Wolf.” The live audio and video webcast may also be accessed online at AStateRedWolves.com. LiveStats may also be accessed online by logging on to AStateRedWolves.com.
THE TEAMS: With their 63-61 victory over New Orleans Sunday afternoon, the Red Wolves balanced their record at 7-7 overall and picked up their first SBC victory of the season to improve to 1-2 in league play. Denver will take the court at 7-6 overall and 2-1 in Sun Belt Conference action. In their most recent action, the Pioneers went 1-1 on the road in Louisiana, falling at New Orleans 63-43 New Year's Day before bouncing back to defeat ULL 67-46 Jan. 3.
THE DENVER SERIES: The Pioneers lead the series 7-6 and have never lost to Arkansas State on their home court. A-State is 0-6 in games played in Denver, 4-1 against the Pioneers in Jonesboro, and the Red Wolves hold a 2-0 advantage in games played on a neutral court in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Both of the ASU-Denver games in the tournament were played in Bowling Green, Ky.
THE COACHES: Arkansas State head coach Brian Boyer is in his 10th season at the helm of the Red Wolves program. Boyer holds a career record of 159-128 and has directed the Red Wolves to the Women's National Invitation Tournament four times, including three of the past five years. Boyer is assisted by Tanya Ray, Rebecca Peoples and Sean Weibling. Erik Johnson is in his first year as head coach at Denver after serving as an assistant at Boston College in the three previous seasons.
GREAT SCOTT: Sophomore forward Shay Scott set a new career high with 18 points in the Red Wolves' 71-44 victory over Alcorn State, hitting seven of eight shots from the field and four of six from the charity stripe. Scott matched the career high Jan. 4 when she sank two free throws with one second remaining to lift ASU to its 63-61 win over New Orleans. Against UNO, Scott hit five of 10 shots from the field and eight of 10 from the line. In the two games combined, Scott shot .667 from the field, .750 from the line, pulled down 12 rebounds and blocked three shots - without recording a turnover.
LOOKING BACK AT UNO: The Red Wolves committed a season-low nine fouls against the Lady Privateers, resulting in just five free throws made on seven attempts for UNO - with both numbers also being season lows...Sophomore Shay Scott's eight free throws made were the most for any ASU player in a single game this season...Scott attempted 10 free throws while junior guard Ebonie Jefferson went to the line nine times - the attempts rank first and second this season for free throws attempted in a single game...junior Veronica Smith's 12 rebounds were the most for any A-State player in a game this season.
BREAKING TRENDS: Arkansas State's victory 63-61 victory over New Orleans Jan 4. marked the first time this season that the Red Wolves were able to bounce back and grab a victory after trailing at the half. New Orleans led 30-27 at the break before ASU outrebounded the Lady Privateers 20-12 and outscored UNO 36-31 in the final 20 minutes to pick up the win. The game also was the first victory this season for ASU when the Red Wolves shot less than 40 percent from the floor and did not out-shoot their opponent. Both teams shot 37.9 percent in the game. The Red Wolves also committed a season-low nine fouls against the Lady Privateers.
ANOTHER DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR “V”: Junior guard/forward Veronica Smith posted her second double-double this season and the third of her career in ASU's 63-61 win over New Orleans Jan. 4. Smith finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds against the Lady Privateers. Smith also posted a double-double in the Red Wolves' Nov. 19 game at Southern Illinois, putting up 13 points and 10 rebounds against the Salukis.
OFFENSIVE LOW: Although the Red Wolves held Brigham Young to 49 points Dec. 30 - the third lowest total given up this season, Arkansas State managed just 39 points in the game - the lowest offensive output of the year. The Red Wolves sank a season-low 15 field goals on 53 attempts - the second fewest shot total of the season.
ON THE LINE: Arkansas State's 34 free throw attempts Dec. 28 in the Red Wolves' 71-44 victory over Alcorn State was a season-high for trips to the charity stripe. The Red Wolves knocked down 25 of those attempts - also a season high. Over the last three games, the Red Wolves have shot .710 as a team, knocking down 49 of 69 attempts. Five players have hit all of their attempts from the free throw line over the last three games, with an additional three others shooting .714 or better.
WORKING INSIDE: Arkansas State scored 38 points in the paint against Alcorn State Dec. 28, but for the first time this season, the Red Wolves did not connect from behind the three-point arc. In fact, ASU attempted just two three-pointers in the game, the fewest in any game this season.
UP NEXT FOR THE RED WOLVES: From Denver, Arkansas State travels to Denton, Texas to take on the Mean Green of North Texas. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m., Jan. 10 at the Super Pit.
WORKING OVERTIME: With the 76-68 overtime win Dec. 2 at Indiana State, the Red Wolves have improved to 8-0 during the regular season in overtime games under head coach Brian Boyer. Five of those games have been played on the road, with the remaining three at home. In all overtime games played under Boyer, the Red Wolves stand at 8-2, falling to New Mexico State in double overtime in the 2004 Sun Belt Conference Tournament and to New Orleans in the 2002 SBC Tournament.
Overtime Games Under Boyer
2008-09 - ASU 76, @ Indiana St. 68
2007-08 - ASU 72, FIU 64
2006-07 - ASU 65, @ ULL 58
2004-05 - ASU 85, @ FIU 74
2003-04 - ASU 86, @ UALR 79
2003-04 - New Mexico St. 71, ASU 56 (2OT)
at Bowling Green, Kentucky
Sun Belt Conference Tournament
2002-03 - ASU 69, UNO 63
2002-03 - ASU 63, Belmont 62
2001-02 - UNO 51, ASU 47
at New Orleans, Louisiana
Sun Belt Conference Tournament
2000-01 - ASU 79, @ McNeese 74
HOME SWEET HOME: Arkansas State's 73-56 victory over Creighton Nov. 14 was the Red Wolves' 200th victory at the ASU Convocation Center. Over the last five-plus years, the ASU women's basketball program boasts a winning percentage of .831 (64-13) at the ASU Convocation Center. The Red Wolves are 204-60 (.772) all-time at the Convocation Center and 92-36 (.718) under head coach Brian Boyer.
JAZZIN' IT UP: Junior Jazmine Taylor had one of her best games of the season Dec. 7 against sixth-ranked Oklahoma. Taylor finished with a season-high 12 points against the Sooners, connecting on 4-of-7 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free throw line. Taylor also dished out five assists, blocked a shot and had just one turnover while playing a season-high 33 minutes. Taylor also had five assists in ASU's Dec. 2, 76-68 victory at Indiana State, giving her 10 over the two-game stretch.
CLASSIC PERFORMANCES: Juniors Veronica Smith and Lyndsay Schlup were named to the Star Shuttle Texas-San Antonio Classic All-Tournament team Nov. 29 following their performances in helping ASU go 2-0 in the Classic. A-State defeated Charleston Southern and Texas-San Antonio to finish as the only undefeated team in the four-team field, with Smith finishing with a two-game total of 33 points and 14 rebounds while Schlup added 22 points and 13 boards. Junior Ebonie Jefferson would have likely been the fifth member of the all-tournament team if the voting had not been completed at halftime of the final game against Texas-San Antonio. At the half, Jefferson had just two points, but finished the game with 16 points - giving her a 31-point total on 12-of-22 shooting in the Classic.
TEXAS SHARPSHOOTERS: Junior Veronica Smith became the first Red Wolf this season to score at least 20 points in a game when she hit for 21 against Charleston Southern Nov. 28 in the opening game of the Texas-San Antonio Thanksgiving Classic. Smith hit a team season-high 10 field goals in the game on a team-high 18 attempts...juniors Lyndsay Schlup and Ebonie Jefferson combined to hit 10-of-10 free throws against Charleston Southern, with Schlup draining seven from the line...sophomore Shay Scott posted ASU's highest shooting percentage of the season (.750) when she hit 6-of-8 from the field Nov. 29 against Texas-San Antonio in the final game of the Classic...Arkansas State's 88 points against Charleston Southern was the Red Wolves' highest offensive output of the season...Arkansas State hit 33 field goals against Charleston Southern and shot .471 from the floor and .900 (18-20) from the line, with both being season highs.
CLEANING THE GLASS: Arkansas State grabbed a season-high 51 rebounds against Charleston Southern Nov. 28 in the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic while holding the Buccaneers to just 31 rebounds - the lowest total for any A-State opponent thus far.
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL: ASU turned the ball over just 8 times Nov. 29 against Texas-San Antonio, the fewest this season. Arkansas State forced 21 Roadrunner turnovers in the game.
HILES' HANDOUTS: Brittney Hiles has earned a reputation as one of ASU's strongest defenders during her three-plus seasons at Arkansas State, but Hiles also has been particularly effective at distributing the ball this season. The senior from Baton Rouge, La., has A-State's highest two assist totals this season, handing out eight assists in the Red Wolves' season opening victory against Creighton, and five in the win over Charleston Southern.
FIRING THE ROCK: Arkansas State's 72 field goal attempts attempts against Kansas State Nov. 25 were the most taken in any game this season, and the most since ASU launched 84 shots in its overtime victory over Florida International Jan. 23, 2008.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR SCHLUP: Junior forward Lyndsay Schlup recorded her first career career double-double Nov. 25 against Kansas State. Schlup scored 10 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds against the Wildcats.
DEFENSIVE PRESSURE: Arkansas State held Northern Arizona to just 20 points in each half in the Red Wolves' 71-40 win Nov. 16. Additionally, the Red Wolves held the Lumberjacks to just 29.2 percent shooting from the floor and forced 23 turnovers while allowing just six assists. Arkansas State notched 13 steals in the game with junior guard Jazmine Taylor and Ebonie Jefferson leading the way with three steals each.
OFFENSIVE BALANCE: Twelve players scored for Arkansas State in the Nov. 16 win over Northern Arizona, with 10 of those players scoring in the first half. Junior guard Ebonie Jefferson led ASU with 12 points, and seven other Red Wolves had at least six points in the game. A-State once again placed 12 players in the scoring column in the Red Wolves 71-44 victory over Alcorn State Dec. 28. Sophomore forward Shay Scott led the way with a career-high 18 points against the Lady Braves.
TAYLOR'S TREYS: Junior point guard Jazmine Taylor played in 61 games for Arkansas State before hitting her first three pointer. Taylor connected on her first three during ASU's 80-70 victory at North Texas Feb. 23, 2008. Just over three minutes into ASU's season-opening victory over Creighton Nov. 14, Taylor took - and made - her first three pointer of the season, the fourth of her career at ASU.
ASU IN SEASON OPENERS: With ASU's 73-56 win over Creighton Nov. 14, the Red Wolves are 20-15 all-time in season openers, with a record of 13-2 when opening the season at home. The Red Wolves have opened the season at home just three times in Brian Boyer's nine-plus years as head coach, winning against Maryland-Eastern Shore to open the 2002-03 season, against Missouri to open the 2005-06 season, and against Creighton to open the current season. Arkansas State is 5-4 in all season openers under Boyer and 3-0 in home openers under Boyer.
SBC HONORS: The Arkansas State Red Wolves finished in a first-place tie with Arkansas-Little Rock in the Sun Belt Conference preseason West Division poll, released Oct. 13 at the SBC Basketball Tip-Off in Hot Springs. The poll was voted on by the 13 head coaches throughout the league. Arkansas State junior guard Veronica Smith was named to the All-Sun Belt Conference first team, while sophomore forward Shay Scott was named third team All-Sun Belt Conference.
“It's exciting and I think it's a great motivator for this team,” said ASU head coach Brian Boyer when asked about the preseason poll. “It is a nice reward for our team for their hard work as we get ready to start the season.”
A third-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection a year ago, Smith led ASU in scoring last year, averaging 9.6 points per game and 12.1 points per game in SBC play. As a true freshman, Scott finished the 2007-08 regular season averaging a double-double in SBC play, putting up 10.6 points and 10 rebounds per game. In league play, Scott led the league in offensive rebounding at 4.33 per game and was second overall in rebounding at 9.7 per game.
“Veronica and Shay are both very deserving,” said Boyer. “Based on last year, we were so balanced that it is hard to pick a preseason all-conference team. Certainly Veronica's numbers and the way she improved and played during the conference season last year have allowed her to become recognized. Shay had a great freshman year last year, then made the all-tournament team, so I think they both are natural picks to be preseason all-conference.”
The Red Wolves received eight first-place votes and 83 total points in the poll while UALR finished with 83 points and five first-place votes. ASU and UALR were followed by Louisiana-Monroe, North Texas, New Orleans, Denver, and Louisiana-Lafayette. Middle Tennessee topped the East Division poll with 71 points and six first-place votes, followed by Western Kentucky, South Alabama, Florida International, Troy and Florida Atlantic.
Western Kentucky's Dominique Duck was named the league's Preseason Player of the Year.
Arkansas State returns all five starters, seven of the top eight scorers and the top five rebounders from last year's 20-win team.
CHANGES AT THE CONVO: During the offseason, the Clopton Clinic Strength and Conditioning Room was unveiled at a ceremony in the Convocation Center. The strength and conditioning room used by the Red Wolves features new weights, lighting, floor and wall coverings and entrance doors. Also completed during the offseason was the resurfacing and repainting of the Convocation Center playing court. The court now features the new Red Wolves logo and a large “stAte” logo at center court.
ALUMNI REUNION WEEKEND: In conjunction with the Red Wolves' season-opening weekend, the ASU Women's Basketball Alumni Reunion was held Nov. 14-16. The reunion was open to all former ASU women's basketball players, and got underway with the Red Wolves' season opener against Creighton, Friday, Nov. 14. A reception was held Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Cooper Alumni Center beginning at 7:00 p.m. Sunday's slate included the Red Wolves' pregame shootaround, pickup games on the ASU Convocation Center playing court, ASU's 2:00 p.m. game against Northern Arizona and a Fast Break Club reception following the game.
NEW ERA AT ASU: The 2008-09 season is the first season in which Arkansas State University will compete as the Red Wolves. After 77 years of competition as the Indians, the Red Wolves mascot was adopted in January 2008 after many hours of work by the University's Mascot Selection Steering Committee. The job of the committee was to make a new mascot recommendation to Chancellor Dr. Robert L. Potts and the University administration. The committee recommended “Wolves” at a Jan. 31 meeting, and the Red Wolves mascot evolved from that point.
LAST TIME OUT: JONESBORO, Ark. (01/04/08) ? Sophomore forward Shay Scott hit two free throws with one second remaining to lift Arkansas State (7-7, 1-2) to a 63-61 Sun Belt Conference victory over the Lady Privateers of New Orleans (7-7, 2-2) Sunday afternoon at the ASU Convocation Center.
With the free throws, Scott tied her career high of 18 points, and the Red Wolves also got a double-double from junior guard/forward Veronica Smith, who finished the game with 16 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. Scott hit 8-of-10 free throws on the day while junior guard Ebonie Jefferson added a 7-of-9 effort at the line to also finish in double figures with 11 points.
After New Orleans senior forward Ty Felder tied the game at 61 on a jumper with 26 seconds remaining, ASU held for the final shot and Scott earned the trip to the line when she was fouled on a putback attempt after Smith managed to get a shot off in traffic with three seconds to play.
“Both Shay and Ebonie were huge at the line...and that is big for us because those two are probably going to get to the line more than others,” said ASU Head Coach Brian Boyer. “With Shay on the inside and as quick as she is, she is going to get to the line, and Ebonie is so aggressive off the dribble and so strong that she is going to get to the line as well.”
Arkansas State trailed by five, 57-52, after UNO senior guard Jada Frazier scored with 4:49 to play, but the Red Wolves answered with a bucket from Scott and a three-point play from Jefferson to knot the score at 57-57 with 3:59 remaining.
A layup from New Orleans junior forward Candice McGee put the Lady Privateers back on top 59-57, but ASU answered with another basket from Scott and two more free throws from Jefferson to take a 61-59 lead with 1:41 to go. Felder tied the game just over a minute later to set the stage for ASU's final possession.
New Orleans used a 27-23 advantage on the boards in the first half to take a 30-27 lead at halftime. The Lady Privateers pulled down 13 offensive rebounds in the opening half, but ASU held UNO to just four offensive rebounds in the second half and finished the game with an 18-17 lead on the offensive glass and a 43-39 overall rebounding advantage.
“I thought we did a lot of good things in the first half, but one glaring flaw was that we couldn't keep them off the offensive boards,” said Boyer. “In the second half we did a much better job of keeping them off the boards. With our pressure we were able to create some turnovers ? kind of what you would hope out of a home game ? we got the crowd into it and got some energy going. New Orleans answered and we told the team at that point that the energy part of it was done and that they were going to have to win it with discipline - just bear down and play with discipline - and I thought we did that late.”
The Red Wolves hit 17-of-23 free throws on the afternoon, including 11-of-13 in the second half while shooting 48 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes.
New Orleans was led by junior guard Brittany Helm's 20 points, five assists and five steals while Felder added a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards. Frazier finished in double figures as well with 12 points.
