Ladies Defeat Dallas At Home, 74-61
The Centenary women's basketball team raced out to a 17-0 lead on its way to a 74-61 victory over the University of Dallas Crusaders on Sunday afternoon in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest inside the Gold Dome.
Shreveport – The Centenary women's basketball team raced out to a 17-0 lead on its way to a 74-61 victory over the University of Dallas Crusaders on Sunday afternoon in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest inside the Gold Dome.
The Ladies (2-9, 1-2 SCAC) snapped their eight-game losing streak and won for the first time this season at home, improving to 1-4 on their home court. The Crusaders dropped to 1-11 overall and 0-3 in SCAC play.
Freshman F Shyanne Phillips (Leesville, La.) exploded for a career-high 26 points to lead all scorers and added a game-high 19 rebounds for an impressive double-double. She was 11-17 from the floor and 4-4 at the free-throw line in 30 minutes with a blocked shot and a steal. Phillips entered Sunday's action as the conference's third-leading rebounder, tied for fifth in FT %, and ranked in the top 20 in scoring. She has now reached double figures six times this season and has recorded four double-doubles.
Freshman G Nevaeh Rivera (Rosepine, La.) scored 16 in 29 minutes on 6-15 shooting and grabbed six rebounds and dished out a team-leading five assists and had three steals. Rivera reached double figures for the sixth time this season.
Junior F Layla Powell (Fort Worth, Texas) and junior G Amiyah Barrow (Baton Rouge, La.) each scored seven, freshman F Anaya Yunusah (New Orleans, La.) scored six, and junior F Kyra Stokes (Shreveport, La.) and freshman G Kaysharia Woods (Zachary, La.) each scored three. Freshman G Alexis Duhon (Westlake, La.), freshman G Julissa Cabrera (Denham Springs, La.), and freshman F/C Marilynn Guillory (Sulphur, La.) each chipped in two points.
Adryan Alvarez led the way for the Crusaders with 23 points and Alyssa Sullivan joined her in double digits with 12. Both Alvarez and Sullivan entered the game ranked in the top 10 in the conference in scoring and Sullivan was 10th in rebounding and she pulled down a team-high seven on Sunday. Alvarez was 7-19 from the floor, 5-12 from beyond the arc, and 4-5 at the FT line in 32 minutes with five rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals. Sullivan played 39 minutes and was 4-15 from the floor, 2-7 from 3-point range, and 2-2 at the FT line with two assists, two blocked shots, and a steal.
Adriana Medina added nine points, Madison Triolet had seven, Bailey Haas had five, Aaliyah Jones scored two, and three players each scored one point – Bella Trousset, Airial Casillas, and Isabelle Chevalier.
The Ladies finished 30-71 (42.3 %) from the floor for the game, 3-8 from beyond the arc (37.5 %), and 11-22 at the FT line (50 %). The Crusaders were 20-66 (30.3 %) overall, 11-35 from beyond the arc (31.4 %), and 10-15 at the FT line for 66.7 %. Centenary shot over 40 % in both the first and second quarters and was a red-hot 62.5 % in the fourth quarter. Dallas went just 14.3 % in the first 10 minutes, shot 40 % or better in both the second and third quarters, and then dipped to 21.1 % in the final period.
Centenary outrebounded Dallas 53-40 as the Maroon and White topped the 50-rebound mark for the second time this season after grabbing a season-best 58 against MUW in November. The Ladies finished with 18 offensive rebounds and 35 defensive boards while the Crusaders had 12 offensive rebounds to go with 28 on the defensive end. The Ladies tallied a season-high 15 assists, 10 steals, and two blocked shots and the Crusaders finished with 14 assists, nine steals, and five blocked shots.
The Ladies dominated in the paint, outscoring the Crusaders 52-16, and finished with a 10-5 advantage in second-chance points and fast break points (19-8). Centenary turned the ball over 20 times which led to 15 points for Dallas. The Crusaders, meanwhile, turned it over 24 times which the Ladies turned into 18 points. The Ladies' bench outscored the Crusaders' reserves 16-10 led by Yunusah's six.
Powell played 30 minutes and was 3-8 from the floor and 1-2 from beyond the arc with four rebounds and four assists, Barrow was 3-9 from the field and 1-3 from beyond the arc with three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Yunusah was 2-6 from the floor and 2-2 from the FT line in 19 minutes with five boards and a blocked shot. Stokes was 1-3 from the floor in 11 minutes and 1-4 from the FT line with four rebounds before fouling out. Woods was 1-3 from the floor with a trey in 16 minutes with two assists and a steal. Cabrera played 15 minutes and was 1-3 from the floor with two rebounds, two assists and three steals and Duhon was 1-6 from the floor in 13 minutes with three rebounds, and Guillory was 1-1 from the floor with a rebound in three minutes.
The Ladies, fueled by their 17-0 run to start the game, were ahead 21-6 at the end of the first quarter and despite being outscored by the Crusaders 20-16 in the second period, held a 37-26 halftime lead. Dallas edged Centenary 17-14 in the third, but the Ladies finished off the win with a 23-18 advantage in the fourth quarter. Dallas did not score its first points of the game until Sullivan made a layup at the 4:36 mark of the first quarter. Centenary's advantage grew to 19 points after a pair of Yunusah FT's made it 21-2 with 1:35 on the clock.
A trey by Medina, though, cut Dallas' deficit to single digits (25-16) at the 6:52 mark of the second period. Rivera's layup with five second remaining in the quarter made it a double-digit game again at 37-26. Dallas started hot in the second half, twice cutting the Ladies' lead to five points early in the third quarter. Then, after a 3-pointer by Alvarez for the Crusaders with 7:17 left in the third, the visitors were within two points – at 39-37. That would be as close as the Crusaders would get, though, as the Ladies built up a double-digit lead and held on for the win.
The Ladies and Crusaders will meet again next month, on Saturday, Feb. 22 in Irving, Texas in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Ladies continue their four-game homestand on Tuesday as they will next face Austin College at 5:30 p.m. and then welcome both Southwestern University and Texas Lutheran University to town next weekend.
See the complete Ladies' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wbkb/2024-25/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary women's basketball home games. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
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