MONROE, La. – Sannisha Williams collected her fifth double-double
of the season to lead the ULM women's basketball to a 55-45 win over Sun Belt
Conference foe Arkansas State in Fant-Ewing Coliseum Thursday night. The victory
came during the team's annual Pink Zone game to raise breast cancer awareness.
The win gives ULM victories in both games played against Arkansas
State this season, the first time in program history it has swept the Red
Wolves in regular season play. It is the first sweep the Warhawks have had since
the 2007-08 season when they beat North Texas and UL-Lafayette in both regular
season games played.
Williams scored a game-high 16 points while grabbing a game-high
13 rebounds for her 14th career double-double. Priscilla Mbiandja
had 11 points while Larrie Williams contributed 10 points and five rebounds and
Jasmine Shaw handed out a career-high five assists. As a team, ULM shot 35.6
percent from the field and outrebounded Arkansas State 44 to 39.
ULM (13-12, 7-5 SBC) utilized a 13-4 scoring run midway through
the second half including eight points by Williams to put away the Red Wolves
after grabbing its biggest lead of the game 54-41 with 2:21 left to play. Arkansas
State scored twice more before an Elizabeth Torres free throw ended the game with
a 55-45 score.
A back-and-forth start to the second half involved five lead
changes in five minutes before a layup by Shaw at the 15:25 mark gave ULM a 29-28
advantage. The Warhawks slowly began to pull away with a narrow 12-9 run over eight
minutes which included a scoreless four-minute stretch for both teams to build
a 41-37 lead with 6:50 remaining.
Two layups by Mbiandja fueled an 8-2 run for ULM to start the
first half before Arkansas State (12-13, 5-7 SBC) answered with a 7-2 streak to
come within one 10-9 at the 13:16 mark. A 3-pointer by Mbiandja made it a two-basket
game until two Red Wolf layups and a free throw gave them a 14-13 lead with
9:30 to play.
A jumper by Breaunna Ellison gave Arkansas State a 16-13 advantage
before a basket by Larrie Williams and a 3-pointer by Shaw turned the lead in
ULM's favor 18-16 at the 7:22 mark. Three ties ensued as a final layup by
Sannisha Williams ended the first half with an even score 22-22.
Two Red Wolves scored double-digits as Jazmine Taylor collected 11
points and Breaunna Ellison had 10 points. Shania Hurst pulled down a team-high
seven rebounds and also contributed five assists. As a team, Arkansas State
shot 28.1 percent from the field.
ULM will play its only
televised game of the season at home Sunday when it takes on Sun Belt West
Division leader UALR at 5 p.m. with the game showing on the Sun Belt Network.
