ASU Mountaineers sports roundup
Jamie Shell / (sports@averyjournal.com)
Women's basketball belts Wofford for eighth straight win
ASU women’s basketball finished off a regular-season sweep of Southern Conference foe Wofford with a 75-46 victory on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers (19-3, 13-1 SoCon) defeated the Terriers (11-13, 4-11) for the 10th-straight time and extended its winning streak to eight games, matching its season high.
Wofford used three quick strikes to jump out to a 7-3 lead in the first three minutes, but ASU responded with four-straight points to tie the contest.
A pair of buckets put Wofford up 11-7 and forced ASU to take a timeout with 13:34 left in the first half, but ASU roared back with a 15-5 run over the next six minutes to jump to a 24-16 lead.
After the Terriers closed the gap to five points (26-21) with five minutes left, Kelsey Sharkey and Chakeitha Weldon combined to score the next eight points to give ASU its first double-digit lead of the game (34-21) with 2:26 remaining in the period.
Wofford scored four-straight points to cut the deficit to nine (34-25) with less than a minute to play, but Anna Freeman stretched the lead back to 37-25 with a three-pointer to end the half.
The Mountaineers dominated the second half, taking its first 20-point lead (45-25) on Maryah Sydnor’s jumper with 16:39 left to play and scoring 12 unanswered points to start the half and take a 49-25 lead with less than 14 minutes to play.
The Terriers never threatened in the second half as ASU kept its foot on the gas and led by as many as 33 (73-40) when Canesha Edwards converted a layup with 2:16 left to play.
ASU dished out 22 assists, two shy of a season high, and forced 30 turnovers by the Terriers. ASU had four players record three more assists and three with three more steals.
Freeman led all players with 16 points while dishing out five assists and collecting five steals. Sharkey finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals while Courtney Freeman scored 11 and grabbed eight boards. Weldon scored 10 points and dished out four assists.
Watkins named Field Athlete of the Week
ASU junior Gayshawna Watkins has received Southern Conference Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week honors by the league's track and field coaches for her performance Saturday, Feb. 4, at Sykes-Sabock Challege Cup, hosted by Penn State University.
The Forest City native competed in her first meet of the year, placing sixth in the weight throw with a mark of more than 56 meters. Watkins is now the conference leader in weight throw.
Baseball: League-high five Mountaineers named preseason All-Southern Conference
ASU baseball landed league-high five players on the preseason All-Southern Conference baseball teams, the SoCon announced on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
ASU’s preseason All-SoCon honorees include first-team designated hitter Daniel Kassouf and four second-teamers: Starting pitcher Ryan Arrowood, relief pitcher David Port, third baseman Zack Briggs and outfielder Tyler Zupcic.
The Mountaineers’ lone first-team selection, Kassouf led ASU and tied for 11th in the SoCon with eight home runs a season ago. As they did at the conclusion of last season, Arrowood and Zupcic collected second-team recognition. Arrowood ranked among the SoCon’s top six in wins (8-3), ERA (2.96) and strikeouts (83) in 2011, while Zupcic paced ASU and ranked sixth in the league with a .350 batting average last year. Port (2-0, 2.33 ERA in 29 relief appearances in 2011) and Briggs (.293, 5 HR, 16 2B, 32 RBI in 2011).
Second baseman Hector Crespo, who hit .316 last season with a .350 average in SoCon play, and first baseman Trey Holmes, who hit .298 with six home runs, 45 RBI and 16 doubles while playing a sterling first base defensively, were tough-luck omissions from the preseason all-conference squads.
Despite the absence of Crespo and Holmes, ASU’s five preseason All-SoCon honorees led all schools, followed by Georgia Southern and Samford with three each. Preseason All-Ccnference teams are selected by SoCon coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for players from their own club.
The SoCon also announced results from its preseason baseball polls. The conference’s coaches picked ASU to finish fifth in the perennially powerful baseball league while the media tabbed the Mountaineers sixth.
The coaches favor College of Charleston to win the 2012 SoCon crown, followed by Georgia Southern, Samford, Elon and ASU. The media overwhelmingly picked Georgia Southern to repeat as SoCon champion, followed by College of Charleston, Elon, Samford, UNC Greensboro and ASU.
ASU, which returns 8-of-9 members of its starting lineup and 4-of-5 starting pitchers from last year’s 33-27 squad that finished sixth in the SoCon with a 15-15 record, opens the 2012 campaign this Friday, Feb. 17, versus George Mason in Elon.
ASU women’s basketball finished off a regular-season sweep of Southern Conference foe Wofford with a 75-46 victory on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers (19-3, 13-1 SoCon) defeated the Terriers (11-13, 4-11) for the 10th-straight time and extended its winning streak to eight games, matching its season high.
Wofford used three quick strikes to jump out to a 7-3 lead in the first three minutes, but ASU responded with four-straight points to tie the contest.
A pair of buckets put Wofford up 11-7 and forced ASU to take a timeout with 13:34 left in the first half, but ASU roared back with a 15-5 run over the next six minutes to jump to a 24-16 lead.
After the Terriers closed the gap to five points (26-21) with five minutes left, Kelsey Sharkey and Chakeitha Weldon combined to score the next eight points to give ASU its first double-digit lead of the game (34-21) with 2:26 remaining in the period.
Wofford scored four-straight points to cut the deficit to nine (34-25) with less than a minute to play, but Anna Freeman stretched the lead back to 37-25 with a three-pointer to end the half.
The Mountaineers dominated the second half, taking its first 20-point lead (45-25) on Maryah Sydnor’s jumper with 16:39 left to play and scoring 12 unanswered points to start the half and take a 49-25 lead with less than 14 minutes to play.
The Terriers never threatened in the second half as ASU kept its foot on the gas and led by as many as 33 (73-40) when Canesha Edwards converted a layup with 2:16 left to play.
ASU dished out 22 assists, two shy of a season high, and forced 30 turnovers by the Terriers. ASU had four players record three more assists and three with three more steals.
Freeman led all players with 16 points while dishing out five assists and collecting five steals. Sharkey finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals while Courtney Freeman scored 11 and grabbed eight boards. Weldon scored 10 points and dished out four assists.
Watkins named Field Athlete of the Week
ASU junior Gayshawna Watkins has received Southern Conference Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week honors by the league's track and field coaches for her performance Saturday, Feb. 4, at Sykes-Sabock Challege Cup, hosted by Penn State University.
The Forest City native competed in her first meet of the year, placing sixth in the weight throw with a mark of more than 56 meters. Watkins is now the conference leader in weight throw.
Baseball: League-high five Mountaineers named preseason All-Southern Conference
ASU baseball landed league-high five players on the preseason All-Southern Conference baseball teams, the SoCon announced on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
ASU’s preseason All-SoCon honorees include first-team designated hitter Daniel Kassouf and four second-teamers: Starting pitcher Ryan Arrowood, relief pitcher David Port, third baseman Zack Briggs and outfielder Tyler Zupcic.
The Mountaineers’ lone first-team selection, Kassouf led ASU and tied for 11th in the SoCon with eight home runs a season ago. As they did at the conclusion of last season, Arrowood and Zupcic collected second-team recognition. Arrowood ranked among the SoCon’s top six in wins (8-3), ERA (2.96) and strikeouts (83) in 2011, while Zupcic paced ASU and ranked sixth in the league with a .350 batting average last year. Port (2-0, 2.33 ERA in 29 relief appearances in 2011) and Briggs (.293, 5 HR, 16 2B, 32 RBI in 2011).
Second baseman Hector Crespo, who hit .316 last season with a .350 average in SoCon play, and first baseman Trey Holmes, who hit .298 with six home runs, 45 RBI and 16 doubles while playing a sterling first base defensively, were tough-luck omissions from the preseason all-conference squads.
Despite the absence of Crespo and Holmes, ASU’s five preseason All-SoCon honorees led all schools, followed by Georgia Southern and Samford with three each. Preseason All-Ccnference teams are selected by SoCon coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for players from their own club.
The SoCon also announced results from its preseason baseball polls. The conference’s coaches picked ASU to finish fifth in the perennially powerful baseball league while the media tabbed the Mountaineers sixth.
The coaches favor College of Charleston to win the 2012 SoCon crown, followed by Georgia Southern, Samford, Elon and ASU. The media overwhelmingly picked Georgia Southern to repeat as SoCon champion, followed by College of Charleston, Elon, Samford, UNC Greensboro and ASU.
ASU, which returns 8-of-9 members of its starting lineup and 4-of-5 starting pitchers from last year’s 33-27 squad that finished sixth in the SoCon with a 15-15 record, opens the 2012 campaign this Friday, Feb. 17, versus George Mason in Elon.