Women's Basketball | 11/22/2016 11:22:00 AM
SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State women's basketball team will go out on the road again this week, continuing the 2016-17 season with a pair of games in the St. Mary's Tournament on Friday and Saturday. ASU will first face the University of Minnesota, Crookston at 2 p.m. on Friday in San Antonio before taking on East Central University at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
"These first five to ten games are really about figuring out who we are as a team," ASU head women's basketball coach Kevin Baker said. "I think this team does have a chance to be really special, but we've got a long way to go only having played a couple of games."
The Belles (1-0) have already seen contributions from every person on the roster, as each player scored at least once in the team's first game of the season. Taylor Dorsey led all scorers in the game, which was a 82-45 win over Texas A&M International, with 20 points in the matchup. The 37-point win put Angelo State at No. 6 nation in average margin of victory to start off the season.
Only one other Belle had a double-digit scoring night against the Dust Devils, showing the team's ability for a balanced offensive attack. Chenelle Pelle scored a team-second 11 for ASU off the bench, while Bria Frierson and Jasmine Prophet each added in nine points. In total, the Belles got a 36-point effort from players off the bench.
Pelle also led a strong effort on the glass from the Belles, grabbing a team-leading seven of the Belles' 45 overall rebounds. The performance was good to start ASU off at first in the conference in rebounds per game and place them in the top ten nationally.
The Belles also started of the season at No. 1 in the conference with an assist to turnover ratio of just 1.42, which also ranked 11th in the nation. ASU's assist leader for the first game of the season was senior guard Lexi Murphy who finished with six. Dorsey and guard Christina Robinson each chipped in three apiece, as the team totaled 17 assists on the first night of the regular season.
Defensively, ASU recorded eight steals in the game, ranking fifth in the LSC. Both Robinson and junior Madi Greenwood had a pair of steals, and four other Belles recorded one steal each as well. Overall, Angelo State was able to force 24 turnovers, which is first in the conference, and score 34 points of those turnovers alone.
Both teams the Belles will face in the St. Mary's tournament have played more games than they have. The University of Minnesota, Crookston has two losses already in the 2016-17 season after falling to Michigan Technological University and Northern Michigan in the first two games. East Central already has four games under its belt this season, but has only won one of the matchups. The Tigers started the season with a loss to LSC member Texas A&M-Kingsville, and their only win was a one-point victory over the University of Tampa. Â
"I feel great about how we've been playing on the road, especially if you include the exhibition at UTSA," Baker said. "We'd love to play here in the Junell Center all the time, but a most of basketball is played on the road, so if you have a team that can execute the way you want on the road, you usually have a pretty quality team. We'll try and continue to do that this week."
