State sports briefs

— Conway's Purifoy commits to UAB

Conway guard Preston Purifoy orally committed Sunday night to play basketball at Alabama-Birmingham after making an official visit over the weekend.

Purifoy, 6-5, 210 chose the Blazers over scholarship offers from Tulsa, North Texas, Ole Miss, Drake and SMU. He committed to Coach Mike Davis and assistant coach Wes Flanigan, who starred at Little Rock Parkview.

"I've had an offer from them for awhile," Purifoy said. "I have a real good connection with them. I had a great official visit."

He averaged 13.1 points and 4.0 rebounds while hitting 50 percent from the field and 31 percent beyond the three-point line during his junior season.

Purifoy said he was impressed with the city of Birmingham.

"I enjoyed the environment," Purifoy said. "It's not too big of a city or too small. I liked the campus and the dorms and classrooms. I liked everything about it."

Purifoy said he's uncertain if he'll sign during the early signing period that runs Nov. 11-18 or wait until the spring to sign.

Oral commitments are nonbinding.

- Richard Davenport SOCCER Cumberland tops Lyon men

T.J. Gordy's goal in the 88th minute led Cumberland (2-2-1, 1-0) to a 1-0 victory over Lyon College (6-2, 1-1) on Monday in a TranSouth Conference match at Huser Soccer Field in Batesville.

Matt Callaway played 90 minutes in goal and saved three shots in the loss. In women's action, Lyon (6-0-1, 1-0-1 TranSouth) extended its unbeaten streak to seven games with an 8-0 victory over Cumberland (2-4-1, 0-1).

Anja Klotzle and Megan Rossee each scored two goals each for the Pipers. Klotzle also earned an assist. Also scoring for Lyon were Katie Marshall, Katy Smith, Amber Mathieson and Dawn Hatfield. Marshall and Smith had two assists apiece. Erica Cox started and played 45 minutes in goal and teammate Brittany Steeb finished the final 45 minutes in goal.

CROSS COUNTRY Hendrix runs in Memphis

Hendrix's women's team placed fifth and the men sixth at the Rhodes College Invitational on Saturday at the Shelby Farms Course in Memphis.

The women finished with 100 points, led by Lolly Plummer's third-place finish in 19 minutes, 46 seconds. Drew Kellum led the men's team to its 139-point total with a 27:48 and eighth- place finish.

Madeleine Keenan was a minute behind Plummer for 11th and Stephanie Davenport ran a 21:18 for 17th. Liza Poris finished 27th in 22:13 and Emily Uhar was 42nd in 24:05.

Andres Ramirez was 48 seconds behind Kellum for 18th and David Chinchilla was two seconds under the 30-minute mark. Micah Cothren was 39th in 30:12 and Winn Haynes rounded out the top 40 with a 30:37.

VOLLEYBALLUCA's Curl honored by Southland

Central Arkansas' Cristin Curl was named the Southland Conference defensive player of the week Monday.

Curl took over the Southland digs lead by averaging 5.71 per set in a pair of victories last week. On Tuesday against Oral Roberts, Curl had 18 digs in a three-set sweep, and on the road at McNeese State, she tied a career-high with 22 digs in four sets.

UCA wins 13th consecutive match

Central Arkansas (14-2, 3-0 Southland Conference) tied a school record with its 13th consecutive victory, defeating Stephen F. Austin 28-26, 22-25, 25-21, 17-25, 15-13 on Monday in Nacogdoches, Texas.

The winning streak ties the 1986 Sugar Bears, who started the season 13-0.

Jessica Hays had 13 kills and a season-high 17 digs to lead UCA.

FOOTBALL Arkansas Tech duo honored by GSC

Arkansas Tech senior quarterback Nick Graziano and junior defensive back Tario Dansby were named the Gulf South Conference offensive and defensive football players of the week after their performances in the Wonder Boys' 59-14 victory Saturday over Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday

Graziano completed 33 of 49 passes for five touchdowns and a single-game school record 403 yards. In addition, he rushed for a 25-yard touchdown late in the third quarter. Graziano accounted for 435 yards of total offense. His 403 passing yards are the most by a Gulf South quarterback this season and broke the old mark of 387 yards set by Todd Cooley in 1996.

Dansby had five tackles, including two tackles, and returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter against Arkansas-Monticello.

Henderson State kicker Blake Allan was named special teams player of the week. Allan kicked a 22-yard field goal and connected on 6-of-7 extra points in the Reddies 51-17 victory Thursday night over Southern Arkansas.

UCA ranked 12th in poll

Central Arkansas remained 12th in the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Poll this week and dropped one spot to 13th in The Sports Network FCS poll.

UCA, coming off a 24-10 victory over Glenville State on Saturday in its home opener, will play Missouri S&T at 6 p.m. Saturday in Conway. The Bears are 2-1 overall, with a victory over Football Bowl Subdivision Western Kentucky two weeks ago.

GOLFRazorbacks' Shean leads field

Arkansas junior Kelli Shean finished the day with a 2-under-par 142 after two rounds in the Marilyn Smith/Sunflower Invitational in Manhattan, Kan., on Monday.

Shean opened with a 74 and rebounded with a 68 for a 142 at Colbert Hills Golf Course, helping put the Razorbacks in second place, two shots behind Tulsa, at 613 (308-305).

Arkansas' Kristin Ingram is in third with a 154 (79-75) and Alex Schulte is sixth with a 155 (78-77). Katy Nugent posted a 162 (77-85). Corinna Rees, competing as an individual, shot a 156 (79-77).

Trojans lead Purple and Red Invitational

UALR fired a 12-under par 276 in the second round of the Purple and Red Invitational on Monday, taking a five-shot lead over the 11-team field into today's final round in Layton, Utah.

The Trojans shot a 562 while Weber State shot a 567. Southern Utah is third at 569.

UALR's Linus Gillgren (76-65) and Nicklaus Benton (73-68) are in sixth place with a 3-under-par 141 (76-65) while Felipe Velazquez is tied for 10th at 2-under 142 (73-69). Dylan Raines shot a 144 (70-74) and Sebastian Gunnarssson (70-75) shot a 145.

Today's final round begins at 8 a.m.

Sports, Pages 17 on 09/29/2009

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