Sports Briefs

Louisiana Tech shuts down UTEP, 58-45
EL PASO, Texas — Raheem Appleby scored 22 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the field to lead Louisiana Tech to a 58-45 victory against UTEP Thursday night.
Erik McCree finished with 13 points and six rebounds for Louisiana Tech (11-4, 2-0 Conference USA). Alex Hamilton added 11 points for the Bulldogs, who have won three straight games and four of their last five.
Louisiana Tech dominated the second half, holding UTEP to 12 total points.
Vince Hunter finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead UTEP (10-5, 2-1). Earvin Morris added nine points off the bench for the Miners.

Louisiana-Monroe beats Texas-Arlington 76-73 in OT
ARLINGTON, Texas — Marvin Williams had 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting with 13 rebounds and Louisiana-Monroe overcame a 13-point second-half deficit on Thursday night to beat Texas-Arlington 76-73 in overtime.
Williams stretched the Warhawks’ (8-6, 2-1 Sun Belt) lead to 74-71 on a jumper with 1:11 left and made it 76-72 on a putback with 3 seconds left. He scored eight of UL-Monroe’s nine points in overtime.
UT-Arlington (8-6, 2-2) led 28-20 after a slow first half and went ahead 36-23 early in the second. The Warhawks nearly erased the lead with a 12-2 run and later tied it at 43. The Mavericks went back up 54-45 before ULM pulled in front at 61-60, and the teams played back-and-forth from there.
Majok Deng scored 15 and Mack Foster added 11 for the Warhawks.
Johnny Hill led the Mavericks with 19 points. Kaelon Wilson added 16 points and Greg Gainey scored 10.

Grand jury declines to indict ex-player in shooting
LAKE CHARLES — A Calcasieu Parish grand jury has declined to indict a former LSU and NFL player on an attempted second-degree murder charge.
Authorities said 36-year-old Brandon Winey shot 25-year-old Tahj Jones, also a former LSU player, during an altercation at a Sulphur apartment complex on April 11, 2014. Winey was arrested and released after posting $475,000 bond. An attorney for Winey couldn’t be located.
KPLC-TV reports the grand jury handed up its decision Thursday.
Sulphur Police Chief Lewis Coats says Jones went to the complex to visit a woman and that Winey arrived later to visit the same woman. Authorities say an argument between the men led to the shooting.
Winey played at LSU from 1998-2000 and spent two seasons in the NFL. Jones played at LSU from 2010-2013.

Cajuns’ football adds mid-year signee
LAFAYETTE — Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns head football coach Mark Hudspeth announced Thursday the addition of junior college player Christian Goodlett, who signed a National Letter of Intent during the mid-year signing period, for the 2015 season.
Goodlett, a defensive back, will have two years of eligibility remaining for Louisiana and will participate in spring practice.
The Lawrenceville, Ga., native played two seasons at Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College where he was a two-time All-Jayhawk Conference honorable mention selection.
The six-foot, 185-pound product selected the Ragin’ Cajuns after being recruited by Big 12 schools Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.
Goodlett earned All-Jayhawk Conference honorable mention honors as a sophomore in 2013 after recording 69 tackles with four interceptions and 16 passes defended for HCC.

LSU’s Temeka Johnson announced as SEC Legend
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Temeka Johnson, the owner of the LSU and SEC women’s basketball record for career assists, has been selected as a 2015 SEC legend as announced Thursday by the conference office.
Johnson will represent the Lady Tigers at the 2015 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament in North Little Rock, Arkansas. She will be honored during halftime of LSU’s opening game at the conference tournament.
The 14 SEC Legends also will be honored as a group.
Johnson played a key role as the Lady Tigers started their run to five consecutive NCAA Final Fours during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. She was the 2005 recipient of the Lieberman Award, which is awarded to the nation’s top point guard, and named a 2005 All-American First Team selection by the United States Basketball Writers Association.
Johnson, a 10-year veteran in the WNBA, currently is a member of the Seattle Storm. She won the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year award in 2005 and claimed a WNBA championship as a member of the Phoenix Mercury in 2009.
From Associated Press and staff reports