Little Rock Readies for Georgia Southern on Thursday

GM 18 >> Little Rock (6-11, 4-4 SBC) vs. Georgia Southern (5-11, 2-5 SBC)
Thursday, Jan. 28 • 5:15 p.m. (CST)
Little Rock, Ark. • Jack Stephens Center
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
Radio: Trey Schaap (PxP) and Ron Jumper (Color) on 920 AM
 
LITTLE ROCK – Fresh off his 250th career victory as head coach of Little Rock, Coach Joe Foley will be looking for No. 251 on Thursday when Georgia Southern comes to the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans and Eagles are set for a 5:15 p.m. tipoff.
 
THURSDAY PROMOTIONS
Thursday's game will be MAROON MANIA for Trojan fans. Be sure to wear maroon as you pack the Jack Stephens Center.
 
Trojan fans will also have a chance to get one of 250 Little Rock's Team wristbands that will be given out at the start of the doubleheader.
 
At halftime of the men's game, all student-athletes with a 3.0 GPA or better for the 2015 Fall Semester or a 3.0 cumulative GPA, which includes 74 percent of all the Trojan student-athletes, will be recognized.
 
TIP OFF

• Little Rock broke a three-game losing streak with a victory against UT Arlington on Saturday evening, earning coach Joe Foley his 250th victory as head coach of the Trojans.
• Shanity James reached 1,100 career points in the win, leading the team with 15 total.
• The Trojans have used 12 different starting lineups this season and have given three different freshmen their first careers starts in the last two games.
• The Trojans are fourth in the Sun Belt in field goal percentage at .403, and Shanity James' individual field goal percentage is fifth in the league at .515.
• Little Rock enters Thursday's game in fifth place in the league standings while Georgia Southern is in a three-way tie for sixth.
• The Trojans led the all-time series with the Eagles 2-0, winning both of those games last year when Georgia Southern first joined the Sun Belt Conference.

 
ABOUT THE TROJANS
Little Rock got back in the win column on Saturday at UT Arlington, leading the game for 36 of its 40 minutes on its way to a 59-55 victory. The Trojans led by as many as 14 points midway through the fourth quarter before UTA attempted a comeback, but it was too little, too late for the Mavericks. Shanity James (15 points), Kaitlyn Pratt (12) and Alexius Dawn (10) scored in double figures as Joe Foley picked up his 250th victory as the Trojans' head coach. Little Rock enters this weekend in fifth place in the league standings with a 4-4 record.
 
The Trojans are riding a huge wave of success over the last decade, making the national postseason for seven of the last eight seasons including four NCAA Tournament berths and three WNIT trips. Little Rock was picked third in the Sun Belt's preseason coaches poll and received two first-place votes.
 
ABOUT GEORGIA SOUTHERN

• The Eagles, based in Statesboro, Ga., hold a 6-11 record on the year and are 3-5 in Sun Belt Conference play. Their league wins have come against South Alabama, Georgia State and Appalachian State.
• Georgia Southern is on a two-game winning streak entering Thursday's game after it defeated Georgia State and Appalachian State on the road in consecutive games. The Eagles last played Monday, knocking off App State 65-50.
• In non-league play, the Eagles earned wins against Savannah State, Jacksonville State and Charleston Southern.
• Angel McGowan is leading Georgia Southern with 15.1 points per game, and she is also fifth in the Sun Belt with 2.2 steals per game.
• Patrice Butler is second in the conference in free throw shooting, averaging 83.3 percent from the line. She is also the team's leading rebounder with 5.7 boards per game and averages 12.2 points per game.
• Kip Drown is the new head coach of the Eagles. He has a 6-11 record at Georgia Southern but a 469-347 record overall as a college coach in 28 years.

THE SERIES AGAINST GEORGIA SOUTHERN
The rivalry between the Trojans and the Eagles began last season, and the Trojans claimed both contests during that first year. Little Rock defeated Georgia Southern 58-44 in Statesboro in late January and then again in Little Rock by a 60-43 margin in mid-February. Little Rock's average margin of victory against Georgia Southern is 15.5 points per game.
 
A WIN AGAINST GEORGIA SOUTHERN WOULD…
…be the team's third straight win against the Eagles…be the team's third straight win at the Jack Stephens Center…put the Trojans above  .500 in league play…be Joe Foley's 707th career win.
 
LITTLE ROCK VS. THE SUN BELT
In the last nine years, Little Rock has done a tremendous job in its conference games, claiming at least 12 victories in each of those years. The Trojans have not finished below .500 in the Sun Belt since the 2005-06 season, Joe Foley's third year. Little Rock also won the West Division Championship for six consecutive seasons when the league still had divisions. Over the last 10 seasons including 2015-16, the Trojans hold a record of 133-37 in the league and have claimed the outright regular-season championship once and the tournament championship three times.
 
FOLEY WINS
Joe Foley has reached many, many milestones in his career, and he picked up another one on Saturday at UT Arlington. When the final buzzer sounded on a 59-55 victory for Little Rock, Foley earned his 250th win as the Trojans' head coach. That number is far more than any other coach in Little Rock women's basketball history and is also more than any coach in Little Rock men's basketball history. Foley needed 12 1/2 years to reach the 250-win mark at Little Rock, averaging 20 wins per season.
 
JAMES STEALS AND BLOCKS
Besides leading the team with 15 points at UT Arlington on Saturday, Shanity James interrupted the Mavericks' play on defense with a team-high five steals. That is the second-largest number of steals for any Trojan in a single game this year and was a career high for James. James also put up an impressive three blocks against the Mavericks, the most in a single game for any Trojan this year. James is now fifth in Trojan history with 80 career blocks.
 
HOLDING TEAMS UNDER 60
A trend has emerged in the Trojans' six victories this year: in each of those victories, the Trojans' opponent has scored under 60 points. Little Rock is now 6-1 in games this year where the opponent has fewer than 60 points. When the Trojans' opponent scores 60 or more, Little Rock drops to 0-10. The opponents' point totals in Little Rock victories this year, in chronological order, is 52, 53, 34, 44, 50 and 55. All six of the Trojans' wins this year have also come when the have a better field goal percentage than their opponent and when the Trojans are leading with five minutes remaining.
 
PRATT'S SCORING STREAK
Junior Kaitlyn Pratt has been on the hottest scoring streak of any Trojan player in the last three weeks, putting up five consecutive double-digit scoring games. She extended that streak with a team-high 16 points against Texas State on Thursday and 12 against UT Arlington on Saturday. Previously she had 21 points against Arkansas State, 16 against Appalachian State and 10 against ULM. She also scored 17 at Troy on Jan. 2. Pratt is averaging 8.6 points per game this season and is second on the team with 6.3 rebounds per game.
 
JAMES APPROACHING THE TOP
With 281 career offensive rebounds, senior Shanity James is close to taking over the top spot in Little Rock history in that category. James needs just two more to tie Eplunus Brooks for the all-time lead in offensive rebounds with 283. She is also third all-time in total rebounds with 713 and fourth all-time in defensive rebounds with 432. The offensive/defensive rebounding statistic has only been tracked since the 1999-2000 season.
 
UNIQUE STARTING COMBINATIONS
When Amber Landing, Kaitlyn Pratt, Monique Townson, Kira Shepard and Sharde' Collins and came out for the opening tip on Saturday, that was the 12th different starting lineup the Trojans have used all year in 17 games. In fact, that game marked the first time Landing – a freshman – had earned a start The most common starting lineup has been Townson, Dawn, James, Collins and Pratt, but that lineup was used just four times. No player has started every game this year, and Alexius has started the most games with 13.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against UT Arlington:

• Shanity James got to her 1,100th career point and her 100th career steal.
• Kira Shepard scored her 50th point.

Coming soon:

• Shanity James needs two more offensive rebounds to tie the program record at 283.
• Kaitlyn Pratt needs 5 more points for 500 in her career.

 
UP NEXT
Little Rock stays at home for Saturday's game against Georgia State. The Panthers and Trojans are scheduled for a 4 p.m. tipoff.