Box Score LITTLE ROCK – The UALR women's basketball team opened conference play in impressive style, defeating Louisiana 67-41 at the Jack Stephens Center on Tuesday night.
The Trojans trailed 7-2 in the early going but completely dominated the game after that with a stifling defense that allowed the Ragin' Cajuns to shoot just 25 percent from the field. On the other side, UALR had a great shooting performance, finishing the game 26 of 51 from the field (51 percent).
In a matchup between the teams with the best record in pre-conference play, UALR (8-2, 1-0 Sun Belt Conference) handed Louisiana (8-2, 0-1) just its second loss of the season. The Trojans have now won fourth in a row against the Ragin' Cajuns and have won four consecutive Sun Belt regular-season games.
Despite not playing a game since Dec. 21 at Tulsa, the Trojans' 26-point victory was its largest of the season, and the team's 28-point lead in the second half was also its largest at any point this year.
“I was just a bit concerned because of the [nine-day] layoff,” Coach Joe Foley said. “If you have a layoff for that many days, you don't know if you're going to shoot the ball well. I thought we did a good job from a layoff getting into the offense and getting some easy baskets.”
UALR was very balanced on offense, getting a team-high 13 points from Kaitlyn Pratt but seeing three other players score at least 11 points. Shanity James earned her first double-double of the year (UALR's third as a team) with 12 points and a season-high 13 rebounds, moving to sixth all-time at UALR in career offensive rebounds in the process. Taylor Gault also had 11 points – all in the first half – and Alexius Dawn added 12 of her own. Nine of the 10 Trojans who played scored at least 2 points.
The team's rebounding total was impressive as a whole. The Trojans picked up 47 total rebounds to top its previous single-game best this year by seven, and they only allowed Louisiana to grab 28 boards. UALR assisted on 13 of its baskets and also had 34 points in the paint to the Cajuns' 12.
UALR was also explosive on the fast break, recording six fast-break layups for 12 points while Louisiana did not pick up a single fast-break point.
The Trojans' 41 points allowed was its second-best defensive effort of the season after Rice scored only 40 on Nov. 22. Louisiana had never scored fewer than 51 points in a game this season, and the Cajuns had only been held under 60 points three times. Cajuns' guard Keke Veal, who was averaging 12.4 points per game entering Tuesday, was held to just five points on 1-of-13 shooting.
“She can get numbers on her end,” Foley said of Veal. “That's where I thought we won the game. I thought Gault and [Ka'Nesheia] Cobbins' defense on Veal and [Kia Wilridge] was pretty phenomenal. Those two can score a lot of points…and I was surprised that we did that good a job on them.”
After winning the opening tip for just the third time this year, UALR got its offense going fast on a
Keanna Keys jumper. But the Cajuns caught fire after that, scoring the next 7 points on a 3-pointer, a post move and a long 2-pointer. That would be the last time Louisiana held a lead all night.
UALR upped its defense after that with two steals and got fast-break layups from Cobbins and Dawn as part of an 8-0 run that took the team into the first media timeout with a 10-7 lead.
That 8-0 run eventually extended itself to 12-0, giving UALR a 14-7 advantage. The Trojans' lead grew as high as 10 at 19-9 when Gault hit a 3-pointer from the left corner. UALR kept its 10-point lead as the third media timeout of the half approached on a Kiera Clark jumper, but the Cajuns cut it to single digits at 23-15 just before the under-8 timeout.
That's when Gault started to catch fire. With just 5 points to her name at that moment, she scored 6 more in the next four minutes to help extend the Trojans' lead to 31-17 with four minutes to play in the period. The team's advantage only grew in the final four minutes with 5 points from Keys and a Pratt jumper making it 37-20 at halftime, and UALR led by as many as 20 points just seconds before the halftime buzzer.
The real story of the first half, though, was UALR's defense. The Trojans held the Cajuns to just 7-of-26 shooting (26.9 percent) through 20 minutes of action and out-rebounded Louisiana 25-14. UALR also got three steals and had seven assists on its 17 baskets. James was the team's leading rebounder at the break with six boards.
The second half saw UALR maintain and grow its double-digit lead the entire way. The Trojans led by 15 points at the first media timeout and 17 points at the second media timeout. Later in the half, the lead ballooned as high as 28 points with 2:07 left on the clock. The Cajuns never threatened after the first four minutes.
Besides her double-double, James also added two blocks to move up to 10th all-time at UALR in that category. Keys finished second on the Trojans' roster with nine rebounds, and three different players (Gault, Clark and Ka'Nesheia Cobbins) all tied for the team lead with three assists. Dawn and Cobbins had two steals apiece to top the Trojans.
Sun Belt Conference play continues for UALR on Saturday when the team travels to Atlanta to take on Georgia State. The Trojans and Panthers are set for an 11 a.m. tipoff.
