Box Score LITTLE ROCK – After losing by more than 30 at archrival Arkansas State's building in January, the UALR women's basketball team was ready to show it was no pushover on Saturday at the Jack Stephens Center.
The Trojans did that, and then some.
Thanks to a first-half burst that gave UALR a double-digit lead, the Trojans leapt on the Red Wolves and never relented for a 64-55 victory on their home court.
UALR (15-11, 10-6 Sun Belt Conference) prevented Arkansas State (18-10, 12-4) from clinching the conference's regular-season championship with the win, and it owes the victory largely to defense. UALR forces the Red Wolves to shoot just 34.8 percent in the first half, blocked five total ASU shots and forced A-State into 16 turnovers. Following a season-high 86 points allowed at Troy on Wednesday night, UALR cut that by more than 30 on Saturday.
The Trojans remain in a tie for third place in the conference with Texas State with both teams having two games remaining. Saturday was UALR's ninth straight win over Arkansas State at home, and the Red Wolves have never won a game at the Jack Stephens Center.
Sophomore Shanity James had a stellar outing on offense, scoring a season-high 19 points and coming up one short of her career high. James – who also got four rebounds and a block – was aggressive going to the basket all night and made five of her six attempts from the free throw line.
Also playing well was senior Taylor Ford, who had 15 points to go along with three assists in 38 minutes. And freshman Di'Mond Jackson had the best night of her career, getting the start and proving herself with a career-high 13 points and seven rebounds. She also led all players with five assists.
The Red Wolves got the better of the early part of the second half, scoring the period's first four points and converting easy looks on their first five possessions after the Trojans started the period with an 11-point lead. The UALR advantage narrowed to 38-35 at the 13:30 mark, but the Trojans started scoring after that.
James scored four consecutive points, freshman Kaitlyn Pratt added a free throw, and James scored another layup to make it an eight-point lead. Ford drained a jumper to balloon UALR's lead at 47-37.
After that, UALR never led by fewer than six again. The Red Wolves got that close late in the game as the Trojans missed the front end of consecutive 1-and-1 plays, but another Ford jumper with 1:59 left put UALR up by 11 and in the lead comfortably.
Also contributing to the UALR offense was Kiera Clark, who tallied eight points, four rebounds and two assists. Taylor Gault had four points in just seven minutes, two of them coming on late free throws to keep UALR ahead. And senior Hannah Fohne was strong on the defensive end, pulling down five rebounds and blocking two shots to extend her school record in that category to 109. Pratt pulled down the 100th rebound of her young career in the game as she finished with three.
The contest was really won in the first half as UALR piled on A-State early. Despite allowing 36 points in the first half at Troy on Wednesday, UALR only gave up 23 to the league-leading Red Wolves.
Things were close in the early going, but with the Trojans already ahead 12-10 with 12 minutes left in the half, they started a 14-0 run that spanned nearly six minutes and extended the lead to 26-10. The Trojans drew offensive fouls, blocked four Arkansas State fouls and got points from everywhere on the court during the run.
The Red Wolves responded with five consecutive points after that, but a layup from Ford while she was getting fouled put the momentum back on UALR's side. The Trojans maintained their lead for the rest of the half, going into the break ahead 34-23.
UALR has a quick turnaround before its next game as it faces Georgia State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Panthers defeated the Trojans by two points in their building back in January.
