Pratt's Double-Double Not Enough in Loss at Tulane

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Kaitlyn Pratt recorded a double-double in front of her hometown family and friends, but it was not enough for the Little Rock women's basketball team in a 69-53 loss to Tulane at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse on Friday night.
 
Pratt scored 15 points and added 10 rebounds for her third career double-double. She now has one double-double in each of her three seasons with the team.
 
Turnovers and foul trouble plagued the Trojans all evening in their season opener, and they were unable to put up enough offense to keep up with the Green Wave. Little Rock coughed the ball up 17 times, and Tulane capitalized with 19 points off those turnovers.
 
Starting guard Alexius Dawn had three fouls in the first quarter and played just five minutes in the first half, and by halftime she was joined by Pratt and Monique Townson in having three fouls. Pratt and Shanity James would eventually foul out, and the team's three other starters had 10 fouls between them.
 
The Green Wave finished the game shooting 46 percent from the field, and the team outscored the Trojans in each of the first three quarters.
 
James finished the game with double-figure scoring, recording 14 points while pulling down six boards before fouling out. Townson was one point short of tying her career high with 8, and Dawn picked up 7 points on two 3-pointers and a free throw.
 
Little Rock used 10 different players on the night as Kira Shepard, Raeyana DeGray, Ronjanae DeGray and Autummn Williams came off the bench to see their first minutes with the Trojans. Shepard put up 2 points and tallied a team-best three assists. Ronjanae scored four points in the fourth quarter and grabbed three rebounds, while Raeyana DeGray and Williams had a rebound each.
 
Little Rock looked like a young team in the first quarter, scoring just four points on a jumper from Pratt and a layup by Shepard. The team held a 4-3 lead before the Green Wave took over for the rest of the quarter.
 
Tulane went on a 12-0 run to close out the frame, forcing seven total turnovers from the Trojans and keeping them to only 18.2 percent shooting from the field. Tulane didn't make a field goal until 2:30 remained in the period, but that was their first of four field goals plus two free throws in the last two minutes to take a 15-4 lead at the end of the quarter.
 
Little Rock fared better in the second quarter, putting up 19 points. But the Green Wave attack increased its output as well, and the home team extended its lead to 38-23 at the break. Tulane had two 4-point plays in the half, and the Trojans committed four more turnovers in the second quarter. Their 11 first-half turnovers resulted in 14 Green Wave points.
 
The third quarter was very similar to the first, as neither offense got going for the first part of the period and the Trojans had five turnovers. Little Rock scored just two points in the first six minutes before a Pratt layup broke the field goal drought. Tulane's offense struggled as well in the period, putting up 12 points. But the Green Wave still extended their lead to 18 points, 50-32, at the third quarter's conclusion.
 
The fourth quarter saw the Trojans outscore Tulane for the first time all night, but the narrow 21-19 edge Little Rock gained was not enough to make up the deficit. Ronjanae DeGray scored all four of her points in the quarter and Pratt cemented her double-double in the period's early going.
 
During the game, James attempted her 400th career free throw, Pratt scored her 350th career point and Dawn tied for ninth all-time at Little Rock in made 3-pointers.
 
Little Rock returns to The Natural State on Wednesday for its home opener against LSU. The Trojans and Tigers are set for a 7:15 p.m. tipoff.