Little Rock Back on the Road at Oral Roberts

GM 3 >> Little Rock (0-2) at Oral Roberts (2-1)
Tuesday, November 24 • 7 p.m. (CST)
Tulsa, Okla. • Mabee Center
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
Radio: Trey Schaap (PxP) on 920 AM
 
LITTLE ROCK – The Trojan women's basketball team is back on the road to star the week, heading to Tulsa, Okla., to take on Oral Roberts. Game time is set for 7 p.m., and Little Rock will be looking for its third straight win in the series.
 
TIP OFF

• Little Rock held a 10-point lead against Southeastern Conference foe LSU in its last game, but the Tigers fought back to win by 6 points.
• Shanity James reached double-figure scoring for the second time this season, posting a team-best 13 points in the loss.
• Monique Townson reached double figures for the first time in her career, setting a new single-game best with 12 points. She also set career highs in rebounds, assists and minutes.
• Alexius Dawn earned her 36th consecutive start for the team, continuing her streak of starting in every game of her career.
• Four of the seven Little Rock newcomers saw playing time on Friday at Tulane.
• The Little Rock women's basketball team is coming off its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in six seasons. The Trojans earned a No. 11 seed in last year's tournament and upset No. 6 seed Texas A&M in the first round.
• Little Rock leads the all-time series with Oral Roberts 3-2 thanks to three straight wins including two at the Jack Stephens Center.

ABOUT THE TROJANS
Little Rock took its second consecutive loss to open the season on Wednesday against LSU, losing the game despite leading by 10 points with just over six minutes to play. The Trojans were unable to keep up the pace late in the fourth quarter, and LSU would outscore the team by 12 points in the final frame. Shanity James led the team with 13 points, and Monique Townson added 12 of her own.
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 ORAL ROBERTS

• The Golden Eagles, based out of Tulsa, Okla., have a 2-1 record this year but have only played one full Division I member so far. They are coming off a 59-53 win at Tulsa on Friday.
• In their other two games this year, Oral Roberts lost at Grand Canyon in overtime and defeated NAIA school Evangel 89-46 in their season opener.
• The Trojans will be Oral Roberts' lone Division I non-conference home opponent this season.
• Topping the Golden Eagles' offensively through three games is Bria Pitts with 13.0 points per game. Faith Ihim is also scoring in double figures with 12.7 points per game, and Jasauen Beard is close with 9.7. Ihim is the team's leading rebounder, pulling down 7.7 boards per game.
• Misti Cussen is the Oral Roberts head coach for the fourth straight year. She has a 47-50 record with the Golden Eagles and as a college head coach overall.

 
THE SERIES AGAINST ORAL ROBERTS
Little Rock and Oral Roberts have met five times in their history, and the Trojans just recently look control of the series record with a 3-2 edge. The Golden Eagles won the first two games in 1988 and 2011, but Little Rock has claimed victories in each of the last three seasons. In 2014, the Trojans claimed a 54-43 victory at the Jack Stephens Center. Shanity James, Kiera Clark and Kaitlyn Pratt all had double-digit points in that win.
 
A WIN AGAINST ORAL ROBERTS WOULD…
…be the team's third consecutive victory over the Golden Eagles…be Little Rock's fourth consecutive win in the state of Oklahoma…be the team's second straight win at the Mabee Center…be Joe Foley's 701st career win.
 
LITTLE ROCK VS. THE SUMMIT LEAGE
The Trojans have an 18-15 record all-time against current members of The Summit League, though 22 of those 31 games came against former Sun Belt member Denver. Little Rock is 13-9 all-time against Denver, has a 1-1 record against Fort Wayne, holds a 3-2 mark against Oral Roberts and is 1-3 against South Dakota State. The Trojans have never faced IUPUI, North Dakota State, Nebraska-Omaha, South Dakota or Western Illinois.
 
JAMES LEADS THE WAY
Shanity James recorded double-figure scoring for the second straight game this season, putting up a team-high 13 points to top the Trojans against LSU on Wednesday. She had 9 of those 13 points in the second half, and she shot better than 50 percent from the field. James reached double figures in 20 of 33 games last season and is also the team's current rebounding leader with six per game.
 
CAREER BESTS FOR TOWNSON
Sophomore Monique Townson has seen a drastic increase in her playing time to begin the 2015-16 season, and she is setting all sorts of new career highs because of it. Against LSU on Wednesday, Townson put up 12 total points on 4 of 6 shooting, nailing both of the 3-pointers she took. She also set a career high with four assists and played a career-best 40 minutes. With all the playing time she is seeing, expect Townson's career highs to continue being broken throughout the season.
 
PERFECT FROM DEEP
While Monique Townson was a flawless 2 of 2 from 3-point range against LSU, junior guard Sharde' Collins did her one better. Collins made all three shots she took from downtown, finishing the game with 11 points to round out the double-figure scoring for the Trojans. Her three made 3-pointers set a new career high.
 
DAWN REBOUNDS
Senior Alexius Dawn may be known for her 3-point shooting ability, but she has also been a surprising presence rebounding the ball in her 36 games with the Trojans. Against LSU on Wednesday, Dawn picked up her 100th career rebound wearing the Maroon and Silver. Dawn also added three assists to finish second on the team in that category.
 
FOUL TROUBLE
Little Rock's losses to start the year can partially be attributed to foul trouble. Starting guard Alexius Dawn played just five minutes in the first half after picking up three fouls at Tulane, and at halftime Monique Townson and Kaitlyn Pratt also had three fouls. By the end of the game, two Trojans had fouled out and two more had four fouls; Little Rock committed 27 as a team and allowed 31 Tulane free-throw attempts. That pattern continued Wednesday against LSU as Little Rock had three players foul out and the team allowed LSU to shooting 26 free throws.
 
PRATT DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Junior forward Kaitlyn Pratt got her season off to a strong start, recording a double-double to top the Trojans in points and rebounds against Tulane on Nov. 13. Pratt had 15 points and 10 rebounds, earning the third double-double of her career. She had a double-double at Memphis last season with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and her first career double-double came against Incarnate Word in 2013 with a 16-point, 15-rebounds effort. Pratt used an impressive 6-of-10 shooting performance from the field and a 3-of-3 performance from the free-throw line to help her reach those 15 points at Tulane.
 
NEWCOMER PLAYING TIME
Of the Trojans' seven new players for 2015-16, five have seen the court in the first two games of the year. Kira Shepard has seen the most total minutes with 30, and Raeyana DeGray has the next-most with 13. Deja McKinney made her debut against LSU on Wednesday, blocking a shot in her one minute on the court. Shepard has the most points per game of the newcomers, picking up three per game. Ronjanae DeGray has also scored, averaging two points per game.
 
700 CLUB
Little Rock coach Joe Foley had a historic night against Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, earning his 700th victory as a coach. Foley is now one of just 11 active women's basketball coaches in the country across all three NCAA divisions to have earned 700 wins in his or her career and one of just eight currently in Division I. Foley earned more than half of those victories at Arkansas Tech, and he has 244 with the Trojans.
 
SUN BELT PRESEASON HONORS
Little Rock was selected to finish third in the league by the Sun Belt Conference coaches when the league announced its preseason poll in late October. The Trojans earned two first-place votes despite finishing third overall. On the individual side, Alexius Dawn was named Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team and Shanity James was named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team. Dawn was all-Sun Belt Second Team last year, while James has never earned a league season-ending award before.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against LSU:

• Keanna Keys scored her 250th point.
• Alexius Dawn grabbed her 100th career rebound.

Coming soon:

• Shanity James is one block away from tying for sixth all-time and four away from fifth all-time in Trojan history.
• Sharde' Collins' next assist will be her 50th.
• Monique Townson needs four more points for 50.

 
UP NEXT
One day after Thanksgiving, the Trojans return to the Jack Stephens Center for a matchup with Memphis. Little Rock and the Tigers will tip off at 5:15 p.m.