Little Rock to Open League Play at South Alabama

GM 10 >> Little Rock (2-7) at South Alabama (4-5)
Wednesday, December 30 • 5 p.m. (CST)
Mobile, Ala. • Mitchell Center
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
Radio: Trey Schaap (PxP) on 920 AM
 
LITTLE ROCK – The defending Sun Belt Conference champions are back where they play best: league games. The 2015-16 Sun Belt slate for the Trojans begins on Wednesday when they travel to South Alabama for a 5 p.m. tipoff.
 
TIP OFF

• Little Rock's non-conference season was one of the most difficult in the country, as it played three teams ranked in the top 25, four teams from major conferences and seven teams who went to the postseason in 2014-15.
• Little Rock earned just two wins in league play, but the team is now battle-tested and ready for the challenge of Sun Belt Conference action.
• Alexius Dawn has found her shooting stroke, as she has put up 19 total points in each of the last two games and double figures in the last four. Her eight made field goals against No. 16 Texas A&M on Tuesday tied a career high.
• Junior forward Kaitlyn Pratt had career highs Tuesday as well, racking up three assists and 36 minutes played, both career bests.
• For the first time in Joe Foley's tenure as head coach and possibly the first time in program history, the Trojans did not take a free throw in a game, putting up no shots from the charity stripe at A&M.
• The Trojans enter league play as the third-best assisting team in the conference, averaging 13 helpers per game.
• Little Rock defeated the Jaguars in both meetings last year by an average of 28 points per game.

 
ABOUT THE TROJANS
Little Rock concluded its non-conference schedule with another daunting task last Tuesday, taking on the No. 16 Texas A&M Aggies in an NCAA Tournament rematch. The Aggies proved too much for Little Rock in the game, winning by 30 despite 19 points from Alexius Dawn. Little Rock's total of 39 points was its lowest since scoring 39 at Western Kentucky in January 2014. Little Rock ended its non-league schedule with a 2-7 record but led four of the games they lost in the second half.
 
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 SOUTH ALABAMA

• The Jaguars, based in Mobile, Ala., went 4-5 in non-conference play before Sun Belt action starts up on Wednesday. The Jaguars' most recent game was a 59-56 victory at Grand Canyon on Dec. 19.
• Of the Jaguars' four victories this season, only two have come against a Division I school – Alabama State and Grand Canyon, though Grand Canyon is still transitioning to a full D1 status. The team's other wins were against William Carey and Spring Hill.
• South Alabama averages just 51.9 points per game, but the team allows a mere 55.7 points per game. The Jaguars finished tied for 10th in the league standings in 2014-15 with just two wins.
• The Jaguars are led on offense this year by Marquita Daniels and her 11.0 points per game. No other South Alabama player has more than 10 points per game. Chyna Ellis is the team's top rebounder and blocker, averaging 7.6 boards and 2.0 blocks per contest.
• Terry Fowler is at the helm of South Alabama for the third straight year. Fowler has a 17-49 record with the Jaguars and a 223-226 record overall.

THE SERIES AGAINST SOUTH ALABAMA
In the 24 meetings between Little Rock and South Alabama all-time, the Jaguars and Trojans are tied perfectly at 12-12. Little Rock won every game in the series from 2011 to January 2014, and the Trojans defeated the Jaguars by 34 and 22 points when they met last year. Little Rock held South Alabama to just 37 and 34 points total in those games, respectively.
 
A WIN AGAINST SOUTH ALABAMA WOULD…
…be the team's third straight victory over the Jaguars…snap a five-game losing streak…be Joe Foley's 703rd career win…begin Sun Belt play with a 1-0 record for the second straight year.
 
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 nine seasons, the Trojans hold a record of 129-33 in the league, and have claimed the outright regular-season championship once and the tournament championship three times.
 
DAWN SCORES 19 AGAIN
For the second straight game, junior Alexius Dawn put up 19 points to tie a season high. Dawn was the top scorer on the Little Rock roster against Texas A&M, also tying a career high for the second straight game with eight. The senior had an incredible second quarter, scoring 14 points in the period against the nation's No. 16-ranked team. Dawn has scored in double figures and set a new season high in four straight games, putting up 12 against Texas on Dec. 6, 16 against Tulsa on Dec. 13 and 19 against Missouri State on Dec. 20.
 
PRATT WITH CAREER HIGHS
Alexius Dawn wasn't the only Trojan to set some career highs against Texas A&M on Dec. 22. Little Rock's two starting forwards, Kaitlyn Pratt and Keanna Keys, each set career bests in minutes play. Pratt saw 36 minutes against the Aggies while Keys played in 34. And Pratt also set a new career high with assists, helping out on three teammate baskets.
 
COLLINS SCORING IN DROVES
Sharde' Collins had a slow offensive start to her year, recording a combined 16 points in three games. But since the Trojans played Memphis on Nov. 27, Collins has reached double figures in five of six games. She had 10 points against Memphis, 13 against Oklahoma, 21 against Texas, 13 against Tulsa and 10 against Texas A&M on Dec. 22. She also put in 9 against Missouri State on Dec. 20, just missing her fifth straight double-digit scoring game. Collins' career high in points was just 12 before this season began.
 
FOUL TROUBLE
Little Rock had two more players foul out against Texas A&M on Dec. 22, as Alexius Dawn and Sharde' Collins each committed five fouls by the end of the night. That brings the Trojans' season foul-out total to 14 compared to just two for all nine opponents combined. Dawn and Collins have now fouled out twice each while Shanity James, Monique Townson, Kaitlyn Pratt and Keanna Keys have two foul-outs each.
 
NEWCOMERS BANKING MINUTES
Little Rock had five of its seven newcomers play against Texas A&M on Dec. 22, and those players combined for 44 minutes. Kira Shepard had by far the most of those minutes at 29, but Raeyana DeGray played seven, Ronjanae DeGray played four, Autummn Williams played three and Deja McKinney played one.
 
NO FREE THROWS
Little Rock's offense was unable to generate a single free throw against Texas A&M on Dec. 22, something that had never happened in the Joe Foley era of 13 years and may have never happened before in school history. The previous team low for free throws in a game was set at three. That happened twice during the 2010-11 season: once against Rice and once against Louisiana.
 
FOLEY'S SUN BELT GREATNESS
In his 12 completed years at Little Rock with continued excellence, Joe Foley is climbing the rankings of the best coaches in Sun Belt Conference history. Foley now has 140 Sun Belt victories, the second-most in league history. The only other coach ahead of Foley for Sun Belt wins is Arkansas State's Brian Boyer with 153 and counting. Boyer, though, has had four extra years to pile up those 13 extra wins. Foley is averaging 11.7 league wins per year while Boyer has only 9.6.
 
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.
 
DAWN GETTING HOT
Little Rock senior Alexius Dawn torched Missouri State for 19 points on Sunday, setting what was then a new season high in that category. She tied her career high for made field goals in the process with eight and was 3 of 6 from downtown.
 
CHALLENGING SCHEDULE COMPLETE
The 2015-16 non-conference slate for Little Rock may have been among the most challenging in the nation. After taking on No. 16 Texas A&M on Tuesday, the Trojans played three top-25 teams and four teams from major conferences. Little Rock played LSU in its second game of the year and played then-No. 21 Oklahoma on the road as well as then-No. 6 Texas in Little Rock. Of the Trojans' nine non-conference opponents, five made the NCAA Tournament in 2014-15 while two more reached the Women's NIT. The nine opponents won 58 percent of their games last year.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Texas A&M:

• Kaitlyn Pratt earned her 300th career rebound.
• Sharde' Collins got her 100th made field goal and 250th point.
• Keanna Keys pulled down her 200th rebound.

Coming soon:

• Shanity James is one block away from fifth all-time in Trojan history and five defensive rebounds shy of 400.
• Kaitlyn Pratt needs 3 more points for 400.
• Sharde' Collins will reach 100 rebounds with one more and needs only 27 more minutes for 1,000.
• Keanna Keys will reach 300 total points when she scores 15 more.

 
UP NEXT
The Trojans will stay in Alabama through the new year before continuing their conference-opening road trip. Little Rock's second game of Sun Belt play will take place at Troy on Saturday at 2 p.m.