Trojans Kick Off Sun Belt Play With Win Over Jags

MOBILE, Ala. – The Little Rock women's basketball team had won 21 of their last 23 games against Sun Belt foes entering Wednesday, and the Trojans continued that trend against South Alabama with a 47-34 victory at the Mitchell Center.
 
The defending conference champion Trojans (3-7, 1-0 Sun Belt) got a game-high 9 points from Monique Townson and Alexius Dawn and used a 9-0 run to start the third quarter to pull away from the Jaguars (5-5, 0-1) in both teams' league openers.
 
The win was Little Rock's third straight over South Alabama and snapped a five-game losing streak. The Trojans are also now 1-0 to begin Sun Belt play for the second consecutive season.
 
No player for either team reached double-figure scoring on the night, but the Trojans had a very balanced offense that saw seven different players record at least 4 points. Kaitlyn Pratt was the team's top rebounder with nine, and Sharde' Collins also added a career-high seven.
 
Townson led Little Rock with three assists, and Dawn had a career-high seven steals in the win.
 
South Alabama's 34 points is the fewest scored by a Trojan opponent since these same Jaguars scored 34 last season. Little Rock held the Jaguars to just 31.7 percent shooting, and South Alabama went 2 of 14 from the 3-point line. South Alabama also had 19 turnovers on the day that turned into 18 Trojan points, and Little Rock dominated the Jaguars in the paint with 30 paint points.
 
Both teams got off to slow offensive starts, with the Trojans taking a 2-0 lead on a Collins jumper in the first 30 seconds but then going another 2:30 before making their next shot. The Jaguars did not score until their fifth possession, but the teams would go into the first media timeout tied at 5-5.
 
But after that timeout, the Trojans' offense took over. Little Rock went on a 12-2 run in the next three minutes, emerging with a 17-7 lead thanks to fast-break layups by Dawn and Townson that forced the Jaguars to take a timeout. In that span, the Trojans made five of six field goal attempts after starting the game 2 of 10 from the floor. Little Rock would take a 17-9 lead into the second quarter.
 
The Little Rock offense went ice cold in the second quarter, though, letting the Jaguars get right back into the game. The Trojans did not score until 2:30 remained in the period – missing their first 10 field goal attempts – and by that point the Jaguars had gotten back within 4 points. South Alabama would outscore Little Rock 10-4 in the period, and the Little Rock halftime lead was only 21-19.
 
Things finally got going again for Little Rock in the third quarter, as the Trojans began the period on a 9-0 run that would lead them to the victory. Dawn sank a 3-pointer on the team's first possession, and that was followed by a Pratt layup and jumpers from Townson and Collins. That made it a 30-19 Trojan lead, and the Jaguars called a timeout to regroup. In the end, Little Rock would outscore South Alabama 15-5 in the period, improving its halftime lead from 2 points to 12 as it went into the fourth quarter leading 36-24.
 
Little Rock outscored the Jaguars 11-10 in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 16 with two minutes to play. The Jags never got closer than 10 points in the period.
 
During the game, Shanity James moved into a tie for fifth all-time in Trojan history with a block, and Kaitlyn Pratt scored her 400th point. Sharde' Collins also pulled down her 100th career rebound and played in her 1,000th minute.
 
The Trojans stay in the state of Alabama for the next three days as they get ready to take on their Trojan counterparts from Troy. The teams will tip off Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Trojan arena in Troy, Ala.