Little Rock Set for Arkansas State on ESPN3

GM 15 >> Little Rock (5-9, 3-2 SBC) at Arkansas State (11-3, 5-0 SBC)
Monday, Jan. 18 • 5:05 p.m. (CST)
Jonesboro, Ark. • Convocation Center
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
Radio: Trey Schaap (PxP) on 920 AM
 
LITTLE ROCK – Coming off two consecutive wins, the Little Rock women's basketball team will look to extend that streak to three when it takes on rival Arkansas State in Jonesboro on Monday evening. The Trojans and Sun Belt preseason favorite Red Wolves will tip off at 5:05 p.m. The game can be seen live on ESPN3.
 
TIP OFF

• Little Rock got double-figure scoring from three players on Thursday against Appalachian State including a game-high 16 from Kaitlyn Pratt.
• The Trojans outscored the Mountaineers 23-8 in the second quarter on the way to a 17-point win. That margin is the biggest all year from the Trojans.
• Joe Foley now has 249 career victories at Little Rock, one away from 250.
• The Trojans are fourth in the Sun Belt in field goal percentage at .402 and fifth in the league in assists with 12.0 per game.
• Little Rock has forced 49 combined turnovers in its last two games.
• Little Rock enters Monday's game in fourth place in the league standings, tied with Texas State.
• The Red Wolves lead the all-time series against the Trojans 45-16. The Trojans won two of the three games between the sides last year including the Sun Belt Tournament championship game.

 
ABOUT THE TROJANS
Little Rock is on a two-game roll in the Sun Belt conference, moving to 3-2 in league play after defeating Appalachian State by 17 points at home on Thursday night. The Trojans got great post play in the game, getting 16 points from Kaitlyn Pratt and 10 more from Shanity James. The team's passing was also excellent, as it got a season-best seven assists from Alexius Dawn while forcing 23 Appalachian State turnovers. Little Rock sits fourth in the conference standings entering Monday's game.
 
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 ARKANSAS STATE

• The Red Wolves, based in Jonesboro, Ark., are 11-3 on the season and a perfect 5-0 in Sun Belt play. They have defeated South Alabama, Troy, Louisiana, ULM and Appalachian State by an average of 21.2 points per game.
• In non-conference play, the Red Wolves lost to Chattanooga, Florida and Nebraska while knocking off Tennessee Tech, UT Martin, Wichita State, FGCU, Alcorn State and Austin Peay.
• A-State is second in the Sun Belt with 73.3 points per game and first in field goal percentage at .452. Preseason Player of the Year and two-time reigning Postseason Player of the Year Aundrea Gamble is averaging 16.8 points per game this season. Khadija Brown-Haywood is leading the league in rebounding with 9.3 boards per game.
• Head coach Brian Boyer is in his 17th year with the Red Wolves and has a 283-226 record with them.

 
THE SERIES AGAINST ARKANSAS STATE
Arkansas State is Little Rock's longest active rival, and the Red Wolves have a large 44-16 advantage in the all-time series. But since Little Rock became a Division I school in 1999-2000, things are much more even. Since 2000, Little Rock is 15-18 against the Red Wolves, and since 2006 the Trojans lead the series 15-6. The teams last met in the 2015 Sun Belt Tournament championship game, a close contest that Little Rock won late to clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
 
A WIN AGAINST ARKANSAS STATE WOULD…
…be the team's third straight win against the Mountaineers…be Little Rock's third consecutive win overall…be the team's first win at the Convocation Center since 2013…put the Trojans two games above .500 in league play…be Joe Foley's 706th career win…be Joe Foley's 250th win at Little Rock.
 
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 10 seasons including 2015-16, the Trojans hold a record of 132-35 in the league and have claimed the outright regular-season championship once and the tournament championship three times.
 
250 ON THE RADAR
Joe Foley picked up his 704th career victory against Appalachian State on Thursday, and that also became his 249th victory as coach of the Trojans. Foley now needs just one more victory to reach 250 in his Little Rock career, a career that is now in its 13th season. Foley is averaging 19.1 wins per year since he joined the Trojans including this season. He is second all-time on the list of winningest coaches in Sun Belt history and far and away the winningest coach in Trojan basketball history, men or women.
 
HOLDING TEAMS UNDER 60
A trend has emerged in the Trojans' five victories this year: in each of those victories, the Trojans' opponent has scored under 60 points. Little Rock is now 5-1 in games this year where the opponent has fewer than 60 points. When the Trojans' opponent scores 60 or more, Little Rock drops to 0-8. The opponents' point totals in Little Rock victories this year, in chronological order, is 52, 53, 34, 44 and 50. All five of the Trojans' wins this year have also come when the Trojans have fewer turnovers than their opponents, when the team has a better field goal percentage than its opponent and when the Trojans are leading with five minutes remaining.
 
DOMINANT SECOND QUARTER
Little Rock's 17-point win against Appalachian State on Thursday – a season-best margin-of-victory – came thanks to a dominant second quarter that saw the Trojans outscore the Mountaineers by 15 points. Little Rock scored 8 fast-break points in the period, outdid App State 14-6 on points in the paint and held the Mountaineers to just 3-13 shooting from the floor in the quarter. Little Rock had a 12-0 run going in the middle of the quarter and also a larger 19-2 run that helped the Trojans expand the lead. In all other quarters combined, the Trojans only outscored Appalachian State 44-42.
 
FORCING TURNOVERS
Little Rock has excelled at forcing opponent turnovers in the last two games, as Trojan opponents have coughed up the ball 49 times in the last two contests. ULM had 26 turnovers on Jan. 9, a season high for all Little Rock opponents. Appalachian State on Thursday had 23 turnovers in its name. In conference play, Little Rock opponents have committed 98 turnovers while the Trojans only have 74.
 
FANCY PASSING
Senior guard Alexius Dawn has improved her passing dramatically over the last few games, and she impressed on Thursday with a season-high seven assists against the Mountaineers. Dawn had several no-look passes into the post for baskets, and she excelled on fast breaks with bounce passes to streaking teammates. Dawn has had at least three assists in three consecutive games after having just four three-assist games in the previous 11.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Appalachian State:

• Sharde' Collins scored her 300th career point.

Coming soon:

• Shanity James three more steals for 100 and 10 more offensive rebounds to tie the program record at 283. She will also reach 700 career rebounds with 13 more.
• Alexius Dawn will reach 500 points with 2 more.
• Monique Townson's next rebound will be her 50th.

 
UP NEXT
Little Rock stays on the road this week, traveling to its Sun Belt opponents from Texas. The first game of the Texas trip will be on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. against Texas State, and the team follows that with a Saturday showdown at UT Arlington at 5 p.m.