Fourth Quarter Surge Leads Troy over Little Rock

TROY, Ala. – The Little Rock women's basketball team held Troy 8 points below their season scoring average, but Troy's 78 points proved to be enough in a 78-71 victory over Little Rock at Trojan Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
Ashley Beverley-Kelley led the home team with 30 points, and Troy (6-5, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference) outscored Little Rock (3-8, 1-1) by a 25-17 margin in the fourth quarter to pull away for the win.
 
Little Rock trailed 75-71 with one minute left and a chance to cut into Troy's lead, but a pass down low for Kaitlyn Pratt bounced off Pratt out of bounds, and Troy regained possession. The home team got an and-1 layup from Beverley-Kelly on that possession to put the game out of Little Rock's grasp.
 
Pratt and Sharde' Collins tied for the Little Rock scoring lead with 17 points, and those 17 were a season high for Pratt. Monique Townson also reached double figures with 12 points to tie a career best, and Pratt led the way for Little Rock with eight rebounds.
 
Townson played all 40 minutes and totaled four assists and three steals, but she also had 10 turnovers that were largely caused by a high-pressure defense Troy began using in the second quarter. Troy forced a total of 26 Little Rock turnovers, a large chunk of which came as a result of the full-court pressure. Troy scored 29 points off the 26 Little Rock turnovers.
 
Alexius Dawn played just 13 minutes of the game after picking up four fouls early in the third quarter.
 
Little Rock started the afternoon off as the aggressor on offense, getting 11 points in the first five minutes and taking an 11-7 lead into the first media timeout. Kaitlyn Pratt would finish the first quarter with 11 points herself as Little Rock led by 6.
 
But in the second quarter, Troy began to pressure Little Rock in the backcourt, forcing turnovers that helped to even the score and give the home team the lead. Amanda Mendoza began the second quarter with a 4-point play, sinking a 3-pointer while getting fouled and converting the free throw. A 3-pointer by Beverly-Kelly followed, giving Troy a lead for the first time since the very early going.
 
Foul trouble then started for Little Rock as Dawn and James picked up their third fouls of the game and sat for the final four minutes of the half. The score stayed fairly close, though, and Troy took just a 2-point lead of 37-35 into the break. Troy was shooting 52 percent from the field in the half and had four made 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes.
 
Little Rock had a slight edge in the third quarter, retaking a lead as the teams entered the final 10 minutes. Little Rock started the third making four consecutive field goals, and it went 9 of 10 from the free-throw line as well to take a 54-53 lead heading into the fourth.
 
A Deja McKinney 3-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter looked promising for the Little Rock, but the Troy offense finally got going after that. Two 3-point plays and two jumpers went down for Troy after McKinney's 3-pointer, giving the home team a 65-57 lead with seven minutes to play.
 
Little Rock got back within 2 points with 2:32 to play on a Pratt free throw, but Troy followed by scoring the next 4 points to go up 75-69 with 1:45 left. A Keys layup made it a 4-point game after that, but Little Rock could not get any closer. Beverley-Kelley's and-1 play with 28 seconds left iced the contest for the home team.
 
During the afternoon, James picked up her 400th career defensive rebound.

After more than two weeks without a home game, Little Rock will return to the Jack Stephens Center on Jan. 7 for a date with Louisiana. The Trojans and Ragin' Cajuns are set for a 5:15 p.m. tipoff.