Little Rock Returns Home to Face Ragin' Cajuns

GM 12 >> Little Rock (3-8, 1-1 SBC) vs. Louisiana (9-2, 2-0)
Thursday, Jan. 7 • 5:15 p.m. (CST)
Little Rock, Ark. • Jack Stephens Center
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
Radio: Trey Schaap (PxP) and Ron Jumper (Color) on 920 AM
 
LITTLE ROCK – Following a split weekend in Alabama, the Trojan women's basketball team returns to Arkansas for its first home game since December 20. Little Rock is set to open a three-game homestand with the league-leading Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana on Thursday at 5:15 p.m.
 
THURSDAY PROMOTIONS
Trojan fans will have the opportunity again on Thursday to take part in Family Night which features a great package for a family of four. Fans can get four tickets to the game, four hot dogs and four drinks for just $40.
Also, back by popular demand, Little Rock will be giving away free earmuffs to the first 250 fans in the building for Thursday's doubleheader.
 
TIP OFF

• Little Rock put up a season-best 71 points on Saturday at Troy, but it was not enough to win the battle of the Trojans.
• Sharde' Collins and Kaitlyn Pratt had 17 points apiece in that game as Pratt set a new season high, and the team as a whole shot a season-best 53.3 percent from the field.
• Monique Townson also reached double figures, tying her career best with 12 total points.
• Little Rock was done in by a season-high 26 turnovers that resulted in 29 Troy points. Ashley Beverly Kelley had 30 points for Troy.
• Home court advantage has been very strong for Little Rock at the Jack Stephens Center, as the Trojans have won 24 straight Sun Belt Conference games at home since January 2013.
• The Trojans have won the last five consecutive meetings against Louisiana dating back to 2012 and have never lost to the Cajuns at the Jack Stephens Center.

 
ABOUT THE TROJANS
The Little Rock women's basketball team split its weekend in Alabama to open Sun Belt Conference play, earning a victory on Wednesday South Alabama with its defense before nearly toppling Troy on Saturday with its offense. The Trojans defeated South Alabama despite scoring only 47 points on Wednesday and then lost by 7 points on Saturday despite scoring a season-best 71. Sharde' Collins and Kaitlyn Pratt picked up a team-high 17 points apiece on Saturday at Troy, and Little Rock shot 53.3 percent from the field in the loss. Now the team returns home after a three-game road swing looking to move back over .500 in Sun Belt play.
 
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 LOUISIANA

• The Ragin' Cajuns, who call Lafayette, La., home, have posted a Sun Belt-best 9-2 record on the season so far and are a perfect 2-0 in conference play after defeating ULM in early December and Appalachian State on Sunday.
• Both of Louisiana's losses came on the road this year, at Houston and at Louisiana Tech. The Cajuns have non-conference victories against Arkansas, Ole Miss and UC Santa Barbara, among others.
• The Cajuns lead the Sun Belt in scoring defense, giving up just 54.2 points per game. They are also in the top five in the conference in scoring offense, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, rebounding margin and steals.
• Keke Veal is the team's top scorer, coming in at 15.3 points per game to rank fourth in the Sun Belt. Kia Wilridge, shooting 50.9 percent overall, is fifth in the league in that category.
• Wilridge (13.0) and Jaylyn Gordon (14.1) are also averaging more than 10 points per game, and Wilridge tops the Cajuns with 4.6 rebounds per game.
• Garry Brodhead is in his fourth year leading Louisiana, and he has posted a 55-51 record in his time as a head coach.

 
THE SERIES AGAINST LOUISIANA
Thursday will be the 26th meeting all-time between Little Rock and Louisiana, and the Trojans have a dominant 17-8 edge in the series. Coach Joe Foley is 16-4 all-time against the Cajuns including five consecutive wins. Last year, the Trojans swept both regular-season games, celebrating a conference regular-season title in the visiting locker room at the Cajundome to close the regular season. The Trojans' last loss in the series came in December 2012 at the Cajundome, a low-scoring double-overtime affair.
 
A WIN AGAINST LOUISIANA WOULD…
…be the team's sixth straight win against the Cajuns…continue the team's unbeaten mark against Louisiana at the Jack Stephens Center…be Little Rock's 25th straight Sun Belt win at the Jack Stephens Center…be Joe Foley's 704th career win.
 
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 2014-15, the Trojans hold a record of 130-34 in the league and have claimed the outright regular-season championship once and the tournament championship three times.
 
17-POINT NIGHTS
Against Troy on Saturday, Little Rock was led by a duo of 17-point scorers in Sharde' Collins and Kaitlyn Pratt. Those 17 points set a new season high for Pratt and was the second-best single-game mark for Collins in 2015-16. Both player scored 5 points at the free-throw line, and Pratt had the edge with six total field goals on a 66 percent shooting night (6 of 9). Collins, meanwhile, made five total field goals but hit two from downtown to reach her 17 points. Saturday marked the second time this year that both of those players had led the Trojans in scoring.
 
NEW CAREER BESTS
Monique Townson and Kaitlyn Pratt each set multiple career bests in the game at Troy on Saturday. Townson tied her career high in three categories with 12 points scored, seven field goals attempted and 40 minutes played. She also set a new career high with six made free throws. Pratt, meanwhile, set a new career best with 37 minutes played and tied a career high with six made field goals for the sixth time.
 
GETTING TO THE LINE
Two games after not attempting a single free throw, the Trojans were aggressive on offense and got to the free-throw line more than they had all season long against Troy. Little Rock went to the free-throw line 27 times on Saturday, sinking 20 of those attempts to account for nearly 30 percent of the team's 71 points in the game. At then-No. 16 Texas A&M on Dec. 22, Little Rock went the entire 40 minutes without an attempted free throw for at least the first time since Joe Foley became the coach in 2003-04.
 
FOUR IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Little Rock's offense was in high gear at Troy on Saturday, and four players reached double figures on the day. Sharde' Collins and Kaitlyn Pratt had 17 points apiece while Monique Townson scored 12 and Shanity James tallied 10 points. That marks the first time the Trojans had four double-figure scorers since the Tulsa game on Dec. 13. Little Rock has not had five double-figure scorers in a game since March 10, 2013 against Western Kentucky.
 
STRONG SHOOTING
Little Rock was able to have four players score in double figures on Saturday at Troy largely because the team was hitting a very high percentage of its shots. Little Rock made 24 of its 45 field goal attempts, setting a new season high with a field goal percentage of 53.3 percent. The Trojans turned all those made baskets plus 20 made free throws into a season-best 71 points.

TURNOVER TROUBLE
The Trojans had one other less desirable season high at Troy on Saturday, committing 26 turnovers. The team's previous high this year was 21 turnovers committed against Tulsa on December 13. Those 26 turnovers against Troy led to 29 points for the home team in Little Rock's loss.
 
McKINNEY HITS FROM DEEP
Trojan freshman Deja McKinney was a proven scorer in high school, but she had yet to sink a 3-pointer in college until Saturday at Troy. Entering the game in the fourth quarter, McKinney finally ended that streak by making a 3-pointer from the left wing on her fifth attempt of the year. McKinney has now played in seven games, averaging 2.4 minutes per appearance off the bench. She has scored 5 points in total after she also scored once against Missouri State on December 20.
 
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Little Rock has had an incredible home-court advantage during the previous two seasons, going 13-1 in 2013-14 and 2014-15 for a .929 winning percentage. The Trojans were also 9-0 at home in conference play in 2014-15, finishing their Sun Belt slate undefeated at home. The team has done this four times in its history now under Joe Foley, going 9-0 in 2007-08, 2009-10, 2013-14 and 2014-15. Overall at the Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock is 127-26, a winning percentage of .830. The Trojans last lost a home conference game in January 2013, a streak of 24 straight wins.

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Troy:

• Shanity James snagged her 400th career defensive rebound while moving up to sole possession of fifth all-time in Little Rock history with her 76th block.

Coming soon:

• Shanity James needs two more made field goals to reach 400 in that category and six more steals for 100.
• Keanna Keys will reach 300 total points when she scores 1 more and reach 100 offensive rebounds with one more.
• Alexius Dawn will reach 100 career 3-pointers with six more.
• Monique Townson is 3 points shy of her 100th.

 
UP NEXT
Little Rock plays host to another Louisiana school on Saturday when ULM comes to the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans and Warhawks are set for a 4 p.m. tipoff.