Trojans Look to Rebound With Game Against ULM

GM 13 >> Little Rock (3-9, 1-2 SBC) vs. ULM (6-6, 0-3)
Saturday, Jan. 9 • 4 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 – The Trojan women's basketball team fought hard in a loss to Louisiana on Thursday, and the team will look to get revenge against another Louisiana opponent on Saturday afternoon. Little Rock is set for a 4 p.m. tipoff against ULM at the Jack Stephens Center.
 
SATURDAY PROMOTIONS
Trojan fans will have the opportunity again on Saturday 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.

The Museum of Discovery's Kevin Delaney will be the halftime entertainment for both the men's and women's games, and the Junior Trojans Club Kids Zone will be open on Fisher Court during the doubleheader.
 
Saturday will also be Neighbor Night. Little Rock fans who bring a neighbor to the game will get a free popcorn.
 
TIP OFF

• Little Rock got a new career best out of Alexius Dawn against Louisiana on Thursday night as the senior scored 25 points. She was 7 of 9 from the free-throw line to help with that total.
• Dawn was joined in double-figure scoring by Shanity James (14) and Keanna Keys (10), but the team was never able to overcome the Ragin' Cajuns' lead.
• Little Rock got an impressive 39 points off the bench in Thursday game, though those bench points all came from Dawn and James. Thursday was James' first game of the year where she dressed and did not start.
• Little Rock was done in by poor second-half free-throw shooting on Thursday as the team made 10 of its 19 second-half attempts.
• Shanity James is fifth in the Sun Belt with a .509 shooting percentage, and Monique Townson is fourth with 3.8 assists per game.
• Little Rock's loss was its first home conference loss since January 2013.
• The Trojans have won the last seven consecutive meetings against ULM dating back to 2012 and have only ever lost three games to the Warhawks in 23 meetings.

 
ABOUT THE TROJANS
Little Rock had a hard time playing catch-up on Thursday against Louisiana, falling behind early and never being able to make a comeback. The Trojans had multiple opportunities to tie the game or take a lead, but Louisiana pulled ahead every time and held on for the win. The Trojans, at 3-9, are having their worst season since 2002-03 when the team also started 3-9 and would eventually fall to 3-12. Little Rock has not been 1-2 in Sun Belt Conference play since 2007-08.
 
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 ULM

• The Warhawks, based in Monroe, La., are 6-6 on the year with an 0-3 mark in Sun Belt Conference play. ULM has lost in the league to Louisiana, Appalachian State and Arkansas State.
• In non-conference play, four of ULM's six wins were against non-Division I opponents Louisiana College, LSU-Shreveport, Dillard and LSU-Alexandria. Their other wins came against Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls State.
• ULM has the best rebounding margin in the Sun Belt, pulling down 4.1 more boards per game than their opponents. The Warhawks are also fifth in the league in scoring defense (59.8 points per game allowed) and fourth in assists (12.8 per game).
• Alayshia Hunter is the Warhawks' top scorer with 18.1 points per game, a number good for second in the Sun Belt. Hunter leads the league with a .592 field goa percentage. Their top rebounder, Daja Chase, has 8.6 boards per game to put her second in the Sun Belt as well.
• Chelsea Tieuel is ULM's only other double-figure scorer with exactly 10 points per game. Hunter leads the Warhawks with 2.0 blocks per game, and Tieuel is their top stealer with 28 on the season.
• Jeff Dow is ULM's coach for the second year, and he holds an 18-23 record coaching the Warhawks. His head coaching record overall is 232-112 over 12 years.

THE SERIES AGAINST ULM
Conference rivals for the last 10 years, ULM and Little Rock have faced off 21 times in that span and 23 times overall. The Trojans own the series historically, claiming 20 of those 23 games and are currently on a seven-game winning streak over the Warhawks. Before a loss in January 2012 in Fant-Ewing Coliseum, Little Rock had won the last 11 games in the series. When the teams met last season, Little Rock won by a combined 62 points.
 
A WIN AGAINST ULM WOULD…
…be the team's eight straight win against the Warhawks…be Little Rock's eighth straight win against ULM at the Jack Stephens…bring the Trojans back to .500 in league play…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 130-35 in the league and have claimed the outright regular-season championship once and the tournament championship three times.
 
DAWN SETS NEW SINGLE-GAME SCORING HIGH
Alexius Dawn had the best scoring night of her career on Thursday against Louisiana, putting up 25 points to lead the Trojans. That total – the highest for any Little Rock player this year – came as she went 8 of 18 from the field and 2 of 8 from the 3-point line. Dawn was also 7 of 9 from the free-throw line, the high number of free throws made and attempted for any Trojan in a single game this year. Dawn's previous career high of 23 points came in the 2015 Sun Belt Tournament semifinal against Texas State.
 
30-POINT OPPONENTS
For the second straight game, the Trojans allowed an opponent to score 30 points. Troy's Ashley Beverley Kelly scored 30 against Little Rock on Jan. 2, and Louisiana's Keke Veal did the same against the Trojans on Thursday. Veal did most of her damage at the 3-point line, sinking six from downtown in the Ragin' Cajuns' win.
 
KEYS TIES SEASON HIGH
Keanna Keys had one of her best games of the year against Louisiana, nearly reaching a double-double as she put up 10 points and nine rebounds. Both of those numbers are season highs for the junior, as she also scored 10 points against Tulsa on Dec. 13 and had a previous season high of seven rebounds on two separate occasions. Keys also played in 32 minutes of the game against Louisiana, just two shy of her season high.
 
BENCH SCORING
Little Rock got 39 points off the bench on Thursday, easily surpassing the previous season high of 15. But that bench scoring was due to Alexius Dawn and Shanity James coming off the bench instead of starting. James had started in every previous game where she dressed, and Dawn had started in all but one game prior to Thursday night. Kira Shepard and Keanna Keys got the starts in place of Dawn and James.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Against Louisiana:

• Shanity James scored her 400th career field goal.
• Keanna Keys scored her 300th point and had her 100th offensive rebound.
• Monique Townson scored her 100th point.

Coming soon:

• Shanity James six more steals for 100 and will move up to ninth all-time on Little Rock's scoring list with 6 more points.
• Alexius Dawn will reach 100 career 3-pointers with four more and 500 points with 11 more.
• Monique Townson is 3 points shy of her 100th.

 
UP NEXT
Little Rock will conclude its three-game homestand on Thursday, taking on Appalachian State at the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans and Mountaineers will tip off at 5:15 p.m.