Little Rock Primed for UT Arlington on Thursday

GM 26 >> Little Rock (14-11, 12-4 SBC) vs. UT Arlington (13-12, 8-7 SBC)
Thursday, Feb. 25 • 5:15 p.m. (CST)
Little Rock, Ark. • Jack Stephens Center
Live Stats | ESPN3 | Game Notes
Radio: Trey Schaap (PxP) and Ron Jumper (Color) on 920 AM
ESPN: Drew Fellios (PxP) and Angel Gray (Color) on ESPN3
 
LITTLE ROCK – The Trojan women's basketball team returns home on Thursday following a four-game road trip that resulted in four straight wins. Little Rock, now with nine consecutive wins, will look to test that streak against UT Arlington at 5:15 p.m. The game will be the Trojans' annual Pink Game and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
 
THURSDAY PROMOTIONS
Thursday's game is Little Rock's annual Pink Game, with proceeds from item sales going toward the Play 4 Kay charity. Little Rock will be wearing pink on the court, and fans are encouraged to wear pink as well.
 
Fans will also be able to get a free spirit band giveaway upon entrance while supplies last, and Northwestern Mutual will be giving away pink T-shirts while supplies last.
 
TIP OFF

• Little Rock extended its winning streak to nine games after a Saturday victory at Georgia Southern. The Trojans swept the four-game road trip through Louisiana and Georgia.
• The Trojans' last loss came on Jan. 21 at Texas State.
• Little Rock's defense continues to shine, as the Trojans lead the Sun Belt in league-only games, allowing just 50.2 points per game. The Trojans have given up 50 points or fewer in 10 of its 16 league games and five straight.
• Shanity James has scored exactly 22 points in three of the last five games and is the team's leading scorer with 15.1 points per game.
• Little Rock is in second place in the Sun Belt Conference standings, one game ahead of third-place Louisiana and two games ahead of fourth-place South Alabama. The Trojans clinched a berth in the league tournament last week and will now finish no worse than fifth.
• In the Trojans' first meeting with UT Arlington this year, Little Rock escaped with a 59-55 win at College Park Center.

 
ABOUT THE TROJANS
After a rough start to the season that saw the team go 2-7 in non-league play against a difficult schedule, the Trojans continue to improve every game as Sun Belt play goes into its second half. The Trojans are now on a nine-game winning streak and are in sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt Conference standings with a 12-4 record. Little Rock squeaked out a 5-point win at Georgia Southern to keep that streak alive on Saturday, getting a 22 points from Shanity James and shooting with accuracy from the free-throw line late in the 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 UT ARLINGTON

• The Mavericks, based in Arlington, Texas, hold a 12-3 record on the year and are 8-7 in Sun Belt play. They are currently fifth in the league standings. Most recently, they are coming off a 40-32 victory over ULM on Saturday.
• The Mavericks are on a bit of a hot streak, having won five of their last six games. The team's only loss in that span was to third-place Louisiana.
• Rebekah VanDijk is the Mavericks' leading scorer, putting up 11.3 points per game. She also tops the Mavericks in rebounding with 8.9 boards per game. That total is the second best in the conference.
• Cierra Johnson also has double-digit scoring, posting 10.3 points per game. She leads the league with 3.1 steals per game.
• UTA has the third-best scoring defense in the league, allowing just 55.1 points per game. The Mavericks also have the best rebounding margin in the conference, pulling down 5.1 more rebounds per game than their opponent.
• Coach Krista Gerlich, now in her third year with the team, has a 34-50 record as the Mavericks' head coach.

 
THE SERIES AGAINST UT ARLINGTON
Little Rock and UT Arlington have met seven times in their history, with the Trojans holding a 5-2 edge and a five-game winning streak. Little Rock has won every game since the Mavericks joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2013 after losing the first two meetings in the mid-2000s when the Mavericks were in another league. UT Arlington has never scored more than 60 points against the Trojans. Little Rock won earlier this season in Arlington by a 59-55 score.
 
A WIN AGAINST UT ARLINGTON WOULD…
…be the team's 10th straight win overall…be the team's sixth straight win against the Mavericks…put Little Rock nine games above .500 in league play…guarantee the team finishes no worse than fourth in the conference…give the Trojans at least 13 wins in league play for the second straight year …be Joe Foley's 715th 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 2015-16, the Trojans hold a record of 141-37 in the league and have claimed the outright regular-season championship once and the tournament championship three times.
 
FREE THROWS SAVE THE DAY
Little Rock made just one field goal in the fourth quarter against Georgia Southern on Thursday, but the Trojans' excellent free-throw shooting down the stretch helped the team pull out a victory. Little Rock hit seven of its eight free throws in the final 2:40, sealing a 5-point win over the Eagles. Little Rock was an impressive 19 of 22 (82.6 percent) from the charity stripe in the win.
 
JAMES ON A SCORING ROLL
Shanity James has been on an amazing scoring streak of late, reaching at least 10 points in the last nine games and leading the Trojans in scoring in all but two of those games. She had 22 points on Feb. 20 at Georgia Southern, marking the second time in three games she reached that scoring total. James has topped the Trojans in scoring in 11 games this year and had a four-game streak during non-conference play. She has scored in double figures in 20 total games out of 23 she has played in.
 
JAMES NOW SIXTH
Thanks to those 22 points she scored against the Eagles, James improved to sixth on the Little Rock all-time scoring list. James, with 1,248 career points, passed Anshel Cooper's 1,244. She is now just 34 points away from fifth all-time in Trojan history, when she would pass current assistant coach Alicia Cash. James should need three games to pass Cash at her current season pace.
 
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Dating back to January 2013, the Trojans have an incredible home-court advantage at the Jack Stephens Center for Sun Belt Conference games. Little Rock has posted victories in 30 of its last 31 home league games in that span, with the only blemish being a loss to Louisiana in early January of this year. The Trojans have now won six straight games at the Jack Stephens Center since that loss.
 
NINE IN A ROW
The Trojans' victory against Georgia Southern extended its season-long winning streak to nine games. Little Rock's longest winning streak in 2014-15 lasted for 10 games. Little Rock has had at least an eight-game winning streak in four of the last six seasons.
 
TOURNAMENT CLINCHED
With its win against Georgia State on Thursday night, the Trojans officially clinched a berth in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Little Rock can now finish no worse than fifth in the league. Little Rock has now made the league tournament for each of the last 12 years. The tournament is set to begin in New Orleans on March 9.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
At Georgia Southern:

• Shanity James moved up to sixth all-time in Little Rock scoring.
• Alexius Dawn got her 600th career point.
• Kaitlyn Pratt earned her 50th steal.

Coming soon:

• Alexius Dawn is five assists away from 200.
• Sharde' Collins needs 9 more points for 400.
• Kaitlyn Pratt needs 21 points for 600.

 
UP NEXT
Little Rock stays at home for Saturday's contest against its other conference rival from the Lone Star State. Texas State and Little Rock will tip off at 4 p.m.