Little Rock's Defense Shines in 10th Straight Win

LITTLE ROCK – The winning streak has reached 10 games.
 
More clutch free-throw shooting and stifling defense led the Little Rock women's basketball team to a 49-43 victory over UT Arlington at the Jack Stephens Center on Thursday night, extending the team's season-long winning streak to 10.
 
Shanity James had a team-high 12 points and was 8 of 10 from the free-throw line, and the rest of the Trojans combined to go 12 of 12 from the free-throw line to have the Trojans finish the night with a season-best 90.9 percent accuracy from the charity stripe. The Trojans missed just one free throw in the second half and knocked down six out of six in the final 12 seconds to seal the victory.
 
Little Rock (14-12, 9-7 Sun Belt Conference) remained all alone in second place in the Sun Belt Conference with the victory over UT Arlington (13-13, 8-8), its sixth straight win against the Mavericks. The Trojans can now finish no worse than fourth in the conference standings.
 
But Thursday's result was in doubt until the final seconds. The teams entered the fourth quarter with Little Rock holding a narrow 38-33 lead. UT Arlington, though, cut that down slowly over the next seven minutes and tied the game at 41-41 with 1:44 to go thanks to two free throws by LaShanda Green.
 
On the next possession, Little Rock got just its second field goal of the quarter as senior guard Alexius Dawn stepped back and hit a long 2-pointer. That put the Trojans ahead 43-41 with 1:18 to play. A bad Mavericks pass into the paint was stolen by James on UTA's next possession, and Little Rock had the ball with 45 seconds left.
 
With a 2-point lead, junior Kaitlyn Pratt missed a layup but fought hard for her own rebound and called timeout. Dawn then hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to make it a 45-41 lead with 12 seconds remaining. UTA made a jumper with just six seconds showing on the clock, and Pratt answered that with two more clutch free throws to give Little Rock a 47-43 edge with five seconds remaining.
 
The Mavericks failed to inbound the ball after that, and two more Dawn free throws sealed the victory.
 
James finished the night two rebounds shy of a double-double, getting 12 points and eight rebounds. She also had a season-high three blocks and added two steals and two assists. Pratt finished with 10 points, and Keanna Keys had 8 including 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. Dawn had 9 points.
 
After starting the night with a 17-11 lead after the first quarter and getting 12 points in the paint in that period, the Mavericks had just 2 points in the paint in the entire rest of the game. The Trojans held the Mavericks to just 31.3 percent shooting in the second half and forced the Mavericks into 24 total turnovers that resulted in 22 Trojan points.
 
The Mavericks got out to a hot start offensively, scoring 17 points in the first quarter including 12 in the paint. Little Rock, on the other hand, did not make a 2-point field goal in the quarter. The Trojans scored 11 points in the first 10 minutes on three 3-pointers and two free throws from Keanna Keys. The team would not make a 3-pointer the rest of the night.
 
With a 17-11 lead heading into the second quarter, the Mavericks faltered a bit at the start of the next period. After an early UTA basket, Little Rock went on a 6-0 run to begin the second, getting baskets from Pratt and Keys along with two more Keys free throws. That forced a UTA timeout with the visitors' lead down to just 19-17.
 
That run continued after the timeout, though, as Little Rock stretched it to 10 straight points thanks to baskets by Pratt and Autummn Williams. A UTA 3-pointer gave the Mavericks the lead back at 22-21, but that was their last points of the quarter. Little Rock closed things with 7 straight points – 5 of which came on free throws – and led 28-22 at halftime. The Trojans outscored the Mavericks 17-5 in the quarter and benefitted from seven UTA turnovers.
 
The Mavericks had a slight 11-10 edge in the third quarter that began with a 5-0 run to start the period. But Little Rock answered with four straight points of its own – all on James free throws – before the Mavericks again cut things to a 1-point lead late in the quarter. A Pratt layup and a Townson steal-and-score led to a 5-point Trojan edge entering the decisive fourth quarter.
 
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.