LR Set for SBC Semifinals vs. Ragin' Cajuns on ESPN3

GM 31 >> Little Rock (19-11) vs. Louisiana (21-9)
Sun Belt Tournament Semifinals
Friday, March 11 • 2 p.m. (CST)
New Orleans, La. • Lakefront Arena
Live Stats | ESPN3 | Game Notes
Radio: Trey Schaap (PxP) 920 AM
TV: ESPN3 with Drew Fellios (PxP) and Steffi Sorensen (Color)
 
LITTLE ROCK – For the ninth straight year, the Little Rock women's basketball team has made it to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Women's Basketball Championship presented by First Bank and Trust. Now the No. 2 Trojans are seeking their second straight berth in the league championship game when they take on No. 3 Louisiana on Friday at 2 p.m. The game will air live on ESPN3.
 
TIP OFF

• The Little Rock women's basketball team is now on a 14-game winning streak, the ninth-longest active streak in the country. Little Rock has won four straight games in the Sun Belt Tournament.
• The Trojans' defense has been its star all year, and the team ranks in the top 25 in the country in scoring defense, giving up just 54.9 points per game.
• Shanity James is Little Rock's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 15.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. She has six double-doubles on the year and has scored 20 or more points in eight games.
• Kaitlyn Pratt is coming off a double-double performance against Texas State that saw her score 13 points and grab a season-best 13 rebounds.
• Sharde' Collins was Little Rock's leading scorer against Texas State with 17 points including 10 in the third quarter.
• The Trojans' No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament guarantees the team at worst a WNIT bid if the No. 1 seed wins the tournament.
• Little Rock has made the Sun Belt semifinals for nine straight years and is the defending tournament champion.
• Little Rock's opponent on Friday, Louisiana, split the regular-season series with the Trojans. Each team won its road game.

 
ABOUT THE TROJANS
After a slow start to the season that saw the team go 2-7 in non-league play against a difficult schedule, the Trojans had a tremendous conference season. Little Rock went 16-4 in Sun Belt play, earning the league's No. 2 seed. Currently on a 14-game winning streak, Little Rock enters the league tournament as its defending champions and the hottest team in the league. The Trojans had four double-figure scorers in their Sun Belt Tournament opening-round victory over Texas State on Thursday.
 
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 but surpassed that with a second-place finish this year.
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA

• The Cajuns, who hail from Lafayette, La., are 21-9 on the season and are on a three-game winning streak entering Friday. They earned the Sun Belt's No. 3 seed with a 13-7 record in conference play.
• Louisiana's three straight wins came against Georgia State, Georgia Southern and UT Arlington. The Cajuns defeated the Mavericks 59-53 in the first round of the conference tournament on Wednesday.
• Louisiana has the fifth-best scoring offense in the league with 63.3 points per game scored. Defensively, the Cajuns are second in the conference, allowing just 56.4 points per game.
• Keke Veal is the team's leading scorer and an All-Sun Belt First Team selection. She averages 17.0 points per game. Jaylyn Gordon scores 14.9 points per game, and Kia Wilridge scores 11.4 points per game.
• Wilridge tops the Cajuns in rebounding with 5.3 boards per game while Brooklyn Arceneaux is second with 4.7 rebounds per game.
• Garry Brodhead is in his fourth year leading Louisiana, and he has posted a 67-58 record in his time as a head coach.

 
THE SERIES AGAINST LOUISIANA
Friday will mark the 28th meeting all-time between Little Rock and Louisiana, and the Trojans have a dominant 18-9 edge in the series. Coach Joe Foley is 17-5 all-time against the Cajuns. When the teams met in February, Little Rock got revenge for its only home conference loss of the season, defeating the Cajuns 58-49 in the Cajundome. Shanity James had 22 and Kaitlyn Pratt had 19 points in that game.
 
A WIN AGAINST LOUISIANA WOULD…
…be the team's 15th straight win overall…be the team's second straight win over the Cajuns…advance the Trojans to the Sun Belt Tournament final for the second straight year…be Little Rock's fifth straight win in the SBC Tournament…be Joe Foley's 720th career win.
 
LITTLE ROCK VS. THE SUN BELT
In the last 10 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 145-37 in the league regular season and have claimed the outright regular-season championship once and the tournament championship three times.
 
LITTLE ROCK IN THE SUN BELT TOURNAMENT
Since the Trojans joined the Sun Belt in 1999, the team holds a 20-12 record in conference tournament games. But since the 2009 Sun Belt Tournament, Little Rock is an incredible 17-4 in tournament games. Little Rock won the conference championship in back-to-back years in 2011 and 2012 as well as in 2015, earning automatic NCAA Tournament berths in those seasons. In 2009, 2010 and 2013, the Trojans advanced to the tournament final before losing. Little Rock has made the tournament semifinals for the last nine seasons and earned a national postseason trip in seven of the last eight seasons.
 
PRATT DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Kaitlyn Pratt had her fourth double-double of the season on Wednesday against Texas State, putting up 13 points to go along with a season-high 13 rebounds. Pratt reached her double-double in the middle of the third quarter. Her most recent previous double-double came on March 1 against Arkansas State.
 
COLLINS' THIRD QUARTER
Sharde' Collins had an offensive outburst to begin the third quarter, helping lead the Trojans to the victory over Texas State on Wednesday. After putting up just 4 points in the first half and shooting 1 of 4 from the floor, Collins went 5 of 7 from the field in the third quarter, scoring 10 of her team-high 17 points. Collins' 17 points were her most since putting up 18 against Troy on Feb. 4.
 
STRONG SECOND HALF
Collins wasn't the only one who heated up in the third quarter. The Trojans shot 33 percent from the field in the first half but then made 56 percent of their baskets in the second half. Little Rock shot 14 of 25 in the third and fourth quarters combined.
 
#2 REBOUNDER
With eight rebounds on Wednesday against Texas State, Shanity James moved up to the No. 2 spot in Little Rock history in total rebounds. The senior now has 823 total rebounds in her career and is already the program's leading offensive rebounder. James passed Marian Kursh who finished her Trojan career with 821 rebounds.
 
FOUR IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Little Rock had four players score in double figures in the Sun Belt Tournament opener on Wednesday. Sharde' Collins had 17 points while Kaitlyn Pratt, Shanity James and Alexius Dawn all had 13. The last time the Trojans had four double-figure scorers was on March 1 against Arkansas State.
 
HOLDING TEAMS UNDER 60
A trend has emerged in 16 of the Trojans' 19 victories this year: in those 16 victories, the Trojans' opponent has scored under 60 points. Little Rock is now 16-1 in games this year where the opponent has fewer than 60 points. When the Trojans' opponent scores 60 or more, Little Rock drops to 3-10.
 
DEFENSIVE JUGGERNAUTS
As Little Rock continues to hold teams to incredibly low offensive outputs, the team's national ranking in scoring defense continues to improve. As of Thursday morning, the Trojans' 55.1 points per game allowed ranks 24th in the entire nation. The Trojans have not allowed an opponent to score more than 50 points in eight of the last 10 games, holding teams to an average of 48.7 points per game in that span.
 
14 IN A ROW
The Trojans' victory against Texas State on Wednesday extended its season-long winning streak to 14 games. Little Rock's longest winning streak in 2014-15 lasted for 10 games. Little Rock has not had a winning streak this long since 2010-11, and 14 games ties that season for the second-longest winning streak in program history. Little Rock's winning streak is now tied for the ninth-longest in the nation as of Thursday morning.
 
STAYING IN THE GAMES
During Little Rock's current 14-game winning streak, the Trojans have only trailed by double digits once: against Troy by 15. In every other game of the winning streak, the Trojans' largest deficit of the game was 10 points or fewer. Little Rock trailed by a maximum of five points or fewer in 10 of those games and never trailed in one. The Trojans' average largest deficit in those games is 4.1 points per game.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
vs. Texas State:

• Shanity James made her 300th free throw, got her 500th defensive rebound and started in her 100th game.
• Alexius Dawn attempted her 400th 3-pointer and her 100th free throw.
• Monique Townson scored her 200th career point.

Coming soon:

• Sharde' Collins needs four more assists for 100.
• Keanna Keys is nine rebounds shy of 300 and 1 point away from 400.

 
 
UP NEXT
A victory on Friday will advance the Trojans to the conference championship game on Saturday at 7 p.m. against either No. 1 Arkansas State or No. 4 Troy. A loss would mean Little Rock will await its postseason fate.