Second Half Surge Puts Trojans in Sun Belt Title Game

NEW ORLEANS – For the seventh time in the last eight years, the Little Rock women's basketball team is back in the conference championship game.
 
Little Rock's offense kicked into high gear in the second half and its defense kept Louisiana off the scoreboard, leading to a 63-52 victory at Lakefront Arena in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Women's Basketball Championship presented by First Bank and Trust on Friday afternoon.
 
After struggling with 14 turnovers in the first half and getting into foul trouble as well, No. 2 seed Little Rock (20-11) had just three turnovers in the second half and shot 59.1 percent from the field to clinch the win over No. 3 seed Louisiana (21-10).
 
Senior forward Shanity James – who had three fouls in the first half but played 18 minutes in the second – led the Trojans with 18 points and also grabbed six rebounds. Kaitlyn Pratt just missed a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds, and Alexius Dawn also reached double-figure scoring with 11 points and added seven assists.
 
The Trojans, who are the defending tournament champions, are one game away from a repeat appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Little Rock will take on No. 4 seed Troy in Saturday's championship game after Troy upset No. 1 seed Arkansas State in Friday's other semifinal.
 
The win was Little Rock's 15th straight overall and fifth straight win in the Sun Belt Tournament.
 
Trailing by 2 points at halftime, Little Rock quickly tied the game at 29-29 early in the third. With the game still tied at 33-33, Sharde' Collins hit a 3-pointer to put the Trojans ahead for the first time since 30 seconds into the second quarter. The game stayed close for the rest of the contest, but the Trojans would hold that lead for the final 15 minutes.
 
A James layup toward the end of the quarter made it a 7-point Little Rock lead, but the Cajuns answered back and went into the fourth quarter trailing 42-37.
 
Dawn and James had a tremendous second half, though, and the seniors combined for 15 of the Trojans' 21 points in the final period. Little Rock's lead in the fourth quarter briefly dipped to 5 points at 48-43 on a Keke Veal jumper, but Little Rock scored the next 4 poitns on a Dawn jumper and a Keanna Keys layup to take their largest lead of the night at 52-43 with 4:44 remaining.
 
The Cajuns struggled to hit shots in the final minutes and had to start fouling to try to catch up. Instead, the Trojans' lead only ballooned to its final tally of 11 as James, Dawn, Collins and Monique Townson sank free throws to keep Louisiana at bay.
 
The Trojans made 13 of their 22 attempts from the field in the second half while holding the Cajuns to 10 makes on 27 shots. Louisiana was also 0 of 8 from behind the 3-point line in the second half and just 1 of 10 from downtown in the game.
 
Besides the Trojans' three double-digit scorers, Townson and Collins finished with 9 points apiece and Keys had 3.
 
Turnovers and fouls caused lots of problems for the Trojans in the first half. Little Rock had six turnovers at the first media timeout, but the team still led 5-4 at that point thanks to a James and-1 layup and a Pratt jumper. The turnovers kept piling up, and Little Rock got into foul trouble when James and Dawn each committed two fouls before the second quarter began.
 
Still, Little Rock carried a 12-11 lead into the second quarter thanks to 6 points from Pratt. That's when the Cajuns got its offense going, making a 3-pointer and then forcing consecutive Trojan turnovers on the full-court press. That resulted in a 7-0 run and an 18-14 Louisiana lead.
 
James and Dawn came back off the bench midway through the quarter, and James picked up her third foul shortly before halftime as Little Rock could not catch back up to Louisiana's score. Despite the issues with 14 turnovers, the Trojans only trailed 26-24 at halftime thanks to a Pratt layup with three seconds left. The junior had 11 points and six rebounds at the break.
 
Friday's victory advances the Trojans to the conference championship game on Saturday at 7 p.m. against either No. 4 Troy. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.