Little Rock Welcoming Arkansas State for Saturday Game

Game 17: Little Rock (10-6, 4-0) vs. Arkansas State (3-13, 1-3)
Date	Saturday, January 14
Time	4 p.m.
Location	Little Rock, Ark.
Stadium	Jack Stephens Center
Stats	Statbroadcast
Audio	KARN The Sports Animal
Video	Little Rock All-Access
Notes	Little Rock | Arkansas State

LITTLE ROCK – It's rivalry time at the Jack Stephens Center, as the Trojan women's basketball team is set to take on Arkansas State on Saturday at 4 p.m. Little Rock will be seeking a 5-0 start to Sun Belt Conference play for the fourth time in school history.
 
Saturday's game will be a Pack the Jack contest and will feature a Bale Shot 4 A Car as well as the Kids Zone. The game will also be part of Greek Night.
 
Last year at the Jack Stephens Center, the Trojans defeated Arkansas State 71-69 in front of a raucous home crowd of 5,619 – the largest crowd ever in the building. The Trojans hope to get that kind of support again from fans this year as they look to stay undefeated in conference play and keep up its lifetime unbeaten streak against Arkansas State at the Jack Stephens Center (11-0).
 
The Trojans' offense has been on fire this week, as Little Rock is averaging 73.2 points per game in Sun Belt play, the second-highest total in the league. Kaitlyn Pratt recorded two consecutive games with 24 points last week to tie single-game career highs, and she had a double-double against Appalachian State with 10 rebounds. That allowed the senior to win the Sun Belt Player of the Week Award for the second time this season.
 
Sharde' Collins also scored 21 points at Appalachian State on Saturday, and Monique Townson has helped with passing. The junior is currently the Sun Belt Conference leader with 4.2 assists per game and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.5. Her, Kyra Collier and Pratt are also in the top six in the Sun Belt currently in free-throw percentage.
 
Little Rock's national RPI is up to No. 51 in the nation this week, jumping up 18 spots from its position before the weekend.
 
The Red Wolves are the Sun Belt Conference's defending regular season champions after going 19-1 last year. But the 2016-17 version of Arkansas State is completely different due to the loss of all five starters on last year's roster to graduation. Arkansas State is 3-13 overall this year and 1-3 in Sun Belt play, but the Red Wolves remain dangerous and have scoring options.
 
Jada Ford is Arkansas State's top scorer, averaging 11.9 points per game. Dominique Oliver and Akasha Westbrook also average 10 points per game. Lauren Bradshaw is the team's leading rebounder with 6.6 boards per game. Westbrook averages 4.9 per game, and Oliver is the team's top assister with just under three assists per game.
 
Head coach Brian Boyer is in his 18th year leading the Red Wolves and has a 302-243 record in charge of the program.
 
TIP OFF

• Little Rock is the only Sun Belt Conference team to be 4-0 so far this year and remains in sole possession of first place in the league as of Thursday morning.
• Kaitlyn Pratt won the Sun Belt Player of the Week award on Monday thanks to tying her career high in points per game twice last week, scoring 24 points each in road wins over Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State.
• Monique Townson leads the Sun Belt in assists per game (4.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5). She set a career high with 16 points in the win at Coastal Carolina.
• Little Rock's RPI is up to No. 51 as of Wednesday morning, second-best in the Sun Belt.
• The Trojans have won 11 consecutive conference games at the Jack Stephens Center and are 11-0 lifetime against Arkansas State at the Jack Stephens Center.
• Little Rock and Arkansas State split their games last year, with the Trojans handing the Red Wolves their only regular-season conference loss at the Jack Stephens Center on March 1.