| Game 30: #1 Little Rock vs. #9 Appalachian St. |
| Date |
Thursday, March 8, 2018 |
| Time |
 11:30 a.m. |
| Location |
New Orleans, La. |
| Arena |
Lakefront Arena |
| Records |
Little Rock (20-9, 17-1 SBC) |
Appalachian State (8-22, 5-13 SBC) |
| Radio |
Sports Animal 920 |
| Stats |
StatBroadcast |
| Video |
ESPN3/WatchESPN |
| Notes |
Little Rock | Appalachian State |
NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference Championship begins on Thursday for No. 1 Little Rock women's basketball (20-9, 17-1 Sun Belt) as it will face No. 9 Appalachian State (8-22, 5-13 Sun Belt) in the quarterfinals at Lakefront Arena. Opening tip is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on ESPN3.
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The Trojans will face the Mountaineers in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year as Little Rock put together a 69-53 victory last season. Thursday's meeting will be the third of the season between Little Rock and App State as the Trojans won both of the prior meetings by scores of 52-40 and 61-35.
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The Mountaineers defeated No. 8 Arkansas State 79-68 in the first round of action on Tuesday. App State had four players in double figures as LaPresha Stanley led the team with 27 points. Bayley Plummer tallied a double-double with 18 points and 19 rebounds.
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- A win for Little Rock would put the Trojans in the Sun Belt Championship semifinals for the 11th consecutive season.
- As the No. 1 seed, Little Rock has advanced to the semifinals on two other occasions.
- This is the fourth time in program history that Little Rock has entered the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.
- Ronjanae DeGray earned All-Sun Belt First Team honors to mark the fifth consecutive year in which a Little Rock player has done so.
- Keanna Keys and Monique Townson were the first Trojans to earn All-Sun Belt Third Team honors since Taylor Ford in 2013-14 and were just the third and fourth Trojans to earn the honor in program history.
- This is the third time in program history that Little Rock has had three players earn All-Sun Belt Conference honors in the same season.
- Head coach Joe Foley earned his fifth Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year award on Monday — his second consecutive award.
- Foley now has the second-most Coach of the Year awards in conference history behind former Louisiana Tech head coach Leon Barmore's six.
- Little Rock received two points and had the 37th-most points overall in this week's USA Today Coaches Poll.
- The Trojans are No. 24 in this week's College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.
- This is Little Rock's second 20-9 start in program history and its first since 2006-07.
- Little Rock finished with a 17-1 record in Sun Belt play for the second consecutive season and third time overall — all since 2009-10.
- Little Rock has 11 20-win seasons in program history — all under Joe Foley.
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With a victory, Little Rock will face either No. 4 Troy or No. 5 South Alabama on Saturday at 5 p.m. on ESPN3.
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