Late Run Not Enough for Little Rock

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Little Rock went on a nine-point run over the final two minutes and forced 10 turnovers in the first quarter, but Missouri State controlled the pace of play in the intervening 28 minutes in a 55-48 loss to the Lady Bears Wednesday afternoon.
 
The Trojans could not overcome a 41-25 deficit in rebounds, particularly on the offensive side where Missouri State (5-4) turned 19 offensive boards into 10 second chance points. Little Rock (3-8) was out-scored 21-13 thanks mostly to Aniya Thomas scoring 15 of her game-high 19 points in the final period.
 
Faith Lee led the Trojans with a career-high 17 points, marking the third time in four games the freshman has reached double figures. Tia Harvey added 14 with three rebounds.
 
The Trojan defense forced 16 turnovers out of the Lady Bears but 10 of those came in the first quarter. After that, Missouri State was able to limit its mistakes despite the strenuous pressure of the Little Rock defenders. Five of LR's seven steals came in the first period.
 
Little Rock's 13 turnovers were the second-lowest mark of the season, but the team's 22 fouls marked the second-highest and several players spent most of the second half in foul trouble. Lee, Angelique Francis and Nikki Metcalfe all finished the game with four fouls while Harvey and Jayla Brooks ended with three. The 22-15 difference in fouls led to Missouri State getting seven extra free throw attempts.
 
Missouri State was aided by double figures out of Kennedy Taylor (13 points) and Sydney Wilson (12 points), both of whom recorded the majority of their scoring in the first half.
 
The Trojans and Lady Bears entered the game as two of the only six non-P5 teams in the country to have won games over P5 opponents in each of the past three seasons.
 
Wednesday's contest wraps up the non-conference portion of the schedule for the Trojans and Little Rock will now look forward to its first-ever OVC conference game on Dec. 29 when UT Martin visits the Jack Stephens Center. The Skyhawks dropped a 68-59 decision at Missouri State on Saturday.
 
For the latest information on Little Rock Basketball, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockWBB on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
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