CONWAY, Ark. – Little Rock rallied back from a 10-point second half deficit to force overtime but a season-high 21 turnovers – including three in the extra period – prevented the Trojans from claiming a Governor's I-40 Showdown win Saturday afternoon at the Farris Center.
Nikki Metcalfe scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds to lead all players in the 53-49 overtime loss, scoring 10 of those points in the second half as Little Rock (1-5) clawed back from a double-digit deficit to add five extra minutes of playing time to the game.
Little Rock's 21 turnovers – five of which came in the final 7:05 – prevented the Trojans from recording a fourth consecutive win over the Sugar Bears (4-2).
"We committed way too many turnovers," Little Rock Head Coach
Joe Foley said. "We are still looking for our go-to player in those close moments but we can't find that player if we keep turning the ball over."
Central Arkansas (4-2) gave the Trojans a chance to win the game outright in regulation as Kierra Prim turned the ball over with 33 seconds remaining in a tie game but a pair of missed shots by the Maroon and Silver added five minutes to the clock.
While the Trojans would not miss a free throw in overtime, Little Rock committed three turnovers in the extra period and was just 1 of 3 from the floor while UCA was 5 of 7 (71.4%) to push ahead for the win.
Prim, who entered the game leading the nation by averaging 5.0 offensive rebounds per game, was severely limited due to the effort of Little Rock's
Angelique Francis, whose defense held Prim to just four points, four rebounds (one offensive) and forced a pair of turnovers. In addition to that defensive effort, Francis scored six points and grabbed five reboubnds.
UCA was led by Randrea Wright's 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting while Parris Atkins scored 14 points and Kayla Mitchell added 10.
Tia Harvey scored 10 points for Little Rock while
Jaiyah Harris-Smith dished out a game-high seven assists, five of which came before halftime. But she was also responsible for seven turnovers and was held to just three rebounds.
After back-to-back road games, Little Rock returns home to the Jack Stephens Center on Tuesday evening as the Trojans will host Texas A&M. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. with the game airing live on ESPN+ and on the Little Rock Sports Network (920 AM The Sports Animal).
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