Little Rock Defends Home Court, Unblemished OVC Record Saturday Against Southeast Missouri

Game 15 | Southeast Missouri
Tip-Off	Saturday, Jan. 7 | 1 p.m.
Location	Little Rock, Ark.
Venue	Jack Stephens Center
Watch	ESPN+
Radio	LRSN (920 AM)
Live Stats	Live Stats
Tickets	Click to Purchase
Twitter	@LittleRockWBB
Series History	Series tied, 2-2
Game Notes	Little Rock | SEMO | OVC

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Little Rock women's basketball looks to continue to defend its home court and introduce the Ohio Valley Conference to its suffocating brand of defense as the Trojans host Southeast Missouri on Saturday afternoon at the Jack Stephens Center.
 
The Trojans enter Saturday's contest as just one of two OVC teams remaining that have not dropped a conference game while Southeast Missouri is looking for their first road and first conference win of the year.
 
Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. with the game airing live on ESPN+ as Kyle Deckelbaum (play-by-play) and Dorian Craft (analyst) on the broadcast while Trey Schaap will have the call on the Little Rock Sports Network (920 AM The Sports Animal).
 
Series History

• Little Rock and Southeast Missouri will meet on the hardwood for the fifth time ever and just the first time since 2009 when the Trojans and Redhawks tip-off Saturday afternoon.
• The teams have split the previous four meetings with each gaining a home and road victory since the series began in 2000.
• This will be SEMO's second-ever visit to the Jack Stephens Center, last visiting the University Avenue in 2009. In their first visit to the metro area, Southeast Missouri was hosted by the Trojans at what is now known as Simmons Bank Arena.
• Little Rock has out-scored SEMO, 286-247, over the previous four meetings.
• The Trojans have held Southeast Missouri under 60 points in three of the previous four meetings.

 
Five Things to Know

1. What About Four or More?
   Little Rock can start league play 4-0 for the first time since the 2017-18 season if the Trojans can put together a win on Saturday. The Maroon and Silver have won three consecutive games for the first time this season and are back in a slightly modified Jack Stephens Center in an attempt to make it four in a row. Little Rock opened the 2017-18 season with 12 consecutive league wins.
2. And Then There were Two
   Thanks to the Trojans dispatching of Lindenwood on Jan. 4 and with Eastern Illinois' 67-62 win over Tennessee Tech on Jan. 5, Little Rock and EIU remained the only two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference that are undefeated in league play.
3. Sweet 16
   Jaiyah Harris-Smith is quickly becoming one of the nation's most impactful underclassmen. With 5.1 assists per game entering this contest, she is one of just 16 underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) in the country averaging over 4.5 apg. When you factor in her ability to rebound, the list grows considerably shorter. Harris-Smith is one of just four underclassmen in the country with at least 6.0 rebounds per game and 4.5 assists per game and one of eight players overall in all of Division I to reach both of those averages.
4. Death. Taxes. Joe Foley's Defense.
   If there's one thing coaches don't want to face, it's Joe Foley's defense. If there's two things they don't want to face, it's Joe Foley's defense twice in the same season. That is because Little Rock and Joe Foley have set the standard when it comes to the Trojans defensive efforts, ranking in the top two of their conference in 11 of the past 12 years in scoring defense while ranking in the top 25 nationally in scoring defense in nine of past 12 years. The 2021-22 season was no different as Little Rock led the Sun Belt and ranked 49th in the nation in scoring defense.
5. They've Rarely OVCeen It
   Since the 2009-10 season, the OVC has only had one other team with a defense so strong that it held opponents to less than 57.0 ppg as the 2021-22 Belmont squad limited their opponents to a 56.5 mark. Even if you expand the opposing scoring mark to less than 60.0 ppg, this year's Little Rock team is just one of 12 in the OVC since the 2009-10 campaign to achieve that feat. While only 11 other OVC teams have done that, this season marks the 12th time in the past 13 years the Trojans have held opponents to less than 60.0 ppg.

 
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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