LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Little Rock's three-game road swing – the longest of the season – wraps up Thursday evening when the Trojans head north to face a red-hot Southeast Missouri squad at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. with Erik Sean (play-by-play) and Jess Bolin (analyst) calling the action live on ESPN+ while Trey Schaap will headline the Little Rock Sports Network broadcast on 920 AM The Sports Animal back in the Capital City.
This marks the second of two meetings between Little Rock and Southeast Missouri this season after the Trojans claimed a 65-45 win at the Jack Stephens Center on Jan. 7. Since then, SEMO has gone 4-2, winning by an average of 13.25 points while only dropping games to Eastern Illinois and Tennessee Tech by an average of three points.
Series History
- Little Rock makes its first trip to Cape Girardeau since 2008 when they skate their way to town on Thursday.
- The Trojans are 3-2 all-time against the Redhawks including a 65-45 win over SEMO on Jan. 7 in Little Rock.
- In that last outing against SEMO, the Trojans scored 33 points off turnovers.
- The last time Little Rock visited the Cape, SEMO claimed a 57-45 win.
- Joe Foley is looking for his first-ever win in Cape Girardeau.
Five Things to Know
- Fourth Quarter Faith
Forward Faith Lee found fourth quarter magic the week of Jan. 23 as the Trojans embarked on the road. Of the 24 points the freshman scored over two games, half of those (12 points) came in the fourth quarter. Her late game performance was critical in pulling away from Morehead State and rallying for a win at Tennessee Tech. That's likely why she was named the OVC's Co-Freshman of the Week on Tuesday.
- Salileven
Forward Sali Kourouma enters this game ranked 11th in the nation with a Player Efficiency Rating of 39.3, a mark that leads the OVC. A measure that details the per minute value of a player from their box score stats, Kourouma's mark of 39.3 is the ONLY one in the OVC above 27.0 and nationally ranks right behind South Carolina's Aaliyah Boston (39.6). The next best OVC rating is held by SIUE's Ajulu Thatha (26.5).
- Looking for Another Season Sweep
As the Ohio Valley Conference embarks on the second half of its conference schedule, Little Rock's Team is introducing itself to the league by securing a season sweep over two teams so far - Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech. The latter sweep, which was secured on Jan. 28 in a thrilling 66-63 win, gave the Trojans a mathematical two-game lead over Tech for a top-two spot and an effective three-game lead over the Golden Eagles, holding the first tiebreaker in hand. A win over Southeast Missouri on Thursday would mark the third sweep of the year, causing the Trojans to break out the brooms again. Coincidentally, those brooms might be used to help Little Rock get home Thursday evening, navigating the icy roads back to Little Rock. Curling, anyone?
- Trojans Make It Twice in a Septennial
When Little Rock rallied for a win at Tennessee Tech on Jan. 28, it marked just a second occurrence in a septennial (once every seven years). For just the second time in the past seven years, Tennessee Tech held the lead at home entering the fourth quarter and did not win. The Trojans, down two to enter the final period, rallied for a 66-63 win. The only other time this feat happened at the Eblen Center was on Feb. 5, 2022 when Belmont overcame an 8-point deficit entering the fourth quarter for a 58-49 win.
- Quite a Handful
Little Rock's defense can be quite a handful and the OVC is learning that lesson the hard way. The Trojans seem to make ball movement difficult. In fact, of all the players to hit the court against Little Rock's Team, only three have been able to tally five or more assists in a single game - Oral Roberts' Hannah Cooper (8), Morehead State's Sandra Lin (7) and Arkansas' Samara Spencer (6). Every other player to be on the same court as the Trojans this season has been limited to less than five assists in a game.
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