Faith Lee poured in a career-high 25 points,
Jaiyah Harris-Smith grabbed a season-best 12 rebounds and the Little Rock Trojans held off Eastern Illinois on Saturday for a 53-49 conference win at the Jack Stephens Center – the Trojans' fourth win in five games.
Lee made 11-of-25 shots from the field and swiped four steals (tying a career-best) and Harris-Smith got five rebounds on the offensive glass, helping the Trojans (4-11, 3-1 OVC) to their second-highest rebounding total of the year (34). She also scored eight points and added four assists.
Jayla Brooks scored just five points after totaling 50 over her previous two but had three steals in the game.
Eastern Illinois (5-11, 2-1 OVC) shot just 37 percent from the field (17-of-46) and 31.3 percent from long distance (5-of-16). Macy McGlone posted a double-double with 22 points and 16 rebounds (seven offensive) but no other Panther had more than nine points. McGlone made 8-of-15 shots while the rest of the team combined to hit just 9-of-31 for a 29 percent clip.
Little Rock led by as many as 11 midways through the third period, outscored EIU by a 30-12 margin inside the paint and never trailed in the contest after opening the game with an 8-0 run. The Panthers tied the game in the second at 16-16 but the Trojans would go back in front by eight just before halftime.
A 7-0 run by the Panthers cut Little Rock's 11-point lead down to 34-30 as the game reached the end of the third.
Sug Williams converted an "and one" opportunity and followed with a transition layup to boost the Little Rock advantage to 10 with 3:54 to play. Despite getting their deficit down to four points several times in the final minutes, the Panthers could not get any closer.
The Trojans move into at least second place in the OVC with the win and will be off until next Saturday when they hit the road to face UT Martin at 1 pm on Jan. 13.
