Little Rock's tough road stretch ends with loss to Missouri

COLUMBIA, Missouri — A string of four consecutive games against Power 5 opponents came to an end Friday afternoon with a 78-49 loss to the Missouri Tigers at Mizzou Arena. Little Rock (1-4) now returns home for its next two, hosting Murray State on Tuesday night at the Jack Stephens Center and Arkansas State on Tuesday, Dec. 3.
 
Faith Lee led the Little Rock offense with eight points, Sug Williams and Brenna Burk each added seven, Emerald Parker dropped in six points and Alaina Payne finished with five. Payne also finished with a team-high six rebounds and added three assists in just 19 minutes off the bench. Jayla Brooks also had three assists and Parker contributed five rebounds and three blocks.
 
Trailing by 18 after one period, Little Rock went on an 8-2 run to close the gap to a dozen early in the second, then Burk hit a triple to halt a 10-0 Missouri run. Burk came off the bench to lead the team in scoring (5) at the half. Her string of consecutive made free throws ended in the third period at 15. The Trojans put together a 7-0 run to clip the deficit to 29 midway through the fourth and outscored the Tigers by a 19-12 count during the final frame.
 
Following the home games with Murray State and Arkansas State, Little Rock closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule with road games against Central Arkansas (Dec. 7) and Missouri State (Dec. 14). Conference play begins Dec. 19 with the Trojans hosting SIUE.