After splitting two Ohio Valley Conference road games last week, the Trojan women are looking for a road sweep this week. Little Rock (8-9, 6-2) plays at Western Illinois (9-8, 3-5) at 5 p.m., Thursday. They round out the road trip on Saturday at Lindenwood in St. Charles, Mo.
Thursday night's game can be heard on 920 AM The Sports Animal with Trey Schaap on the call. ESPN+ is also streaming the game.
LAST TIME OUT
The Trojans had an off day shooting in a 70-49 loss at Tennessee Tech last Saturday. Little Rock trailed by double digits most of the game. They did cut the lead to 10 with 8:53 to play in the second half but couldn't get any closer.
Faith Lee led Little Rock with 13 points.
Emerald Parker added 11 points and 9 rebounds.
Jordan Holman chipped in eight points.
Sug Williams chipped in eight rebounds.
HANDLE WITH CARE
Little Rock leads the league in turnover margin. For the entire season, the Trojans are averaging 13.8 turnovers per game while forcing 19.4. That's a margin of 5.63 which is well above UT Martin, whose margin of 3.11 is second in the OVC.
SECOND-PLACE LOGJAM
Eastern Illinois is in the driver's seat in the OVC with an 8-0 record. Little Rock joins three other teams that are tied for second. Second place is coveted as it comes with a bye to the semifinals of the OVC Tournament.
AT HOME ON THE ROAD
As Little Rock wraps up a four-game road stint, they have the second-best league road record. The Trojans are 3-1 on the road. The only team with a better mark is undefeated Eastern Illinois, who is 8-0 in league play. No one else other than EIU and Little Rock has a winning record on the road in the OVC.
A BATTLE OF THE BEST
The top scorers in the OVC go head-to-head Thursday night. Raegan McCowan leads the league in scoring with 21.5 points per game. Little Rock's
Faith Lee averages 20.5 ppg. McCowan owns the league's top scoring night so far with a 35-point outing at Morehead State. Lee's 31 points against SIUE is No. 2.
SERIES HISTORY
The teams have only met once as WIU didn't join the OVC until last season. The Trojans, who joined the OVC the year before, won that game 50-41 last February at Macomb, Ill.
FIRST LOOK: WESTERN ILLINOIS
The Leathernecks enter the game playing well, winning two of their past three games. WIU blew out Tennessee State at home on Saturday, Jan. 11 and then blasted Morehead State on the road, 92-63, last week. Southern Indiana halted the win streak at two with a 72-58 win at Evansville, Ind., last Saturday.
Sophomore scoring sensation Raegan McCowan leads WIU with a league-best 21.5 ppg scoring average. She also leads the team in rebounds with 7.9. The 5-foot-11 guard from Lebanon, Mo., led the league in scoring as a freshman with a little over 19 points per game. She was the OVC Freshman of the Week a record 13 times last winter. In high school, she starred on the court and the classroom as she was an all-stater once and an academic all-state selection three times.
Junior forward Mia Nicastro is the only other WIU player averaging in double figures with 13.5 ppg. She also averages 6.8 rpg. Mallory McDermott, a 5-8 guard, is the veteran of the team. The fifth-year graduate student from Fairfax, Iowa averages 9.2 ppg.
JD Gravina is in his 13
th season coaching WIU, who played its first season in the OVC last year. Gravina became the schoool's all-time winningest women's coach last winter and entered this season with a 198-193 record. He now has won 200 games at the school and won his 300
th career game last winter. Gravina also coached at Quincy University and McPherson College. His career record entering this season was 312-254.
