Little Rock women still perfect in Sun Belt
Little Rock Sports
Evan Drexler, Assistant Director of Communications
LITTLE ROCK – The Trojan women’s basketball team is still unblemished in Sun Belt Conference play, and this year’s team is now in the program record book.
Little Rock handled Coastal Carolina 79-47 at the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday evening, winning their 11th straight game to begin Sun Belt Conference play and tie themselves with the 2010-11 Trojans for most consecutive wins to start the conference slate in team history.
The Trojans (17-6, 11-0 Sun Belt) used a strong defensive effort in the first half to build a lead over Coastal (9-12, 4-7) and put up 45 points in the second half to win their 16th consecutive conference game at the Jack Stephens Center dating back to last season.
With a loss by UT Arlington on Saturday, Little Rock is now 2.5 games ahead of the second-place Mavericks and the Troy Trojans (both 8-2 in the Sun Belt) with seven conference games remaining.
Kaitlyn Pratt reached a milestone during the game, scoring the 1,000th point of her career in the third quarter. The senior led the Trojans on the night with 19 points and had five rebounds. Ronjanae DeGray scored 13 points, and Carolee Dillard set a new career high with 11.
Kyra Collier was Little Rock’s top rebounder with six rebounds and also had six steals and five assists. Sharde’ Collins scored 8, had five assists and two steals. Monique Townson had 8 points as well with three assists and four rebounds. All told, 10 different Trojans players scored.
Little Rock committed a season-low six turnovers while Coastal had 24 total turnovers that resulted in 32 Trojan points. Little Rock recorded 18 assists while Coastal had just nine.
Little Rock’s defense was stifling right from the beginning of the game as Coastal managed just 6 points in the first period on 2 of 10 shooting. The Trojans faced six Chanticleer turnovers and shot 7 of 13 from the field themselves, giving the home team a 16-6 edge after 10 minutes.
In the second quarter, the Chanticleers scored 4 quick points but were unable to score again for seven minutes. Coastal committed nine turnovers in the second quarter and had an 0-for-6 streak from the field as Little Rock went on a 16-0 run and go up by more than 20 points. At halftime, the Trojans led 34-13.
Little Rock’s lead only grew in the second half, getting as large as 35 with 4:28 to play.
The Trojans will attempt to set a new school record for consecutive wins to start Sun Belt play on Thursday when they travel to UT Arlington. Tipoff between the Trojans and the second-place Mavericks is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.