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.

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LITTLE ROCK – After winning a close third set to keep their hopes alive, Little Rock volleyball (0-4) fell 3-1 (18-25, 14-25, 30-28, 17-25) to Oklahoma (4-0) in the opening match of the Little Rock Invitational on Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center.

Veronica Marin led the Trojan offense as she put up a career-high 13 kills.

Tied 10-10 in the first set, Oklahoma went on a 12-4 run to take a 22-14 lead. The Trojans cut the Sooner lead to four at 22-18 with four straight points before Oklahoma scored three consecutive points to win the set.

The Sooners led the entirety of the second set and eventually took the win with a double-digit margin of victory at 25-14.

The third set was the most highly contested frame of the night as the set went into extra points. With the Trojans taking the first set point at 24-23, Oklahoma evened it up with a kill by Alyssa Enneking. A kill by Marin gave Little Rock set point again at 25-24, but Oklahoma answered once more with a kill by Madison Ward.

The Sooners gained their first match point at 26-25 on an ace by Rachel Manriquez, but Taylor Lindberg declined Oklahoma the match with a kill. With match point once again at 28-27, Marina Avram denied Oklahoma the win with a kill. Tied 28-28, the Trojans finished off the Sooners with two straight points on a block by Carolee Dillard and an ace by Marina Avram.

However, the Sooners weren’t about to lay down as they got out to a nine-point lead at 20-11 in the fourth set. Little Rock was able to cut Oklahoma’s lead to seven at 24-17, but a final kill by the Sooners’ Kimmy Gardiner put the match away.

Edina Selimovic led the match with six total blocks (one solo and five assisted) and picked up eight kills with a team-high .312 hitting percentage.

Marina Avram had nine kills for the Trojans with two service aces. Taylor Lindberg led the team with 22 assists and picked up four total blocks, tying her career high. Sydnee Martin led Little Rock with 18 digs and tallied two aces. Carolee Dillard led the match with three solo blocks and had a total of four.

Little Rock outblocked Oklahoma 13-12.5 at the net. The Trojans have won the block battle in all four matches this season.

The Trojans return to action on Friday with a noon match against UAPB and a 6 p.m., match against Mississippi State at the Jack Stephens Center.

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