MOBILE – Milestone victories are always memorable and it will be hard for Joe Foley to forget this one. Little Rock shot a season-high 56.9 percent from the field, ended a four-game skid and rallied from an early deficit in a 69-58 win over South Alabama Saturday afternoon.

Teal Battle and Tori Lasker each scored 16 points to lead the Trojans with Battle scoring in the paint while Lasker was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Kyra Collier added 14 points for the Maroon and Silver. Little Rock’s shooting percentage did not dip below 50 percent throughout the entire game.

More than just securing Joe Foley‘s 800^th career victory, Little Rock (11-15, 9-6 Sun Belt) claimed a pivotal win in Sun Belt play. The Trojans were tied with South Alabama (13-14, 8-7) entering the game but remain in fourth place in the league standings, tied with Louisiana. The third and fourth seeds will host the first two rounds of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on March 10 and 11.

“I’m more relived that we played the game the way it should be played,” Trojans Head Coach Joe Foley said on his 800^th career win. “We moved the ball extremely well on offense and shot it well. That is what this team needs. I’m relieved nobody is going to ask me about 800 anymore. I’m tired. It is two good things happening today but most importantly our kids got their confidence.”

Initially, the milestone win was anything but guaranteed. South Alabama, coming off a dominating win over Arkansas State, kept that momentum going early in the game as the led by as much as six (31-25) midway through the second quarter. But a Jaguar missed 3-pointer, followed by a foul then a media timeout tempered that home enthusiasm.

Little Rock began to chip away at that lead following the media timeout and the momentum swung into the Trojans’ favor entering halftime as Lasker hit back-to-back treys in the final minute, turning a three-point deficit into a three-point lead for Little Rock at halftime.

“They got a little bit of a lead on us but I thought when we came back on them it showed our character,” Foley said of his team. “Our kids were ready to fight. It gave them confidence and from that point on, I thought we controlled the game.”

The Trojans kept hold of that momentum to start the second half and never trailed after intermission. Little Rock prevented the Jaguars from scoring a field goal for nearly five minutes in the third quarter and led by as much as 11 following a pair of free throws by Battle. But South Alabama was not done. The Jags went on a 7-0 run and cut the Trojan lead to four as time waned in the third quarter before Angelique Francis stole the ball and raced down the court for a fastbreak layup just before time expired in the quarter. Once again, Little Rock snapped the momentum away from South Alabama at a quarter break.

Little Rock seemingly controlled the game after that as Collier’s field goal in the paint with 7:39 remaining sparked a 16-2 run that left little down when Foley’s next milestone would be recorded. Collier would be responsible for eight of those 16 points in that run as the senior captain led the Trojans to victory.

The Trojans now turn their attention to rival Arkansas State, who Little Rock will play Friday evening in Jonesboro. It will be yet another pivotal contest as Louisiana moved just a half-game behind Little Rock with their win Saturday.

“The next two weeks are going to be very important,” Foley said. “We have top teams with South Alabama coming back to us and Troy coming to us and we have to go to Arkansas State. We have a chance to improve our standings and get one of those (host) seeds and I hope we can get it done.”

As Little Rock hits the final stretch of the regular season, with the final three regular season games being played in the state of Arkansas, the Trojans will control their own destiny as teams jockey for host seeds.

Coach Foley would prefer more discussions on that topic, quite tired of any milestone discussion. Win number 800 wasn’t easy to obtain.

“And 801 won’t be any easier,” Foley said. “There was so much focus on this that I’m just glad it is over and we can just forget about it and just worry about our kids.”

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LITTLE ROCK – Head coach Joe Foley has announced his intention to stay at the helm of the Little Rock women’s basketball program and will not be pursuing any other coaching opportunities.

A new contract with new terms is in the works to keep the NCAA’s seventh-winningest active Division I head coach with the Trojans. The new deal shows the department’s sustained commitment to the continued success of the women’s basketball program which has thrived and flourished under Foley’s tenure.

“We are beyond thrilled to have Joe Foley remain as our head women’s basketball coach at Little Rock,” said Director of Athletics Chasse Conque. “Joe has brought tremendous regional and national recognition to our program and university through his tireless work as a leader and mentor to our student-athletes. I look forward to working with Joe and his staff as we continue our efforts to take our program to new heights.”

Foley is coming off a year unlike any other in his 15-year tenure with Trojans as he accomplished a multitude of milestones throughout the 2017-18 season. Foley earned his fifth Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year award after guiding the Trojans to their second consecutive Sun Belt Regular-Season Championship with a 17-1 record.

The team then won the Sun Belt Tournament Championship for the fourth time and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time — all of which have come under Foley’s tenure. The Trojans’ NCAA Tournament appearance put Little Rock in a postseason tournament for the 10th time in the last 11 years.

Little Rock also tallied a 20-win season for the 11th time in the past 12 seasons as it finished the year with 23 victories. Since Foley’s arrival at Little Rock in 2003, the Trojans have won a combined 15 Sun Belt Regular Season, Tournament and Division Championships.

Foley became the Sun Belt Conference’s all-time winningest coach with his 182nd conference win on Feb. 27. Just two days earlier, Foley earned his 300th win as the head coach of the Trojans. In the second game of conference play on Dec. 31, Foley tallied his 750th career win and was just the 12th Division I head coach in women’s basketball history to accomplish the feat. On Feb. 1, Foley coached in his 1,000th career game and led the Trojans to victory once again.

Foley’s love of defense continued to shine in 2017-18 as Little Rock had the nation’s sixth-best scoring defense with 53.8 points allowed per game. That total led the Sun Belt Conference for the sixth consecutive season and was the 12th time in the last 13 seasons.

The Arkansas native’s entire coaching career has resided in the Natural State. Before coming to Little Rock, Foley served as Arkansas Tech’s head coach from 1987 to 2003 after serving three seasons as the men’s assistant coach. Before getting into the college game, Foley was an assistant coach for Morrilton High School’s men’s team from 1981 to 1984. Foley served as the head coach for both men’s and women’s basketball at Oxford High School from 1979 to 1981 after earning his bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas in 1979.

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LITTLE ROCK – In head coach Joe Foley’s 1,000th career game as a collegiate head coach, Little Rock women’s basketball pummeled Georgia Southern by a score of 92-52 to earn its 10th consecutive win on Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center.

The Trojans’ 92 points tied the program record for most points scored against a Sun Belt Conference opponent. Little Rock (13-8, 10-0 Sun Belt) last put up 92 at ULM last season. Little Rock’s 38 made field goals and 72 attempted field goals were the second-most in the Division I era (1999-present).

Ronjanae DeGray had herself a night with a game-high 21 points in addition to four rebounds and two steals in just 21 minutes. Tori Lasker scored all five of her buckets from beyond the arc as she finished with 15 points, three assists and two rebounds. Yanina Inkina finished with a career-high 14 points, five rebounds and two blocks. Monique Townson commanded the Trojans’ offense with eight assists in addition to six points, four rebounds and two steals. Little Rock ended the game shooting 38-for-72 (52.8%) from the field, 8-for-19 (42.1%) from three and 8-for-9 (88.9%) from the charity stripe.

The Eagles (4-17, 1-9 Sun Belt) also had three players in double figures. Nakol Franks led Georgia Southern with 13 points and two steals while Alexis Brown had 11 points. Hailey Dias-Allen was the third Eagle in double figures as she ended up with 10.

The Trojans took their largest lead of the game at 42 points with 2:16 left to play after Kira Shepard’s second three-pointer of the quarter. Shepard led the fourth quarter with six points and three assists as Little Rock shot 40 percent (8-for-20) from the field and 37.5 percent (3-for-8) from three. Of Little Rock’s 19 points in the fourth period, 17 came from the bench.

The already large lead moved to 35 points at the end of the third quarter as Little Rock took a 73-38 lead. The Trojans were 8-for-18 (44.4%) in the period as DeGray and Terrion Moore had four points each.

Little Rock ended the first half with 53 points — its most since scoring 54 against Louisiana in Jan. 2010. The 30-point first-half lead over the Eagles was the largest by the Trojans this season. Little Rock ended the half with three players in double figures as DeGray had 17, Lasker had 12 and Inkina had 10. The Trojans were 10-for-15 (66.7%) in the second period and were 22-for-34 (64.7%) in the first half.

Little Rock began the game with a 9-0 run and escalated the lead to 28-10 by quarter’s end. DeGray had 11 points and went 5-for-6 in the period. The Trojans shot 63.2 percent (12-for-19) from the field and were 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. Fourteen of Little Rock’s 28 points in the quarter came from the Eagles’ seven turnovers.

Keanna Keys ended the game with nine points and six rebounds while Moore finished up with six points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Shepard ended up with six points and three assists, and Raeyana DeGray had six points with five rebounds. Teal Battle tallied four points and four assists while Anna Hurlburt finished with six rebounds, two points, two assists and two blocked shots. Kiara Scott had three points, and Sydney Chastain had two rebounds and an assist.

Little Rock will look to sweep the season series against Georgia State on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Jack Stephens Center.

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LITTLE ROCK – Head coach Joe Foley became the 12th Division I head coach in NCAA women’s basketball history to earn 750 career wins as Little Rock defeated ULM, 57-37, on Sunday afternoon at the Jack Stephens Center.

Among men’s and women’s coaches in Division I, Foley is just the 30th head coach to obtain 750 career victories.

“It means I’ve been coaching a long time,” Foley said. “I’ve had some great kids and great teams. It hasn’t been a two or three-year deal, it’s been 30 years of coaching great kids.”

Ronjanae DeGray put in a blistering performance for Little Rock (5-8, 2-0 Sun Belt) as she tallied a career-high 23 points and went 11-for-19 from the field with seven rebounds. Keanna Keys did her part with a season-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and one steal. Raeyana DeGray put up a career-high 11 boards with four points and three assists. Monique Townson tied her career high for rebounds with eight as she tallied four assists, three points and a game-high two steals.

ULM (3-10, 0-2 Sun Belt) had no players in double figures as Arsula Clark and Latangellia Walker led the Warhawks with eight points each.

Little Rock owned a 12-9 lead after one quarter of play behind Keys’ six points. Both sides shot 33.3 percent from the field while the Trojans had a 14-8 lead in rebounds.

The Trojans upped their lead to 24-18 at the half after shooting 41.7 percent (5-for-12) in the second quarter. Ronjanae DeGray led the period with six points and upped her game total to 10. Tied at 14, the Trojans went on a 6-0 run with a layup by DeGray, a jumper by Townson and two free throws by DeGray.

The Trojans’ lead increased to 15 after three quarters of play with a 42-27 lead. Little Rock shot 57.1 percent (8-for-14) in the third period as DeGray increased her game total to a career-high 19 points. Up 31-22, the Trojans went on a 9-0 run to take an 18-point lead at 40-22.

With a victory in their grasp, the Trojans took their largest lead with 11 seconds left in the game as Tori Lasker drilled a three to put Little Rock up by 20.

Lasker ended the game with five points, four rebounds and four assists while Anna Hurlburt had four points, four assists, three rebounds and a block.

The Trojans were dominate on the boards with a 47-25 advantage — the biggest margin since outrebounding Georgia State 36-16 in Jan. 2016. Little Rock had 18 offensive rebounds to go along with 29 on defense. Little Rock’s 47 rebounds were the most in a single game since putting up 46 against Texas State in Feb. 2015.

Little Rock committed its fewest turnovers this season with nine while ULM had 13. The Trojans ended the game shooting 43.3 percent (26-for-60) while the Warhawks shot 31.9 (15-for-47).

The Trojans will now go on the road to face Georgia State in Atlanta on Thursday. The game will air live on ESPN3 at 4 p.m. (CT).

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