LITTLE ROCK – In a battle for first place in the Sun Belt Conference, the Little Rock women’s basketball team came out on top.

Little Rock (12-6, 6-0) survived a third-quarter run by Troy (12-5, 5-1) and held on late for a 77-74 victory at the Jack Stephens Center on Thursday night, staying undefeated in league play and taking over sole possession of first place in the conference.

Kaitlyn Pratt was Little Rock’s leader on offense with 20 points and added five rebounds. Kyra Collier scored 14 points and was within a breath of a triple-double with nine rebounds and nine assists. Sharde’ Collins scored 16 points, and Ronjonae DeGray was the fourth Little Rock player in double figures with 13 points.

The game was close all the way through the fourth quarter, with neither team holding a lead larger than 6 points. Little Rock got that 6-point lead with 3:44 remaining when Collins drained a 3-pointer. But from there, Little Rock’s offense went cold and Troy scored the next five points to make it a 75-74 game with 1:13 remaining.

Little Rock missed a 3-pointer on its next possession, Troy missed a 3-pointer on its next possession, and Monique Townson followed with two made free throws. Troy had another chance to tie but missed a 3-pointer with eight seconds remaining. After two missed free throws by Pratt, Troy was unable to get off a final shot as Townson deflected a long Troy pass and sealed the win for the home team.

The scoring began in the first half, with Little Rock setting a new season best for points in a half with 42. Little Rock got 16 points from Pratt – 8 away from her career single-game high – and led Troy by 10 points at the break. Troy committed 16 turnovers that led to 14 Little Rock points.

Little Rock began to pull away from Troy toward the end of the second quarter, going on an 11-2 run to close the half and keeping Troy without a point for more than three and a half minutes. Still, Troy stayed in the game due to shooting 44 percent from the floor in the period including a 4-of-7 effort from the 3-point line.

In the the third quarter, though, the visitors from Troy began to catch up as Little Rock got into foul trouble. Troy sank 10 free throws in the quarter while holding Little Rock to a low shooting percentage, and Troy was able to take a lead at 57-56 with 28 seconds left in the quarter as they closed the period on an 11-2 run.

Early in the fourth quarter, neither team seemed to be able to miss as they exchanged baskets for the first five minutes. With Troy leading 67-66, though, Little Rock scored 6 consecutive points on a DeGray layup, a Collins jumper and a Collier layup to make it a 72-67 game and give Little Rock some breathing room.

Townson was a big factor for Little Rock, scoring 8 points, adding five rebounds and dishing out six assists. Sophomore Kira Shepard played her first game of the season as well after tearing her right anterior cruciate ligament in the Sun Belt Championship Game against Troy last year. She had 4 points and a rebound in six minutes.

Little Rock remains at home this weekend, hosting South Alabama at the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday. That game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. tipoff.

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Kyra Collier, freshman, Little Rock (North Little Rock H.S.)

Collier closed out 2016 averaging a double-double in her final two games, while very nearly getting a triple-double on New Year’s Eve, and was actually on pace for a quadruple-double if her team hadn’t been in such complete control of the game that her efforts weren’t needed. The freshman averaged 14.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in wins over Louisiana and Louisiana-Monroe last week. Collier also recorded 13 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the 78-34 win over ULM, of which she had nine points, five rebounds, eight assists to go with five steals by halftime and LR was on top comfortably, 41-9.

Bennie Lufile, senior, and Alex Brown, sophomore, Arkansas Tech

Arkansas Tech finished the calendar year and the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 91-88 overtime win over Missouri S&T and got big play from both Lufile and Brown to get it done. Lufile recorded a big time double-double with 18 points and 22 rebounds, 11 offensive and 11 defensive. The rebounding mark is a new school record. And Brown simply put the ball in the basket. The sophomore scored 40 points, making seven three-pointers on the night and scoring seven of the Wonder Boys’ 11 points in the extra period for the win.

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TULSA – The Little Rock women’s basketball team trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half, but an offensive and defensive resurgence allowed the Trojans to storm back for a 63-58 victory over Tulsa at the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Sunday afternoon.

Tulsa (4-8) shot nearly 47 percent from the field in the first half and took a 33-22 lead into the break. But Little Rock (6-5) held the Golden Hurricane to just 37 percent from the field in the second half while outscoring Tulsa 41-25 in the final 20 minutes.

Kyra Collier scored a career-high 15 points and more than doubled her career high in rebounds with 17 for her first collegiate double-double. Sharde’ Collins tied for the team lead in scoring with 15 points, and Kaitlyn Pratt added 15 points as well and nine rebounds. Ronjanae DeGray was Little Rock’s fourth double-digit scorer, putting up 10 points.

Little Rock’s 63 points were the most it has scored all season, and Sunday marked the first time this year that Little Rock had four players reach double-figure scoring.

The Trojans also dominated the Hurricane on the boards, pulling down 51 total rebounds to Tulsa’s 32. That margin included a 21-5 edge for Little Rock on the offensive glass. Little Rock last recorded more than 50 rebounds against Incarnate Word on Dec. 10, 2013.

For nearly two thirds of the game, things appeared to be destined for a Tulsa win. But Little Rock completely turned things around midway through the third quarter. Tulsa led 45-34 with 5:21 to play, but Little Rock closed the period on an 8-2 run to make the Hurricane’s lead a manageable 47-42 entering the fourth.

It took the Trojans another five minutes of chipping away at Tulsa’s lead before they finally broke through, but a Collins jumper with 4:29 remaining finally put Little Rock ahead for the first time all game. Tulsa’s red-hot shooting dried up in the period as the team went just 4 of 15 from the floor.

In the fourth quarter, Collins scored 6 points and Pratt added 7. Collier added 4 points of her own as Little Rock went 7 of 14 from the field in the fourth quarter.

Tulsa began the game on a 9-0 run before a pair of Collier free throws 4:30 into the game got the Trojans on the board. The Trojans got within one at 19-18 early in the second quarter by scoring its first 4 points, but the Hurricane followed with a 12-0 run and entered halftime leading 33-22.

Carolee Dillard scored 4 points for Little Rock, recording her first points since 2013. Monique Townson had a team-high four assists in 38 minutes. The Trojans scored 34 points in the paint.

The Trojans play one more non-conference game this season on Wednesday, squaring off against the Tigers of LSU. Little Rock and LSU are set for a 7 p.m. tip at the Maravich Center.

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