The UALR women’s basketball team couldn’t slow Troy’s high-scoring offense this time, and because of that UALR’s first-ever loss to Troy ended a season-long winning streak.
Joanna Harden scored 33 points, Ashley Beverly-Kelley had 15 and Troy beat UALR 86-77 on Wednesday night at Trojan Arena in Troy, Ala.
It was the first time in 13tries Troy has beaten UALR.
The loss snapped UALR’s four-game winning streak even as it tied a season-high point total in a Sun Belt game.
Shanity James had 15 points and 13 rebounds, Kiera Clark had 14 points, while Taylor Gault added 12 for UALR (14-11, 9-6). The Trojans made 42.4 percent of its shots and held a 47-40 rebounding advantage.
UALR couldn’t keep up with the league’s top scoring team or Harden, the league’s top individual scorer like itdid in a victory last month in Little Rock.
Troy averages 80.2 points per game, but UALR held it to a season-low point total in a 69-52 victory on Jan. 11.
On Wednesday, Troy (11-15, 7-8) was able to slow down UALR after it took a 38-36 lead at halftime.
The Trojans led 51-47 with 15:33 left, but Harden made two free throws to spark an 8-2 run that gave Troy a 55-53 lead with 13:22 and UALR never led again.
After James’ layup tied the game at 55-55 with 12:51 left, Troy went on a 10-2 run to go up 65-57 on a Harden jumper with 7:28 left and UALR never got closer than five points the rest of the game.
Kaitlyn Pratt added 11 points and eight rebounds for UALR, which outscored Troy 42-32 in the paint and had 20 offensive rebounds. But Troy, which shot 40 percent from the floor, made 33 of 39 free throws and forced UALR’s starters into 16 total turnovers.
Sports, Pages 20 on 02/27/2014