Timely second wind

Trojans find legs, get stops

UALR’s Lexus Williams grabs a rebound away from Georgia State’s Morgan Jackson (21) and Gaby Moss (24) in the Trojans’ 56-39 victory Thursday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
UALR’s Lexus Williams grabs a rebound away from Georgia State’s Morgan Jackson (21) and Gaby Moss (24) in the Trojans’ 56-39 victory Thursday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

The first half of Thursday's game at the Jack Stephens Center didn't give anyone associated with the UALR women's basketball team a calming feeling.

The second half was more like it.

UALR came up with five consecutive stops coming out of halftime to give itself some breathing room and cruised from there in a 56-39 victory over Georgia State in its regular-season home finale.

Georgia State shot 54.5 percent in the first half and was within 33-31 going into halftime, but UALR forced 15 turnovers in the second half as it held the Lady Panthers to eight points on 3-of-13 shooting.

UALR scored 22 points off 23 Georgia State turnovers for the game.

"I thought we wore them down and really picked it up in the second half," UALR Coach Joe Foley said.

Foley knew his team would have to outwork Georgia State with junior forward Shanity James sitting out the entire game. James wasn't injured or suspended. Foley said he just wanted to give her "a breather" less than two weeks before the start of the Sun Belt Tournament.

James is one of UALR's most experienced players, having made 70 career starts, but Foley said he felt resting James and the rest of the team could use some rest after what he saw in Saturday's 65-62 loss at Troy.

"We were in slow motion," Foley said. "I'm trying to get their legs back under them and let them be ready for the tournament. The tournament is the most important thing. If we win [Thursday], we win. If we don't, we don't."

Normally James would have guarded Georgia State senior Brittany Logan, but that assignment fell to sophomores Kaitlyn Pratt and Keanna Keys. Pratt and Keys limited the 6-4 forward to 11 points, eight which came during a two-minute stretch in the first half.

Senior Kiera Clark tied a season high with 16 points and added eight rebounds for the Trojans (23-4, 16-2), while Alexius Dawn added 13 points and Taylor Gault and Sharde' Collins scored nine each. Ka'Nesheia Cobbins added 3 points, 7 assists and 6 reboundsas UALR picked up its 24th consecutive victory over a Sun Belt team at home.

Clark, Gault and Cobbins played their final home game at the Stephens Center, where they were 33-4 against conference teams over the past four seasons.

"It hasn't really hit me knowing that it's my last home game here," Cobbins said. "It was fun. It's always good to win, especially when it's your last game."

Ashley Watson made 5 of 7 shots for Georgia State (12-14, 7-10) and finished with 13 points while filling in for Alisha Andrews, Georgia State's leader in assists and steals who did not make the trip after violating team rules.

"Obviously, we're a little bit different," Georgia State Coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. "We don't get out in transition as much, or as fast, and it affects us defensively as well."

Georgia State (42.9 percent) outshot UALR (40 percent) -- only the second time this season the Trojans have been outshot in a conference game -- but the turnovers made up for it.

Cobbins had three steals and five other players had one each in a performance that Foley said was better than the one he watched last week in Troy, Ala.

"We have not reached our peak," Cobbins said. "I feel like we can be playing so much better than what we are. We have our good days and our bad days, but we can't have those days.

"From here on out, we can only go up."

ARKANSAS STATE 67,

TEXAS-ARLINGTON 62

Khadija Brown-Haywood had 17 points and six rebounds to lead Arkansas State (18-8, 13-3 Sun Belt) to a victory over Texas-Arlington (15-10, 9-7) at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro. Aundrea Gamble finished with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals. Jasmine Hunt had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, while Hanna Qedan added 10 points for the Red Wolves.

ASU led 39-25 at halftime, but Texas-Arlington took a 55-54 lead on Lashanda Green’s three-pointer with 6:34 left. The Mavericks’ lead lasted 18 seconds, though, as ASU’s Brittney Gill made a layup to give the Red Wolves a 56-55 advantage.

The Red Wolves extended their lead to 63-56 with 2:17 left on Hunt’s two free throws before Texas-Arlington pulled within 63-60 at the 1:07 mark. ASU sealed the victory by going 4 for 4 at the free throw line.

Cierra Johnson led the Mavericks with 17 points. Rebekah Van Dijk added 16 points and nine rebounds.

SOUTHLAND WOMEN

CENTRAL ARKANSAS 64,

SAM HOUSTON STATE 56

Maggie Proffitt scored 18 points and Central Arkansas (16-11, 9-6) clinched a berth in the Southland Conference Tournament with a victory over Sam Houston State (6-19, 5-10) at the Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas.

Kendara Watts finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, while Terai Sadler added 15 points and six rebounds.

UCA has won six of its past eight games while Sam Houston State has lost four in a row. Thursday’s game was the second in a row between the Sugar Bears and Bearkats. UCA beat Sam Houston State 66-63 last Saturday. Taylor Dorsey led the Bearkats with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Shernise Robertson had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Sports on 02/27/2015

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