TEMPE, Ariz. -- Third-seeded Arizona State led the UALR women's basketball team for barely more than one minute during Monday's second-round NCAA Tournament game on Sun Devil's home court.
But the Sun Devils led when it counted most -- at the end.
A five-minute scoring drought and a 25-foot banked in three-pointer as the shot clock expired is all that kept UALR from advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.
Elisha Davis' three-pointer pulled Arizona State within three points, got the 1,891 in attendance at Wells Fargo Arena louder than it had been all night and kick-started a final rally in its 57-54 victory over UALR in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
"Difference in the ballgame," UALR Coach Joe Foley said of the shot.
UALR guard Taylor Gault said the crowd never bothered the Trojans. Davis' three-pointer, made with Ka'Nesheia Cobbins and Alexius Dawn in her face, did.
"Just a lucky shot," Gault said. "We were there, it just went in."
Davis credited a higher power.
"That was God," Davis said. "That's why that went in."
Whatever the impetus, the resulting three points boosted an Arizona State team that had trouble with UALR's man-to-man defense all night. The Sun Devils shot 37.5 percent from the field and committed 17 turnovers, but Davis' shot helped them outscore the Trojans 10-4 to end the game, capped by Davis blocking Alexius Dawn's three-pointer from the right wing at the buzzer.
Arizona State (29-5) advances in the NCAA Tournament -- it will play No. 2 seed Florida State on Friday in Greensboro, N.C. -- but UALR left with the respect of the opposing coach.
"I don't want to play that team again," Arizona State Coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "Arkansas-Little Rock is good. They're legit. They played an amazing game, and I feel like it's a game both teams deserved to win."
UALR (29-5) looked poised to do so for more than 30 minutes Monday.
The Trojans used their defense to build a 22-9 lead in the first half and a 26-17 lead at halftime. They held the Sun Devils, ranked in the top 10 of both polls, to 6 of 28 shooting in the first half and forced 11 turnovers. UALR got points from four different players when it outscored Arizona State 9-0 early in the second half to lead 37-21 with 15:24 left. Six minutes later, Kiera Clark's three-point play made it 46-33 with 9:09 left.
That's when Foley said he thought Arizona State's depth and UALR's foul trouble kicked in.
Six UALR players were on the floor for 25 minutes or more. Shanity James fouled out while Clark and Kaitlyn Pratt each played most of the second half with three fouls and both finished with four.
Foley said Davis' banked three was the difference, but he didn't have any complaints with how his team played down the stretch. He praised their effort and even said his three seniors -- Gault, Clark and Cobbins -- "rejuvenated me in coaching."
Gault finished with 10 points, but was held scoreless after her layup off a steal gave UALR a 35-21 lead with 16:13 left in the game. Cobbins finished with 11 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds and Clark had 11 points and 7 rebounds as they finished their careers with 91 victories over the last four seasons.
"I felt like we got a little tired," Foley said. "We weren't standing back and throwing it away. We just missed some shots
"It was kids playing their hearts out. To me, either team has got to respect each other when you walk off that floor. I respect the heck out of Arizona State, but I sure respect our team, too."
UALR went more than five minutes without a basket after Clark's three-point play at 9:09. The Trojans were able to cling to the lead -- until Davis' three got the snowball rolling and UALR couldn't stop it.
Cobbins answered Davis' shot, which was made coming out of a timeout called with 3 seconds left on the shot clock, with a driving layup, but Arizona State scored the next eight points.
Sophie Brunner, who had 17 points and 11 rebounds, scored inside and Arizona State got the ball back when Shanity James was called for a foul away from the ball. Kelsey Moos then scored inside to make it 52-51 with 1:01 left.
Pratt, who finished with a team-high 12 points, missed a layup for UALR, and Brunner answered with a basket to give Arizona State a 53-52 lead, its first since it led 2-0.
"They had their run, but we didn't give up," Cobbins said. "We tried to hang in there."
Pratt's putback inside made it 55-54, and after Hempen, who scored all six of her points in the final seven minutes, made two free throws UALR had 7.8 seconds left to tie it.
Cobbins pushed the ball up the floor, got the ball to Dawn on the right wing, but her three-pointer at the buzzer was blocked by Davis. Dawn was 1 for 13 for the game, 0 for 7 from 3 and had 2 points.
"We really don't have anything to hang our heads about," Gault said. "We fought and we never gave up and I couldn't ask for better teammates."
UALR shot 41.7 percent and scored 40 point in the lane; Arizona State team shot 37.5 percent and 28 points in the paint.
The Sun Devils shot 53.6 percent in the second half, and made 10 of 15 shots over the final nine minutes.
"We don't have the depth that they have, we're playing on their home floor, the crowd woke them up," Foley said. "We gave ourselves a great opportunity on the road, you can't ask any more than that."
Sports on 03/24/2015