MONROE, La. -- Joe Foley left after a four-game homestand last week with a desire to see whether his streaking UALR women's basketball team could take its improvements on the road.
The veteran Trojans' coach liked what he saw in his team's latest chance away from home Thursday night when UALR started slow but pulled away in the second quarter, playing consistent defense in a 53-37 victory over Louisiana-Monore at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
Junior forward Kaitlyn Pratt came off the bench for the first time in six games, but she responded with 20 points and 7 rebounds. Sharde Collins added 13 points, and Shanity James had 10 points and 10 rebounds for UALR (11-11, 9-4 Sun Belt), which extended its season-long winning streak to six games and pulled it into a tie for second place in the Sun Belt with Louisiana-Lafayette.
Now the Trojans get to look ahead to Saturday night's rematch with the Ragin' Cajuns, who lost Thursday to Sun Belt-leader Arkansas State. Foley hopes what he saw Thursday is a further sign of an improved team since Jan. 7, when UALR lost 65-58 to Louisiana-Lafayette in Little Rock.
"I think we're quite a bit different," Foley said. "I think our defense has jelled. I think our kids have more pride in our defense and they understand how it's working for them now and the effort they need out there."
UALR wasn't as clean offensively as it was last weekend at home -- the Trojans committed 16 turnovers -- but Pratt led an offense that produced enough. Pratt came off the bench for the first time since Jan. 21. Foley opted instead to start junior Keanna Keys on Thursday, citing the 10 points and 5 rebounds in Saturday's victory over South Alabama.
Pratt said she didn't mind and showed as much when she got to the floor. Her late first-quarter basket gave UALR a 9-2 lead, then she made four in a row in the second quarter to finish with 12 first-half points.
Keys finished with two points and five rebounds for the game.
"You don't know which is going to do well and thank goodness they're both having good games. That's a good combination," Foley said. "It just seems like the one that comes off the bench is playing the best right now."
UALR led 29-15 at halftime and stretched it to 46-20 after a basket by Pratt with 1:13 left in the third quarter. Louisiana-Monroe (9-13, 3-10) started the fourth quarter on a 11-2 run, capped by consecutive three-pointers by Chelsea Tieuel to pull within 48-33.
"I don't feel like it was the cleanest game ever, we just have to work harder," Pratt said. "It does bother us. When we watch film we'll see all of our mistakes."
Despite using a timeout to stop the run, Foley said he wasn't too bothered by the lapse, since it was due to him trying "a few different things." Collins then hit a jumper and James a free throw to make it 51-33 and the Trojans coasted through the rest of the game.
Alayshia Hunter led Louisiana-Monroe with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, but no other Warhawk had more than Tieuel's seven points, and only four players made baskets.
"We were trying to slow [Hunter] down, but thank goodness the other kids didn't shoot it that well," Foley said. "They just didn't shoot it that well, but you've got to be a good defensive team."
Sports on 02/12/2016