JONESBORO -- A rare Sun Belt Conference loss sent the UALR women's basketball team into the Convocation Center seething Friday night. A struggling Arkansas State had the misfortune of being its waiting opponent.
Coach Joe Foley shook up his starting lineup to send two regulars a message, and Ronjanae DeGray and Kyra Collier both sparked the Trojans off the bench in a 60-35 victory over the Red Wolves, their first in Jonesboro in four seasons. The victory came five days after a loss at Texas State.
DeGray, a sophomore who had started all but one game this season, finished with a team-high 15 points, while Collier had 6 points and 8 rebounds for the Trojans (19-7, 13-1). They also got by 14 points and 8 rebounds from Kaitlyn Pratt, a senior forward who was particularly adamant about how Saturday's loss that snapped a 12-game winning streak affected Friday's outlook.
"We had to get a wake-up call," she said. "We learned from it and we're still learning from it. We don't want to feel like that again. It was a really hard feeling."
For Foley, he found the bench useful in sparking two players who he felt had slacked off during a recent lull. DeGray had started all but one game this season, while Collier had started 15 in a row.
"I thought both of them had gotten pretty lackadaisical, and we got to get get back to getting pretty hard-nosed," he said. "I thought we showed glimpses of that tonight. Thank goodness."
With Sharde Collins' shot off again, UALR took control thanks to defense and imposing a will on ASU (5-21, 3-11), which has been mired with injuries all season while setting a school record for total losses. The Red Wolves had 16 first-half turnovers that led to 15 UALR points.
ASU was within 10-8 late in the first quarter before UALR went on a 19-2 run that included a Collins layup on a fast break, a Carolee Dillard basket off a pass from Kira Shepard to finish a fast break and a three-point play by DeGray. The final basket capped a possession that included two airballs and gave UALR a 29-10 advantage which led to a 31-14 halftime lead.
It was a much-needed stretch for UALR, which was bogged down by Texas State in a Saturday loss and struggled for a victory over Texas-Arlington two days before that. Foley said the loss might end up being what the Trojans needed.
"I can't figure out why kids have to get beat to do that," he said. "When a coach is telling you that for two weeks, that you're' fixing to get your butts beat, I never have figured out why kids can't figure that out."
The Red Wolves scored more than eight points in just one quarter -- they had 13 in the third -- and were held to 31.1 percent shooting while committing 21 turnovers. Tahlon Hopkins had 12 points, but no other ASU player had more than 7.
ASU Coach Brian Boyer called it "one of the most embarrassing performances in my 18 years here," while the Red Wolves were held to their lowest point total in a Sun Belt game this year.
"There's nothing you take from this," Boyer said. "Nothing positive to take form it. There are no excuses. It's just a bad performance. I didn't hold punches in the locker room, to be honest."
Collins, UALR's leading scorer, had 13 points, but on 5 of 17 shooting and she committed 5 turnovers. That meant UALR had to look elsewhere for points. The Trojans found them mostly inside and off turnovers. They scored 38 points in the lane and 23 points off turnovers.
UALR, which shot 44.6 percent, failed to score 70 points for the third time in its last four games after doing so in eight games in a row. But Foley wasn't bothered by that as long as the Trojans' defense plays the way it did Friday.
"The way we're shooting the ball right now this is the way we've got to win," he said. "I thought our inside play was a bit better. You've got to win in the paint. If you can't do that, you're probably not going to be a very consistent team."
Sports on 02/18/2017