UALR 72, SOUTHERN MISS 62
UALR's women's basketball team was winless in the WNIT in four opportunities before Wednesday.
After Wednesday, the Trojans are headed to the tournament's second round for the first time.
Kaitlyn Pratt finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds as the Trojans defeated Southern Mississippi 72-62 in the first round of the WNIT at Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg, Miss.
It's the first WNIT victory for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (25-8). UALR will play Alabama or Mercer in the second round Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. The WNIT will announce the game date and time at a later date. Alabama hosts Mercer today in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Kira Shepard had 14 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds for UALR. Anna Hurlburt scored 13 points off the bench. Monique Townson finished with 11 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds. Sharde Collins added 10 points.
UALR shot 53.6 percent (30 of 56) and made 9 three-pointers. Southern Miss (23-11) was held to 39.1 percent shooting (25 of 64).
Brittany Dinkins led the Golden Eagles with 19 points. Keri Jewett-Giles had 16 points while Megan Brown added 13 points.
The Trojans trailed 50-48 after three quarters, but used a 24-10 fourth quarter to defeat the Golden Eagles.
UALR tied the game with 6:34 remaining on Hurlburt's jumper and took a 56-54 lead on Shepard's jumper with 5:55 left. The Trojans extended their lead to 63-57 with 3:10 to play on Shepard's three-pointer. Collins' jumper and Ronjanae DeGray's layup made it 67-57 with 1:22 left.
The Trojans, who trailed 17-14 after the first quarter, took a 33-32 lead with 31 seconds remaining in the second quarter on Pratt's two free throws. But Southern Miss responded with Dinkins' three-pointer that made it 35-33 with nine seconds to play in the first half.
Shepard hit a three-pointer to give UALR a 42-41 lead with 6:06 to play in the third quarter. Southern Miss regained the lead, 43-42, with 5:49 left in the third quarter on Jewett-Giles' jumper.
UALR won the Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship. The Trojans entered the Sun Belt Tournament with five consecutive victories and defeated Appalachian State in a quarterfinal game March 9 in New Orleans. But UALR lost to Louisiana-Lafayette in the semifinals last Saturday.
Southern Miss reached the Conference USA Tournament championship game last Saturday, but lost to Western Kentucky.
WNIT
First Round
Wednesday, March 15
Little Rock at Southern Miss, 6 p.m.
Today, March 16
Jacksonville at Georgia Tech, 6 p.m.
Stetson at UCF, 6 p.m.
Kent State at Michigan, 6 p.m.
Central Michigan at Wright State, 6 p.m.
Bethune-Cookman at Wake Forest, 6 p.m.
Ball State at Indiana, 6 p.m.
Grambling State at Mississippi, 6 p.m.
Missouri State at Iowa, 7 p.m.
North Dakota at South Dakota, 7 p.m.
Abilene Christian at Oklahoma State, 7 p.m.
IUPUI at Saint Louis, 7 p.m.
UT Arlington at Tulane, 7 p.m.
Mercer at Alabama, 7 p.m.
Northern Illinois at South Dakota State, 7 p.m.
Seattle at Wyoming, 7:30 p.m.
UNLV at Colorado, 8 p.m.
Washington State at BYU, 8 p.m.
Saint Mary’s at Colorado State, 8 p.m.
Morehead State at Middle Tennessee, 8:30 p.m.
Friday, March 17
Villanova at Princeton, 5 p.m.
Sacred Heart at St. John’s, 6 p.m.
Ohio at Penn State, 6 p.m.
Fordham at Georgetown, 6 p.m.
Navy at George Washington, 6 p.m.
Rider at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m.
Duquesne at Drexel, 6 p.m.
Radford at James Madison, 6 p.m.
Virginia at Saint Joseph’s, 6 p.m.
Harvard at New Hampshire, 6 p.m.
Louisiana Tech at SMU, 7 p.m.
UC Davis at Utah, 7 p.m.
Second Round
March 18-21
Saint Mary’s-Colorado State winner vs. UC Davis-Utah winner
Washington State-BYU winner vs. Seattle-Wyoming winner
North Dakota-South Dakota winner vs. Missouri State-Iowa winner
Northern Illinois-South Dakota State winner vs. UNLV-Colorado winner
UT Arlington-Tulane winner vs. Grambling State-Mississippi winner
Mercer-Alabama winner vs. Little Rock-Southern Miss winner
Morehead State-Middle Tennessee winner vs. Bethune-Cookman-Wake Forest winner
Jacksonville-Georgia Tech winner vs. Stetson-UCF winner
Kent State-Michigan winner vs. Central Michigan-Wright State winner
Harvard-New Hampshire winner vs. Sacred Heart-St. John’s winner
Ohio-Penn State winner vs. Fordham-Georgetown winner
Navy-George Washington winner vs. Rider-Virginia Tech winner
Villanova-Princeton winner vs. Duquesne-Drexel winner
Radford-James Madison winner vs. Virginia-Saint Joseph’s winner
Ball State-Indiana winner vs. IUPUI-Saint Louis winner
Abilene Christian-Oklahoma State winner vs. Louisiana Tech-SMU winner
Sports on 03/16/2017