What a difference five days can make.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock women's basketball team, not long removed from a woeful offensive performance in a 43-38 home loss to Louisiana Tech on Monday night, looked like a different team Saturday afternoon at the Jack Stephens Center.
The Trojans got the ball into the paint, hit shots early and often, and were dominant on the fastbreak en route to a 63-51 victory over Tulsa to snap a three-game losing skid.
"As you can see, we made some shots that we didn't make the last game," UALR Coach Joe Foley said. "If we'd made some of those shots the last game, I think we would've had the same result ... so hopefully that showed a little improvement."
The Trojans (2-6) were led once again by senior guard Kyra Collier, who tied a game high with 19 points and 8 rebounds while also posting 3 assists. Thirteen of her points came in the second half.
But it was the play of junior forward Teal Battle and redshirt sophomore forward Krystan Vornes, who transferred from Tulsa midway through her freshman year in 2017-18, that steadied the Trojans.
Battle had 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while Vornes added 13 points and 7 rebounds.
"Krystan and Teal are some of the most athletic people I know," said senior guard Sydney Chastain, who finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds and tied a career high with 9 assists. "So when they actually turn on and they do what they're supposed to do, it's magic, especially when they work together."
UALR shot 45.1% from the floor, a huge improvement from its season-low 24.1% on Monday. The Trojans tallied 38 points in the paint, 24 fastbreak points, 17 assists and won the rebounding battle 39-29.
Tulsa (3-6) was limited to 33.3% shooting and went 2 of 12 from beyond the arc, as the Golden Hurricane dropped their fourth consecutive game.
The Trojans built an 18-11 lead with 1:53 left in the opening quarter before Tulsa closed with a 6-0 run to cut it to 18-17.
Tulsa switched to a zone defense for much of the second quarter, which temporarily slowed the Trojans. A three-pointer by Tulsa forward Kendrian Elliott put the Golden Hurricane up 28-23 with 4:08 remaining before halftime. Elliott finished with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and grabbed 8 rebounds. Forward Addison Richards tallied 19 points for Tulsa.
Collier hit a short jumper inside with two seconds left to give UALR a 31-30 lead at the break, with 26 of the Trojans' first-half points coming in the paint.
"We're always trying to control the paint. We're always trying to get the ball in there, and I thought we did a good job," Foley said. "The zone there for a few minutes, we went a little flat, but then the second half, I thought we got in a good rhythm and ran them out of the zone. Overall, I thought we played hard."
Collier and Battle combined for 10 consecutive points to propel UALR to a 41-30 advantage with 6:20 left in the third quarter. That gave way to a stress-free second half, as UALR took a 52-37 lead -- its largest of the game -- heading into the fourth quarter. Tulsa couldn't trim the deficit any closer than nine over the final quarter.
The Trojans have nine days off before their next game, which is at home against Memphis (4-4) on Dec. 17.
TULSA M FG FT O-R PF A PTS
Elliott 38 7-12 4-5 2-8 4 0 19
Richards 36 6-17 7-7 1-3 4 1 19
Gaulden 36 1-5 0-0 0-2 4 3 3
Bittle 12 0-0 0-0 1-3 3 0 0
Lescay 31 2-10 0-0 1-2 0 2 4
Brady 29 2-8 0-0 2-4 3 1 4
Johnson 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Hrafnkelsdottir 13 1-5 0-0 0-1 1 0 2
Team 2-6
Totals 200 19-57 11-12 9-29 19 7 51
PCT. -- FG 33.3, FT 91.7. 3-PT. -- 2-12, 16.7 (Elliott 1-2, Gaulden 1-3, Brady 0-3, Richards 0-4). BL -- 2 (Lescay 1, Hrafnkelsdottir 1). TO -- 11 (Richards 2, Gaulden 2, Bittle 2, Brady 2). ST -- 6 (Gaulden 2, Lescay 2, Brady 2).
UALR M FG FT O-R PF A PTS
Vornes 29 4-9 5-5 1-7 5 0 13
Hemphill 35 3-7 0-0 5-8 4 0 6
Battle 36 5-8 3-4 1-4 3 2 14
Chastain 38 3-5 0-1 1-4 1 9 6
Collier 38 6-15 6-6 0-8 3 3 19
Knapp 11 2-4 0-0 1-2 3 0 4
Lasker 5 0-3 0-0 0-1 0 3 0
Francis 4 0-0 1-2 0-1 1 0 1
Team 1-4
Totals 200 23-51 15-18 10-39 20 17 63
PCT. -- FG 45.1, FT 83.3. 3-PT. -- 2-8, 25.0 (Battle 1-1, Collier 1-4, Chastain 0-1, Lasker 0-2). BL -- 1 (Battle 1). TO -- 16 (Vornes 4, Collier 4). ST -- 8 (Vornes 2, Chastain 2).
Tulsa 17 13 7 14 -- 51
UALR 18 13 21 11 -- 63
Officials -- Lukanich, Clayton, Koch.
Attendance -- 838.
Sports on 12/08/2019