University of Arkansas at Little Rock women's Coach Joe Foley pointed out who he thought were the Trojans' two most valuable players during their Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship run.
Following a 57-56 victory Saturday against South Alabama to earn the school's second consecutive tournament title, Foley gave credit to two players -- neither of whom landed on the All-Sun Belt Tournament team or any All-Sun Belt Conference teams -- for making the title possible.
Foley did not honor co-Sun Belt Player of the Year senior forward Ronjanae DeGray, nor junior guard Kyra Collier, whose 46 points in UALR's two tournament victories won her the Most Outstanding Player award.
The Trojans' most valuable players, according to Foley: Sophomore guard Terrion Moore, the defender, and senior forward Raeyana DeGray, the rebounder.
On Saturday, Moore was tasked with guarding redshirt sophomore Savannah Jones, who finished the season as South Alabama's leading scorer at 14.7 points per game.
"She guarded the Jones kid," Foley said. "She had six points. That's one of the best players in the conference. That's Terrion's job. If she doesn't do that, then we don't win. To me, Terrion is our most valuable player."
Raeyana DeGray gathered 11 offensive rebounds and 18 total rebounds in the tournament. She secured six offensive rebounds in the second half of Friday's 80-64 semifinal victory against Appalachian State.
"Rae, getting all those rebounds just like she did [Friday], that's probably the X-factor that got us through this tournament," Foley said.
Postseason bound
For the fourth time in their fourth season, UALR's senior twin sisters, Ronjanae and Raeyana DeGray, are headed back to the postseason.
In their freshman and sophomore seasons, the DeGrays helped UALR appear in consecutive women's National Invitational Tournaments.
This season and last, the back-to-back Sun Belt Tournament champions have earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament for the fourth and fifth times in program history.
The DeGrays have made 119 combined starts and appeared in 214 total games since their freshman seasons in 2015-16.
With a 73-11 record against Sun Belt opponents in those four seasons, the DeGrays are the winningest duo in Sun Belt play in Foley's 16 seasons as coach.
"It's just special because they're twins," Foley said. "You don't get to do that very often, doesn't happen very often. Usually, with twins, one's pretty good and one doesn't get to play. ... To see them end like this, it's just special."
Watch party
The Trojans (21-10) will host a selection show watch party today, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Legends Room in the Jack Stephens Center.
The selection show will be televised at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
UALR is one of 32 total schools to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament by winning its conference tournament.
Sports on 03/18/2019