NEW ORLEANS -- Kyra Collier slowly trotted backward, smiling wide, knowing the three-pointer she made with less than a minute remaining was the dagger to send the University of Arkansas at Little Rock women's basketball team to the Sun Belt Tournament championship game.
"Everybody was smiling," said Collier, a junior guard from North Little Rock. "It was fun."
Collier recorded 17 of her 25 points in the second half and was the lead player in a special fourth quarter when No. 1 seed UALR outscored No. 5 seed Appalachian State 23-9 en route to an 80-64 victory in Friday's semifinals at Lakefront Arena. UALR (20-10), seeking to repeat as conference tournament champions, will meet No. 7 seed South Alabama in the title game at 11 a.m. today at Lakefront Arena.
South Alabama (24-9), which UALR defeated twice in the regular season, upset No. 2 seed Texas-Arlington 57-50 on Friday.
The Jaguars are 4-0 in this year's tournament, gathering a 68-67 upset victory Wednesday against No. 6 seed Texas State and an 87-74 victory Thursday versus No. 3 seed Troy in New Orleans. On Monday, they beat No. 10 seed Louisiana-Lafayette at home 73-61 to earn a trip to New Orleans.
A four-time Sun Belt Tournament champion, UALR Coach Joe Foley has been in this position many times before.
He expected a largely sleepless Friday night with an automatic berth into the women's NCAA Tournament on the line today.
"It's another 2 or 3 in the morning job," Foley said. "It's nothing. It's just that time of year."
The 63-year-old coach's late-night film binges helped UALR scout Appalachian State prior to Friday's semifinal.
The Mountaineers, who played their fourth tournament game in five days on Friday, are reliant on the three-point ball, Foley said earlier this week. If UALR could defend the three-pointer well, the Trojans would be on their way to a victory, he surmised.
The Mountaineers (18-14) made 8 of 20 three-pointers, but they missed 4 of their final 5 attempts from long range in the fourth quarter when UALR expanded a 57-55 edge to the final margin.
"We gave them a few more open looks than I thought we would," Foley said. "I thought we'd do a little bit better job defensively. They're hard to guard."
UALR, which led 36-33 at halftime, did not hold a lead larger than six points until 5:02 remained in the third quarter. A layup from senior forward Raeyana DeGray pushed the Trojans' lead to 47-40.
Appalachian State went 4 for 5 from three-point range and scored 22 points in the third quarter to remain close. Lainey Gosnell's three-pointer with 14 seconds left in the third tied the game at 55-55 for Appalachian State, but Collier's layup at the buzzer re-established UALR's lead.
Foley rode his starters throughout Friday -- playing the senior DeGray sisters, Raeyana and Ronjanae; sophomore guards Tori Lasker and Terrion Moore; and Collier for 39 or 40 minutes. They are Foley's core five, the group he trusts most to tire opponents with speed and quickness.
"Did we run out of gas?" Appalachian State Coach Angel Elderkin said. "I hate to say that because our kids knew what was on the line."
"I thought maybe they got their legs a little tired there at the end and missed a few open shots," Foley said. "And we hit them. That's probably the difference in the game."
UALR grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the second half and 15 for the game, outscoring the Mountaineers 26-2 in second-chance points. Raeyana DeGray corralled six offensive rebounds in the second half.
"Rae's game is block to block, in the paint," said her twin sister, Ronjanae. "She capitalized and she went to work."
"Really," Elderkin said, "that was the biggest difference in the game."
The DeGray sisters combined for 36 points and 15 rebounds. Ronjanae DeGray scored 10 of her 19 points in the final half. Raeyana, who had 8 rebounds, scored 17, with 11 coming in the final 20 minutes.
Collier and Raeyana DeGray scored UALR's first 15 points of the fourth quarter, stretching the lead to 72-61 with 3:45 remaining. Collier made four consecutive baskets for UALR to expand a 59-58 lead to 67-59 with 5:47 left.
Collier also had eight rebounds and five assists for the Trojans.
Pre Stanley led Appalachian State with 17 points, while Gosnell chipped in 14 and Bayley Plummer added 12.
Sports on 03/16/2019