NEW ORLEANS -- Ronjanae DeGray walked toward the edge of the floor at Lakefront Arena, hoisted a T-shirt reading "Sun Belt Basketball Champions" high in the air and lifted her finger to indicate the Trojans were No. 1.
It's not the first time.
UALR repeated as conference tournament champions Saturday with a 57-56 victory against No. 7 seed South Alabama.
The victory earns the Trojans an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, which will be their fifth appearance since 2011. The Trojans (21-10) will find out who their NCAA Tournament opponent is and where the game is located during the tournament selection show at 6 p.m. Central on Monday on ESPN.
"It's amazing," said DeGray, the Sun Belt Player of the Year who scored 19 points and collected 10 rebounds.
UALR junior guard Kyra Collier led all scorers with 21 points on 9-of-27 shooting and was named the Sun Belt Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Collier also scored 25 points in Friday's 80-64 semifinal victory against Appalachian State.
"Kyra!" DeGray said. "She's a playmaker. She made plays. I trust the ball in her hands. She just went off."
Collier did not make a play of greater importance than her layup with 1:09 remaining that gave UALR a 57-56 lead.
"Just knowing I'm a person that makes plays," Collier said, "and knowing my coaches and my teammates believe in me to do that, I just had to step up for them."
Savannah Jones had a chance to put South Alabama back ahead, but her layup attempt with 40 seconds remaining did not fall.
After Collier missed a jumper with nine seconds remaining, South Alabama allowed the clock to run, opting not to use a timeout. Freshman guard Devyn Lowe airballed a three-pointer at the buzzer that fell into Collier's arms underneath the rim. Confetti descended from the rafters as the Trojans celebrated another champioship.
"That was the slowest 10 seconds of my life," Collier said of the closing sequence.
The Jaguars were playing their fourth game in as many days, and fifth in six days, while UALR faced just its second game in a row. The Jaguars' challenge became more difficult when starting sophomore guard Jayla Morrow left the game for good with a leg injury two minutes into the first quarter.
Junior guard Shaforia Kines battled foul trouble, including picking up her fourth foul with 7:42 left in the third quarter. That left the Jaguars (24-10) with freshman point guard Mahogany Vaught -- who played 17 minutes and scored 4 points, but also turned the ball over twice with 2 assists -- as their primary ball handler for long stretches.
"Our rotations were kind of off," South Alabama Coach Terry Fowler said. "You know, Mahogany had not played in probably the last eight ballgames. But it was next player up."
South Alabama's iron team stretch earned the Jaguars their first Sun Belt championship game appearance since 1989, and also the respect of UALR Coach Joe Foley -- who played all of his starters at least 30 minutes on Saturday. Only two Jaguars could say the same
"For them to be able to do it so many days in a row, that's just been spectacular on their part," he said.
UALR held a 31-29 lead at halftime, but the Trojans scored just one point in the first 4:26 of the third quarter, allowing a 6-1 run that allowed the Jaguars to take a 35-32 lead.
Collier hit a jumper with 3:32 to go in the third to give UALR a 38-37 lead. South Alabama outscored UALR 16-14 in the third quarter, creating a 45-45 tie going into the fourth.
"What else could you ask for?" Fowler said.
UALR's Raeyana DeGray scored the first basket of the final quarter, and the Trojans grabbed a 55-51 edge when she made a free throw with 3:40 remaining
The Trojans would not score for the next 2:30, and Kines' layup with 1:30 remaining gave the Jaguars a 56-55 advantage -- their first of the quarter.
But Collier, who pitched in 4 steals, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, would not allow UALR to be denied.
South Alabama sophomore forward Antoinette Lewis led the Jaguars with 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting and added 8 rebounds. Kines finished with 15 points.
Sports on 03/17/2019