CORVALLIS, Ore. — An ice-cold shooting stretch that lasted the entire first quarter ultimately left the University of Arkansas at Little Rock women’s basketball team frozen out of the NCAA Women’s Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
UALR managed just two points on 1-of-15 shooting from the field in the opening quarter in its 68-51 loss to Gonzaga in the tournament’s first round at Oregon State University’s Gill Coliseum.
Ronjanae DeGray scored the Trojans’ only points of the first quarter, putting in an offensive rebound following a missed jumper by fellow senior forward Yanina Inkina. By then, Gonzaga was already up 16-0, UALR having missed its first 10 field-goal attempts.
UALR twice climbed back to within nine points later in the contest — both times due largely to clutch baskets from sophomore guards Tori Lasker and Terrion Moore, who led the Trojans with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
However, the Trojans (21-11) could get no closer. They pulled within 10 on a bucket by junior guard Kyra Collier late in the fourth quarter, but Gonzaga limited UALR to just one field goal — a layup by DeGray — in the final three minutes to seal the win.
DeGray, the Trojans’ leading scorer with 14.8 points per game entering the contest, managed just six against West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga (29-4), which will face the winner of Saturday’s game between Boise State and Oregon State.
Senior forward Zykera Rice scored 18 points to lead Gonzaga.