#5 Bulldogs Pull Away in Fourth for Win Over Trojans
LITTLE ROCK – The Trojan women's basketball team gave No. 5 Mississippi State all it could handle, but the Bulldogs eventually pulled away for a 58-44 victory at the Jack Stephens Center on Tuesday night.
Playing against its highest-ranked foe ever at home, Little Rock (5-5) was within 1 point at halftime and 4 after the third quarter. But the Bulldogs' (10-0) inside strength combined with Trojan foul trouble helped the visitors outscored the home team 20-10 in the final period. Little Rock held the Bulldogs 22 points below their season average despite the loss.
Ronjanae DeGray had the best offensive night of her career for the Trojans, scoring 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting and a 4-of-5 effort from the free-throw line. Sharde' Collins was also in double figures with 11 points as the Trojans shot 48 percent from the field.
Little Rock entered the fourth quarter down only 38-34. But four fouls each for Collins and Collier kept the two of them on the bench until midway through the period. During that stretch without them, Mississippi State went inside and expanded their lead to 8 and then 10 points, their largest leads of the game to that point.
Fourteen total points in the paint in the fourth quarter helped the Bulldogs to their final margin of victory, and Little Rock finished the game with 21 turnovers that resulted in 24 Mississippi State points.
The Trojans held Mississippi State to just 25 points in the first half, forcing 10 Mississippi State turnovers. Collins put up 9 points and the Trojans shot 46 percent for the half.
The team led 17-12 at one point, but fouls started becoming a problem in the second quarter. The Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run from there, and four Little Rock starters combined for 10 fouls in the first half including three each for Collins and Collier. The Bulldogs scored 7 of the final 9 points in the half to take a 25-24 lead into the break.
With their final home non-conference game complete, the Trojans will now travel for two games to finish the non-conference schedule. First up is a game on Sunday at Tulsa with tipoff time set for 2 p.m.
Cowgirls Shoot Down Warhawks Tuesday Night
Monroe, La. - The ULM women’s basketball team committed 23 turnovers Tuesday night and visiting McNeese State converted those into 24 points and the Warhawks were unable to recover, falling 78-52.
TURNING POINT
McNeese shot 53 percent in the opening quarter and jumped out to a 10-point lead after the first 10 minutes, and then extended the advantage when they held ULM to just eight points in the second quarter en route to the 18 point halftime advatage.
NOTEABLES
-Two Warhawks finished in double digits, led by Andreanna Jackson's team-high 14 points. Jackson finished the night shooting 6-of-16 from the floor, while the senior also pulled down four rebounds in the contest.
-Logan Oestreich also finished in double-figures scoring, notching 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the floor.The freshman also pulled down a game high of seven rebounds, including five on the defensive glass.
-ULM finished the game shooting 38.8 percent (19-of-49) compared to the Cowgirls 41.5 percent (27-for-65). The Warhawks put up their highest shooting percentage in the third quarter (50 percent) on 7-of-14 shooting.
-McNeese led nearly all of the scoring categories, including points in the paint (30-14), points off of turnovers (24-7), second chance points (21-13), fast break points (6-0) and points off the bench (29-20).
-McNeese had three players finish in double figures, led by a game-high 19 points from Amber Donnes. Caitlin Davis added 10 points, while Frederica Haywood tallied the game's only double-double, finishing with 14 rebounds and 10 points.