SUN BELT WOMEN

Gault, UALR down Southern Mississippi

— UALR’s women’s basketball team had a supporting cast for Taylor Gault, something Southern Miss couldn’t provide its top guard.

Gault had 17 points and two other Trojans scored at least 10 points in a 64-45 victory over Southern Miss on Tuesday night at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

Gault was just 7 of 23 (30.4 percent) from the field, but the rest of UALR was a combined 19 of 42 (45.2 percent). Southern Miss guard Jamierra Faulkner was 10 of 25 for a game-high 25 points, but the rest of her team was a combined 5 of 28 (17.9 percent).

UALR Coach Joe Foley attributed the victory to tight defense.

“I thought we did a very good job defensively,” Foley said. “When you take the guards out of it, they [Southern Miss] get a little stagnated. And I thought that’s what we did in the second half.”

UALR (7-1) led 36-22 at halftime. Both offenses struggled early, but the Trojans took a 9-2 lead after two Southern Miss turnovers and a three-pointer by Taylor Ford at 16:10. Southern Miss tied it 16-16 with a layup from Faulkner at 8:31, but Gault put UALR back ahead with a jumper on the ensuing possession. UALR went on a 9-0 run after being tied.

Southern Miss (4-3) started the second half on an 8-0 run while UALR went scoreless for nearly three minutes. But then the Golden Eagles went cold and didn’t score for more than six minutes, and UALR went comfortably ahead with a 10-0 run. Gault hit a floater with 3:12 remaining that gave UALR its largest lead at 60-39, and Southern Miss didn’t get within 10 points in the final 10 minutes.

“We just missed so many easy buckets,” Southern Miss Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. “When you miss those shots, you get frustrated. And with our youth, it becomes a nightmare.”

Ford scored 12 points and Merriex added 11 points for UALR.

Sports, Pages 24 on 12/05/2012

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