SUN BELT WOMEN

Merriex zeroes in at right time for UALR

UALR guard Taylor Gault (middle) tries to drive to the basket between two Tulsa defenders during the Trojans’ 78-51 victory Tuesday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
UALR guard Taylor Gault (middle) tries to drive to the basket between two Tulsa defenders during the Trojans’ 78-51 victory Tuesday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

— Janette Merriex’s three sprees were too much for Tulsa.

UALR’s senior guard made 3 three-pointers in a two-minute span to break open a tie game in the first half Tuesday night, then made three consecutive three-pointers early in the second half to snuff out a Tulsa run as the Trojans wrapped up a 78-51 victory at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

Merriex finished with a career-high 22 points, which included a career-high 7 threepointers on 10 attempts.

“Once you get going, it’s hard to kind of lower that energy level,” said Merriex, who also had a career-high nine rebounds while playing with a sore Achilles tendon. “So, hey, let it go.”

Doing that in the first half helped spark a lackluster UALR offense. Her first three-pointer came with the game tied 13-13 with 11:35 left in the first half and started a 17-6 UALR run.

The three she hit in a row early in the second half came after Tulsa started the second half with an 8-2 run to pull within 41-33. But her three-pointer with 16:40 left sparked a 14-0 run to give UALR (9-1) a 55-33 lead, and the advantage never dipped below 19 points the rest of the game.

“Janette pretty much has the green light any time she’s open from the three-point line,” UALR Coach Joe Foley said. “When she’s not having a good night, she’s going to pass it. But tonight she was feeling it, no doubt.”

Merriex’ career-best game came as UALR’s leading scorer struggled with her jump shots and open layups.

Sophomore Taylor Gault, who scored 33 points in the first meeting between the teams last month, finished with 20 points Tuesday. But 14 of them came in the he second half, and she made 7 of 10 free throws.

Tulsa Coach Matilda Mossman said her team didn’t focus any more defensively on Gault because of what she did Nov. 14 in Tulsa, partly because they knew what type of shooter Merriex is.

“We’ve seen Merriex go off on other people,” Mossman said. “We were switching, and we should have been there. ... Then she got on a roll and it didn’t matter. She was going to make them.”

UALR also did a better job of containing Tulsa guard Taleya Mayberry, a senior who scored 22 points in the last meeting. Mayberry, the daughter of former Arkansas All-American Lee Mayberry, finished with 10 points but struggled to get to the basket and finished 5 of 18 from the field.

UALR’s Taylor Ford, who regularly draws the toughest defensive assignment, said the key Tuesday was staying on the floor. Last month, Ford played 10 minutes of the second half because she was in foul trouble, and Mayberry scored 18 of her 22 points after halftime.

Mayberry miss her first five shots from the floor Tuesday with Ford guarding her, and she was 2 of 9 with 9 points at halftime.

“You have to contain her,” Ford said. “Don’t let her get the drive, don’t let her pass and cut and start making stuff happen. Keep her in a certain spot.”

Ford did that for the most part, and Tulsa’s offense struggled without consistent scoring from Mayberry, who entered Tuesday averaging 18.5 points.

Tiffani Couisnard added 10 points for Tulsa, but only five players scored and nobody else had more than eight as Tulsa shot 32 percent.

“Their strength is Mayberry,” Foley said. “If they’re good enough to beat you with their weakness than they’re a pretty good ballclub. Mayberry is their strength, and I thought we did a good job on her.”

SOUTHLAND/GAC WOMEN

CENTRAL ARKANSAS 78,

SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 45

CONWAY — Central Arkansas ran out to a 44-23 halftime lead, extended the margin to 30 midway through the second half and cruised to its 22nd consecutive regular-season home victory Tuesday at the Farris Center.

Courtney Duever led all players with a career-high 23 points and added 10 rebounds for the Lady Bears (5-3). Over her past three games, Duever is averaging 15 points and 10.3 rebounds.

Desiree’ Rogers scored a season-high 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, one off her career high. Chantel Moss added a career-high 11 points to go with seven rebounds, and Tracey Parsons added 10 points.

The Sugar Bears forced the Lady Muleriders (0-8) into 18 turnovers while committing just eight, and had a 52-30 rebounding advantage. Central Arkansas had 20 assists on its 28 field goals, with freshman guard Jameka Watkins getting a season-best six and Parsons adding five. Watkins and Moss had three steals each for the Sugar Bears.

Tori Nichols led SAU with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Katherine McBride and Shelbi Cottingham had eight points each for the Lady Muleriders. The 45 points were a season low, as was SAU’s 15 field goals and 30 percent shooting from the field.

SWAC MEN

AKRON 76,

ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 46

AKRON, Ohio — Brian Walsh had 14 points and Zeke Marshall had 13 points and five blocked shots as Akron dominated Arkansas-Pine Bluff in nonconference action.

The Zips (5-4) entered 19th in the nation with 8.6 three-pointers per game and connected on 11 of 34 Tuesday, including Walsh’s 4-of-9 performance.

Marshall entered the game with 29 blocked shots, more than 146 Division I programs, and is averaging 4.3 blocks per game.

Tevin Hammond led the Golden Lions (1-9) with 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting. UAPB shot just 29.1 percent (16 of 55) from the field and hit just 2 of 7 three-point attempts.

Akron outrebounded the Golden Lions 50-24, winning despite 25 turnovers.

Sports, Pages 25 on 12/19/2012

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