SUN BELT WOMEN

Power post play puts away UALR

UALR forward Janette Merriex goes up for a shot between two Missouri State defenders during the first half of the Trojans’ 78-68 loss to the Bears on Thursday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
UALR forward Janette Merriex goes up for a shot between two Missouri State defenders during the first half of the Trojans’ 78-68 loss to the Bears on Thursday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

— Missouri State’s women’s basketball team arrived at Little Rock’s Jack Stephens Center on Thursday minus one of its best inside scorers, and less than seven minutes into the game, another forward fell to the floor clutching her left knee and wouldn’t return.

Still, Missouri State had an advantage over UALR’s youthful group of post players.

That mismatch helped the Bears turn a tied game in the second-half into a 17-point lead, then hold off a late Trojans charge in a 78-68 victory in front of an announced crowd of 1,685.

“Inexperience inside is going to kill us,” UALR Coach Joe Foley said. “Any team with a decent post game, we’re going to have trouble with right now.”

Missouri State (1-1), which led No. 22 Oklahoma State for most of a 74-71 loss Tuesday, started Thursday’s game with forward Christina Shorter, a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference player, on the bench after suffering a concussion, and freshman Hillary Chvatal missed most of the game after injuring her knee in the first half.

On top of that, Whitney Edie played only 10 minutes in the first half and Bry Snow played only 11 after picking up two fouls each.

But Edie scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half and finished with 11 rebounds. Missouri State outscored UALR 42-18 in the lane and made 22 of 27 free throws to turn a game that was tied 49-49 with 17:14 left into a relatively comfortable road victory.

Missouri State’s experience at center was made worse considering UALR’s inexperience with defending the area. Junior Hannah Fohne is the only returner for UALR, while senior Janette Merriex and sophomore Kiera Clark are learning to defend inside after previously working on the perimeter.

“We felt like that was really going to be our advantage,” Missouri State Coach Nyla Mileson said.

Guard Taylor Gault scored 12 of her 16 points in the first half, when UALR shot 53 percent from the field. Guard Taylor Ford scored all 10 of her points during a three-minute stretch of the first half and UALR went into halftime tied 42-42.

But with 17:04 left, Missouri State’s Hannah Wilkerson made 1 of 2 free throws to start a 20-4 run over seven minutes that included four UALR turnovers and a technical foul when it didn’t make a quick enough substitution.

“We just couldn’t make shots,” Gault said. “We just broke down offensively and defensively. You got to put buckets in the hole to win, and you’ve got to stop on defense, too.”

UALR managed a late run when Merriex, who tied a career-high with 18 points on 6-of-10 three-point shooting, made back-to-back three pointers, Gault followed with a jumper and then Merriex made another three-pointer to get within 74-68 with 4:24 left.

But Shanity James missed a jumper that would have cut the deficit to four points, Gault missed a layup that would have done the same and Missouri State scored the game’s final four points.

“It taught us some good lessons,” Foley said. “If we’re competitors, that game will help us.”

WICHITA STATE 60, ARKANSAS STATE 51

JONESBORO - Arkansas State trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, but cut the lead to three with just over nine minutes remaining in the game before falling at the Convocation Center.

Wichita State (1-1) had a 26-9 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half, but a 14-6 run by Arkansas State (0-3) cut the lead to 37-34. The Shockers pushed the lead back to 10 with 5:17 left, but the Red Wolves came within 56-51 after a layup from Carlisha Wyatt, who finished with eight points, with 1:38 remaining.

SEC WOMEN

ARKANSAS 65, TULSA 56

TULSA - Arkansas junior Keira Peak scored a career-best 17 points and had 14 rebounds to lead the Razorbacks (2-0) to an overtime victory over Tulsa (0-3).

With Arkansas trailing by three points with 13 seconds remaining in regulation, Kelsey Hatcher made a three-pointer to send it into overtime.

Sarah Watkins added 14 points for Arkansas and Quistelle Williams had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Tulsa’s Taleya Mayberry, the daughter of former Arkansas All-American Lee Mayberry, led all scorers with 20 points.

Sports, Pages 25 on 11/16/2012

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