SUN BELT WOMEN

UALR women win 5th consecutive

— Taylor Gault came off the bench to stake the UALR women’s basketball team to a comfortable first-half lead.

But the Trojans needed to withstand a late Louisiana-Monroe rally while most of their contributors were in foul trouble to win their fifth consecutive game Thursday.

UALR scored six consecutive points after Louisiana-Monroe pulled within two points with three minutes left to hang on for a 69-60 victory over the Warhawks at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, La.

The victory pulls the Trojans (16-7, 8-6) into a tie with North Texas for second place in the Sun Belt Conference West Division.

UALR also pulled within a game of Arkansas State for first place in the division. The Trojans will play ASU in Jonesboro next Thursday.

Through the first half, Thursday’s game looked like it’d be almost as easy as the last time the two teams played, when UALR won 71-54 on Dec. 1 in Little Rock.

Kiera Clark made her first four shots from the floor, Gault came off the bench to score 10 first-half points and UALR built nine-point leads three times in the first half. The Trojans led 33-24 at halftime.

The lead stretched to 40-28 early in the first half on Clark’s jumper and UALR led the Warhawks, who had won three consecutive games, 44-33 with 12:50 left.

But Louisiana-Monroe (6-16, 4-9) cut the margin to 46-41 with less than 10 minutes to go, and were within 48-44 when Jae Shinn made three free throws. Then Ashleigh Simmons’ layup off a steal made it 58-56 with 3:04 left.

But Shanity James hit a fast break layup and Clark made four consecutive free throws to give UALR a 64-56 lead.

Gault finished with a team high 18 points, and Clark finished with 12.

Elexar Tugler led Louisiana-Monroe with 18 points.

SOUTHLAND WOMEN

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 53, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 45

Central Arkansas lost its third consecutive game, falling to Stephen F. Austin at Johnson Coliseum in Nacogdoches, Texas.

The Sugar Bears (13-9, 6-5 Southland Conference) shot 27.8 percent (15 of 54) from the floor and committed 15turnovers. They also allowed 15 offensive rebounds and Stephen F. Austin scored 21 points off UCA turnovers.

“I thought the effort was there, but the only thing I can say is dumb basketball,” UCA Coach Sandra Rushing said. “We’ve got to make smart decisions down the stretch. We’re not blocking out, we’re giving up second and third shots. We had our chance down the stretch.”

Megan Herbert and Courtney Duever each had 11 points to lead the Sugar Bears.

Porsha Roberts scored 17 points to lead Stephen F. Austin (10-12, 5-6).

SOUTHLAND MEN

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 72, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 36

Central Arkansas was held to its lowest point total of the season in a loss to Stephen F. Austin at Johnson Coliseum in Nacogdoches, Texas.

UCA (9-12, 4-7 Southland Conference) entered Thursday’s game with the ninth-best scoring offense in the nation at 78.7 points per game, while Stephen F. Austin (19-2, 10-1) was No. 1 in scoring defense, allowing 49.5 points per game.

Senior forward Jarvis Garner, who returned after a two-game suspension for violating team rules, led the Bears with 13 points.

Taylor Smith led the Lumberjacks with 21 points.

THURSDAY’S GAMES

UALR 69, La.-Monroe 60 W. Kentucky 76, North Texas 62

Sports, Pages 22 on 02/08/2013

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