UALR Coach Joe Foley came into Saturday's basketball game against Appalachian State knowing his women's team could take a step back offensively.
OK, so it was only a half-step.
The lull Foley was expecting came during the first half, when the Trojans made 25.9 percent of their shots. But the defense was still good enough to keep UALR ahead until baskets from guards Taylor Gault and Alexius Dawn allowed UALR to pull away for a 69-48 Sun Belt victory at the Jack Stephens Center.
"They've been so hot, we knew they had to cool off," Foley said of his team.
UALR (12-2, 5-0) shot 57.6 percent in the second half and Dawn scored all of her game-high 17 points in the final 12 minutes as the Trojans extended their winning streak to six games and won their fifth consecutive Sun Belt game by at least 20 points.
Gault and Shanity James added 15 points each while holding Appalachian State's leading scorers, guard Katie Mallow and forward Maryah Sydnor, to a combined 7-of-26 shooting.
Now UALR gets what it wants most -- a break after playing five games in 12 days to start the Sun Belt season.
"It's been mentally and physically exhausting," James said .
The Trojans looked the part in the first half.
James made 3 of 5 shots in the lane in the first half, but the rest of the team was 4 of 22 as the Trojans built a 25-16 lead behind a defense that limited the Mountaineers (7-6, 2-2) to 27.6 percent shooting and forced 11 turnovers. Sydnor, who entered the game averaging 17.3 points, was held to 4 points on 2-of-7 shooting.
"I said, 'You keep playing defense like that we'll win, but if you get hot we'll open it up, and sure enough that's what happened,' " Foley said.
James said Gault told her at halftime to be cautious with shots against Appalachian State's zone defense, which was limiting drives to the basket. But Foley said keep shooting.
"You're taking good shots, they'll fall eventually,' " James said of Foley's message.
Gault started the second half with a three-pointer, then James scored inside and Gault's driving layup gave UALR a 32-16 lead to kick-start a half in which UALR made 19 of 33 shots from the floor and 4 of 6 three-pointers.
"I just felt limited," Gault said of the first half. "When I was shooting and missing I was like, 'I probably shouldn't shoot this much,' but maybe I should have kept shooting. I'm glad I did."
Dawn, who missed her first five shots from the floor, got going eight minutes into the half with a three that made it 45-28. Less than a minute later, she made another three, then a third that made it 51-32 with 9:36 left. Dawn made 6 of 7 shots in the final 12 minutes to help the Trojans pull away.
"We started hitting them, so it looked like a different offense but we were doing the same thing," Foley said, pointing to Gault and Dawn. "They were taking good shots. I wasn't going to tell them not to take shots. Just keep playing defense, and keep taking good shots and that's what they did and it was a lot of fun."
The defense pleased Foley the most. Sydnor finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, but most of that came after UALR had pulled away, and Mallow was held to five points. Appalachian State shot 35.6 percent and was 4 of 6 from the free-throw line.
"Showed a lot of maturity," Foley said. "We kept playing hard without making shots. We didn't do that in the past."
Sports on 01/11/2015