UALR's women's team held off Louisiana-Lafayette 68-66 in its regular-season finale Thursday night as the Trojans set two program records at the Cajundome in Lafayette, La.
UALR finished the regular season with 25 victories, including 18 in Sun Belt Conference play, both school records.
UALR (25-5, 18-2) clinched the conference title last Saturday and tied the all-time Sun Belt record for victories in a season Thursday.
The Sun Belt Tournament begins Wednesday in New Orleans, where the Trojans will be the No. 1 seed.
Alexius Dawn, Taylor Gault and Kaitlyn Pratt all had 17 points for UALR. Dawn hit five three-pointers. Kiera Clark finished with eight points for the Trojans, who won despite committing 24 turnovers.
UALR finished 23 of 37 from the floor, while Louisiana-Lafayette went 23 of 53.
Kia Wilridge led Louisiana-Lafayette (18-10, 10-9) with 16 points. Jaylyn Gordon added 15 points.
The Ragin' Cajuns pulled to within 60-54 with 4:12 left, but Dawn hit a three-pointer to help UALR extend its lead to 63-54 with 2:05 left.
The Ragin' Cajuns cut the lead to 65-63 with 9.3 seconds left, but Pratt made two free throws to make it 67-63 with 8.5 seconds left.
UALR led 31-23 at halftime, but Louisiana-Lafayette cut the lead to 34-25 early in the second half. Gault's three-pointer pushed the lead back to double-digits, 36-25. UALR extended the lead to 50-28 -- its largest lead of the game --with 12:53 left on Shanity James' layup.
The Trojans used a 14-0 run in the first half to take a 31-23 lead into halftime. They held the Ragin' Cajuns without a field goal for more than 10 minutes in the first half.
Monique Townson's three-pointer made it 31-21 before Wilridge made a jumper at the end of the half to pull the Ragin' Cajuns to within 31-23
ARKANSAS STATE 70, SOUTH ALABAMA 60
Jasmine Hunt had 20 points and 11 rebounds as Arkansas State beat South Alabama 70-60 at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro.
ASU (20-9, 15-4) will be the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, which begins Wednesday in New Orleans. The Red Wolves close the regular season against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday at the Convocation Center. Aundrea Gamble finished with 18 points, 7 assists and 3 rebounds while Khadija Brown-Haywood and Hanna Qedan each had 13 points. Brown-Haywood also grabbed seven rebounds. Hunt, Gamble, Brown-Haywood and Qedan combined for 64 of the Red Wolves’ 70 points.
The Red Wolves shot 23 of 69 (33.3 percent) from the floor, but made 20 of 26 from the free-throw line. ASU also outrebounded South Alabama 47-32 and had 25 offensive rebounds.
Breanna Hall led South Alabama (5-23, 2-17) with 16 points. Marquita Daniels had 13 points.
ASU led by 14 with 6:43 left, but South Alabama cut the lead to 34-31 by halftime.
Daniels’ layup pulled the Jaguars within 45-40 with 16:16 left, but the Red Wolves extended their lead to double-digits again to 54-42 with 14:03 left on Hunt’s three-point play.
South Alabama cut the lead to three points on three occasions. However, ASU was able to close out the Jaguars at the free-throw line and from threepoint range.
Hall missed a three-pointer, then Gamble made a three-pointer of her own to make it 65-57 with 1:31 left. ASU finished the game 4 of 4 at the free-throw line.
The Jaguars shot 21 of 50 (42.0 percent) from the floor and made 7 of 15 from three-point range. But they were undone by 22 turnovers Thursday, including eight by Daniels.
SOUTHLAND
NICHOLLS STATE 53,
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 43
Central Arkansas failed in its attempt to move into a tie for third place in the Southland Conference with Nicholls State after a 10-point loss to the Colonels at Stopher Gym in Thibodaux, La. UCA (17-12, 10-7 Southland) trailed by 21 points, 33-12, with 2:56 left in the first half before trimming the deficit to 33-20 on Angel Williams’ layup before halftime.
The Sugar Bears managed to get within 47-43 on Kenndra Watts’ basket with 2:37 remaining in the second half, but Nicholls State (16-12, 12-5) closed out the game by connecting on 6 of 6 attempts from the free-throw line.
UCA had two turnovers, two missed three-pointers and a missed layup in the final 1:50.
The Sugar Bears close their regular-season schedule Saturday against McNeese State in Lake Charles, La.
The Southland Conference Tournament begins Wednesday in Katy, Texas.
Sports on 03/06/2015