Foley's threat galvanizes UALR

UALR junior guard Sharde Collins is all smiles Thursday after the Trojans outscored Troy 27-10 in the third quarter to take a 55-50 lead. Collins and Shanity James scored 18 points each as UALR defeated Troy 79-64 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
UALR junior guard Sharde Collins is all smiles Thursday after the Trojans outscored Troy 27-10 in the third quarter to take a 55-50 lead. Collins and Shanity James scored 18 points each as UALR defeated Troy 79-64 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

Joe Foley wasn't willing to recount word for word what he told his UALR women's basketball team at halftime Thursday night.

"You don't want to know what I said," the UALR coach said.

The general message was a threat to playing time. It worked.

UALR rebounded from a 12-point halftime deficit to extend its season-long winning streak to four games with a 79-64 victory over Troy at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

After trailing 40-28 at halftime, Sharde' Collins scored the first five points of the third quarter to kick-start a 16-4 UALR (9-11, 7-4) run she capped with a three-pointer to tie the game at 44-44. UALR then took control with an 11-6 run to end the third quarter, capped by an Alexius Dawn three-pointer off the glass at the buzzer as they took a 55-50 lead.

UALR held Troy (10-10, 5-6), the Sun Belt Conference's highest-scoring team, to 10 third-quarter points. Ashley Beverly-Kelley, the league's top scorer who finished with 21 in the game, was held scoreless in the quarter -- all after Foley threatened to play underclassmen.

"Play like you're capable of, otherwise I'm fixing to put the freshmen in," Foley said of his halftime remarks. "You've got five minutes. If you don't straighten up, I'll put in kids who want to play."

That sentiment came after UALR spent 20 minutes allowing Troy to dictate the tempo, much like it did in a 78-71 Jan. 2 victory over UALR. Troy, which has lost five in a row, shot 51.7 percent from the floor in the first half while UALR shot 40 percent.

"Ever since I've been here, when we play Troy, we say 'Get ready for a track meet,' " senior forward Shanity James said. "They're not a team that likes to play half-court offense; they want to get up and down the floor. So it's kind of hard for us."

UALR did fine when it got aggressive in the second half.

Collins, who made her first three shots but was quiet the rest of the half, scored 10 of her 18 points in the second half.

"I have a lot of lapses. It's something I've got to get better with," Collins said. "It's just confidence. I have to know that I can get open and help my team."

Meanwhile, Monique Townson helped hold down Troy's top scorer. Beverly-Kelley scored 30 when the teams last met and was well on her way to a similar total when she had 13 at halftime, but Townson helped limit her to 0-for-2 shooting in the quarter with a turnover.

"Monique made a difference," Foley said. "She got tough enough to take away things that we knew she wanted to do. Maybe [Townson] is growing up, maybe she's growing up a little bit. Because that's a great player right there."

Townson added 11 points for UALR, which got at least that many from four different players while scoring a season-high 79 points.

James scored 18 points and grabbed 6 rebounds, while Dawn had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

The defense countered UALR's 20 turnovers. Troy, which forces a league-best 23.5 turnovers per game, scored 20 points off those turnovers. UALR forced 19 turnovers itself, and when it wasn't turning it over, it was getting good shots. UALR was 16 of 31 from the floor in the second half, while making 5 of 12 three-pointers.

"They just gamble," Foley said. "If you sit back on your heels, they take it away from you and steal it. At times we showed it. Anybody can sit there and see the difference -- whenever you attack, it tears them down."

Sports on 02/05/2016

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