St. Louis women's basketball Coach Lisa Stone said she knew when her team started quickly Saturday against UALR, the Trojans would eventually battle back.
Fortunately for Joe Foley's squad, UALR (2-4) hit last and took a 56-43 victory over St. Louis (5-1) in front of an announced crowd of 1,132 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
The Billikens jumped out to an 18-8 lead with 3:11 left in the first quarter on 6-of-9 shooting. During that run, Jordyn Frantz scored 11 of her team-high 15 points.
But UALR fought back and took its first lead, 26-25, with a little over a minute left in the first half and led 28-25 at halftime. The Trojans held the Billikens to 10-percent shooting (1 of 10) in the second quarter.
"They were a tougher team than we were today," Stone said. "They manhandled us inside. We got up by 10 and just started cruising. They fought back and we didn't."
A big reason for the Trojans' turnaround, in addition to their defense, was the inside presence of Kaitlyn Pratt. The senior from New Orleans had 10 of her game-high 16 points and 8 of her game-high 17 rebounds in the first half.
Senior Sharde Collins finished with 15 points and freshman Kyra Collier added 13.
"We didn't get too rattled," Pratt said. "Coach talks to us about it all the time: You've just got to focus on one possession, one stop at a time. And that's what we did today."
St. Louis started the second half hitting 4 of 7 shots from the floor to outscored UALR 8-2 and take a 33-30 lead with 5:46 remaining in the third quarter. Back-to-back jumpers by Collins and Collier gave the Trojans the lead again, 34-33 with 2:46 left in the third.
The Billikens last led 37-36 with 1:55 left in the third quarter, but the Trojans outscored the Billikens 20-6 to close out the game.
The Trojans held the Billikens to 23.1 percent shooting in the fourth quarter (3 of 13) and 30.8 percent (16 of 52) for the game.
"I thought we had a heck of a defensive game," Foley said. "We really shut them down on their transition game. You could tell that [Jackie Kemph] is the one that really makes them go. She usually gets the ball out into the open court. I thought we did a good job of keeping her from doing that."
Kemph, who came into Saturday's game leading the Billikens in scoring at 18.8 points per game, was held to 6 points on 2-for-11 shooting.
"Outside of that first three to four minutes, I think it was probably the best defense we've played this year," Foley said.
The Trojans travel to Springfield, Mo., on Monday to face Missouri State at 7:05 p.m., before returning home to face Oral Roberts at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.
SEC WOMEN
ARKANSAS 70, NAVY 67
RENO, Nev. — Jessica Jackson scored 17 points and Keiryn Swenson added 16 as the Razorbacks (6-0) held off a late charge from Navy (3-3) to win the Nugget Classic in the Lawlor Events Center. Swenson made a three-pointer to put Arkansas up 61-49 with 8:58 remaining in the game, but Navy’s Taylor Dunham made two free throws with 1:01 remaining to pull within 70-67.
After Jackson missed a three-pointer, Dunham attempted to tie the game with a three-pointer with 14 seconds but missed. Navy’s Hannah Fenske rebounded the ball and was fouled, but she missed both free throws as the Razorbacks held on.
SEC/TOP 25 WOMEN
NO. 7 MISSISSIPPI STATE 88, SAN JOSE STATE 51
HONOLULU — Jacaira Allen scored 14 points, Breanna Richardson had 10 and Mississippi State beat San Jose State in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown.
The Bulldogs (6-0) never trailed and led by as many as 39 points. Teaira Mc-Cowan, a 6-foot-7 sophomore center, added nine points and 16 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass. Jasmine Smith had nine points for the Spartans (2-4).
SOUTHLAND MEN
W. MICHIGAN 80, UCA 63
Drake LaMont scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Broncos (2-4) rolled Central Arkansas (1-4) in Kalamazoo, Mich.
UCA guard Derreck Brooks scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Bears, which trailed 35-23 at the half. Mathieu Kamba added 13 points and 8 rebounds, and Jeff Lowery had 12 points and 7 rebounds for the Bears.
Sports on 11/27/2016