Trojans zone in: UALR solves defense after difficult start

UALR’s Ronjanae DeGray (left) tries to get around Texas State’s Brooke Holle during the fourth quarter Thursday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. DeGray had 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to help the Trojans win 62-47. More photos from this game are available at arkansasonline.com/galleries.
UALR’s Ronjanae DeGray (left) tries to get around Texas State’s Brooke Holle during the fourth quarter Thursday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. DeGray had 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to help the Trojans win 62-47. More photos from this game are available at arkansasonline.com/galleries.

It took the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's women's basketball time to settle in, but once the Trojans solved Texas State's 2-3 zone defense, UALR's fourth Sun Belt Conference victory was underway.

The Trojans created distance in the second half as four of five starters scored 10 or more points to defeat the Bobcats 62-47 on Thursday at the Jack Stephens Center.

"Sometimes, we were kind of lost," junior guard Kyra Collier, who led UALR with 16 points on 8-of-17 shooting, said about the zone. "I think we kind of figured it out."

The Trojans trailed 17-14 at the end of the first quarter. It took time for UALR to muscle its way through to the inside of the zone to expose the cracks in the Bobcats' defense.

UALR (8-8, 4-1 Sun Belt), which outscored Texas State 13-10 in the second quarter, put together an 8-3 run in the final 4:04 of the second quarter with buckets from senior forward Raeyana DeGray, sophomore guard Terrion Moore, senior forward Ronjanae DeGray and Collier to set a 27-27 tie at halftime.

UALR’s Terrion Moore (3) guards Texas State’s Brooke Holle during the Trojans’ 62-47 victory Thursday at the Jack Stephens Center. Trailing 17-14 at the end of the first quarter, UALR’s defense held Texas State to 30 combined points in the final 3 quarters.
UALR’s Terrion Moore (3) guards Texas State’s Brooke Holle during the Trojans’ 62-47 victory Thursday at the Jack Stephens Center. Trailing 17-14 at the end of the first quarter, UALR’s defense held Texas State to 30 combined points in the final 3 quarters.

In the final 4:47 of the opening half, Texas State (8-9, 3-2) scored just once on eight shot attempts -- a three-pointer by senior guard Toshua Leavitt 47 seconds to go in the half to make it 27-27.

The Trojans had weathered the initial confusion caused by Texas State's zone, and they were ready to take off in the second half.

"We could have been a little bit better offensively," UALR Coach Joe Foley said. "But versus zone, we adjusted a little bit better in the second half. I thought our defense was pretty steady. And we didn't let Leavitt go off on us."

Leavitt, who was averaging 18.1 points entering Thursday's game, made 2 of 2 three-point attempts in the opening two quarters. She finished with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting (3 of 5 from three).

"Holding her to five threes is very important," Foley said. "She makes them hard to guard because you put so much concentration on her."

UALR trailed for more than 14 minutes Thursday, most of which was in the first half. Two free throws from Ronjanae DeGray gave UALR a 35-30 lead with 7:22 remaining in the third quarter. The Trojans eventually outscored the Bobcats 35-20 in the second half.

Collier, who has finished in double-figure scoring in 11 consecutive games, buried a long jumper from the left side of the floor with 26 seconds to go in the third quarter to give UALR a 47-39 lead.

The Trojans collected 10 of their 13 offensive rebounds in the second half and held Texas State to 9-of-22 shooting in the final two quarters.

"We got them a little tired," Foley said. "We did a little better job on the offensive boards in the second half against the zone. Anytime you're playing against a zone, you need to get offensive rebounds."

UALR's lead extended to 53-41 on a jumper from Collier with 7:09 remaining in the final quarter.

Tori Lasker, who assumed UALR's starting point guard role prior to Saturday's 65-42 victory at South Alabama, connected on back-to-back three-pointers midway through the fourth quarter to balloon UALR's lead to 59-41.

Lasker finished with 14 points. Ronjanae DeGray posted 13 points and 11 rebounds. Moore added 11 points.

Sports on 01/18/2019

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