The University of Arkansas at Little Rock women's basketball team led 47-46 with 3:00 remaining Friday night, but playing with a short rotation in their first game since Jan. 2, the Trojans faded late at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock and fell 55-50 to Texas-Arlington.
"I thought our kids played a really hard fought game," UALR Coach Joe Foley said. "For coming off a 20-day break and being pretty limited really to a six-man rotation, I thought we fought our tails off."
Sidelined for nearly three weeks due to a covid-19 outbreak within the program, the Trojans (5-5, 1-2 Sun Belt Conference) were sunk by a 9-2 Mavericks run over the final 2:45.
UALR matched a season-high with 22 forced turnovers, bolstered by five steals from sophomore Ky'lie Scott, who scored a game and career-high 19 points in her first start for the Trojans.
Krystan Vornes added 10 points and 10 rebounds for UALR but fouled out before the late surge from the Mavericks (6-3, 3-1), who were led by Terryn Milton's 15 points.
The Trojans will again host Texas-Arlington at 4 p.m. today to complete the weekend series.
UALR returned with only 10 available players, with at least one member of the team still sidelined due to covid-19. Notably absent were leading scorers Bre'Amber Scott and Brianna Crane. Foley confirmed postgame that the pair decided to opt out of the remainder of the season and declined to comment further.
The Trojans began slowly in their first minutes since the opening weekend of Sun Belt play and shot 3 of 12 from the field in the first quarter. UALR's shooting struggles were matched by the Mavericks, who made only four of their first 13 shots, and as Scott opened her scoring for the night with a pair of first-quarter baskets, the Trojans trailed 13-7 at the end of the period.
Down 19-14 with 3:12 remaining in the half, UALR used an 8-0 run to motor into the lead. After Mayra Caicedo (five points, four assists) hit a pair of free throws, Scott got steals on back-to-back possessions, scoring on the break each time, and Vornes' lay-up with 46 seconds left handed the Trojans a 22-19 lead.
The Mavericks hit back on their next two possessions and led 24-22 at the break.
"I give our kids a lot of credit," Foley said. "To play like they played tonight, I'm really surprised with them."
The Trojans hit five of their first seven shots after halftime, and regained the lead at 31-28 when Scott swiped another steal and finished in transition 2:21 into the third quarter. UALR lead by as many as five in the third quarter before the Mavericks closed in during the closing moments, cutting the gap to 42-41 with baskets from Misty Dossey (eight points, five rebounds) and Jordynn Hernandez, who finished with 11 points.
Foley's short-handed Trojans were dealt a blow when Vornes fouled out with 6:17 remaining. No points were scored over the first 4:05 of the fourth quarter, but without Vornes, UALR interior presence was gone. Up 47-46 with 3:00 to go, a pair of buckets from Milton kicked off an 8-0 run that allowed Texas-Arlington to pull away.
"It's a good start back," Foley said. "It'll be interesting to see how tired we are tomorrow playing with a limited number of kids so may minutes. It's going to be really tough.
LA.-LAF. 67, ARK. ST. 65, OT
Brandi Williams hit a three-pointer with 1:39 left in overtime to put Louisiana-Lafayette on top for good in a victory over Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.
Mya Love led ASU (9-2, 4-1 Sun Belt) with 21 points on 9 of 13 shooting. Morgan Wallace followed with 14 points and 14 rebounds while Peyton Martin scored 14 points to go along with 13 rebounds. Jada Stinson scored 13 points. Jomyra Mathis led Louisiana-Lafayette (3-5, 2-1) with 17 points.
SUN BELT MEN
UALR 66,
TEXAS-ARLINGTON 59
Nikola Maric and Marko Lukic each scored 14 points as the University of Arkansas-Little Rock held off Texas-Arlington in Arlington, Texas.
The Trojans (8-6, 4-3 Sun Belt) held a 28-23 lead at the half and expanded that lead to 56-35 at the 8:27 mark of the second half before the Mavericks (7-8, 3-4) pulled back to within 63-59 in the game’s final 34 seconds.
Ruot Monyyong added 12 points and grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds for the Trojans while Markquis Nowell put in 11 points, made 5 steals and 5 assists. Shahada Wells paced the Mavericks with 14 points, 5 assists and 7 steals.
LA.-LAF. 81, ARK. ST. 68
Louisiana-Lafayette overcame a four-point halftime deficit to knock off Arkansas State University in Lafayette, La. Marquis Eaton led Arkansas State (5-7, 2-3 Sun Belt) with 15 points while Norchad Omier added 13 points and 10 rebounds. ASU led 31-27 at the half but the Red Wolves were only 8 of 27 from the floor in the second half while the Cajuns went 19 of 33 shooting.
Cedric Russell led the Ragin’ Cajuns (10-4, 4-3) with 24 points while Theo Akumba added 23 points.