A new league in the Ohio Valley Conference this season has brought with it first-time foes and unfamiliar venues.
It's plenty of change for the University of Arkansas-Little Rock women's basketball team, especially after three decades in the Sun Belt Conference.
But Coach Joe Foley's defense has remained everpresent, putting the Trojans among the top five scoring defenses in the nation entering the weekend.
Saturday was more of the same.
Holding Southern Illinois-Edwardsville to five second-quarter points and 4-of-31 shooting in the first half, UALR eased to a 76-58 victory at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock -- a sixth straight win that keeps the Trojans one game behind unbeaten Eastern Illinois in the Ohio Valley standings.
Tia Harvey nearly matched the Cougars' offensive output before halftime -- she had 14 points to the visitors' 15 -- and finished with a game-high 19, matching her personal best.
"We played an extremely good first half," Foley said. "We did a really good job defensively and offensively, and thank goodness we got us a good lead [because in] the second half it was kind of just the opposite. We didn't do a very good job defensively ... but we carried it out."
Although Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (6-17, 5-7) poured things on offensively in the third and fourth quarters, the Cougars never got closer than 15 points at any point, unable to slow Harvey and Jayla Brooks, who set a new career-high with 15 points.
"With my coaches believing in me, my teammates believing in me and them wanting me to [shoot], it definitely gives me that want and that drive to go do it," Harvey said.
UALR (14-9, 11-1) opened the second quarter with five straight points, then followed a Southern Illinois-Edwardsville free throw with nine more in a row, forcing the Cougars into two early timeouts.
By the time the damage was done, the Trojans had reeled off a 25-5 quarter, good for a 40-15 halftime lead.
Southern Illinois-Edwardsville's late barrage pushed the Cougars past the 50-point mark, only the third time a Trojans foe has done so in conference play this season. It didn't necessarily surprise Foley -- he'd warned UALR about Southern Illinois-Edwardsville's dangerous perimeter shooters.
But the Trojans got the stops and scores they needed early. And that was plenty good for them once again.
"We can look at anything we want to right now, but nothing matters until you get to March," Foley said. "They understand that, but to me, you've got to know you can play well before you get there. That's what's important."