LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - UALR continued their success on their home floor, improving to 42-3 over the last three years at the Jack Stephens Center, with a 52-42 victory over the University of New Orleans on Wednesday night.
UALR (23-5, 15-2 Sun Belt) bounced back from an 0 of 6 start from the field in the second half, making their next eight straight baskets and grabbing a lead they would not relinquish on their way to victory.
Joe Foley notched his 100th career victory at the helm of the Trojans as he watched Chastity Reed lead all scorers with 21 points. Reed added nine rebounds to her total while Asriel Rolfe scored 10 points.
Brittany Helm led UNO (13-16, 8-10 SBC) with 16 points, nine of which came in the second half. Ty Felder had 10 points and nine rebounds while Candice McGee reached double-figure rebounds with 10 as the Lady Privateers maintained a 38-31 edge on the glass.
UNO scored the first eight points of the second half to take a 22-20 lead as UALR missed their first six shot attempts after the break.
The Trojans rebounded, scoring on their next three possesions to take back the lead 26-22. Reed had four of the points as the Lady Privateers were held without a field goal for just under five minutes before Jada Frazier scored her first points of the game on a three-pointer to bring UNO within one at 28-27.
After a tie at 28 on a Gorsh free throw, UALR scored the next nine points, gaining their largest advantage of the game to that point, 37-28. A Helm basket would end a five-minute string of misses from the field and the Trojan run.
It would be too little, too late. Rolfe made a three-pointer just under five minutes to kick the UALR lead up to 12, enough cushion for the host squad to hold on to the win. The closest UNO would get down the stretch was nine points.
Neither team shot well in the first half as the Trojans entered the break with a 20-14 lead.
UALR made 25.9 percent of their attempts from the field compared to 22.2 for the Lady Privateers. The 14 points represented the lowest first half point production for the team this year and only the second time under 20.
UNO went without a field goal for seven and a half minutes of play from the 14:25 mark until Felder drained a three-pointer with 6:55 left in the half. Felder was the only Lady Privateer to make an attempt from the field over the final 14:25, adding a jumper with 2:57 remaining until the break to her tally.
UALR started the contest winning the tip and scoring on the initial possession before UNO scored five straight points to take a 5-2 lead.
The Lady Privateers will not play until Wednesday, Mar. 4 when they begin competition in the SBC tournament. UNO will await Saturday's results from around the league before knowing the opponent and location of their first round game.
