BURN THE HORSE
UALR’s defense made what could have been an uncomfortable game look easy.
UALR advanced to the Sun Belt Conference women’s championship game with a 47-37 victory over Florida International on Monday afternoon at Summit Arena in Hot Springs.
UALR will play in its third consecutive Sun Belt Championship Game, but this time will have a different opponent. The Trojans will meet Western Kentucky at 1 p.m. on ESPNU. WKU won the only meeting of the season in Little Rock.
Chastity Reed scored 20 points to lead UALR. Janette Merriex added 11 and Marian Kursh had 7 points and 6 rebounds. Otherwise it was a quiet offensive afternoon for the Trojans.
The Trojans also were solid in rebounding, winning the boards battle 36-27. That included 13-10 in offensive rebounds against the taller Lady Panthers.
“It’s not a winning season yet, we still have to win tomorrow. Everything we have done so far is in the past now. We have to get through everything, any type of pain, control the emotions of course,” said Reed, who was called for both a double foul and a technical during Monday‘s game. “But we are going to control [our emotions] tomorrow.”
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UALR will play in its third consecutive Sun Belt Championship Game, but this time will have a different opponent. The Trojans will meet Western Kentucky at 1 p.m. on ESPNU. WKU won the only meeting of the season in Little Rock.
Chastity Reed scored 20 points to lead UALR. Janette Merriex added 11 and Marian Kursh had 7 points and 6 rebounds. Otherwise it was a quiet offensive afternoon for the Trojans.
But they made a lot of noise with their defense. Florida; International scored only 12 first-half points and didn’t look in sync until late in the second half. FIU had three turnovers on shot clock violations in the first half.
“I thought defensive wise we played a good ball game,“ UALR Coach Joe Foley said. “I thought we did a good job of shutting them down and that’s the key to our ball game.”The Trojans also were solid in rebounding, winning the boards battle 36-27. That included 13-10 in offensive rebounds against the taller Lady Panthers.
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| Chastity Reed scores 2 of her 20 |
UALR, which led the entire game, stretched its lead to 22 points with 8:20 left. FIU then started pressing and UALR got sloppy in the final moments. But the Golden Panthers never made a serious run.
Western Kentucky is seeking its 10th Sun Belt Championship on Tuesday. The Trojans are still in search of their first.“It’s not a winning season yet, we still have to win tomorrow. Everything we have done so far is in the past now. We have to get through everything, any type of pain, control the emotions of course,” said Reed, who was called for both a double foul and a technical during Monday‘s game. “But we are going to control [our emotions] tomorrow.”
