LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Little Rock women's basketball forced 22 Georgia Southern turnovers and dominated in the paint to pick up an 80-51 Sun Belt Conference victory over the visiting Eagles on Thursday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Ark.
The Trojans improved to 16-10 overall and 12-3 in the league with the win, while Georgia Southern fell to 7-20 overall and 2-14 in the league with the loss. The Eagles were eliminated from postseason contention and will not be one of the 10 teams competing in the Sun Belt tournament in two weeks' time.
Little Rock started the game on an 8-0 run and shot 57 percent in the first half in building a 39-28 halftime lead. The Trojans then forced seven of their 22 turnovers in the third quarter as Georgia Southern made just three field goals in the period. On the game, Little Rock had a 42-18 edge in points in the paint, as well as a 26-12 edge in points off of turnovers.
Five Trojans reached double figures in the game, led by Kyra Collier's game-high 21 points and Tori Lasker's 16 points, to go with 10 assists. Hailey Dias-Allen was the only Eagle to reach double figures, collecting 12 points on the day.
Eagle of the Game
Dias-Allen made 3-of-6 shots from the floor but added 6-of-7 from the free throw line en route to her team-high 12 points. It was her sixth time surpassing double figures in Sun Belt play
his season.
Key Moment
Trailing by 11 at the break, Little Rock pushed that lead to 15, 45-30, early in the second half. But neither team could score for a three-minute stretch, which included a pair of time outs called by Georgia Southern. A three-pointer from Little Rock's Lasker broke the scoring drought and the Trojans quickly built a 20+ point lead.
Stat of the Game
The 22 turnovers committed by the Eagles were the most in a Sun Belt game this season. It was also the eighth time that Georgia Southern has committed 20+ turnovers in a road game this year.
Quotables
Head Coach Kip Drown
On the Trojans today
"Little Rock will bring it at you hard. We tried to show that in video and talk about it in practice. I thought when we had it down to nine [at the end of the first half], they missed a shot, got an offensive rebound and scored at the buzzer- that was big. In the second half, we struggled to make layups, and just struggled to make shots. They're going to constantly put pressure on you offensively with their movement. They had 32 baskets and 21 assists. That's the way they play, they're very unselfish. There's lessons to be learned there. Hopefully we will continue to grow."
Next Up
The Eagles will complete their Arkansas swing by taking on Arkansas State on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Jonesboro, Ark.
