THE BASICS
Score: ULM 46, Arkansas 92
Records: ULM (1-1)
Arkansas (2-0)
Location: Fayetteville, Ark. (Bud Walton Arena)
Monroe, La. - The ULM women's basketball team was dealt its first loss of the season to SEC opponent University of Arkansas on Sunday afternoon, falling 92-46 in Fayetteville.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The teams tied the score at four early in the first quarter, but Arkansas made an advance after that, that put them up by 12 after the first quarter. Arkansas made its largest advance in the third quarter outscoring the Warhawks 18-4 in the paint. The Razorbacks lead by as much as 48 before closing out the Warhawks 92-46.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-ULM posted its highest field goal percentage in the first quarter with 25 percent.
-ULM shot 74 percent from the free throw line.
-ULM took advantage of its shot opportunities, but none of them seemed to fall as the team finished shooting 22 percent of field goals in the game.
-Alexis Collins led the offense with three field goals and hit four-of-four free throws for 10 points in the game. Andreanna Jackson followed closely behind with four field goals and one free throw for a total of nine points.
-Stephanie Ratliff lead the team in rebounds with a total of 10 boards. Ratliff recorded seven offensive rebounds and three defensive rebounds. The senior also recorded four blocked shots in the game.
-Lauren Marker and Ratliff played 20 minutes or more with no turnovers.
FROM COACH DOW
About the game: Regardless of the score, we had some good stretches here and there. All-in-all a little disappointed that we weren't more competitive at least on the defensive end. Arkansas has several talented players and they are very balanced. Going up against an SEC team, they've got the SEC length, athleticism and some big bodies and that obviously presents a challenge. I think offensively what we were really frustrated about in the first half was how often we settled for shooting threes. It's one thing if you're making them, but we were 1-for-14 and only shot two free throws in the first half. I thought we did a much better job in the second half of making the pass to the basket and drawing fouls. The numbers showed that as we shot 17 free throws in the second half, which is more what we would like to see and we didn't settle for threes. We had 17 turnovers in the game. Really not all that bad considering as much pressure as Arkansas was putting on us.
What we need to work on: We've got to be more disciplined defensively and not put somebody on the line and allow them to shoot 31 free throws as a team. There were some things that we could have done from a rebounding perspective that would have made it a little more difficult for them to get those offensive rebounds.
Player highlights: I was pleased with our guards on how well they took care of the ball. We were pleased with the effort that Logan Oestreich gave us, and the energy that she played with. Of course Stephanie Ratliff getting 10 rebounds, 7 offensive boards, and four blocks. She did some good things, but unfortunately was saddled with foul trouble. So she wasn't able to play as many minutes as we would have liked.
Looking ahead: Grambling is a different kind of opponent obviously, but we've got to get better defensively. We can't give 31 free throws like we did today. We've got to sharpen that area up. We've got to make sure that we're playing with poise, we're sharp and detailed with what we're trying to accomplish offensively. We've got to make an effort to make a quality shot every possession.
UP NEXT
The Warhawks will return to their home court and take on Grambling State on Tuesday night inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum at 6:00 p.m.
