THE BASICS
Score: ULM 59, Arkansas State 51
Teams: ULM (5-15, 2-7 SBC)
Arkansas State (4-17, 2-7 SBC)
Location: Monroe, La. (Fant-Ewing Coliseum)
Monroe, La. - The ULM women's basketball team recieved a pair of double-double performances as the Warhawks grabbed a 59-51 win over Arkansas State in Sun Belt Conferene play inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum Saturday afternoon.
TURNING POINT
With the score tied as the first quarter ticked to a close, Logan Oestreich hit a jumper to close the period and give the Warhawks a two-point lead. ULM would go on to take the lead for good on a three-pointer by Lauren Marker early in the second quarter and hold the lead the rest of the night in the tight contest.
NOTABLES
-Stephanie Ratliff led the Warhawks with her first double-double since December 4 at Northwestern State as she registered 14 points and 13 rebounds (9 defensive) in today's win. The senior shot 7-of-9 from the floor, tallied six blocks and grabbed three steals.
-Alexis Collins also grabbed a double-double with a career-high 13 assists and 10 points. Collins did most of her damage from the free throw line, going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. The freshman filled out her stat line with four rebounds (three defensive) and one steal.
-Collins' final tally of 13 assists flirted with the ULM single game record, held by current Associate Head Coach E.J. Ok, who set the program benchmark of 17 assists against LSU in January 1984.
-Gabriella Cortez and Lauren Marker each finished the game with 11 points as Cortez was 5-of-15 from the floor and Marker was 4-of-9 with three three-pointers as she tallied a new career-high scoring night.
-ULM finished the contest with more points off of turnovers (18-5) and fast break points (6-0). As a team, the Warhawks shot at a 38.1 percent clip (24-of-63) and posted their highest shooting percentage in the second quarter at 42.9 percent (6-of-14 from the floor in the quarter).
-The Warhawks held the Red Wolves to just seven attempts from the free throw line, while the visitors to a shooting percentage of 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from behind the arch.
FROM COACH DOW
About the game: I thought it was a great effort all the way around for 40 minutes and it was great to see how hard we played. Especially on the defensive end to limit them to only seven free throws. When we played them in Jonesboro in the first game of the Sun Belt Conference schedule, they had 27 free throws in that game. I thought we did a great job in being disciplined in keeping them off of the free throw line. The other big thing that we emphasized was how well they had been shooting from the three-point range. They came into the game shooting 38 percent in conference games and we held them to 1-of-13 from deep.
About the Warhawks: There were a number of individual efforts that were really impressive. Alexis Collins getting a double-double with 10 points, knocking down all six of her free throws and getting 13 assists. I think Coach Ok was a little worried there for a second that her school record was about to be broken, but not quite today. Stephanie Ratliff with a double-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds but also six blocks and three steals was huge. Gabriella Cortez takes three charges on the defensive end. Lauren Marker had a career high as well with 11 points and three big threes' in the first half to kind of give us a big lift offensively. Carissa Moody made some huge baskets in the fourth quarter that allowed us some separation as well. It was a true team effort.
UP NEXT
-The Warhawks now hit the road to Georgia where the team will take on Georgia State Thursday night in Atlanta before taking on Georgia Southern next Saturday afternoon.
