Monroe, La. - The ULM women's basketball team looks to close the 2018-19 season strong in their final home stand, starting Thursday against Arkansas State with tip-off at 6:30 at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
A 13-0 second quarter run gave ULM some separation, and then the Warhawks held on down the stretch to beat Coastal Carolina 60-57 on Saturday in Conway, S.C. The Warhawks led by as much as 16 points in the third quarter before the Chanticleers made their charge in the fourth quarter. The win marks ULM's second road win in the Sun Belt Conference in the last three road games, after dropping the previous 25 road conference games.
Sophomore guard
Arsula Clark filled the stat sheet in Saturday's victory at Coastal Carolina. Clark led the Warhawks with 18 points on 5-of-10 field goal shooting and 8-of-10 free throw shooting. She also added five rebounds, seven assists and five steals in playing all 40 minutes. The seven assists and five steals both mark new career-highs for Clark.
Junior guard
Destini Lunsford has rediscovered her shooting touch over the last two games. Lunsford knocked down 5-of-7 3-point attempts on the road trip, including a 3-for-4 day on Saturday at Coastal Carolina, knocking down her first three attempts of the day against the Chanticleers. Lunsford had not made multiple 3s in a game since a five-game stretch where she scored in double-figures and tallied four straight career-high scoring games from Nov. 15 to Dec. 9. She was also tasked with defending Coastal Carolina guard Catilin Roche, who tallied 12 points, but did not score in the second half.
Sophomore
Diamond Brooks returned to the starting lineup for the fifth time this season. Brooks tallied six points and five rebounds while coming up with two steals.
The Warhawks came up with 13 steals and forced 19 turnovers against Coastal Carolina on Saturday. It marks a tie for the second most steals in a game by the Warhawks this season. ULM previously came up with 13 steals at Troy and 14 steals at Northwestern State.
Thursday's game is the 44th all-time meeting between the Warhawks and Red Wolves, with Arkansas State winning the last three meetings and 14 of the last 15 meetings between the two teams. ULM's last three victories in the series have all come at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe.
The Red Wolves come in to Thursday's game at 11-16 overall and 6-10 in the Sun Belt Conference. Arkansas State clinched a spot in the SBC tournament with its 86-75 win over Georgia Southern on Saturday.
Sophomore forward Peyton Martin leads the team at 14.6 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game and 17 blocks on the season. Martin also ranks fourth on the team with 26 steals. Martin scored 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting with six rebounds in the first meeting with ULM on Jan. 5.
Senior guard Akasha Westbrook is second on the team in scoring at 10.7 points per game and is tied for second in rebounding at 5.6 rebounds per game.Westbrook scored eight points while pulling down six rebounds against ULM on Jan. 5.
Freshman guard Jireh Washington is third on the team in scoring at 9.9 points per game. She leads the team with 86 assists and is second in steals with 39. Washington is also shooting 45.3 percent from the field, good for second on the team behind Martin.
Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com. For tickets, call (318) 342-HAWK or visit ULMWarhawks.com.
