LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Little Rock used a 24-5 run over the final eight-and-a-half minutes of the first half to gain separation and rolled to a 67-42 win over ULM Saturday afternoon at the Jack Stephens Center.
The Warhawks had a season-high 17 points from Whitney Goins. Little Rock's Krysten Vornes paced the Trojans with a career-high 23 points and picked up her sixth double-double with 11 rebounds.
"I can't say enough about Whitney Goins' effort this weekend," ULM head coach Brooks Donald Williams said. "She battled a painful injury this week and showed a great deal of toughness playing the way she did in both games."
ULM came out aggressive on defense, forcing Little Rock into 4-of-15 (27%) shooting and five turnovers in the first quarter. The Warhawks had an answer for every Trojan basket and took a brief 9-8 lead when Gara Beth Self glided to the basket for a layup with 3:28 left in the quarter.
After Teal Battle made a pair of free throws for the Trojans, Diamond Brooks knocked down a layup off an assist from Gracen Williams for the 11-10 lead with six seconds left in the quarter. However, Little Rock's Myra Caicedo connected on a long 3-pointer at the first quarter buzzer to give the lead back to the Trojans, 13-11.
"I appreciate our fight, especially early in the first half," Williams said. "We started the game differently today."
Goins knotted the game at 13 with her shot in the lane with 8:43 left in the first half. However, Little Rock found its offensive rhythm and ratcheted up the defense pressure. The Trojans rattled off eight quick points, with four from Battle, to extend the lead to 21-13, forcing a Warhawk timeout. Little Rock extended the run to 12-0 before Goins finished a layup to end the drought with ULM trailing 25-15.
Battle knocked down a trey for Little Rock to extend the Trojan lead to 15, 30-15. Goins answered again, this time with a 3-pointer of her own, to pull ULM within 12 at 30-18. However, Little Rock scored the final seven points of the half, including another buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Caicedo, to lead 37-18 at halftime.
The Trojans pushed the lead over 20 in the third quarter, leading by as much as 24 on a pair of free throws by Vornes to go up 42-18. ULM whittled the lead to 20 three different times, the last coming on a layup by Self with 1:06 left in the quarter. Little Rock led 48-27 after three quarters.
In the final frame, ULM cut the gap to 18 early on a 3-pointer by Goins off an assist from Linda van Schaik. However, the Trojans were red-hot from the field, going 9-of-13 (69%) in the final quarter, and extended the lead to as much as 28 down the stretch before picking up the 67-42 win.
In addition to Goins, Self finished with nine points for ULM.
On top of Vornes' double-double, Little Rock picked up 18 points from Battle and 10 from Ky'lie Scott.
ULM shot 41% (17-of-42) from the field compared to Little Rock's 47% (27-of-58). The Trojans outrebounded ULM 36-26 and had 15 offensive rebounds. ULM committed 25 turnovers to Little Rock's 13.
ULM returns to Fant-Ewing Coliseum for seven of the final nine games of the regular season, starting at 6 p.m. Friday against UT Arlington. For tickets, call 318-342-HAWK or visit ULMWarhawks.com. Links to live video, audio and stats are available on the women's basketball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.
"We are looking forward to returning to Monroe, taking care of injuries and getting back to work," Williams said.
