Caicedo raises own bar for UALR assists
UALR 71, LOUISIANA-MONROE 36
Mayra Caicedo etched herself further into the University of Arkansas at Little Rock women’s basketball record book Friday, recording a program-record 17 assists in the Trojans’
71-36 win over Louisiana-Monroe.
The junior’s 15th assist, on a pass in the opening minute of the fourth quarter for Ky’lie Scott’s sixth three-pointer, surpassed the record of 14 that she set against Vanderbilt on Dec. 5.
She added two more before exiting with 3:47 remaining, yet her primary focus after the game was on turnovers, or a lack thereof.
“I was asking how many turnovers I had before I asked about the assists,” Caicedo said. “I didn’t even know how many assists I had until they said something. That was really good for me to have only one turnover.”
The Trojans (7-6, 4-3 Sun Belt Conference) led wire-towire at Little Rock’s Jack Stephens Center, stewarded by Caicedo’s passing and a season-high 58.8% from threepoint range to earn their 17th consecutive victory over the Warhawks (2-11, 0-7).
Caicedo added four points and seven rebounds, but her distribution reigned. The 17 assists marked the most in
a single game by any player in the country this season.
“I think she slowed it down today,” UALR Coach Joe Foley said. “She’s quick enough; she’s going to get by people. So to be going at the speed where you can see things developing, I thought she did a very good job of that today.”
Led by Scott, the Trojans hit nine three-pointers in a game for the first time since Nov. 12, 2017. The sophomore scored 19 of her career-high 23 points in the first half, stoking a UALR lead that grew as large as 28 points before halftime.
Teal Battle poured in 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, helping the Trojans maintain their comfortable lead in the second half. Alayzha Knapp secured a third consecutive double-figure scoring performance with 10 points
The Warhawks shot 28.3% from the field in their lowest-scoring game of the season. Whitney Goins had 12 points off the bench as UALR held its opponent under 55 points for a fourth consecutive game.
Scott’s 11 first-quarter points gave the Trojans a 2311 at the end of the opening period. The gap widened in the second quarter with a 17-0 run, and the Trojans led 42-14 when Knapp finished at the basket on Caicedo’s 10th assist.
Caicedo recorded seven assists in the second quarter, the last of which came on a feed to Angelique Francis (seven points, seven rebounds) to put UALR ahead 49-16 at the half. It sent Caicedo to the locker room with 11 first-half assists and — as she emphasized post game — no turnovers.
“Being a point guard is being a leader on the court,” Caicedo, in her first season with the Trojans, said. “You have to take care of the ball; that’s your responsibility. I think I did a pretty good job today.”
A 5-0 run from Louisiana-Monroe to begin the second half cut the deficit to 27, but UALR never led by less than 32 in final period.
Caicedo added six more assists in the final 20 minutes, matching her previous record on Krystan Vornes’ layup with 1:47 remaining in the third quarter.
By the end, Caicedo had raised the bar even on herself.
“That means a lot to me. A lot,” she said. “Beating my own record, not everybody gets to do that. I wasn’t thinking about doing it. But it feels really good.”
TEXAS-ARLINGTON 62, ARKANSAS STATE 43
Cold shooting foiled Arkansas State University on Friday night at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
Terryn Milton and Bre Wickware each scored 12 points as Texas-Arlington cruised to a victory over the Red Wolves, who went 13 of 49 (26.5%) from the floor and didn’t make a field goal in the game’s final 6:57.
Morgan Wallace led Arkansas State (9-4, 2-3 Sun Belt) with 14 points and nine rebounds. Jada Stinson added 11 points, but no other ASU player managed to score more than seven points.
Arkansas State led 12-9 after one quarter and 16-9 a minute into the second period, but the Mavericks scored 25 of the next 27 points. Texas-Arlington (7-4, 5-2) led 34-20 at the half.
The Red Wolves did not get any closer than eight points in the second half.
Arkansas State hit 4 of 21 (19.0%) on three-pointers and was 13 of 21 (61.9%) from the free-throw line. The Mavericks were 26 of 67 (38.8%) from the floor, 7 of 19 (36.8%) on three-pointers and 3 of 5 (60%) from the free-throw line. The