Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
UALR women going dancing
NEW ORLEANS — Doubtless dwindled to disastrous.
A 21-point lead had evaporated. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock hadn’t trailed the entirety of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game, and suddenly Texas State’s Toshua Leavitt made a three to finish off a 16-2 run to give the Bobcats a 53-52 lead with 3:22 left in the game.
A minute later, Trojans senior guard Monique Townson recorded a defensive rebound and weaved across the court to make a layup that put UALR ahead 54-53.
With 5.8 seconds left in the game, Texas State’s Taeler Deer drove past Townson and released a layup attempt.
Four seconds. Three seconds. Two.
The ball bounced off the backboard, the rim, the stretching fingertips of a Texas State player, and finally sailed out of bounds.
UALR inbounded, the buzzer blared, and confetti blasted from the Lakefront Arena ceiling, cascading onto junior forward Ronjanae DeGray, who stomped across the court, eyes closed, fists clinched.
The top-seeded Trojans (23-9) had earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and there, in the court’s corner, Trojans Coach Joe Foley stood silent and smiling.
The last time UALR played in a Sun Belt title game in 2016, the Trojans lost 61-60 to Troy in the final seconds.
Now, they had won in the final seconds.
“It’s a walk in the park,” Foley joked in the postgame news conference. “That’s part of the game. I told them at halftime, there’s a reason both teams are here.”
UALR led Texas State 3820 at halftime.
UALR buried second-seeded Texas State (23-9) during the first quarter, when the Bobcats shot 3 of 17 (17.6 percent) and missed two open layups while trying to keep up with the Trojans.
Texas State led 3-2 when sophomore guard Bailey Holle split two UALR defenders and missed a layup off the front of the rim. Trojans junior forward Yanina Inkina answered immediately, making a mid-range jumper from the left baseline to give UALR a 4-3 lead with 7:54 left in the first quarter.
Freshman guard Terrion Moore, who played with an right ankle injury she suffered in the semifinals against Troy, recorded a steal on a backward Texas State pass, which led to a layup by Townson.
Then, Deer missed a layup and hung back to plead for a foul while UALR took off on a 5-on-4 fast break, which led to a layup by senior Keanna Keys to put the Trojans up 11-5.
Texas State senior forward Ericka May missed an open layup attempt from the right block, and Townson made a three-pointer from the right wing on the following possession. Townson then turned an offensive rebound into a putback layup to give UALR a 20-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
She was 5-of-5 shooting, including 2 of 2 on three-pointers, by halftime with 12 points, 4 rebounds and an assist.
Texas State missed 12 consecutive shots leading into the second quarter, when Deer’s layup snapped the streak to pull the Bobcats within 26-13 with 5:36 left in the half.
Deer scored seven points during the second, and UALR junior forward Raeyana DeGray made two layups and a free throw to maintain the lead.
DeGray scored all eight of her points in the quarter, and her putback layup just before halftime finished a 15-3 UALR run to set a 38-20 lead.
Townson was named to the all-tournament team along with Ronjanae DeGray and Townson who scored a team-high 17 points with 8 rebounds and 2 assists while playing the entire 40 minutes.
“We were taking it one possession at a time,” Townson said of the first half. “We were getting good looks and getting stops on defense.”
The Trojans shot 6 of 26 (23.1 percent) during the second half, with 6 points during the fourth quarter.
The NCAA Women’s Tournament selections and matchups will be announced today at 6 p.m.