Seminoles not rattled by Trojans

FLORIDA STATE 91, UALR 49

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The University of Arkansas at Little Rock had a history of working upset magic in the NCAA Women’s Tournament.

But those hopes quickly faded Saturday in a 91-49 loss to No. 3 seed Florida State, which used its height to overwhelm UALR on the glass and its quickness to drive to the basket.

Tori Lasker scored 13 points and Keanna Keys had 11 points for 14th-seeded UALR in a first-round NCAA Tournament game at the Donald L. Tucker Center on Saturday afternoon.

“I watched a lot of tape on Florida State,” UALR Coach Joe Foley said. “I’m even more impressed with how they drove it in on us and took it to the hole. It got us in foul trouble and got them to the free-throw line.”

UALR (23-10) had won eight consecutive games, capturing the Sun Belt tournament championship and was making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance after pulling off a 2015 first-round upset victory over Texas A&M.

The Trojans played with energy and focus early, taking an 8-4 lead on Monique Townson’s jumper just 3:30 into the game, and were thoroughly outplaying the Seminoles. FSU then went on an 11-0 run and led 22-15 after the first quarter. UALR went cold for long parts of the second and third quarters and trailed 77-37 heading into the fourth.

The Trojans shot just 17 of 47 (36.2 percent) from the floor but were 12 of 14 from the free-throw line. Lasker made all three of UALR’s three-pointers as the team was just 3 of 11. But the shooting struggles, coupled with Ronjanae DeGray’s foul trouble, were too much to recover from.

“Our offense started off pretty good,” Foley said. “We got some shots and got a little confidence going. Then we started letting them get to the basket and I think we lost it on the defensive end.”

Gray was held to 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting and had 3 rebounds in 20 minutes.

UALR at times made good defensive stops, especially early, a trademark of Foley’s squads. The Trojans were one of NCAA Division I’s top defensive teams, allowing just 52.6 points per game, while often controlling the tempo.

But FSU (26-6) was able to use its defense to create 14

turnovers and score 22 points off them. And the Seminoles’ quickness was tough to contain off the dribble. Senior forward Shakayla Thomas scored 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting, while Chatrice White had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Seminoles, who are aiming for a fourth consecutive trip to the Sweet 16, also outrebounded UALR 42-20. FSU pulled down 15 offensive rebounds that led to 14 second-chance points.

“When you lose block-out position against them, they do an excellent job on the boards,” Foley said. “That’s the reason they are so hard to guard — they do a great job penetrating and getting offensive rebounds.”

The Trojans will lose Townson and forward Keanna Keys off this year’s team, but they return the nucleus of a talented roster, including DeGray, Terrion Moore, Lasker and Yanina Inkina.

“We’re blessed to be where we are,” said Lasker, the first freshman to lead UALR in points in an NCAA Tournament game. “I think we should just take this game and use it to improve next year. Use it to know where we need to be. We shouldn’t be getting beat by 40-something points. Nobody wants to get beat like that.

“Just take it in next year. Every practice, think about it. Every game, think about it. We have to get better.”