The Opening Tip

     It is the battle of the 2-1 squads when UALR locks horns with the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles Wednesday night (Nov. 21) at 5:15 p.m. If you cannot come out to the Jack Stephens Center, you can follow on terrestrial radio on 920 AM the Sports Animal or tune by clicking here. Live stats (free) and live video (subscription) will also be available through UALRTrojans.com.

Quick Hits

• UALR improved to 2-1 overall and 2-0 on the road, trailing only 0:47 in a 47-43 win at SMU.
• The 47 points scored at SMU is the lowest in a win since a 46-39 win against Denver Feb. 2, 2011.
• Junior Hannah Fohne has taken exactly one charge in every game this season.
• With 15 against SMU, sophomore Taylor Gault now has 30 career double-digit scoring games in 36 attempts.
• Teams are shooting 33-115 (28.7 percent) against UALR on the road while shooting 27-63 (42.9 percent) against the Trojans in the Jack Stephens Center.
• Oral Roberts is the second of three games against teams from Tulsa, Okla. With a win in Tulsa earlier this year, UALR looks for the season sweep Dec. 18 at home.

Scouting Oral Robert

     Oral Roberts enters the game with a 2-1 record after falling to Arkansas at home Monday night (Nov. 19) 80-57. Both teams have played Tulsa so far in 2012-13 with the Golden Eagles claiming a 64-53 win at home to begin the season.

     Against Arkansas, ORU was outscored 43-26 in the first half as the Golden Eagles fell by 23 points. Bernadett Balla led all scorers with 26 points while Kevi Luper and Jaci Bigham added 10 apiece.

     Two players for ORU average double-digit scoring. Luper leads the team with 21.7 points per game while Balla chips in 14 a game. Savanna Buck adds 9.0 boards per game as well as 7.7 points.

     ORU was picked to finish third in the Southland Conference by the Sports Information Directors and fourth by the coaches. Senior guard Kevi Luper, a three-time player of the year in the Summit League, was selected preseason Second Team All-Conference.

Flashback to Last Year

     Oral Roberts never trailed and led by as much as 20 as UALR fell to the Golden Eagles 78-63 on Dec. 11, 2011.

     For UALR, Taylor Gault and Janette Merriex both scored 14 points while Taylor Ford and Ka'Nesheia Cobbins both added four assists. It was the most assists in a single game for Cobbins.

     Kevi Luper added 31 points and five steals for ORU while Savanna Buck added 14 points and seven boards. Bernadett Balla grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

To read more, click here.

What a Time to Hit Your First Field Goal

     Entering the game at SMU, freshman Jakeisha Wells had only two points scored on the season, both of which came from the charity stripe. Wells quickly made a name for herself against SMU.

     Wells hit 5-8 from the field and went 3-5 from the charity stripe as UALR handed SMU its first loss of the season. She put UALR up for good against the Mustangs with a steal and then her first make from the field with 12:04 left in the first half.

   Coming into the game, UALR's freshman had combined for eight games started and 17 points. Wells scored 13 all by herself against the Mustangs.

Getting All Defensive

     UALR proved getting all defensive is not necessarily a bad thing.

     In the final 2:03 at SMU, UALR made a steal and fastbreak layup, made a critical block and took a charge to turn a one-point edge into a four-point win. SMU had the ball down 41-40 when Gault made the theft and tip-toed the left sideline for the fastbreak lay-up. With a minute left, Gault blocked a potential go-ahead three by the Mustangs.

   Fohne capped off the effort when she took a charge with 25 seconds remaining. For the game, UALR held SMU to 13-56 (23.2 percent) from the field.

Trojans Rewind: SMU

     The Trojans were 10-1 under head coach Joe Foley when it blocks seven shots in a game. Make it 11-1, and the seventh rejection could not have been a bigger one.

     With the Trojans clinging to a 43-41 lead, SMU's Korina Baker lined up to try and give the Mustangs its first lead of the second half. Sophomore Taylor Gault flew to the ball and grabbed the rebound. UALR (2-1) iced the game away by making four of its final six from the charity stripe as the Trojans claimed a hard-fought 47-43 win over SMU (3-1) on Monday night (Nov. 19) in Dallas.

   The Trojans were led by Gault's 15 points while freshman Jakeisha Wells added 13 points in her first double-digit scoring game of her career. Senior Janette Merriex, junior Taylor Ford and freshman Carolee Dillard grabbed five boards.

To read more, click here.

Next Up

     UALR will stay in the comfy confines of the Jack Stephens Center when it plays host to Rice on Saturday, Nov. 24 at noon.