The Opening Tip

     UALR takes to the road for the first time in more than two weeks when it makes the short trip to Memphis on Friday, Dec. 7. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. or can be heard on 920 AM or by clicking here. Live stats will be available trough the Memphis athletic web site or by clicking here.

    The Trojans will be looking for its first win over the Tigers in their eight attempts.

Quick Hits

• UALR enters the Memphis game 7-1 and looking for its first win over the Tigers. With a win, UALR will be off to its best start in program history.
• The Trojans held Southern Miss leading scorer Tanecka Carey (16.2 ppg) to six points. UALR has faced three players averaging more than 15 ppg and held them to 9.3 points on the season.
• Junior Hannah Fohne has tallied a career-best 11 boards in two of the last three games.
• With four more assists (14) than turnovers (10) vs. Southern Miss. UALR is the only team in the SBC with a positive assist-turnover ratio.
• Memphis is 3-3 on the year but will be playing its first game in a week. The Tigers lost last Friday (Nov. 30) at East Tennessee State 83-73

Scouting Memphis

     Memphis enters Friday night's contest 3-3 and on a two-game losing streak. It will be the Tigers second Sun Belt Conference opponent as they lost Nov. 11 at Middle Tennessee, 82-68.

     In their last contest, the Tigers took an early 9-2 edge before East Tennessee State scored 23 unanswered, holding Memphis scoreless for more than nine minutes in the first half. Nicole Dickson recorded her third 30-point outburst in four games. Pa'Sonna Hope came off the bench for a double-double (13 points, 12 rebounds).

     Three Memphis players are in double-digits in scoring for the season. The Tigers are led by Dickson, who is seventh in the nation with 13.3 points per game.  She also leads the team with seven rebounds a game. Mooriah Rowser is second with 12 ppg while Ariel Hearn leads the team with five assists per game and third with 11.3 ppg. As a team, Memphis is 24th in the nation in shooting percentage (45.5) and 27th in scoring offense (76.0)

     Memphis was picked to finish fifth in the Conference USA preseason poll of head coaches, including receiving one first place vote. Dickson was picked All-Conference preseason.

Flashback to Last Year

     UALR never led in the game as Memphis claimed an 81-66 Dec. 10, 2011 in Little Rock.

     While UALR did win the battle of the boards 43-42, Memphis used a 25-15 edge in points off of turnovers and a 17-8 edge in second-chance points. The Tigers shot 29-60 (48.3%) for the game and held the Trojans to 25-63 (39.7%)

     Taylor Gault was the only Trojan in double-figures with 22 points. She also led the team in assists (three), steals (two) and blocks (1).

     While Memphis had four reach double-digits in scoring, only Nicole Dickson returns as she also had 22 points. Dickson also grabbed seven rebounds.

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You've got to Remain Positive

     With 36 assists and 64 turnovers in its first three games, a positive assist-to-turnover ratio looked out of reach. On its current five-game winning streak, UALR has 87 assists and 55 turnovers. With four more assists than turnovers against Southern Miss, UALR became the only team in the SBC and only one of 32 teams in the nation with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (123-119, 1.0).

Road Lock Down

     After playing two of its first three games away from the friendly confines of the Jack Stephens Center, UALR is hitting the road after almost three weeks.

     UALR has used stellar defense for a 2-0 mark in away games. To open the season on Nov. 12, UALR held Tulsa to only 20-59 from the field (33.9 percentage). A week later at SMU, the Trojans held the Mustangs to only 13 field goals and a 23.2 mark from the field. In half of its games this season, UALR has held its opponents to 15 field goals or less.

Crashing the Glass

     Junior Hannah Fohne has had quite the season on the glass. While not having a double-digit rebounding game since her freshman season, Fohne has three such games this season. She recorded her first double-double of her collegiate career with career-bests in points (12) and rebounds (11) against Troy Nov. 29. Just two games later, Fohne hauled in 11 rebounds against Southern Miss Tuesday (Dec. 4).

The Reports Are In

     The second round of NCAA statistics were released Monday (Dec. 3) with sophomore Taylor Gault in the top-50 in a pair of categories.

     Gault is 48th in the nation with 18.5 points per game. More impressive may be her ranking of 40th in the nation in blocks, which is third among guards (and second among guards smaller than 6-0).

     As a team, UALR is fifth in the country in blocks (6.5), sixth in FG% defense (30.2), 30th in both FG% (44.1) and assist/turnover ratio (1.0), 39th in scoring margin (15.5) and 50th in turnover margin (+5.00)

Going for the Conference USA Championship?

     Friday night's contest with Memphis will be the fifth time in 10 games this season that UALR has faced a team from Conference USA. The Trojans knocked off Tulsa and SMU on the road while knocking off Rice and Southern Miss in Little Rock. UALR is holding C-USA teams to 27.6% shooting (61-221) while forcing 15.5 turnovers while holding a 15.0 ppg (65-50) scoring advantage.

Trojans Rewind: Southern Miss

     UALR never trailed and capitalized on four spurts of at least nine unanswered in capping the perfect five-game home stand with a 64-55 win over Southern Miss Tuesday (Dec. 4). Tied at two, UALR went on a 9-0 run.

     While UALR lost the battle on the boards 44-41, it blew the game open thanks to an 18-5 edge in second-chance points. The Trojans shot 40 percent from the field (26-65) while holding the Golden Eagles to 28.3 percent (15-53).

     Sophomore Taylor Gault poured in 17 points, followed by 12 from junior Taylor Ford and 11 from senior Janette Merriex. Junior Hannah Fohne has a career-best 11 boards in two of the last three games.

     Junior Shanity James and Ford both tallied more assists themselves (four) than Southern Miss had as a team (three). James only had one previous assist on the season before the game against the Golden Eagles. While missing all four three-pointers, Merriex hit 5-of-6 from inside the arc.

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Next Up

     UALR takes more than a week off before it returns to action to take on Tulsa for the second time this season on Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. The Trojans defeated the Golden Hurricane 73-64 to open up the season on Nov. 12 in Tulsa, Okla.