The Opening Tip

     UALR (16-7, 8-6 SBC) will be looking to complete the climb back to the top of the Sun Belt Conference West Division standings when it travels to Jonesboro, Ark. to take on rival Arkansas State (13-11, 10-5 SBC) Wednesday (Feb. 13). Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

     Unable to attend? There are multiple ways you can follow all the action. If you want to listen to audio, you can hear Phil Elson (Play-by-Play) either on terrestrial radio at 920 AM or via the world wide web by clicking here. For subscription video, you can watch on Arkansas State's athletic web site by clicking here. Finally, live stats can be found here.

Quick Hits

• UALR (16-7, 8-6 SBC) looks to move to a season-best 10 games over .500 when it travels to Jonesboro to take on Arkansas State (13-11, 10-5 SBC)
• With a win, UALR will finish 3-1 in road SBC West contests. ASU is 1-0, ULM is 1-3, North Texas is 3-0 and Louisiana-Lafayette is 0-2 on the road in West play.
• With a team best 18 points against ULM, sophomore Taylor Gault has led the team in scoring in 12 games this season. UALR is now 9-3 in those contests.
• Since 2005-06, UALR is one of four teams (UCONN, Rutgers and Marist) to be in the top-50 in defensive scoring.
• After losing its first two home games of the year, Arkansas State has won 9 of its last 11. Both ASU's home

   losses in conference play have been by two points (Middle Tennessee and North Texas).

Scouting Arkansas State

     After a 2-3 start to conference play, Arkansas State (13-11, 10-5) has won 8-of-10 in Sun Belt action to sit atop the West Division. The Red Wolves won seven in a row before losing 64-62 to North Texas on Feb. 3 and 93-49 at Middle Tennessee last Wednesday (Feb. 6). However, ASU rebounded by knocking off Western Kentucky 78-74 last Saturday (Feb. 9) in Bowling Green, Ky.

     In the win over the Hilltoppers, the Red Wolves hit better than 50 percent from the field (30-57) in holding off Western Kentucky by four. Arkansas State's top-three scorers combined for 61 of the team's 78 points. Jane Morrill notched a game-high 24 points while Jalen O'Bannon added 20. Hanna Qedan scored 17.

     For the season, Morrill leads the team with 15.0 points per game while Carlisha Wyatt leads the team in rebounds with 5.9 boards a contest. Morrill is 29th in the country with a 51.9 (136-262) shooting percentage.

     Both teams mirror each other as UALR holds a slight edge in field goal percentage (43.44 to 43.39 percent) and three-point field goal defense (24.5 to 24.8). However, the Trojans continue hold opponents to 32.3 percent shooting overall while ASU is allowing teams to hit 39.5 percent of its shots from the field.

Flashback to Last Year

     UALR completed the season sweep over rival Arkansas State and clinched the 2012 SBC West Division title with a dominating 59-43 win over the Red Wolves on Feb. 25, 2012.

     Holding a slim 29-24 lead at the break, the Trojans used stifling defense to hold ASU to 27.3 percent (6-22) shooting and only 19 points to win the second half, 30-19. UALR used a 45-22 edge on the glass for the victory.

     Taylor Gault leads all returners for UALR with 17 points. Ashley Olvera scored 12 points for ASU while Jane Morrill added 10.

     To read more, click here.

Career Records Watch

     A trio of players have their eyes on the UALR career record book. Senior Janette Merriex is third with 153 career threes, 59 behind second-place Jocelyn Love (2003-07). Junior Taylor Ford is sixth with 252 assists, 26 behind Pam Tiller (1981-85). Finally, sophomore Taylor Gault is already 10th with 881 points, 102 behind ninth-place B.J. Higginbotham (1978-81).

A Little 'Nesh Will Do You

     Starting only four of her first 38 games played for UALR, sophomore Ka'Nesheia Cobbins has started the last six games for the Trojans. In that span, her scoring and rebounding per game have increased  to 4.7 and 3.3, respectively.

     However, her biggest increase has come in assists. In the last six games, she has recorded 29 of her 61 season assists. Cobbins has moved up to 14th in the Sun Belt with 2.7 assists per game. She even had a career-best seven assists against only one turnover in UALR's 65-34 win over South Alabama (Feb. 2).

     Cobbins also has 10 steals in the last six games, including a career-best four in only 23 minutes in the Trojans' 69-62 win over ULM last Thursday (Feb. 7).

Crashing the Glass

     After being out-rebounded in six of the first 13 games, UALR has out-muscled its opponents eight times in the last nine games.

     Jan. 23 against Florida Atlantic, UALR turned out a 56-24 edge on the glass. A +32 rebounding margin is the largest under head coach Joe Foley, surpassing the +23 (45-22) advantage on the glass against Arkansas State (Feb. 25, 2012).

     UALR is now +87 on the boards for the season (+3.8 rebounds per game).

Trojans Rewind: ULM

     The Warhawks cut the deficit to two late in the game, but a 6-0 run by the Trojans propelled UALR past ULM Thursday night (Feb. 7) at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, La.

     UALR used a 43-28 edge in rebounds and a 24-2 advantage in second-chance points in the victory. The Trojans made 22-52 (42.3 percent) from the field, including 4-5 (80 percent) from beyond the arc. ULM made 20-56 (35.7 percent) from the field but was held to 3-11 (27.3 percent) from downtown.

     Sophomore Taylor Gault led all scorers with 18 points, including a perfect 2-2 from beyond the arc. Classmate Kiera Clark added 12 points, hitting 4-of-5 shots for the game. Freshman Shanity James contributed eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

     Sophomore Taylor Ford chipped in nine points and nine boards. Senior Janette Merriex added nine points on 4-6 shooting, including hitting 1-2 shots from behind the arc.            

     To read more, click here.

Next Up:

     The Trojans look to hand the Blue Raiders their first road conference loss of the season when UALR hosts Middle Tennessee (18-6, 13-2 Sun Belt) for Lettermen's Weekend on Saturday (Feb. 16). Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.