TEMPE, AZ (News release) – The UALR women’s basketball team saw its season end in heartbreaking fashion on Monday night, dropping a 57-54 contest against Arizona State in the NCAA Tournament’s Second Round at Wells Fargo Arena.
No. 11 seed UALR (29-5) led by as many as 16 points during the game and held a 50-44 lead with 2:45 to play, but No. 3 seed Arizona State (29-5) closed the game on a 13-4 run to pull out the victory on its home court.
With a victory, the Trojans would have reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history in any sport, and they were very close to doing so. But the home team – ranked No. 9 nationally in both major polls – got layups inside late that they had missed earlier in the contest and rallied for the win.
“I’m very proud of my teammates and proud of Ka’Nesheia [Cobbins] and Kiera [Clark],” senior Taylor Gault said. “We’re just tough. Ka’Nesheia is just so tough for even being out there because her ankle, and Kiera has given this team so much, and we’re all just so proud of each other. We don’t have anything to hang our heads about because we fought and we never gave up, and I couldn’t ask for better teammates.”
UALR set a number of team records on the year, breaking the mark for conference wins with 18 and overall wins with 29. The team’s five losses is also the fewest in school history. Coach Joe Foley got his 700th career victory on Saturday against Texas A&M in the NCAA First Round.
Arizona State shot just 21.4 percent from the field in the first half as UALR took a 9-point lead into the break. The Trojans extended that lead to 16 points with 15:27 left in the game before the Sun Devils got back into it.
“They were just determined,” Gault said. “We never gave up, we just let little things slip our minds, and they just came back and won.”
UALR had four double-digit scorers on the night and were led by 12 points from Kaitlyn Pratt. Ka’Nesheia Cobbins had 11 points as did Kiera Clark, and Gault scored 10. Clark was the team’s top rebounder with seven boards, and Cobbins had a team-high five assists. Clark led the Trojans with four steals.
With just four minutes left on the clock, UALR held 6-point lead at 48-42. That shrunk to 4 briefly before Pratt layup returned things to a 50-44 Trojan advantage with 2:45 on the clock.
But with 2:11 remaining, the Sun Devils got a game-changing play. UALR defended Arizona State’s possession very well, forcing an out-of-bounds situation with the Sun Devils having just three seconds left on the shot clock. On the inbounds pass, Elisha Davis put up a prayer of a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc. The shot banked in off the backboard as the buzzer sounded, bringing Arizona State within 3 points for the first time since five minutes into the game.
“Well, I thought that three they banked in, I thought that was the difference in the game,” Foley said. “If she hadn’t made that shot and we get the rebound, then it might have been a different outcome. That was huge right there.”
The home crowd now cheering Arizona State on, the Sun Devils answered a Cobbins layup with a Sophie Brunner layup. A foul by Shanity James gave Arizona State the ball right back, and Kelsey Moos made a layup after an offensive rebound to make it 52-51 Trojans with 1:28 left.
UALR missed a layup on the ensuing possession, and Brunner got another bucket with 55 seconds left to give the home team their first lead since the game’s opening minute. Even worse for UALR, James committed another foul away from the ball on the play, giving the Sun Devils a 1-and-1 situation. Though they missed the first free throw, they got another offensive rebound and a layup from Kelsey Moos. That made it 55-52 Arizona State with 28 seconds left, their largest lead of the night.
Pratt got a layup on an offensive rebound on the Trojans’ next possession, but the team had to foul. Katie Hempen hit her free throws, and UALR was left with one last shot at the win. A 3-point attempt by Alexius Dawn was blocked as the final horn sounded, and the Trojans’ season came to an end.
Also coming to an end on Monday night was the career of seniors Cobbins, Gault and Clark. All three leave UALR with their names painting the school record book.
Cobbins, who ranks seventh all-time in assists with 271, set the school single-season mark for assists this season with 174. She was also named the Sun Belt’s Defensive Player of the Year this season.
Clark’s Trojan career comes to an end with her sitting fifth all-time in games played, seventh in rebounds, sixth in offensive rebounds, 10th in points and field goals made and ninth all-time in minutes played.
Gault, meanwhile finishes her time in Little Rock with the school record for free throws made, free throws attempted, and tying the record for games played. She reached that total of 130 games on Monday night. She is also second all-time at UALR with 1,973 points, second in field goals made and blocked shots. She is also fourth at UALR in steals and ninth in assists.
You know, somebody is going to win and somebody is going to lose, but to have three seniors to show their character, I can’t say any more,” Foley said. “But I’m so proud of coaching these three seniors. This has rejuvenated me in coaching. It makes me feel like there’s kids that really care, and it’s a great feeling.”
Monday night’s game began at a very fast pace, with the Sun Devils’ transition offense showing its talents after jumpers by Clark and Dawn gave UALR a 4-2 lead. Arizona State got the next 4 points to take a 6-4 advantage, but a Gault driving jumper tied the contest at 6-6 heading into the first media timeout.
From there, UALR ripped off a fast 6-0 run over the next two minutes, capped by a fast-break layup after a steal by Cobbins. That forced a Sun Devils timeout, and things only got worse from the home team from there.
UALR extended its lead to as many as 13 points over the rest of the half, keeping the Sun Devils off the scoreboard for more than eight full minutes in the middle of the period. The Trojans led 22-9 just before the final media time out of the half, and they went into the break leading 26-17.
The Sun Devils made just 21.4 percent of their field goals in the half (6 of 28), and they committed 11 turnovers that the Trojans turned into 14 points. Gault led the team with 8 points and the break, and Clark had a team-high five rebounds.
The start of the second half looked promising for the home team, with the Sun Devils getting two free throws and a layup to cut the Trojans’ lead to just 5 points. From there, though, the UALR offense took over for a three-minute stretch.
Cobbins started a 9-0 run by banking in just her second career 3-pointer. Clark followed with a fast-break layup, and James got a driving layup of her own seconds later. Gault stole the ball from the Sun Devils on their next trip down the court, and she put a hesitation move on Promise Amukamara to blow by her for a layup. That made it a 35-21 Trojan lead, and the Sun Devils called a timeout with 16 minutes to play.
Arizona State finally picked things up offensively after that, cutting UALR’s lead down to just 10 points at the next media timeout. Pratt had a great move down low to score a layup that made it 41-31 with 11:35 to play.
The UALR lead would hover around 10 points for the better part of the next six minutes before the Sun Devils made their run. With the Trojans ahead 46-33 with 8:30 to play, Arizona State began a 9-0 run that cut UALR’s lead to 46-42 with 3:56 left. The Trojans missed six straight shots in that span, and the home crowd began making noise as the Sun Devils got back in the game.
“It was just kids playing their hearts out,” Foley said. “To me either team has got to respect each other when you walk off that floor. I respect the heck out of Arizona State, but I sure respect our team, too.”