Battle hit three back-to-back 3-pointers to get Little Rock back from a deficit and force an overtime period.

“I knew I had to score since they were packing the paint up a little bit and they were just kind of leaving the arc open,” Battle said. “As it went in, I had to keep my composure. I couldn’t get too hype, couldn’t get too excited. I had to move to the next play, because the game isn’t over until the horn goes completely off.”

She extended that hot shooting into overtime, hitting another pair of 3-pointers, which led her to a career-best scoring output and her first double-double of the season as she added 11 rebounds.

With the win, Little Rock (12-7, 8-4 Sun Belt) swept the rivalry weekend series over Arkansas State (9-9, 4-8), while the Red Wolves lost their seventh-straight game. The Trojans also continued their perfect record at home against A-State as the Red Wolves are winless all-time at the Jack Stephens Center.

Freshman guard Tia Harvey exceeded her career high for the second straight game, scoring 16 points. Senior forward Krystan Vornes almost closed out her senior night game with a double-double, scoring 12 points and nine rebounds. Vornes’ performance was critical in overtime, hitting four out of four free throws down the stretch refusing A-State to come back.

Trinitee Jackson led A-State with 13 points, followed by Payton Martin with 12 points. Martin, who entered the weekend with over 1,000 career points, was unable to provide another scoring option for the Red Wolves in overtime after fouling out. It was a tough loss for the Red Wolves. Head coach Matt Daniel was way more pleased with the fight in Saturday’s game, although it didn’t make the loss easier.

“It stung more in the locker room today. The reason it stung more is because we invested more,” Daniel said.

The Little Rock seniors had an outstanding performance Saturday, refusing to lose on their senior night against the Red Wolves. Little Rock head coach Joe Foley couldn’t be more proud of his two senior stepping up.

“Great night for the seniors, [Vornes] hit big free throws and Teal hit big three’s so I can’t even express enough how much I appreciate those seniors.”

Little Rock now travels to Monroe for a two-game Sun Belt Conference series starting Feb. 19 at 3 p.m.

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The Red Wolves were scoring well over 50% and kept a lead of 10 plus points in the first half, but the Trojans kept fighting and closed the gap to two points in the last eight minutes. Junior forward Nikola Maric tied the game with a layup 65-65, with only 40 seconds left in the game. A-State player Christian Willis shot a jumper in the last 10 seconds bringing the score up to 67-65 with no time left for the Trojans to score more points.

Little Rock has 17 double-doubles this season, while ranked second nationally. Three teams in Little Rock’s conference are in the top-10 of double-doubles, Arkansas State is ranked sixth. Little Rock’s defense has been very important. They held opponents under 70 points in nine of the last 11 games, while making that 10 out of 13 games after this weekend. However, they are struggling to find their touch for shooting, getting an average of 64 points a game.

One of the most consistent players on the team, Maric, led the Trojans with 16 points. Maric was followed by White. He played an unbelievable ball game, getting a career high of 15 points while scoring 10 out of the 15 points in the second half. Senior guard Ben Coupet Jr. had a career high of 8 rebounds. Coupet is ranked fourth on the team averaging 9.5 points a game, scoring 7 points in Saturday’s game. Other Trojans (10-11, 6-8 Sun Belt Conference) scoring double figures were sophomore guard Marko Lukic with 14 points, and senior forward Ruot Monyyong with 13 points. Monyyong also added five rebounds, while being the Sun Belt’s active leader in rebounds.

Arkansas State(10-9, 7-5 Sun Belt Conference) had a 3-pointer field goal percentage of 50% while Little Rock only had a percentage of 32%. They had two players scoring double digits. Willis had a total of 12 points, while Marquis Eaton led the Red Wolves with 23 points. A-State’s top rebounder Omier got fouled out in the last two minutes of the game, having a total of six rebounds. Arkansas State’s rebounding threat Norchad Omier and Little Rock’s Monyyong challenged each other in the rivalry games this weekend. Omier ranks top five in the Sun Belt conference in rebounds per game, while Monyyong ranks seventh.

The Trojans put up a fight, but it wasn’t enough this weekend. They will have a chance to break their losing streak when they play against ULM in Monroe. Little Rock will be playing: Fri. Feb. 19th at 6 P.M. and Sat. Feb. 20th at 4 P.M.

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LITTLE ROCK – The LR Trojans are coming in with a grand slam this season. For the first time in program history, they defeated the Texas State Bobcats with a 2-0 home opener with goals from seniors Morgan Smocavich and Doro Greulich. 

“Tonight to put such a consistent performance in over 90 minutes with our lack of fitness or much practice was pretty amazing. It has to be…one of the best victories since we’ve been with the coaching staff here,” Mark Foster, the head coach for the ĚÇĐÄVlog´«Ă˝ Little Rock soccer team, said.

The first half saw little action but the Trojans kept their pressure on the Bobcats with a few shots on goal by Mari Young and Smocavich. 

The Trojans came in the second half with high energy and high hopes. With a foul at the 48th minute by the Bobcats right outside the box, Little Rock saw a great scoring opportunity. Smocavich made sure to keep the ball low and towards the right of the goalie. She led the beautifully curved kick right above the Bobcats heads to the right corner of the net. 

At minute 61, Greulich ascended into the box for a penalty kick that would define the rest of the game. Positioned at the right corner, she tapped the ball right passed the Bobcat goalie’s fingertips to put Little Rock at a 2-0 lead. Greulich showed her strength after struggling with an injury for the past two years which caused her to sit out in the 2019 season. 

The team was on fire. They were not going to let this lead slip away from them – battling off four more corner kicks from Bobcats. The 2018 and 2019 season ended up with ties against the Bobcats, so this put Little Rock at their first victory over Texas State since they started in the same conference in 2013. 

The Little Rock defense was as much part of the victory as the offense. Their teamwork and persistence shined through with two shots blocked, a team save, and three outstanding saves from keeper Saskia Wagner. The team stayed united and determined throughout the game that resulted in a well-deserved win. 

Now 1-0 in the Sun Belt Conference, the Trojans hope to keep the ball rolling and score another victory in Jonesboro against Arkansas State this coming Thursday, October 1 at 3:00 p.m.

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