By BRANDY SWEEDEN
UALR Sports Information
WICHITA, Kan.— Green Bay ended UALR’s season with a 59-55 victory in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
Chastity Reed led UALR (23-8) with 24 points and scored 21 in the second half while Marian Kursh scored nine points and had a team-high nine rebounds.
After a jumper by Reed, Green Bay made consecutive three-pointers for the Phoenix’s largest lead of the game, 51-41, with 4:39 left. A jumper by Kursh sparked an 8-2 UALR run that cut the lead to 53-49 with 1:25 on the clock.
Green Bay made three free throws before a three-pointer by Reed with 14.8 seconds remaining cut the Phoenix’s lead to 56-52.
In the remaining 12.5, Green Bay scored on three free throws, while Taylor Ford made a three-pointer for the Trojans as the Phoenix held on.
Green Bay opened the game with four straight points before Kursh converted a three-point play for the Trojans with 17:58 left. A steal by Asriel Rolfe followed by a three-pointer from Reed sparked a 7-2 run to put UALR ahead 10-6.
Over the next three minutes the Trojans outscored the Phoenix 6-4, getting a three-pointer from Janette Merriex, for the 17-10 lead with 11:51 left until halftime.
With 10:48 left, Green Bay’s Adrian Ritchie made a three-pointer to spark a 9-0 run. Kursh made a layup with an assist from Rolfe to tie it at 19 and end a six-minute scoring drought by UALR.
The teams exchanged points, then the Phoenix scored on a layup and free throws to take a 25-21 lead with 2:33 left in the half.
Rolfe scored on a jumper with 2:04 to go and Green Bay answered with a three-pointer by Julie Wojta for the 28-23 half-time lead.
Merriex opened the second half with a three-pointer but Green Bay responded with a layup for the 30-26 lead.
After UALR’s Shanika Butler drew her fourth foul, Reed scored six-straight points to go ahead 32-30 with 15:33 left.
The teams exchanged points, with four coming from Reed, before a layup by Green Bay’s Kayla Tetschiag with 9:33 left sparked a 9-2 run that gave the Phoenix a 45-39 lead.
It was UALR’s second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans got an at-large bid last year and beat Georgia Tech in the first round before losing ot Oklahoma.
UALR won the Sun Belt Tournament to win the automatic berth this year.
Reed concludes her career as the Trojans’ all-time leading scorer.
