Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

HOT SPRINGS — Taylor Gault, the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and first-team all-conference selection, scored a career-high 29 points, while fellow freshman Keira Clark came off the bench to score 8 of UALR's 10 points during one critical second-half stretch as the Trojans fended off South Alabama 60-54 Sunday afternoon at Summit Arena.

"I was a little nervous," Gault said of her first college tournament game, "but then I thought it's just another game, you know, it's something I've been doing all my life, and I think everyone pretty much had that kind of mindset that it's just another game. You've just got to come out and work hard.

Point guard Taylor Ford contributed 10 points as UALR, the top seed out of the league's West Division, advanced to the semifinals and kept alive its hopes for a third-straight NCAA Tournament bid. UALR will play Florida Atlantic, a 56-55 last-second winner over North Texas, in Monday's 2:30 p.m. semifinal at Summit Arena.

Clark's aggressive play on offense in the second half helped UALR pull out to a 52-39 lead, but South Alabama kept creeping back and cut the deficit to four, 56-52, in the final two minutes. Twice USA had possession with a chance to get closer, but couldn't make a play.

Meanwhile, UALR wrapped it up with free-throw shooting in the final seconds to improve to 18-12 on the season. USA dropped to 17-13.

"I thought it wa a great ball game," UALR Coach Joe Foley said. I thought both teams played extremely hard. Both teams made some big shots and there were some turnovers made, but when you're playing that hard, going to the boards like they did, and hustling like we were, getting up and down the floor, I thought both teams showed a lot of character, showed a lot of heart."

Gault, the Conway product, had 18 points in the first half. But UALR, which started strong, had trouble shaking the Lady Jaguars until Ford hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give the Trojans a five-point edge, 31-26.

"We had a couple of possessions there and could have gone into half tied or just down 2. That was a big spot," USA Coach Rick Pietri said.

Swing guard Mary Nixon and forward Taylor Ammons kept South Alabama in the game by taking it to the basket against UALR's man-to-man defense. Nixon had 13 points. Ammons had 8 points and 13 rebounds.

Marian Kursh wasn't able to get much offensively for UALR inside, but she had 14 rebounds, 11 on the defensive end. Britteni Williams had 10 rebounds for the Trojans.

But it was Clark that seemed to turn the game back UALR's way after South Alabama had closed to within five, 44-39, on Mansa El's only 3-pointer of the game, with 12:14 left. Clark's layup with 9:24 restored a 13-point UALR edge, 52-39.

"She was a huge spark in the game," Foley said.