After winning 18 straight games, the Lady Red Wolves dropped their first game of 2016, losing to UALR 71-69 on Tuesday night at the Jack Stephens Center.



“It’s obviously a tough loss for our program,” A-State Head Coach Brian Boyer said. “One of the things that really hurt this game was our slow start, but I’m proud of our team for the way they continued to fight.”



The Lady Red Wolves trailed 22-14 at the end of the first quarter, and shot just 40 percent from the field. A-State fought to stay in the game the entire first half, but trailed at the half 36-30.



Despite being to within six at the half, A-State found themselves in major foul trouble. Khadija Brown-Haywood, Amanda Lawson and Aundrea Gamble had two fouls at the half, while Brittney Gill had three.



“Foul trouble was a factor in this game on both ends,” Boyer said. “We got in foul trouble early, and that’s unfortunate.”



The Red Wolves came out of the locker room firing on the offensive end. A-State shot 56.3 percent (9-16) from the field to get to within one, 53-52, at the end of the third.



It looked the momentum might finally be shifting towards the Red Wolves to start the fourth quarter.



The Red Wolves and Trojans traded blows in the final quarter, before Brittney Gill made a layup with 4:20 to go, giving A-State their first lead since the opening minute of the game.



Although A-State gained the lead after the layup, they struggled to maintain it, as both teams went back and forth in the closing minutes.



Aundrea Gamble connected on two free throws with 1:26 to go to tie the game up at 67, but UALR followed by scoring four out of the game’s next six points, going on top 71-69 with 15.3 seconds to go.



After watching UALR go on top, the Lady Red Wolves got the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead with a made basket. A-State, however missed a layup, and then had to immediately foul UALR after the Trojans came down with the rebound.



After UALR missed both free throws, and A-State called a timeout, the Red Wolves again had a chance to tie or win the game with a made basket, but failed to do so. The Red Wolves ran an inbounds play designed to go to Aundrea Gamble, but Gamble was doubled up. The inbounds pass, instead, went to Brittany Fowler who was not able to get a shot off before the game clock expired.



A-State was led in scoring by Aundrea Gamble and Jessica Flanery, who scored 22 and 16 respectfully. Gamble ended the game shooting 8-13 from the field, while Flanery shot 6-12. Flanery played all 40 minutes in tonight’s contest.

