Lady Red Wolves continue Sun Belt domination, receive vote in the AP Top-25

Despite only scoring eight points in the second quarter, and shooting just 28.4 percent (19-67) for the game, the Lady Red Wolves were able to come away victorious over the Jaguars from the University of South Alabama by the count of 58-51 last Thursday night.

The first five minutes of the game went back and forth between both teams, but A-State pulled away and was able to end the first quarter up 23-14.

In the beginning minutes of the second period, it looked like the Red Wolves were going to pull away, as they extended their lead to 13.

However, after going up 13, the shooting slump began for A-State, as the Red Wolves only scored eight points for the entire period.

Even though A-State only shot 3-19 from the field in the second quarter, they also forced the Jaguars to commit five turnovers.

The good defensive play helped A-State to hold on to a lead going into halftime.

The Jaguars were able to cut the deficit down to only three points at two different times in the first four minutes of the half with the help of a couple of three pointers.

A-State, however, had an answer in Aundrea Gamble. The senior guard scored over half of Arkansas State’s points in the third period.

“A lot of credit goes to South Alabama and they did a really good job of doing what they do and took advantage of their size,” A-State Head Coach Brian Boyer said.

The Jaguars never gave up and pulled back to with four points with only six minutes left in the game.

Despite one final push by South Alabama, Arkansas State was able to win their 11th straight conference game to

stay undefeated in Sun Belt play.

Gamble ended with 20 points and six

steals.

***

Down one key starter, the Arkansas State Women’s basketball team hosted Troy University in a highly anticipated Sun Belt match-up on Saturday.

“I think to say that this was a big win for our team would be an understatement,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “As seasons go along certain wins take more meaning and this is one of those because Troy is a really good team and this was battle and to get out of here with a victory against a team like Troy is a big reward.”

Senior, Khadija Brown-Haywood collected her third straight double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds, which were both team highs.

“From a team standpoint, I thought weathering that second quarter was huge for us,” Boyer said. “With Khadija and Brittney Gill in foul trouble it was all we could do to keep things under the control. Then in the fourth quarter it was just a matter of stringing together three or four stops to stretch out the lead a little bit.”

Saturday’s match up consisted of seven ties and 20 lead changes, with neither team holding more than a seven-point advantage at any point of the match-up.

Game Notes

• After increasing their winning streak to 12 straight, Arkansas State received a vote in the AP Top 25 poll for the first time this season.

• A-State received one vote, and is now ranked #41 in the nation, the highest ranking of any team in the Sun Belt Conference.

• A-State also moved up to #52 in the RPI rankings, a ranking that

is used to rank teams based upon their wins and losses and strength of schedule. The ranking is predominantly used to determine at-large bids for the NCAA tournament.

• A-State has set the school record for consecutive home victories with 22, and is two wins shy of tying the longest winning streak in school history at 14 games.

• A-State is just one of four teams in the nation with 12 conference wins for the year. The university is one of 18 teams in the nation with three or less losses entering Thursday’s game.

• Gamble is one of just seven current active Division I players to have over 1,600 points, 400 rebounds and 400 assists in a career. Gamble ranks 10 in the nation among active players with a career scoring average of 18.7 points per game, and also ranks 15th in the nation with a career assists average of 4.56. No other active players in Division I ranks in the top-15 of both categories.

• Brown-Haywood is averaging 17.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game during the streak, which also covers all of the Red Wolves SBC games.

• A-State received a vote in the AP Top-25 poll that was released on Feb. 8, marking the first time since the 2006-07 season when the team received two votes during week 10 of the voting.

The Red Wolves will now hit the road to compete against Louisiana- Lafayette on Thursday looking the capture their 13th consecutive win. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. at the Cajundome