NEW ORLEANS, La. (3/9/16) – The Arkansas State women's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament with a 81-61 victory over Appalachian State Wednesday morning at Lakefront Arena.
The Red Wolves advance to play Troy Friday morning at 11:30 a.m. in the semifinals. The game can be seen on 95.3FM The Ticket and on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN App.
Aundrea Gamble led the way with 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, while Khadija Brown-Haywood added 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Gamble finished one assist shy of record just the third triple-double in A-State history, while the double-double was her fifth this season and the 11th of her career.
Amanda Lawson added 12 points on the day and Brittney Gill recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
With the victory, the Red Wolves also broke the school record for victories in a single season. A-State now stands at 26-4 overall on the year, while Appalachian State finished with a 10-20 record.
“It is good to just get the first one out of the way,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “I've talked all year long about the maturity level of these five seniors and how they handle things and I thought today was just another example of that. I thought they were ready to play from the start and then handled the run that Appalachian State throw at them in the first quarter.”
A-State got off to a hot start thanks to seven straight points that forced the Mountaineers into a timeout 94 seconds into the game. Appalachian State battled back and led 14-13 midway through the opening quarter, but Gamble took over from that point.
The three-time SBC Student Athlete of the Year scored 10 straight points, including a behind the back layup and two 3-pointers, and then capped the sequence with a no-look pass to Lauren Bradshaw underneath the basket to put A-State up 25-18 with over a minute to go in the period.
The momentum carried into the second quarter where A-State went on an 11-0 run to push its lead to 38-22. Gill scored four points in the run, while Jessica Flanery knocked down a 3-pointer in transition. The Mountaineers were held scoreless for over four minutes during the run.
The strong defensive continued into the second half as the Red Wolves' held Appalachian State to just 5-of-20 from the field in the frame, including a stretch where the Mountaineers missed eight consecutive shots.
Meanwhile, A-State continued to cruise behind Gamble and Brown-Haywood who score eight and nine points respectively in the period. Brown-Haywood, the First-Team All-Conference selection, went 4-of-5 from the field during the quarter and grabbed three rebounds.
Arkansas State shot 48.4 percent (30-62) from the field on the afternoon, while also knocking down 17 free throws. The Red Wolves held a one rebound edge on the boards and forced the Mountaineers into 21 turnovers.
For the latest on the A-State women's basketball follow the team log onto the team's Facebook page at Facebook.com/RedWolvesWBB, follow them on Twitter @AStateWB and on Instagram at “AStateWBB.”
