JONESBORO, Ark. (3/7/20) – Junior guard Morgan Wallace posted her eighth career double-double to help the Arkansas State women's basketball team take a one-point lead into the fourth period against Sun Belt Conference regular-season champion Troy, but the Trojans were able to pull away over the final 10 minutes for a 91-81 victory Saturday at First National Bank Arena.
 
A-State (11-18, 8-10) was led by three players scoring in double figures, including Wallace with a team-high 16 points to go along with a career-high-tying 15 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jireh Washington and junior forward Peyton Martin added 14 and 12 points, respectively, for the Red Wolves.
 
Despite the setback, A-State actually posted a .400 field goal percentage to the Trojans .366 mark. However, Troy (25-4, 16-2) took 12 more shots thanks in part to 24 offensive rebounds it turned into 26 second-chance points. The Trojans held a 59-46 overall advantage on the boards and also committed five fewer turnovers on the day.
 
The game featured seven ties and 10 lead changes before Troy took the advantage for good in the fourth period. A-State limited Troy to no better than a 31.8 field goal percent in each of the first three periods, but the Trojans connected on 58 percent of their shots over the final 10 minutes.
 
The Red Wolves led for nearly 16 of the game's first 30 minutes and staked claim to a narrow 62-61 advantage after three periods of action, but Troy struck first in the fourth and wouldn't trail again.
 
Martin connected on a jumper in the paint to tie the score at 65-65 with 8:31 remaining before the Trojans responded with a 12-1 run over the next to four minutes to take a 77-66 lead.  A-State was unable to get closer than seven points the rest of the way.
 
"I thought we just ran out of gas," head coach Matt Daniel said. "We started the game off with a bang, obviously. You saw the outright conference champions today, so we certainly know what we need to do moving forward. That was the number one offensive rebounding team in the country, and they proved why today with 24 offensive rebounds."
 
Although A-State scored the game's first 10 points, it led just 25-24 at the end of the first period. Troy was able to take a 42-41 advantage into the locker room. The Red Wolves overtook the Trojans in the third, building an eight-point lead, 60-52, with 2:14 left in the period. However, the visitors closed the period with a 9-2 run to take the momentum heading into the final period.
 
The Red Wolves' 2019-20 is not over, as they'll travel to Arlington, Texas, for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, where they will be the No. 7 seed taking on sixth-seeded South Alabama at 8:30 p.m. CT in the College Park Center. The game will be aired live on ESPN+ while the broadcast can be heard on the EAB Red Wolves Radio Network on 95.3 The Ticket, as well as 970 AM and 96.9 FM.

For the latest on the A-State women's basketball program, follow @AStateWB on Twitter and @astatewbb on Instagram, while also liking the team's Facebook page at Facebook.com/RedWolvesWBB.