JONESBORO, Ark. (2/26/21) – In the penultimate game of the regular season, the Arkansas State women's basketball team dropped a 60-40 decision to UT Arlington Friday night at First National Bank Arena.
The Red Wolves (9-10, 4-9 SBC) kept it close early, but the Mavericks (12-6, 10-4) managed to pull away in the second quarter for the 20-point win. Jada Stinson led A-State with 13 points, scoring double-digits for the eighth time in 10 games, while Peyton Martin narrowly missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
"I thought we did a better job of guarding in the second half than we did in the first half and held them to 23 points," head coach Matt Daniel said. "That was after we lost Morgan (Wallace) to injury. We know the game plan going into tomorrow and we have to fight like crazy, not feeling sorry for ourselves. We've been through it with games postponed or canceled due to weather, and injuries. It hurt to lose Morgan, but we need to have a 'next-woman-up' mentality and come back tomorrow and fight like crazy."
Trinitee Jackson recorded 10 points and five boards in the start, going 4 of 5 from the free-throw line. As a team, A-State shot 30.0 percent (15-50) and outrebounded UTA 39 to 37.
UTA's Camryn Hawkins led all players with 17 points while Shyia Smith scored 11 for the Mavericks. Collectively, UTA shot 34.4 percent from the field, although A-State held the Mavericks to just 23.1 percent in the second half.
The Red Wolves surged to an early 12-4 lead before UTA scored nine unanswered to lead by one with 1:34 left in the opening quarter. A-State reclaimed a slight edge on layups by Mya Love and Wallace, but the Mavericks closed out the period on a three by Barbara Benson and layup by Emma Halverson to lead 18-15 after one.
UTA's lead ballooned to 12 early in the second until a pair of three-point plays by Stinson and Jackson cut it back down to single digits. The Mavericks led 37-25 at the half.
In the third, A-State cut the deficit down to as much as 10, as the teams tied 13-13 in the period. UTA closed out the contest with a 10-2 fourth quarter.
The Red Wolves close out the regular season Saturday versus the Mavericks with tip-off slated for 4 p.m. CT. The broadcast can be watched live on ESPN3 while the radio broadcast can be heard on 95.3/96.9 The Ticket.
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.
