JONESBORO, Ark. (1/5/23) – Anna Griffin notched her third double-double of the season, but the Arkansas State women's basketball team fell 83-67 to Troy in its Sun Belt Conference home opener Thursday inside First National Bank Arena.
Griffin registered a career-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting to lead all players while grabbing 10 boards. The Aurora, Ill., native scored 12 of her points from long range, converting 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
A-State (5-9, 0-3 SBC) had three players in double figures, including Griffin, but could not overcome a strong performance by the Trojans (7-7, 2-1) on the offensive glass. Twenty-five of Troy's 56 total rebounds came on the offensive end, resulting in 26 second-chance points.
Lauryn Pendleton scored in double digits for the third consecutive outing, scoring 17 points and going a perfect 7-for-7 at the free-throw line, while Keya Patton added 10 points and doled out four assists. As a team, the Scarlet and Black shot 33.3 percent (23-69) from the field and went 14-for-17 at the charity stripe for an 82.4-percent clip. All 17 of A-State's foul shots came in the second half.
Three Trojans scored 10-plus, led by Nia Daniel's 17 points. Makayia Hallmon recorded 15 points while Amber Leggett scored a dozen off the bench. Janeen Camp led all players with 11 rebounds as Troy out-rebounded A-State 56-38. The Trojans shot 37.3 percent (28-75) from the field and sank 23 of 26 free throws (88.5 percent).
Troy scored the game's first six points and surged out to an early double-digit lead in the first quarter, leading 26-14 after one. A-State rallied in the second quarter to cut the deficit down to single digits on back-to-back treys by Griffin before the Trojans answered with two scores to lead by 12 with a minute left in the half. Mailyn Wilkerson drilled a 3-pointer with 38 seconds to go, and then Griffin added her third long-range bucket of the quarter to end the half, cutting Troy's lead at intermission to 42-36.
A-State kept it within eight for the first four minutes of the second half, but a 7-0 run by the visitors expanded the margin to 15. Troy went on to take a 64-51 lead into the fourth quarter. The Trojans' largest lead of the night came after a 12-2 run made it a 21-point affair with 5:05 remaining, but five straight points by Griffin later cut it to 14 with under two to play.
NEXT UP
The Red Wolves continue their home stand Saturday afternoon, hosting Appalachian State. Tip-off against the Mountaineers inside First National Bank Arena is set for 2 p.m. CT on ESPN+. The radio broadcast can be heard live via the EAB Red Wolves Sports Network station 95.3 and 96.9 The Ticket Radio Network.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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.
