TROY, Ala. (1/27/24) – Arkansas State women's basketball (10-9, 4-5 SBC) climbed out of a 15-point deficit to force overtime, but Troy (11-8, 8-1 SBC) used an overwhelming offensive attack to put away the Red Wolves 91-84 on Saturday afternoon at Trojan Arena.
Izzy Higginbottom led A-State with 34 points, falling one point short of her career high.
Anna Griffin also reached double digits with 16 while
Emma Imevbore reached double digits in rebounds at 11.
As a team, the Scarlet and Black shot 32-86 (37 percent) from the floor and 10-34 (29 percent) from 3-point range. The Red Wolves also had eight steals and outscored the Trojans in bench points 17-10.
Troy recorded 62 rebounds with 25 coming on the offensive glass, which are new season-highs by an opponent. On the other side, A-State finished with 48 rebounds and 17 offensive boards, with the former setting a new season-high.
Troy jumped out to a 10-4 lead after both sides started the first two minutes scoreless. The Red Wolves and Trojans were active on the offensive glass with 11 combined rebounds as the latter closed the opening period ahead by a score of 19-14.
The Trojans opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run and extended their lead to double digits, but Higginbottom led the offensive attack for the Scarlet and Black with 10 points. Despite shooting 7-for-23 (30 percent) in the quarter, the Red Wolves only trailed by seven at the break.
Overall, A-State shot 13-for-43 (30 percent) and 4-for-16 (25 percent) from deep while Troy shot 16-for-38 (42 percent) from the floor in the first half. The Trojans outscored the Red Wolves 10-2 in second chance points and 4-0 off turnovers.
The deficit swelled to 15 with 7:03 left in the third, but the Scarlet and Black managed to fight their way back into the game. A pair of free throws from
Anna Griffin cut the deficit to four points with 3:07 to go in the quarter. Despite trailing 63-56, A-State had momentum going into the final quarter.
The Red Wolves went on an 11-1 run to open the fourth and took their first lead of the game by a score of 64-63 with 8:54 left. The Trojans would tie it back up at 71-71 and both teams would exchange shots from there.
The Trojans took a 75-73 lead with 11 seconds remaining, but a last second putback from
Lauryn Pendleton tied the game with 0.2 seconds left and forced overtime.
Despite being 1-for-11 (9 percent) from beyond the arc in regulation, the Trojans shot 3-for-3 in overtime along with a 75 percent (6-8) clip from the field. A-State could not overcome the hot shooting as they fell by seven points.
Higginbottom has scored 30-plus for the fifth time this year, passing Shyla Tucker and Adrianne Davie for the second-most 30-point games by a Red Wolf in a season. She ties with Tucker for the third-most 30-point games in a career.
NEXT UP
Arkansas State returns home for a matchup against South Alabama on Wednesday, January 31 at First National Bank Arena.
Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m. on ESPN+, and the Radio broadcast can be heard on 95.3/96.9 The Ticket Radio Network along with the A-State Red Wolves mobile app.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For the latest on the A-State women's basketball program, follow @AStateWB on Twitter/X and @astatewbb on Instagram, while also liking the team's Facebook page at Facebook.com/RedWolvesWBB.
