JONESBORO, Ark. (2/2/17) – Led by three players scoring in double figures, including freshman forward Madison Heckert with a career-high 14 points, the Arkansas State women's basketball team claimed a 60-52 Sun Belt Conference victory over Coastal Carolina Thursday night at the Convocation Center.
The Red Wolves snapped a three-game skid, moving their record to 5-17 overall and 3-7 in league play. The Chanticleers now hold a 9-11 overall record and 4-6 mark against Sun Belt opponents.
Heckert came off the bench to lead the team in scoring and was joined in double digits by guards Starr Taylor and Dominique Oliver with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Freshman forward Tahlon Hopkins narrowly missed her third double-double this season with a team-best 13 rebounds and nine points.
Although the Chanticleers held a 48-37 edge on the boards, A-State finished the contest with a .400 field-goal percentage while holding CCU to .306 shooting. The Red Wolves also got 19 points from its bench in comparison to Coastal Carolina's seven.
The Chanticleers were led by Ced Gibson with 19 points and Alexis Robinson with 12 rebounds, both team highs.
How It Happened (First Half):
A-State used a 10-2 run early in the game to jump out to an 18-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. Its lead reached eight points, 21-13, two minutes into the second quarter, but CCU used a 5-0 run to pull back within three before the Red Wolves took a 26-21 halftime advantage.
Following the first quarter when A-State shot 57.1 percent, both teams scored eight points in the second as the Red Wolves saw their percentage drop to .250. While A-State hit both its three-point attempts in the first 10 minutes, it went 0-of-3 from beyond the arc in the second quarter.
All eight A-State players that saw action scored in the first half, although none of them had more than Ogo Obinago's four points.
How It Happened (Second Half):
The Red Wolves quickly pushed their lead back to eight points less than three minutes into the third quarter and extended their advantage to a game-high 11 points twice. However, leading 40-29 with 2:43 left in the third, A-State saw CCU close out the quarter with a 9-4 run to make the score 44-38 heading into the fourth.
The Chanticleers opened the final quarter by scoring the first nine points, extending their run to 18-4 as they took a 47-44 lead. CCU extended its lead to 50-45 with 5:17 remaining, but the Red Wolves took control at that point.
A layup by Oliver at the 4:28 mark started a streak of eight consecutive possessions by A-State with a score. The Red Wolves closed the game on a 15-2 run to claim the eight-point win. Heckert was responsible for six of her 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Notables:
Madison Heckert scored a career-high 14 points and tied a career-high with five rebounds.
Tahlon Hopkins nearly recorded her third double-double of the season. She finished with nine points and was one off her career-high in rebounds with 13 on the night.
Starr Taylor tied a career-high with seven assists and did not commit a turnovers in the second half.
A-State is now 43-7 on its home court since the 2013-14 season.
The Red Wolves improved to 198-58 all-time when holding opponents to 65 or fewer points.
A-State's 8 blocked shots as a team were a season-high.
Arkansas closed the game on a 15-2 run.
Quoting Coach Boyer:
“It feels good to get a win, but even more so the way we were able to win. We've been on the short end of so many of these games and I think is really rewarding for this team with the way we lost the lead but was able to fight back and get back and then close out the game.”
“Defensively I thought we were really good down the stretch and to be able to hold them to just two points over a three or four minute stretch was really crucial. The other thing that stood out was the turnovers in the second half because we only turned it over three times and Starr Taylor had five assists and no turnovers in the second half and that's just huge for her and this group.
Up Next:
Arkansas State will host Appalachian State Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Convocation Center. Fans who cannot attend the game can watch the game on the WatchESPN App or listen to the broadcast on 95.3FM The Ticket or online at AStateRedWolves.com.
For the latest on the A-State women's basketball log onto the team's Facebook page at Facebook.com/RedWolvesWBB, or follow them on Twitter @AStateWB and on Instagram at “AStateWBB.”
