JONESBORO, Ark. (01/04/08) ? Sophomore forward Shay Scott hit two
free throws with one second remaining to lift Arkansas State (7-7, 1-2) to a
63-61 Sun Belt Conference victory over the Lady Privateers of New Orleans (7-7,
2-2) Sunday afternoon at the ASU Convocation Center.
With the free throws, Scott tied her career high of 18 points, and
the Red Wolves also got a double-double from junior guard/forward Veronica
Smith, who finished the game with 16 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. Scott hit 8-of-10 free throws on the day
while junior guard Ebonie Jefferson added a 7-of-9 effort at the line to also finish
in double figures with 11 points.
After New Orleans senior forward Ty Felder tied the game at 61 on
a jumper with 26 seconds remaining, ASU held for the final shot and Scott
earned the trip to the line when she was fouled on a putback attempt after
Smith managed to get a shot off in traffic with three seconds to play.
“Both Shay and Ebonie were huge at the line...and that is big for us
because those two are probably going to get to the line more than others,” said
ASU Head Coach Brian Boyer. “With Shay on
the inside and as quick as she is, she is going to get to the line, and Ebonie
is so aggressive off the dribble and so strong that she is going to get to the
line as well.”
Arkansas State trailed by five, 57-52, after UNO senior guard Jada
Frazier scored with 4:49 to play, but the Red Wolves answered with a bucket
from Scott and a three-point play from Jefferson to knot the score at 57-57 with
3:59 remaining.
A layup from New Orleans junior forward Candice McGee put the Lady
Privateers back on top 59-57, but ASU answered with another basket from Scott
and two more free throws from Jefferson to take a 61-59 lead with 1:41 to
go. Felder tied the game just over a
minute later to set the stage for ASU's final possession.
New Orleans used a 27-23 advantage on the boards in the first half
to take a 30-27 lead at halftime. The
Lady Privateers pulled down 13 offensive rebounds in the opening half, but ASU held
UNO to just four offensive rebounds in the second half and finished the game with
an 18-17 lead on the offensive glass and a 43-39 overall rebounding advantage.
“I thought we did a lot of good things in the first half, but one
glaring flaw was that we couldn't keep them off the offensive boards,” said
Boyer. “In the second half we did a much
better job of keeping them off the boards.
With our pressure we were able to create some turnovers ? kind of what
you would hope out of a home game ? we got the crowd into it and got some
energy going. New Orleans answered and
we told the team at that point that the energy part of it was done and that
they were going to have to win it with discipline - just bear down and play
with discipline - and I thought we did that late.”
The Red Wolves hit 17-of-23 free throws on the afternoon,
including 11-of-13 in the second half while shooting 48 percent from the floor
in the final 20 minutes.
New Orleans was led by junior guard Brittany Helm's 20 points,
five assists and five steals while Felder added a double-double with 12 points
and 11 boards. Frazier finished in
double figures as well with 12 points.
The Red Wolves resume play Jan. 07 when Arkansas State travels to
Denver to take on the Pioneers in an 8 p.m., Sun Belt Conference West Division
matchup at Magness Arena.
