JONESBORO, Ark. – Four Arkansas State players scored in double figures and two registered a double-double to help the Red Wolves rally from a 12-point fourth quarter deficit and pick up a 70-68 overtime victory against Georgia State on Thursday night in a Sun Belt Conference women’s basketball game at First National Bank Arena.
Sophomore guard Jireh Washington turned in her first career double-double, while junior guard Morgan Wallace collected the fifth of her career to help lead A-State (5-9, 2-1) to its second consecutive league win. Washington finished with 15 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, and Wallace posted a career-tying 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Senior guard Jada Ford and junior forward Peyton Martin added 16 and 14 points, respectively, for the Red Wolves.
A-State trailed by as much as 15 points in the game and found itself down 49-39 after three periods, but outscored Georgia State (4-10, 1-2) 25-15 in the fourth to force overtime. The Red Wolves turned the ball over just seven times, matching their season low, and finished the outing with a 32.9 field-goal percentage, but connected on 55 percent of their shots in the fourth.
Ford scored 11 of her 16 points in the fourth period, while Wallace accounted for 10 in the final period of regulation. Washington came up big late as well, posting three assists and two steals in the fourth.
“I’m really proud of our resiliency,” head coach Matt Daniel said. “We stepped it up defensively. We were able to play man for the first time in 10 games, and we were pretty good at it for the most part. The environment was great; we need to build on it just like our team needs to build on their effort.”
The Panthers quickly extended their lead to 51-39 to start the fourth period and still led 58-51 at the 4:18 mark, but the Red Wolves went on an 8-2 run over the next two minutes to close within a point. However, Georgia State was able to extend its advantage back to five points, 64-59, with 51 seconds left on the clock.
With just 24 seconds left in regulation, Ford was able to hit a three that made the score 64-62 and Washington followed with a steal on the inbounds play before making a layup to tie the game 64-64 with 22 seconds to go. Georgia State wasn’t able to get a shot off on its final possession, moving the game into overtime.
Although the Red Wolves were just 2-of-8 from the field in the extra period, they made a pair of free throws as well while limiting the Panthers to just one field goal and a free throw. A-State scored the first four points before Georgia State countered with a 4-0 run to tie the game 68-68 with 1:34 to play. Ford completed the comeback when she scored the game-winning bucket in the paint with 1:13 left on the clock.
Georgia State finished the contest with a higher field goal percentage at .379 and a 51-38 advantage on the boards, but committed 16 more turnovers as A-State scored 23 points off the Panthers’ miscues.
The Panthers raced out to a 22-9 lead after the first period and went into halftime ahead 37-27 after shooting 46 percent. However, A-State held them to a .333 mark while shooting 37 percent in the second half itself.
Georgia State was led by two players scoring in double figures, including Jada Lewis with a game-high 22 points.
Arkansas State returns to action Saturday, with a 1 p.m. home game against Georgia Southern.
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