EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — Christmas came early for the Arkansas State women’s basketball team, which overcame a 15-point second-half deficit en route to a 74-71 victory at SIU Edwardsville Wednesday at First Community Arena.
A-State (7-6) shot 50.9% on 28 of 55 shooting, including an even 70% in the fourth quarter, while limiting the Cougars (4-7) to just 34.8% from the field.
Four Red Wolves scored in double figures, led by Jade Upshaw’s 16 off the bench, 14 of which came in the second half. Trinitee Jackson accounted for 13 points and five rebounds, while Jireh Washington notched 13 points in her first start of the year. Morgan Wallace just missed a double-double, tallying 11 points and a team-high eight boards.
A-State connected on 13 of 18 from the free-throw line (72.2%) while shooting 41.7% (5 of 12) from deep. The Scarlet and Black overcame 25 turnovers, while gaining 17 takeaways.
SIUE held A-State without a field goal for nearly six minutes, until Mya Love connected on a layup to make it 11-4 with 4:08 remaining in the first quarter. The Red Wolves cleaned it up down the stretch, tying it at 18 on a Washington trey in the final minute. SIUE led 20-18 after the first quarter of play.
After Upshaw knotted it up at 20 with a jumper to open the second quarter, the Cougars surged ahead by nine with a 12-3 run to lead 32-23. Kiayra Ellis and Keya Patton cut it to five with a pair of field goals before SIUE closed on a 5-0 stretch to take a 37-27 lead at the half.
The Cougars pushed ahead to as much as 15 in the third quarter, but A-State clawed back late, cutting it to 55-53 on a buzzer-beating bucket by Wallace just before time expired.
A-State fended off SIUE in the back-and-forth fourth quarter, with neither team leading by more than one score. After the Cougars led by three with under four to play, the Red Wolves claimed eight of the final 10 points of the night to earn the win, with four of those eight points coming at the charity stripe after SIUE began fouling to preserve the clock.
NEXT UP
A-State has closed out non-conference play and returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 30, with its Sun Belt Conference opener at Georgia Southern. Tip-off versus the Eagles at Hanner Fieldhouse is slated for 1 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+
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