JONESBORO- The Arkansas State women’s basketball team earned a massive Sun Belt Conference win against Coastal Carolina when Jireh Washington’s last-second buzzer beating layup went through the net after the sophomore recovered her own missed shot as time expired.

Washington led the Red Wolves (8-11 overall, 5-3 SBC) with 20 points on the night and also chipped in with nine rebounds. Mya Love earned her first-ever start for A-State and the freshman made the most of her opportunity. Love scored 15 points and showed a freshman could perform on the big stage.

“Honestly I just had to get used to it, get out of my comfort zone and be confident,” Love said. “Today showed I had confidence.”

A-State head coach Matt Daniel talked about the energy his team played with on the night. Daniel praised Mya Love and Morgan Wallace, Wallace had 14 rebounds, on their energetic display.

“It’s energy,” Daniel said. “That’s science right? Energy creates a catalyst, which is a spark, which creates productivity. That’s why (Love) is on the floor. She plays harder than anybody we’ve got. Her and Mo. Mo’s is a little bit more effortless. Mya you can just tell she’s locked in and foaming at the mouth.”

The Chanticleers (15-3 overall, 5-2 SBC) came into the game with an impressive record and looked like one of the best teams in the league. However, the Red Wolves took the lead early and battled back-and-forth with the Chants in an energetic display.

The Red Wolves stand undefeated at home in the SBC this season and have only lost one game at home all year.

“I really like students to come like they did for the mens game,” Daniel said. “Good news is students aren’t here so when we do win I don’t have to jump on a table like Mike did and promise to clean kitchens and all that kind of stuff to get them back. The environment is great. Our environment is great. We’re learning to be resilient. On the road it’s up and down, we’ve dropped one at home all year. But we want this to be a tough place to play. You’ve got to win your home games. You have to protect home floor.”

Game Summary

Fourth Quarter

Washington took control in the fourth quarter and opened the period making some tough shots.

The Red Wolves jumped out to a 48-40 lead but Coastal’s Caitlin Roche drained a 3-pointer to keep the Chants in the game.

Peyton Martin, a usually reliable scorer for A-State, struggled from the field all game, but her first basket was huge for the Red Wolves. The junior made a tough layup and then made the ensuing free throw to complete a 3-point play that put the Red Wolves ahead 53-45 with 5:05 to play. Martin was 0-12 from the field before that basket.

Roche then struck with another dagger of a 3-point shot to tie the game at 54-54.

The tension started to build in the First National Bank Arena as it seemed like the momentum was all in Coastal’s favor.

However, Jada Ford came in clutch with a 3-pointer and she got fouled on the shot. She completed the 4-point play to put A-State ahead 58-54 with 1:58 left to play.

Martin only made two baskets the whole game, but her second was just as big as her first. Once again the junior scored on a physical layup and made the ensuing free throw to put A-State ahead 61-57 with 1:14 remaining in the game.

However, Coastal used Aja Blount, who was a force in the paint all night, to score two consecutive close-range baskets to bring the game to a tie at 61-61 setting up Washington’s last-second heroics.

Third Quarter

A-State came out of halftime firing on all cylinders. Love opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer before Washington tacked on a long-range effort of her own. Washington and Love’s shots combined with a couple of quick layups forced Coastal into a timeout as the Red Wolves took a 37-28 lead.

While a few Red Wolves found the hot hand in the third period, Martin struggled from the field. The junior went 0-10 from the field through three quarters.

With 53 seconds left in the quarter, Washington finished a tough layup to put the Red Wolves ahead 43-32 as Daniel called a timeout to gather his team.

The teams went into the fourth quarter at 43-35 scoreline with A-State in the lead.

Second Quarter

The Red Wolves needed some juice to start the second quarter and Madison Heckert was there to provide. The senior forward opened the quarter with a 3-pointer to put A-State ahead 12-11.

Heckert kept impacting the game after a hitting a layup just moments later to extend A-State’s lead to 15-11.

Wallace dominated the boards in the first half as she led the Red Wolves with 12 rebounds in the first two quarters alone.

Wallace had some help offensively as Love made a 3-pointer to put A-State ahead 20-19 with 3:26 to play in the half.

The freshman was not done there. Love missed a free throw with 1:25 to play but beat the Chants to the ball and got her own rebound and calmly put the ball back up for an easy layup.

This put the Red Wolves up 25-21 but Coastal did not quit.

After a tightly contested first half, A-State took a 27-25 lead into halftime.

First Quarter

Daniel urged his team on and pushed the pace in the opening quarter of the game as the Red Wolves sprinted down the court and drove towards the basket quickly as soon as they gathered the ball on almost every possession.

Despite this aggressive approach, the Red Wolves found it tough to finish around the basket. Ford entered the game and helped A-State gain a little rhythm.

Although Ford did not start the game, her impact off the bench was instant. Ford hit a quick-release 3-pointer in her first action of the game to put A-State ahead 9-7 with 4:38 to play in the quarter.

Despite Ford’s clutch basket, the Red Wolves shot 19% from the field in the opening quarter making only 3-of-16 attempts. Coastal led the game 11-9 at the end of the first period.

Looking Ahead

A-State travels to Louisiana-Monroe Feb. 1 to take on the Warhawks. Tip off is set for noon.

Categories: Sports