Photo by: Krishnan Collins | Editor-in-Chief: Jada Ford takes a 3-point shot with Little Rock’s Sydney Chastain trying to close down the shot.

JONESBORO- The Arkansas State women’s basketball team routed in-state rival Little Rock and beat the Trojans by the largest margin since Jan. 25, 2014 in a dominant performance by the Red Wolves Feb. 28.

A-State (10-17 overall, 7-9 SBC) won 72-54 in a performance where four separate Red Wolves scored in double digits. Peyton Martin recorded a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds while freshman Mya Love chipped in with 15 points. Jireh Washington scored 14 and Morgan Wallace contributed 12.

A-State as a whole played very physical against the Trojans and the visitors could not handle Martin down low. At the start of the third quarter in which the Red Wolves scored a whopping 28 points, Martin scored the first seven.

“Jireh was able to get me the ball,” Martin said. “I could hear Coach Daniel on the sidelines motivating me and everything. It just kind of opened up. I got some quick boards and that kind of helped me get some points on the board.”

This win ended a six-game losing streak for the Red Wolves.

“To be honest with you, I haven’t focused on the losing streak and trying to unload those things,” A-State head coach Matt Daniel said. “We’re just trying to play better basketball. One of the things I’ll go in there and tell the locker room is there won’t be any crazy celebration. We’re going to enjoy the win but there won’t be any crazy celebration because to me everybody is Little Rock. That’s the way we have to approach it.”

The Red Wolves out-rebounded the Trojans 32-28 and defensively A-State played with energy and poise. A-State went 8-18 on 3-pointers and 18-20 from the free throw line. It was a complete performance from the home team.

“I’m so proud of them,” Daniel said. “Peyton was kind of back to her normal self. Peyton was an all-conference selection coming in so we knew she was going to be a focus of everybody’s defense. So she’s just kind of been getting beat up and beat up. She played with great poise tonight and it was her energy on the glass that got everything else going. You know layups, three’s and free throws, we made most of them. Or we made enough, I wouldn’t say most, that’s a little exaggeration.”

Love played with great energy and did not miss a single shot during the game. Despite being a freshman, she showed the traits of a mature player, with some growing pains.

“Energy,” Daniel said. “Mya is going to start the rest of the way out. Just because we need that. That’s who we want to be. That energy level is who we want all five and all 15 to be. She’s still trying to figure it out. I got on her in the middle of a timeout and I told her to cut that ballerina stuff out, because she loves a spin move. What we know is, she’s a lock down defender that plays her tail off.”

Game Summary

Second Half

With 5:04 to play, Love got an offensive rebound and put back a physical layup. As she got fouled on the attempt, the First National Bank Arena erupted with noise. The free throw to complete the 3-point play put the Red Wolves ahead 66-47.

Martin got in on the long range action herself. The usually dominant down low junior took a shot from downtown and sunk the 3-pointer to put A-State ahead 69-47.

Martin dominated the beginning of the third quarter as the junior scored the first seven points of the second half capped off by a physical layup on an offensive rebound before completing the 3-point play. This put the Red Wolves ahead 33-22.

During the monstrous third quarter from the Red Wolves, A-State went on a 10-0 run capped by a Wallace 3-pointer to put the Red Wolves on top 48-27 with all the momentum.

First Half

The Red Wolves fell behind 11-7 early, but a Starr Taylor layup and a 3-pointer by Jada Ford started a 15-0 run, spread over two quarters, that saw A-State jump out to a 22-11 lead.

With Ford’s 3-point shot, the senior became just one 3-pointer shy of being tied for fourth in all-time made 3-pointers for A-State.

Despite this early momentum from A-State, Little Rock’s Kyra Collier illustrated why she’s the SBC’s fifth best scorer. Collier scored eight points in the second quarter and brought Little Rock within four at halftime.

A-State headed into the break with a 26-22 lead.

Looking Ahead

A-State hosts South Alabama March 5. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.

Categories: Sports