The Lady Red Wolves celebrating a 20-point victory over South Alabama.

Photo by Emiliano Ceballos | Sports Photographer

Story by Brayden Morse | Sports Editor

The Arkansas State Red Wolves women’s basketball team won 78-58, winning three of their last five. 

This was also the featured “Howl on the Hardwood” game with promotions and events for students and fans.

This game came down to who shot better in crucial situations. As a team, A-State was 11-12 (91.7%) from three-throws and 31-73 (42.5%) from field-goal range. Although the Red Wolves were superb from free-throws and field-goal range, they were only 5-18 (27.8%) from three-point range. 

South Alabama was only 22-65 (33.8%) from field-goal range and 10-18 (55.6%) from free-throws. 

No team was outrebounded as both had 45 rebounds. The fact that the rebound totals were the same for both teams, shows how well A-State performed shooting and on defense. 

The biggest lead Arkansas State had was in the fourth quarter with 24 seconds left in the game, with a 22-point lead. Their best scoring run was at the same time as their biggest lead, with 12. 

Sophomore guard #23 Izzy Higginbottom led the team with 24 points. Sophomore guard #24 Lauryn Pendleton was perfect on free-throws, going 8-8. 

Sophomore forward #30 Kiayra Ellis led the team with 10 rebounds, while senior forward/center #42 Melodie Kapinga was right behind Ellis with nine rebounds. 

KAIT-8 had Arkansas State winning 70-59 in their pre-game prediction, which was accurate in the result of the game. 

“I told my team that I do not care who we play, I believe we can win,” Head Coach Destinee Rogers said after the shocking victory against first place Troy on Feb. 9. 

The Red Wolves will look to continue their winning ways against Louisiana Lafayette at home at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 18 for the annual breast cancer awareness game. 

Senior guard #1 Markise Davis dribbling alongside a Troy defender.

Photo by Emiliano Ceballos | Sports Photographer

The Arkansas State Red Wolves men’s basketball team lost a close game 67-62 due to failure to execute late.

The Red Wolves were down 30-27 at halftime. Senior guard #1 Markise Davis led the team with six points in the first half. As a team, A-State was 9-22 (40.9%) from field-goal range and 42.9% from three-point range. 

Arkansas State took a 10-point lead with 13 and a half minutes in the second half, on two free-throws by senior forward #22 Omar El-Sheikh.

El-Sheikh led the team with 16 points at the end of the game. Davis was right behind El-Sheikh in points, with 15. Freshman guard #11 Terrance Ford Jr. had a statistics line of 13 points, two assists and three rebounds. 

As a team, the Red Wolves finished 19-48 (39.6%) from field-goal range and 5-18 (27.8%) from three-point range. It is hard to win games with low shooting percentages. A-State also got outrebounded 34-29. 

“They fought hard and I feel like we did some good things out there. All I can do is praise them for their effort,” Head Coach Mike Balado said. 

Arkansas State plays their last home game on Feb. 18 against Georgia State at 2 p.m. on ESPN+. 

Categories: Sports