Arkansas State holds on to defeat Middle Tennessee 70-68
January 14, 2008
By Van Provence
ASU Sports Information
JONESBORO — Freshman guard Angie Criner scored 17 points and freshman forward Shay Scott notched her third consecutive double-double as the Arkansas State Lady Indians (10-8, 5-2) defeated the defending Sun Belt Conference champion Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 70-68 Monday night at the ASU Convocation Center.
Scott finished the night with 13 points and 11 rebounds, sophomore Jazmine Taylor added a career-high 10 points and sophomore Veronica Smith pulled down a career-high nine rebounds, offsetting a game-high 31 points from Middle Tennessee senior Amber Holt.
The victory snapped a four-game win streak in the series by the Blue Raiders and gave Middle Tennessee (9-8, 4-2) just its second conference loss in its last 30 Sun Belt games.
“I really appreciate our team and I’m proud of them for coming in and having the confidence and the swagger to be willing to compete at a high level against this quality of a team,” said ASU Head Coach Brian Boyer. “In the first half I thought we were playing lights-out. I thought we were playing really good and we were still down four or five points. I felt that with one or two bad possessions, things could go the wrong direction pretty quickly against a team as good as Middle. But our team never let that happen. They just continued to answer.”
Middle Tennessee used a three-pointer from Holt to take a 27-22 lead with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half, but ASU reeled off five straight, tying the game at 27 on a free throw from sophomore Ebonie Jefferson with 4:18 remaining in the period. A layup from Jefferson with 1:18 to play gave the Lady Indians a 33-32 lead at the break.
Middle Tennessee opened the second half with a jumper from freshman Anne Marie Lanning to take a 34-33 lead, but ASU answered with an inside bucket from Smith, and the Lady Indians did not trail again.
A layup from Criner gave ASU its first double-digit lead at 51-40 with 9:02 to play and the Tribe stretched the lead to 15 at 59-44 with 5:19 to play on another layup from Criner before the Blue Raiders began to chip away at the ASU lead down the stretch.
Two straight three-pointers from sophomore Jackie Pickel and a bucket from Holt with 1:26 remaining cut the ASU advantage to 62-58, but the Lady Indians hit 8-of-12 free throws in the remainder of the game to hold on for the win.
For the game, ASU hit 28-of-45 free throws and held a 41-36 advantage on the boards, including a 16-12 offensive rebounding advantage.
“I am proud of this team for our play in the second half,” said Boyer. “All year, we have been a team that has been good for a half, here and there. I was really proud of our being able to put together two back-to-back good halves in order to get this win.”
Next up for the Lady Indians is a Jan. 17 Sun Belt West matchup against the Denver Pioneers. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m. at Magness Arena in Denver.