Lady Indians pick up road win at Florida Atlantic
February 9, 2008
By Van Provence
ASU Sports Information
BOCA RATON, FL - The Arkansas State Lady Indians (14-10, 9-4) erased a one-point halftime deficit with a 12-0 run to start the second half, and went on to defeat the Owls of Florida Atlantic 76-61 in a Sun Belt Conference game at FAU Arena.
Trailing 34-33 at the break, Arkansas State used a three-pointer from junior guard Caroline Starr to jump-start the 12-0 run that gave the Lady Indians a 45-34 lead, and FAU (5-17, 1-12) did not get closer than seven in the remainder of the game.
Starr was one of four players in double figures for the Lady Indians. Starr and freshman guard Angie Criner led all scorers with 16 points each, freshman Shay Scott added 13, and sophomore Ebonie Jefferson finished with 10 points.
"Caroline Starr came out at halftime and put this team on her shoulders," said ASU Head Coach Brian Boyer. "You could tell by the look on her face that she was not going to lose this game."
Starr scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half. After FAU stopped the Lady Indians' run to open the second half, the Owls trimmed the ASU lead to eight at 48-40, but Starr drained back-to-back three-pointers to boost the Arkansas State lead back to double figures at 54-40 with just over 12 minutes remaining.
Florida Atlantic got as close as seven points with 5:13 remaining, but ASU reeled off eight straight, including five from Starr to take a 69-54 lead with 2:49 to play.
The Lady Indians forced 24 turnovers in the game, picking up 13 steals along the way. Starr had a team-high three thefts, while Criner, Veronica Smith and Jazmine Taylor all had two each.
"Our half-court defense was just awesome, just great," said ASU Head Coach Brian Boyer. "We really got after them defensively the whole night, and that was the key to building the lead."
The Lady Indians also out-rebounded the Owls 39-37 on the night, getting a game-high nine each from Scott and sophomore Lyndsay Schlup.
The Tribe has now won eight of their last 11 games, and remains in the chase for the West Division title. At 9-4 in league play, the Tribe trails Arkansas-Little Rock (9-3) by one-half game with five games remaining. ASU returns to the Convocation Center for its next two games, hosting New Orleans Feb. 13 and Louisiana-Lafayette Feb. 17.