SUN BELT WOMEN

ASU women drop Troy

— Freshman forward Jalen O’Bannon led the Arkansas State women with 18 points, while junior Jane Morrill added 13 to lead the Red Wolves to a 71-49 victory over Troy Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro.

The Red Wolves (15-12, 12-6) remain tied for first in the Sun Belt Conference West Division standings with UALR, which won at Florida Atlantic on Saturday.

ASU made 6 of its first 9 shots on the way to opening a 13-0 lead against Troy (6-21, 3-15), including a three-pointer from Andi Watson to help set the tone.

“The start to the game early on was really good,” ASU Coach Brian Boyer said. “I thought we came out early on and made some good decisions, forced some turnovers, and we were able to build the lead.”

Watson, who made her first start since Dec. 15, finished with eight points, while fellow senior Ashley Olvera tied a career high with nine rebounds in her final home game. Quinishia McDowell had 6 points, 6 rebounds and 1 steal in her final home game.

ASU out rebounded Troy 45-37.

“This was maybe one of the best games we have had at rebounding the basketball,” Boyer said. “There were a lot of misses out there and we were able to grab a lot of those.”

O’Bannon finished the first half with 10 points, including a jumper with 21 seconds to go in the half to give the Red Wolves a 40-27 halftime lead. It was the fourth consecutive game in which O’Bannon has scored at least 10 points.

Troy entered the game averaging 72.3 points per game, but the Trojans committed 14 turnovers and shot 27.9 percent (17 of 61) from the field.

SATURDAY’S GAMES

UALR 60, Florida Atlantic 43 Arkansas State 71, Troy 49 Middle Tennessee 74, La.-Monroe 53 W. Kentucky 77, La.-Lafayette 58 South Alabama 65, North Texas 61

TUESDAY’S GAMES All times Central

Arkansas State at North Texas, 7 p.m.

S. Alabama at W. Kentucky, 7:05 p.m.

THURSDAY’S GAMES

La.-Lafayette at UALR, 5:15 p.m.

Fla. Int. at La.-Monroe, 5:15 p.m.

Middle Tennessee, at Troy, 5:15 p.m.

Sports, Pages 33 on 02/24/2013

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