LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas State’s Hanna Qedan had a three-point shot blocked by Middle Tennessee’s Icelyn Elie as time expired, and the ASU women’s basketball team fell to the Blue Raiders 72-70 Wednesday night at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro.
Middle Tennessee’s Kortni Jones hit a jumper with seven seconds left to give the Blue Raiders (9-5, 4-1 Sun Belt Conference) the lead.
But Ashley Olvera found Qedan open behind the three-point line as the clock ticked down, but her shot was blocked by Elie as time expired to give Middle Tennessee the victory.
“We were just trying to get the ball in Ashley Olvera’s hands and then let her create something,” ASU Coach Brian Boyer said. “It was a great decision to get Hanna the ball because she appeared to be wide open, but the kid just flew in and made a great play.”
Qedan finished with career-high 22 points. She was 5 of 9 from the field, including 3 of 5 on three-pointers, and made 9 of 10 from the freethrow line. Jane Morrill added 15 points and 5 rebounds, while Carlisha Wyatt finished with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
ASU (5-10, 2-4) led 68-64 with 4:06 to go after Morrill made a three-pointer, but it would be ASU’s last field goal. The Red Wolves took a 69-64 lead after Wyatt hit a free throw, but the Blue Raiders responded with a layup from Ebony Rowe to pull within three points.
Olvera made 1 of 2 free throws with 2:06 to go to give the Red Wolves 70-66 edge, but ASU would not score again. Jones scored the game’s final six points, including the go-ahead basket with six seconds to go.
“I thought our execution was decent enough down the stretch,” Boyer said. “I think they just defended us really well and one of our last offensive possessions they went to a zone for the first time all night and took away our penetration and it was a good adjustment for them.”
ASU trailed 39-31 at halftime, the Red Wolves outscored the Blue Raiders 10-2 to start the second half, tying the game 41-41, setting the tone for a second half that saw 12 lead changes and 10 ties.
“We did a lot of good things tonight and had an opportunity to win it,” Boyer said. “I was disappointed with the start, but beyond that I had no issues with our effort and I thought we did a lot of good things.” SWAC WOMEN MISS. VALLEY STATE 71, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 64
Lenise Stallings scored a game-high 15 points and made some key free throws down the stretch as Mississippi Valley State (4-8, 1-0 SWAC) held off Arkansas-Pine Bluff (4-7, 0-1) in the conference opener at H.O. Clemmons Arena in Pine Bluff.
UAPB cut the lead to 52-48 with just over 5 minutes left in the game and made a run at the Devilettes late.
UAPB forced Mississippi Valley State into a season-high 29 turnovers and limited leading scorer Alia Frank to nine points, but Davina Jefferson helped picked up the slack with a team-high 12 points and Deirta Silas added nine points. Silas scored five points, including a threepointer from the corner, with just under four minutes to play to give Mississippi Valley State a 64-53 advantage.
Chigozianyi Okwumbua led UAPB with 14 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Cassidy Wright added 12 points and 7 rebounds, while Lakendra Marsh and Asia Rhines-Malone chipped in 10 points each.
SWAC MEN ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 79, MISS. VALLEY STATE 64
PINE BLUFF - Terrell Kennedy scored 25 points, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff took a 17-0 lead en route to a victory over winless Mississippi Valley State in both teams’ Southwestern Athletic Conference opener.
Kennedy was 9 of 14 from the field. Lazabian Jackson added 16 points, including four three-pointers, for the Golden Lions (2-11), who snapped a nine-game losing streak in their first home game of the season. Pine Bluff dominated the boards, outrebounding MVSU 39-20, and made 20 of 22 free throws.
Davon Usher led the Delta Devils (0-11) with 19 points and Matt Smith had 17.
Sports, Pages 18 on 01/03/2013