LITTLE ROCK — Hanna Qedan scored 17 points to help the Arkansas State women’s basketball team jump to a big first-half lead and eventual win its fourth consecutive game Saturday.
ASU shot nearly 59 percent from the floor in grabbing a 23-point halftime lead and coasted to a 71-58 victory over Louisiana-Monroe at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro.
Qedan made 5 of 8 shots from the floor, including 3 of 5 three-pointers and 4 of 7 free throws, to lead the Red Wolves (9-9, 6-3 Sun Belt Conference), who moved into a tie with North Texas atop the Sun Belt West Division with the victory.
“That first half was really good,” ASU Coach Brian Boyer said. “We defended greatly and had a good shot on nearly every [single] possession.”
ASU gained its big lead on the strength of an early run. With the game tied 4-4, Ashley Olvera made two free throws to start a string of 10 consecutive points. The Red Wolves’ 14-2 run eventually gave them an 18-6 lead with 12:50 left in the first half.
A Jane Morrill layup with 3:54 left then made it 43-20 and a Carlisha Wyatt free throw gave ASU its biggest first-half lead at 46-22.
Louisiana-Monroe (3-15, 1-8) made a late run to get within 69-58, but by that time less than a minute remained. Sandy Jackson made two free throws to finish the scoring for ASU.
Morrill added 14 points for the Red Wolves and Wyatt had 10. It was the ninth time this season ASU has had three or more players score at least 10 points. The Red Wolves are 6-3 in those games.
After making 58.6 percent (25 of 52) of its shots in the first half, ASU made 8 of 23 (34.8 percent) shots in the second half and finished at 48.1 percent.
Sports, Pages 21 on 01/21/2013