ASU gets its shot at an NCAA berth

Arkansas State’s Aundrea Gamble (left) celebrates with Hanna Qedan after Friday’s victory over Texas State to earn a spot in today’s championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

Arkansas State’s Aundrea Gamble (left) celebrates with Hanna Qedan after Friday’s victory over Texas State to earn a spot in today’s championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

NEW ORLEANS - The Arkansas State women’s basketball team didn’t play up to expectations again Friday at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, but it played well enough to advance.

That’s all that matters, because the Red Wolves are now one victory away from earning their first trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Aundrea Gamble, the conference’s player of the year,scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds as top-seeded ASU held No. 4 Texas State to less than 28 percent shooting in a 59-48 semifinal victory at Lakefront Arena.

The victory moved ASU into today’s 8 p.m. championship game against Western Kentucky and snapped a string of 13 consecutive losses in the semifinal round, seven of which have come under Coach Brian Boyer.

“It’s a dream,” Gamble said. “We always talk about how it’s a business trip and just coming here and doing things that this program has never done before.”

ASU (22-10) advanced to the final thanks to its defense, which it hasn’t had to rely on much this season. The Red Wolves averaged almost 76 points per game going into Friday’s game but were held to a season-low as Jane Morrill and Hanna Qedan were held to 2 and 3 points, respectively. The went into the game averaging a combined 23 points per game.

Gamble carried the load offensively Friday while senior forward Carlisha Wyatt controlled the post. Wyatt scored 14 points and had 11 rebounds, but perhaps most importantly she took Texas State’s Ashley Ezeh out of the game.

Ezeh, who scored 24 points Wednesday in Texas State’s quarterfinal victory over Georgia State, was held to five points after getting into early foul trouble. She had three rebounds before fouling out.

Boyer said his team was well aware of the program’s history of struggles in the semifinals, but he said he didn’t think the Red Wolves thought much about it Friday.

“Did this team know how long it had been since they had been to the finals?” Boyer asked. “Yeah, but I don’t think that ever crossed their minds once they started.”

ASU trailed 15-13 with 8:04 left in the first half but used a zone defense to force Texas State (16-15) into a 1-for-16 shooting slump that lasted until 12:46 remained in the game. By the time Kaitlin Walla scored inside to end the drought, ASU led 35-23.

“We were trying to find ourselves,” Wyatt said. “We were trying to focus more on defense and let our defense make our offense. It started off grindy, and once we got going, we got going.”

Seven times this season ASU has won a game when it trailed by eight points in the second half, and four times it has won a game after falling behind by 10 or more points.

Things never got that dire Friday, mostly because a defense that had allowed an average of 66.7 points per game held Texas State to 27.6 percent shooting from the floor. ASU shot 37.7 percent, well short of its league-leading 45.6 percent average.

“I’m still sitting here looking at these stats thinking, ‘How does it happen?’” Boyer said. “Defensively, we got a lot of stops. Really, it was more just buying time for our offense.”

Sun Belt Women’s Tournament At Lakefront Arena New Orleans SEMIFINALS FRIDAY’S GAMES Arkansas State 59, Texas State 48 Western Kentucky 66, UALR 62 CHAMPIONSHIP TODAY’S GAME Arkansas State vs. W. Kentucky, 8 p.m.

Sports, Pages 19 on 03/15/2014