Arkansas State qualified for its first postseason appearance in six years after winning the Sun Belt Conference regular-season title, but it’s reward was playing in one of the toughest venues it’s been in all season.
ASU hung with Texas-El Paso for the first half of Friday’s first-round WNIT game in El Paso, Texas, but the Miners opened the second half with an overwhelming run on their way to a 74-64 victory in front of 4,500 at the Don Haskins Center.
The loss ends the season for ASU (22-12), which traveled 1,100 miles west wondering if it would be able to shake the heartbreak of losing to Western Kentucky in the championship game of the conference tournament.
“Another tough locker room in there,” ASU Coach Brian Boyer said. “Every team in the country will end it with one loss, most of them end it with two. That’s the way it is.”
ASU couldn’t overcome UTEP’s run early in the second half. The teams were tied 33-33 at halftime, but Kayla Thornton scored seven points in a 16-4 run that gave UTEP a 49-37 lead with 13:33 left.
UTEP made 6 of 12 shots during the run and forced ASU to miss 8 of 10 while committing 3 turnovers.
UTEP improved to 18-1 on its home floor.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a building this loud,” Boyer said. “When they made their run, those layups turned into a lot of points because of how loud it was. … Great team, great environment, hard to win here.”
Thornton scored 15 of her 28 points in the second half, and the All-Conference USA forward made 11 of 19 shots from the floor to go along with 7 steals, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Chrishauna Parker added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Miners, who also got 12 points from Sparkle Taylor.
ASU cut the lead to 53-47 on Brittney Gill’s basket with9:53 left, but UTEP Coach Keitha Adams called a timeout and her team responded with an 8-2 run to take a 61-49 lead with 7:13 left. UTEP (25-7) led by at least 10 points the rest of the game and by as many as 14 points.
ASU made 40.7 percent of its shots from the floor and 6 of 13 three-pointers, but UTEP shot 46.7 percent and held a 40-35 rebounding edge.
Aundrea Gamble led ASU with 23 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds, while Hanna Qedan added 15 points. Jane Morrill, in her final game for ASU, was held to five points and five rebounds.
Boyer said UTEP’s frontcourt of Thornton and Kristine Vitola, who had nine points and seven rebounds, disrupted ASU’s offense that revolves around its post players setting screens for Gamble and its other guards on the wing.
“They had our post players just really out of their element all day,” Boyer said. “That affected our guard play. To their credit, they just kind of messed with us a little bit, took us out of what we were doing.”MICHIGAN 86, STONY BROOK 48
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Behind a season-high 11 three-pointers, along with 13 points and 13 assists from junior guard Shannon Smith, Michigan rolled to a victory over Stony Brook in the opening round of the WNIT on Friday night at Crisler Center.
Smith also added 4 steals and 4 rebounds in 32 minutes for Michigan (19-13). Freshman guard Siera Thompson led the Wolverines with 17 points. Sophomore guard Madison Ristovski hit a career-best five three-pointers to score 15 points and junior guard Nicole Elmblad also had 15 points. The Wolverines shot 56.2 percent (33 for 63) from the floor and had a season-high 28 assists.
Michigan went on a 21-5 run over 6:39 in the first half to take a 23-10 lead with 11:04 remaining. Stony Brook (24-9) answered by scoring 11 of the next 15 points to cut the lead to 27-21.
The Wolverines then went on a 9-0 run, capped by a Ristovski three-pointer, to increase the lead to 36-21 with1:38 remaining in the half. They led 38-26 at halftime.
The second half opened with a 9-2 Michigan run that pushed the lead to 47-28. Stony Brook cut the lead to 49-33, but consecutive three-pointers from Ristovski, a basket from Smith and a three-pointer from Thompson put Michigan ahead 60-35 with 11:44 left and the Wolverines were not threatened again.
Guard Brittany Snow led Stony Brook with 16 points, forward Sabre Proctor had 13 and guard Chikilra Goodman added 11.
SOUTH FLORIDA 56, NORTH CAROLINA A&T 50
TAMPA, Fla. - Forward Alisia Jenkins scored a game-high 17 points to lead South Florida to a victory in front of 1,105 fans at the Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla.
Guard Inga Orekhova scored 15 points for the Bulls (20-12), who shot 41 percent from the floor. Guard Courtney Williams also had 14 points for South Florida.
Guard Christina Carter led North Carolina A&T (24-7) with 15 points.
ST. BONAVENTURE 81, CHARLOTTE 62
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - A school record from sophomore forward Katie Healy and a key second-half run sent St. Bonaventure to a first round victory over Charlotte on Friday at the Reilly Center.
Healy was 11 of 15 from the floor and made 6 of 7 free throws to score 27 points, setting a school record for points in a postseason game. Sophomore forward Hannah Little scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. The 15 rebounds also set a school postseason record.
After trailing 26-25 at halftime, the Bonnies (24-10) outscored the 49ers 56-36 in the second half. A 10-2 run, capped by a three-pointer by Chelsea Bowker with 4:52 remaining, gave St. Bonaventure a 64-50 lead.
Guard Ny Hammonds led Charlotte (15-16) with 23 points and guard Hillary Sigmon added 15.
DUQUESNE 62, MOUNT ST. MARY’S 52
PITTSBURGH - Guard Raegan Moore scored a team-high 13 points to lead Duquesne to a first round victory over Mount St. Mary’s.
Guard April Robinson had 12 points for Duquesne (20-12), while Wumi Aqunbiade and Orsi Szecsi added 10 points each. Duquesne shot 37 percent (20 of 54) from the field and 19 of 27 free throws.
Guard Sydney Henderson scored a game-high 14 points in the loss for Mount St. Mary’s (19-14), which shot 31.5 percent (17 of 54) from the floor and 54.5 percent (12 of 22) from the free throw line. Guard Jacqueline Brewer added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Mount St. Mary’s.
At a glance
WOMEN’S NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT
All times Central FIRST ROUND
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Villanova 74, Quinnipiac 66
George Washington 86, East Carolina 68
Minnesota 62, Green Bay 60
Colorado 78, TCU 71
Montana 90, Washington State 78
THURSDAY’S GAMES
IUPUI 72, Central Michigan 66
Bowling Green 72, High Point 62
Indiana 48, Belmont 47
Auburn 78, Furman 64
Harvard 90, Iona 89
Rutgers 65, Delaware 61
Princeton 94, VCU 76
Seton Hall 63, American 60
Old Dominion 68, Navy 60
Stetson 70, Miami 63
Marquette 63, Indiana State 61
SMU 84, Texas Southern 72
South Dakota State 78, Butler 61
Creighton 77, Missouri 51
Northwestern 69, Ball State 65
Mississipi State 77, Tulane 68
Southern Miss. 75, Lamar 60
San Diego 82, Cal Poly 59
Southern Utah 71, Colorado State 56
Oregon 90, Pacific 63
FRIDAY’S GAMES
UTEP 74, Arkansas State 64
Michigan 86, Stony Brook 48
Duquesne 62, Mount St. Mary’s 52
St. Bonaventure 81, Charlotte 62
South Florida 56, North Carolina A&T 50
Saint Mary’s (Calif.) 75, Cal St. Bakersfield 68
Washington 60, Hawaii 57 SECOND ROUND
TODAY’S GAMES
Marquette (22-10) at Indiana (19-12), 6 p.m.
So. Utah (23-9) at Colorado (18-14), 8 p.m.
SUNDAY’S GAMES
George Washington (22-10) at Villanova (23-8), noon
Creighton (20-13) at South Dakota State (23-9), 2 p.m.
IUPUI (23-9) at Northwestern (16-15), 2 p.m
Princeton (21-8) at Seton Hall (19-13), 4 p.m
SMU (18-13) at Minnesota (21-12), 5 p.m.
Sports, Pages 21 on 03/22/2014