NEW ORLEANS -- The ULM women's basketball team kept within striking distance for most of the game, but the Warhawks were unable to knock off the tournament's No. 1 seed as Arkansas State claimed a 78-69 win Wednesday afternoon inside the Lakefront Arena in the Quarterfinal Round of the Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Tournament.
Arkansas State (21-10) opened the second half on a 13-5 run over the first 4:15 to take a 49-36 lead. After Whitney Wilson canned a triple with 15:31 to play, the Red Wolves responded with a three of their own to push the lead back to 13 at the 14:43 mark.
The Warhawks (11-20) continued to fight and closed the gap to eight (55-47) on a Jasmine Shaw jumper with 11:52 remaining, but the Warhawks were unable to get any closer down the stretch as the Red Wolves claimed the victory in the quarterfinal matchup.
Alexar Tugler and Wilson led the Warhawks with 14 points each, while Elexar Tugler and Jasmine Shaw added 13 and 12, respectively. Wilson's 14 points were a career-high for the junior.
For the game, the Warhawks shot 37.3% from the floor (25-67) and 46.7% from beyond the arc (7-15), but the club was just 54.5% at the line (12-22).
Arkansas State was led by Jalen O'Bannon who finished with 21 points. The Red Wolves finished 26-of-50 from the floor (52.0%) and 4-of-11 from beyond the arc (36.4%). At the line, Arkansas State shot 66.7% (22-33).
Alexar Tugler got the Warhawks on the board first as she sank a pair of free throws just 23 seconds into Wednesday's contest. ULM knocked down its first field goal of the game at the 16:25 mark to end a 8-0 run by Arkansas State. Just 22 seconds later, Alexar Tugler knocked down a three pointer to close the gap to one-point (8-7).
After ULM evened the contest at 8-8, Arkansas State used another 8-0 run to take a 16-8 lead with 13:51 to play in the opening half. The Warhawks would not go away as ULM used a run of their own (12-5), as five different Warhawks scored, to cut the deficit to one (21-20) with 8:02 showing on the clock.
ULM continued its strong play and took a 26-24 lead with 4:18 to play on a layup by Wilson. The two teams continued to battle down the stretch, but the Red Wolves took a 36-31 lead into the locker room at the half.
