Jonesboro, AR – Contributed – Arkansas State overcame a late push from Coastal Carolina with 16 threes made to reach the 20th win of the season on Wednesday evening at First National Bank Arena.
Head coach Destinee Rogers reached 75 career wins with the victory over Coastal Carolina.
Coastal Carolina outshot the Red Wolves, making 23 of their 55 shots (42 percent) to the Red Wolves making 19 of 63 (30 percent). A-State forced 32 turnovers compared to giving up 20 of their own, but was out-rebounded 42-36.
Crislyn Rose made all six field goals beyond the arc, along with three free throws, to total 21 points and lead the Red Wolves. Aniyah Ruddock and Mimi McCollister both hit double digits, 14 and 12, respectively. Wynter Rogers led the team with eight rebounds and two blocks.
Coastal Carolina jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes, but a pair of threes and a Yves Cox layup put A-State in the lead. A lone Chanticleer three lifted them back up two, but another 8-0 Red Wolf run established the lead for the home team, one they held by five after 10 minutes.
The Red Wolves hit the free throw line in the second quarter, going a combined 9-of-12 while also hitting another four triples. Two came by way of Mia Tarver, with Rose and McCollister accounting for the other two. A late three from Coastal again left the difference at five, A-State up 40-35.
A 9-2 run for A-State was the response to Coastal opening the half with a three. Coastal whittled down the lead in the back half of the quarter with 16 points, which was only broken up by a set of Rose threes and a Zyion Shannon layup. A-State held a short 57-56 lead heading into the final period.
The Red Wolves slowly constricted the Chanticleers across the first few minutes, outscoring them 8-2 by way of a pair of Ruddock triples before a 7-0 run for Coastal tied the game with 3:30 remaining. Rose answered the call with back-to-back threes to give the edge to the home side. McCollister was sent to the line, making all six free throws tried in the last minute to extend the Red Wolf advantage in the final seconds.
Arkansas State makes the away trip of the MAC-SBC Challenge to face Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, and live stats can be found at astateredwolves.com/stats.