Jonesboro, AR – Contributed – Arkansas State (27-10, 13-4 SBC), despite a 19-point effort from Bella Weary off the bench, fell in the Fab 4 of the WNIT to Marshall (28-9, 12-5 SBC) Wednesday night at First National Bank Arena.
Crislyn Rose and Bella Weary both went off in the second half, Rose totaling 12 of her 16 points and Weary scoring 14 of her 19.
Arkansas State shot 41 percent (26-of-63) on the night, and 26 percent from deep (8-of-31). Marshall found 44 percent of their tries (24-of-55), and made 35 percent of their threes (6-of-17). Rose finished with six assists while Weary pulled down seven rebounds.
The Red Wolves needed nearly five minutes to hit their first field goal, a jumper from Rose, with Marshall building a 13-2 lead across the opening seven minutes. A pair of Bella Weary layups scored A-State’s other four points in the quarters as Marshal held the lead, 17-6.
Arkansas State found their motion to open the second quarter, hitting back-to-back threes from Mimi McCollister and Mia Tarver to make it a two-score game. The Herd responded with a six-point run to re-establish the lead at 11, five of the points coming from Timaya Lewis-eutsey. Aniyah Ruddock and D’Arrah Allen both nailed a triple to bring the difference back to five.
A quick back-and-forth in the final three minutes ended with a layup at the buzzer from Rose to send both teams to the locker room, Marshall ahead 32-25.
Marshall held A-State at arm’s-length throughout the third, with Ruddock and Weary find shots from the outside late to bring the score heading into the fourth 42-48 for the Thundering Herd.
Weary turned defense into offense with a pickpocket layup out of the break, and A-State battled to a 54-55 score with five minutes left until Marshall rattled off a 9-0 run to hold off the overtake and force the Red Wolves into sending Marshall to the line in the final minute.