Jonesboro, AR – (Contributed) – Senior guard Zyion Shannon tied her season-high in scoring and led Arkansas State (16-4, 7-1 SBC) to a 10-point win over Southern Miss (11-7, 4-3 SBC) on Saturday afternoon in First National Bank Arena.
The Red Wolves’ 16-4 start is the best in a decade and the fourth-best 20-game record in program history.
A-State shot 40 percent (28-of-70), making 24 percent (9-of-38) from three-point range. Southern Miss was held to their fourth-worst shooting game, only hitting 36 percent (22-of-60) shooting and only five percent from three (1-of-18), their worst figure of the year.
Led by Shannon’s 26 points and 47 percent shooting (8-of-17), she also pulled in six rebounds, and logged two assists and two steals, with Mimi McCollister (11) and Mia Tarver (10) also reaching double digits. Wynter Rogers led the team is rebounds with nine, scoring eight points along the way and reaching for two blocks and a steal.
Rose hit the first field goal of the game going vertical in the paint, but Southern Miss went on a 10-0 run for an early three-score lead, leaving A-State working from behind for the rest of the quarter. Shannon scored eight points in the opening frame off two threes and a shake-and-bake layup. A McCollister three cut the lead back down to one before USM tacked on three for the 20-16 first-quarter lead.
A-State kept things tight through the first few minutes of the second, trading leads with the Golden eagles off some Bella Weary playmaking and a trio of makes from Shannon, including one to take the lead with seven seconds remaining. A travel gave the Red Wolves the ball back with just three seconds and Rogers fought through contact on the inbounding play for the and-one, making the halftime lead for the Red Wolves four points.
Southern Miss opened up the second half with two shots to tie things up before Shannon kicked off a 9-0 A-State run with a three. Three-pointers from Aniyah Ruddock, Mia Tarver, and Mimi McCollister throughout the quarter established a 10-point lead with 10 minutes remaining.
Just four points were scored for both teams over the next five minutes, but USM found a rhythm, stringing together a 9-1 run heading into the final minutes only down 67-69. A clutch jumper at the elbow from Rogers gave A-State the cushion, with Shannon making seven of the eight free throws available in the closing minutes. To assist in the lead blowing back up to the 81-71 final score
UP NEXT
Arkansas State continues the home stand at First National Bank Arena hosting Old Dominion on Wednesday, Jan. 20, at 11 a.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, and live stats can be found at astateredwolves.com/stats.