Pensacola, FL – Contributed – Arkansas State (24-9, 13-4 SBC) fell in the Sun Belt Conference Championship semifinals against (2) Troy (25-6, 15-3 SBC), 73-83, Sunday afternoon at the Pensacola Bay Center.
A-State landed 40 percent of their shots (25-of-62) and 39 percent from three (12-of-31), with D’Arrah Allen totaling 18 points and Mimi McCollister hauling in a team-best six rebounds, while also matching Crislyn Rose with a team-best five assists.
Payton Fields pulled up from deep to set the tone early, nailing two more across the opening minutes. Troy took a 7-0 run to pull up the lead, but an 8-1 run, with the first four A-State points from Bella Weary gave the Red Wolves the 25-23 lead after one quarter.
A-State struggled to find the basket the second quarter, Troy outscoring Arkansas State 20-7 in the period, with the Red Wolves only hitting two field goals in that time.
Slow out of the half, A-State fell behind by as much as 19 before Allen and Weary combined for a 12-0 run with a trio of threes landed. Down to a seven-point deficit, Troy found a few field goals and A-State entered the final quarter down 11.
A Mimi McCollister layup and quick five points from Allen kept the Red Wolves within single digits until a three-minute, 10-point run for Troy put the Trojans back up 18 points ahead. A-State whittled down the Trojan lead with the help of a pair of Allen threes but Troy held an extra 10 points at the final buzzer.