Arkansas State women’s basketball falls to Texas State in regular season finale

The Arkansas State women’s basketball team had its three-game winning streak snapped Friday night in its regular-season finale, falling 86-79 to Texas State at First National Bank Arena.

A-State (11-18, 6-12) will enter the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament as the No. 11 seed and face No. 14 ULM in a first-round contest Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 2:00 p.m. at the Pensacola Bay Center.

Sophomore guard Izzy Higginbottom scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Red Wolves, while Lauryn Pendleton and Leilani Augmon added 19 and 12, respectively. Higginbottom has now scored at least 19 in each of the last four games and has five 20-point games on the season.

While A-State shot 47 percent and outscored Texas State (21-8, 13-5) in both the first and fourth quarters, the Bobcats countered with a .526 mark and put up 17 more points in the second and third periods combined. Arkansas State held a 35-27 advantage on the boards, but committed eight more turnovers to a Texas State squad that also connected on 8-of-20 three-point attempts.

A back-and-forth first quarter that featured four ties and four lead changes ended with A-State ahead 18-15. The Red Wolves led by as much as five points in the second quarter, but the Bobcats took the advantage for good with 4:19 remaining before taking a 38-35 advantage into the break.

Texas State grabbed the momentum coming out of halftime, using a 14-3 run to open up a 52-38 lead at the 6:42 mark. Outscoring A-State 22-11 during the 10-minute span, it still held a 14-point advantage, 60-46, heading into the fourth.

The Bobcats lead swelled to as much as 18 points in the fourth quarter, and while the Red Wolves cut their deficit back to as little as six late in the game, they couldn’t get any closer.

Texas State, which finished the regular season tied atop the Sun Belt Conference standings, was led by four players scoring in double figures, including Da’Nasia Hood with team-best 18 points.

The Red Wolves’ first-round game versus ULM at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament will appear on ESPN+, and the radio broadcast can be heard live via the EAB Red Wolves Sports Network stations 95.4 and 96.9 The Ticket Radio Network. The winner of that game will advance to play No. 6 Georgia Southern Wednesday, March 1, at 5:00 p.m.

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