Nassau, Bahamas – (Contributed) – Arkansas State women’s basketball (4-3, 0-0 SBC) forced the most opponent turnovers in a game in program history in a decisive win against Houston (4-3, 0-0 B12) in the opening round of the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship-Goombay Division to defeat the Cougars, 83-66.
It marks the first international win for Arkansas State since 2000 at the Fun in the Sun Classic in Cancun, Mexico.
Zyion Shannon led the Red Wolves for the fourth time this season in points, this time with 15 on 50 percent shooting from the field (6-for-12). Mimi McCollister also hit double digits with 10 points on two threes, a layup. Yves Cox wrangled in eight rebounds to lead A-State. TK Pitts led the Cougars, going 5-for-12 (42 percent) scoring 12 total points.
A-State shot 38 percent (30-of-79) on the day, with 11 threes made from 37 attempts (30 percent). Houston shot 48 percent (24-of-52) and made 25 percent of their threes (3-of-12), needing almost 24 minutes to make its first one in the third quarter. The Red Wolves were outrebounded, 45-37, but set the program record in turnovers forced in a game with 38, surpassing the 36 by FAU on December 18, 2007.
Houston scored first, but the A-State offense revved up with 12 unanswered points to set up a comfortable lead less than three minutes into the game. By the five-minute mark of the first quarter the Red Wolves were already up 21-8. No single player dominated, with Mia Tarver and Mimi McCollister leading the team with six points each as the Red Wolves led after the first 10 minutes, 33-15.
Arkansas State struggled in the second period with only 12 total points, but Houston were unable to close the gap much, only scoring 16 themselves. D’Arrah Allen led the team with six points this quarter with a 45-31 halftime lead.
No Red Wolf scored more than one field goal in the third quarter, but Arkansas State still worked 21 more points, while forcing 10 more turnovers, keeping the Cougars from scoring more than 15 points.
Houston didn’t roll over despite a 20-point deficit heading into the final quarter shooting 40 percent (8-for-20) down the stretch. UH ended up scoring those 20 points, but also gave up 17 to the Red Wolves, with Shannon going 3-for-3 on her shots and netting both free throws in the fourth quarter for eight total points.
UP NEXT
Arkansas State will play Kent State for the Baha Mar Nassau Championship-Goombay Division Championship game on Sunday, November 30 at 12:30 p.m. CST. The game will be streamed on FloSports, with live stats at astateredwolves.com/stats.
