Arkansas State women’s basketball (20-10, 15-3 SBC) clinched a spot in the SBC Tournament championship for the first time in nearly 10 years after rolling past Troy (20-13, 13-5 SBC) 81-66 on Sunday afternoon at the Pensacola Bay Center.

Kennedie Montue led the Scarlet and Black with 21 points while Crislyn Rose (14) and Zyion Shannon (13) also reached double figures. Montue and Nissa Sam-Grant tallied a team-high eight rebounds apiece while Mimi McCollister distributed four assists.

As a team, the Red Wolves shot 26-for-73 (35.6 percent) from the floor, 9-for-32 (28.1 percent) from beyond the arc, and 20-for-28 from the free-throw line. Despite facing the top-ranked rebounding squad nationally entering March 9, A-State outrebounded the Trojans 53-52.

In addition, the Scarlet and Black outscored Troy 28-18 in the paint after being outscored 58-24 by the same opponent on Feb. 28.

The Trojans jumped out to an early 5-0 advantage before an 11-1 run highlighted by six points from Montue made the score 11-6 at the 7:02 mark. Both sides evenly exchanged points from there, resulting in a 21-16 lead at the first buzzer.

A-State blitzed the opposition over the first 6:30 of the second quarter, going on an 18-2 run capped by three-pointers from Montue and Kyanna Morgan. The lead maxed out at 38-19 (21 points) before Troy closed the first half on a 9-0 run.

The Scarlet and Black shot 14-for-40 (35.0 percent) from the floor and 5-for-17 (29.4 percent) from three-point range while limiting the Trojans to 9-of-36 (25.0 percent) shooting from the field in the first half.

The lead alternated between single and double digits over the first five minutes of the third, with the Trojans closing the gap to six with 1:59 to go. A-State caught a second wind beyond that mark and closed the quarter with 14 of the final 16 points to take a 65-47 lead with 10 minutes to go.

Troy converted three consecutive three-point plays to open the fourth and split a pair of free throws to cap a 10-0 run. Shannon stonewalled the comeback effort with back-to-back layups before a three-point play from Rose put the lead at 15.

The Trojans’ last major push occurred before the 3:00 mark, scoring five consecutive points before Montue used a layup and three-pointer to ice the game with the score 77-62. A-State surrendered one field goal beyond that point, resulting in the Red Wolves third consecutive victory over Troy and the first SBC Tournament Championship appearance since the 2014-15 campaign.

The win marks A-State’s first 20-win season since finishing 27-6 (19-1 SBC) in 2015-16.

NEXT UP

A-State takes on James Madison in the SBC Tournament Championship on Monday, March 10, at 1:00 p.m. inside the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla. Listeners can find the game on 95.3 The Ticket Radio Network while viewers can watch on ESPN2.