In their first road game since December 2, Arkansas State women’s basketball (7-5, 1-1 SBC) dropped a hard-fought contest to James Madison (10-4, 2-0 SBC) by a score of 64-57 on Thursday night at Atlantic Union Bank Center.
Izzy Higginbottom led both sides in scoring for the second-consecutive game with 18 points while Anna Griffin (14 points) and Lauryn Pendleton (10 points) rounded out the trio of double-digit scorers for the Red Wolves. As a team, A-State finished the game shooting 19-for-55 (35 percent) from the field and 3-for-17 (18 percent) from 3-point range.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with Arkansas State claiming a 19-15 lead to end the first quarter. However, the Dukes responded in the next period by outscoring the Red Wolves 16-9 on 40 percent (6-for-15) shooting.
Despite trailing 31-30 at halftime, A-State shot 44 percent (14-for-32) from the field during the first half while holding Madison to 36 percent (12-for-33). JMU outrebounded the Scarlet and Black 25-16 after a half of play, including 10-4 on the offensive glass.
Higginbottom and Griffin powered A-State on a 13-2 run to open the second half, which claimed the first double-digit lead of the ballgame (43-33). The Dukes responded with an 18-4 run that erased the lead and put them ahead 51-47 going into the fourth.
The Red Wolves fell behind by eight points during the fourth but brought the deficit down to four with 1:17 left. A late layup from Kseniia Kozlova plus a free throw from Jamia Hazell put the game out of reach as JMU claimed a seven-point victory.
JMU finished the game with 23 offensive rebounds and 55 overall, which is the most by any opponent this season.
NEXT UP
Arkansas State will travel to Huntingdon, West Virginia to face the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday, January 6 with tip-off set for 12:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
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