Pensacola, FL – Contributed – Arkansas State (24-8, 13-4 SBC) overcame a late ULM (17-16, 7-11 SBC) comeback attempt while landing 11 threes for the 76-68 win Saturday afternoon in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Semifinals at Pensacola Bay Center.
A-State rang true on 38 percent (27-0f-71) of their tries with 11 of their 38 attempts (29 percent) from three scoring. ULM also hit 38 percent of their shots (25-of-65) but only hit three of their 18 (17 percent) threes. Mia Tarver went 5-for-10 from the field, all 10 shots from three-point range, leading the team with 15 points. Wynter Rogers scored 14 points along with 12 points from D’Arrah Allen.
An early goal-for-goal tradeoff in the opening minutes gave way to a 7-0 Red Wolf run for the short margin. A-State found the last three of their shots beyond the arc before the end of the quarter with Mia Tarver nailing two of them for the 20-13 lead after 10 minutes.
Arkansas State continued to find success from three, hitting another three triples in a row to establish a double-digit lead, all three makes coming from a different Red Wolf. A short cold streak drew ULM back within seven, but five points in a row from D’Arrah Allen gave reestablished the cushion. A-State entered the locker room riding high off the momentum of a Bella Weary buzzer-beater layup for the 15-point lead.
Wynter Rogers led the Red Wolves with six points in the third quarter, with A-State matching ULM’s pace throughout the period. Rogers landed back-to-back layups within the final two minutes to assist in the 16-point lead with 10 minutes remaining.
The Red Wolves offense fell quiet after a Rogers jumper to open the frame, with the Warhawks sending off 12 points in a row to bring it back to just a six-point game with five minutes remaining. Tarver netted her fifth three of the game to hold ULM at bay, but a dry spell on the court was ended off a late triple from ULM with less than a minute remaining to make it a two-score game before A-State landed all four free throw opportunities for the 76-68 final score.
UP NEXT
Arkansas State is set to play Troy in the semifinals of the 2026 Sun Belt Championships on Sunday, Mar. 8, at 2:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, and live stats can be found at astateredwolves.com/stats.
