NEW ORLEANS -- Arkansas State lost its grip on one of the Sun Belt Conference's best players Wednesday, its 11-point lead had been cut to five, and Coach Brian Boyer started to think about one of his team's biggest flaws.
"Sometimes we let it snowball on us," Boyer said.
This time it didn't.
The Red Wolves responded to Appalachian State's run early in the second half with a 12-5 run of their own over almost five minutes to take control in a 67-52 victory in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament at Lakefront Arena.
ASU moves into the semifinals, where it will face either Louisiana-Lafayette or Troy at 2 p.m. Central Friday.
"We've been a team all year that we've had runs and not so good runs," Boyer said. "I thought we regrouped. We never really let it get out of control, so I was proud of my team for that."
Appalachian State's Maryah Sydnor challenged ASU the most to start the second half.
The No. 2 seed Red Wolves (22-9) led 34-23 before Sydnor scored six points in the first three minutes of the second half to pull Appalachian State within 36-31. Baskets by Mia Marshall and KeKe Cooper cut ASU's lead to 40-35 with 14:06 left.
"We had so much momentum," Appalachian State Coach Angel Elderkin said.
It all vanished less than 30 seconds later when Sydnor, a first-team All-Sun Belt pick, picked up her fourth foul and had to go to the bench. Sydnor finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, but she was on the bench for almost five minutes.
By the time she returned, ASU's lead had gone from 40-35 to 52-40 with 9:09 left.
"She's really good," Boyer said. "I have [Aundrea] Gamble who is a game changer, and she's one of those game changers. There's no question that fourth foul changed things."
The run was enough to ease Boyers' nerves a bit after his team played at Lakefront Arena for the first time since a 61-60 loss to Western Kentucky in last year's final.
Gamble, the two-time Sun Belt Player of the Year, finished with 19 points. Khadija Brown-Haywood had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Jasmine Hunt had 15 points for the Red Wolves.
Brown-Haywood said she anticipated that the first game in this tournament would be difficult, considering the way in which ASU lost last season. The Red Wolves led Western Kentucky by 13 points with seven minutes left before losing and missing out on an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"We had to put last year behind us," Brown-Haywood said. "There's nothing we can do about it now. We just have to lock in and focus on our first game here."
ASU did that with defense when its own shots weren't falling Wednesday. Bria Huffman added 12 points for the Mountaineers, who were held to 32.3 percent shooting and committed 19 turnovers.
The 5-9 Gamble was given the task of guarding the 6-1 Sydnor for much of the first half. She held Sydnor to 1-for-5 shooting in the half. Sydnor had to sit for part of the first half, too, after picking up two fouls.
"It's a tough matchup," Gamble said. "I think in the first half I got in her head a little bit. In the second half she was able to do her thing in the beginning, but we made some adjustments and we were able to contain her."
ASU was held to 37.1 percent shooting, eight percentage points below its average, and made only 1 of 13 three-pointers, but it made 20 of 26 free throws to make up the difference. Brown-Haywood made 8 of 10 free throws, while Hanna Qedan was 4 for 4 and finished with 9 points.
Brown-Haywood also made two jumpers that helped force Appalachian State out of a zone defense and kept ASU in somewhat of a comfort zone.
"Just having a player that can knock a shot down is big," Boyer said. "Those are those situations where if she misses that shot and they stay in it, then it can get to you.
"I thought Khadija was really good today."
Other Sun Belt games
TEXAS STATE 52, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 46
Meghan Braeuer scored 13 points and Kileah Mays added 10 as No. 4 seed Texas State (17-13) survived a defensive struggle in a first-round victory over No. 5 seed Texas Arlington (17-13). Texas State held Texas-Arlington to 31.5 percent (17 of 54) from the field for the game, including 17.9 percent (5 of 28) in the first half. Cierra Johnson had a game-high 16 points and was the only Texas-Arlington player with more than 10.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 66, TROY 52
Keke Veal scored a game-high 20 points as No. 6 seed Louisiana-Lafayette (19-11) knocked off No. 3 Troy (20-10) to advance to the semifinals. Simone Fields added 15, Jaylyn Gordon had 13 and Kia Wilrdige had 11. Ashley Beverly-Kelley scored 17 points for Troy.
Sports on 03/12/2015