The Arkansas State women's basketball team saw its season come to an end Sunday afternoon against a former Sun Belt Conference foe.
The Red Wolves lost 70-60 to Middle Tennessee at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn., in the second round of the WNIT.
ASU finished the 2014-2015 season at 24-11, one victory shy of the school's all-time mark for most victories in a season. Middle Tennessee (23-9), which played in the Sun Belt from 2001 to 2013 and is now in Conference USA, will face Mississippi in the WNIT quarterfinals.
The Blue Raiders moved to 12-0 against ASU at the Murphy Center with Sunday's victory.
The game was tied 25-25 at halftime, but the Blue Raiders went on an 11-0 run to start the second half to build a 41-29 lead with 13:41 to go.
The Red Wolves cut the lead to 70-60 with 50 seconds to go, but they missed a three-point attempt and the Blue Raiders were able to run out the clock.
Middle Tennessee shot 57.6 percent (19 of 33) in the second half and held ASU to 41.1 percent shooting (12 of 29). ASU was outrebounded 51-28 and was outscored 40-16 in the paint.
"This is obviously a disappointing finish to the year and you never want it to be over, but I'm certainly proud of what we were able to accomplish this year and the fight and drive this team had in each and every game," ASU Coach Brian Boyer said. "I thought in the first half we did just about everything we needed to do and just had one big issue, which was rebounding, but we were to able to weather that but in the second half I think it took its toll and everything unraveled after that."
Aundrea Gamble had 24 points and seven rebounds to lead ASU, while Jessica Flanery finished with 12 points, including four three-pointers.
Ty Petty scored 22 points to lead Middle Tennessee. Brea Edwards had 18 points and 12 rebounds while Olivia Jones added 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Sports on 03/23/2015