Big Night for Aundrea Gamble Leads to Red Wolves Win

JONESBORO, Ark. —Redshirt sophomore guard Aundrea Gamble recorded her first career double-double to lead Arkansas State (1-0) to a 79-61 victory over Missouri State (0-1) Monday night in the regular season opener for both teams.

Gamble finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds while adding three assists in 30 minutes of action. She was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in the first half and 18 points in the second half while going 9-10 from the free throw line.

“She has a knack for that stuff,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “At times she looks like a real athlete out there and others she takes her time and picks apart a defense. Her ability to make free throws is also huge, and you can almost count them when she gets to the line.”

The Red Wolves led 43-26 at the break and expanded the lead to 77-48 with less than four minutes left to go in the game.

A-State’s defensive effort was also impressive as the squad held Missouri State to 37.5 percent shooting from the field and also forced 17 turnovers. The squad also limited the Lady Bears to just four points on fast break opportunities and also made Missouri State pay for not boxing out A-State on the offensive glass by scoring 24 second chance points.

On the offensive side, A-State limited itself to just 12 turnovers on the nine, three of which came in the final three minutes of action. The Red Wolves were also efficient in the paint, scoring 38 points and crashing the boards for 24 defensive rebounds.

“For us to only have 12 turnovers was a great effort,” Boyer said. “We did a really good job of taking care and getting back on defense to where offense always to operate in a half court.”

The Lady Bears used a 10-4 run to cut the lead to 54-43 with 13:44, but Hanna Qedan knocked down a 3-pointer that ignited the A-State crowd. Feeding off the energy, the Red Wolves pushed the lead 67-46 with 5:42 to go before taking its largest lead of the night at 77-48 with just under four minutes to go.

Gamble continued to shine in the second half, scoring 18 of A-State’s 36 points in the frame while also adding six boards and making 7-of-8 free throw attempts.

Three other Red Wolves finished in double-figures on the night including Qedan with 13 points. Senior Jane Morrill and sophomore Jalen O’Bannon added 10 points each.

A-State will play its first road game of the season Friday, Nov. 15 at Austin Peay. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. with pregame audio coverage of the beginning at 6:30 p.m. on AStateRedWolves.com.