Lady Red Wolves dominate Trojans for second straight win

Head coach Brian Boyer had a secret number for his Lady Red Wolves Wednesday night, a number representing the score  he didn't want Troy to reach.

"Every time out in the second half I kept telling the players I had a number in my head that they better not get to and I refused to tell the players what it was. My number was 45," Boyer said.

Giving one of their best defensive performances of the season, the Arkansas State Lady Red Wolves (11-15, 5-8) routed the lowly Troy Trojans, 62-39, for their third win in four games.

With the help of 29 Troy turnovers, 14 of them unforced traveling calls,  ASU gave up its fewest points of the season.

"I thought we put together a really good first half defensively, the second half I wasn't even paying attention to the offense because we've had too many games this year where we have one half of good defense and then we don't the second," Boyer said. "So I was harping and harping the whole second half about putting together a full game defensively."

Behind double digit scoring performances by sophomore Jane Morrill (13 points) and seniors Meghan Lewis (12) and Shania Hurst (11), the Red Wolves got off to an early narrow lead before Lewis hit two  of her four 3-pointer of the night back-to-back to give them a 16-13 lead and the nudge ASU needed.

"Offensively, I thought we were okay, at times it got frustrating because of how tightly packed the defense was, doubling down on Jane," Boyer said. "I thought over the course of the game we got enough openings and eventually got some things spread out  so that we could get some scores against them."

All 12 of Lewis' points off the bench came from three point land, where the senior was 4 of 7 on the night

"When she goes on these stretches, she can be very effective and it really changes a lot of things," said Boyer. "Not just the points, but they way they defend, because they have to respect her so much."

ASU shot 75 percent from beyond the arch with junior Ashley Olvera and freshman Hanna Qedan each hitting three's.

Off of Troy's (2-11, 1-12) 29 turnovers the Red Wolves scored 18 points with another 30 coming in the paint and 14 coming on second chances.

For Boyer this is a new team after its 68-54 loss to North Texas Jan. 28.

"We wiped the slate clean with this team February 1st. We're three and one since [then] and we're getting some wins now; the schedule is going to get tougher," Boyer cautioned. "We've got a FIU team that's pretty good and we got two road games coming up, but it certainly feels good to get two wins here."