Westbrook leads ASU in UAFS exhibition
JONESBORO — Redshirt senior Akasha Westbrook led four players in double figures Tuesday as Arkansas State defeated Arkansas-Fort Smith, 100-73, in an exhibition matchup at First National Bank Arena.
Westbrook, of Malvern, scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds. She was voted to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference First Team last week.
Morgan Wallace added 14 points and four assists, Jada Ford knocked down four 3-pointers on her way to 13 points and Kayla Williams finished with 10 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals.
“This is what you want out of an exhibition game,” said Arkansas State head coach Brian Boyer. “We a lot of things early on that they did that we didn’t handle well, but I think you saw that we have an ability to score especially when we get into space in the open court.”
The Red Wolves outscored the Lions, 34-15, in the third quarter. Fort Smith led, 25-17, after the first quarter and scored 16 points by the first media timeout.
“They took it at us early, but I think after that initial burst that they had we got better as the game went along on both the offensive and defensive end,” Boyer said.
Arkansas State got back on track in the second quarter and forced the Lions into nine turnovers before scoring 34 in the third quarter. Freshman Jordan Elder scored seven points in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, including a four-point play that pushed the lead to 55-21 midway through the quarter.
Nine different players scored for Arkansas State in the third period. The team pushed its exhibition record to a perfect 27-0 since the 2005-06 season.
Ashley Clayborn, of Hot Springs, played four minutes. Her first season in Jonesboro after transferring from Tyler Junior College in Texas ended prematurely after she underwent knee surgery in February.
Mariah Green scored 19 and Daijah Brown added 13 for the Lions, who were outscored, 8348, over the final three quarters.
Westbrook missed the team’s only game in the conference tournament due to an injury. She was the first Red Wolves player since Sonja Tate in 1992-93 to lead the league in steals and was one of just eight Sun Belt players to have an efficiency rating of 10 or better.
Westbrook shot a team-best 48.1 percent from the field, which was sixth-best in the conference, while also knocking down 79.7 percent of her free throw attempts. She scored in double digits in 24 of her 29 games and led the team in scoring and rebounding eight times.
Arkansas State was picked fifth in the Sun Belt’s coaches’ preseason poll, garnering 95 point. The Red Wolves were just two points behind Texas State and UT-Arlington for third place.
Little Rock was picked first with 133 points and eight first-place votes, while Troy finished second with 131 points and four first-place votes. Trojan senior Ronjanae DeGray was tabbed as the Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year.
Arkansas State will return to the court on Monday for its second and final exhibition matchup of the season against Arkansas-Monticello. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at First National Bank Arena.
Another Hot Springs graduate, Berniezha Tidwell, transferred to Monticello after playing last season at Highland Community College in Kansas. Highland finished 35-1 and third place in Division II of the National Junior College Athletic Association.