STATESBORO, Ga. – Aundrea Gamble tallied 31 points, seven assists and four steals to lead Arkansas State to an 81-73 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball victory over Georgia Southern Thursday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Angel McGowan and Patrice Butler each posted 18 points and five rebounds to lead Georgia Southern (4-18, 1-12), and Sierra Butler collected a career-high 12 points to go along with six rebounds off the bench. Anna Claire Knight chipped in eight points and team highs of seven rebounds and four assists.

Gamble was 9-for-22 from the floor and 11-for-12 from the free-throw line. Khadi Brown-Haywood notched 17 points and eight rebounds for Arkansas State (17-7, 12-2), and Jessica Flanery scored 10.

The Eagles trimmed a 15-point second-half deficit down to 69-62 and had three chances to cut further into the lead but missed a pair of free throws and then missed a 3-pointer and a jumper on consecutive trips in transition.

Gamble was fouled on Arkansas State's next possession and made two free throws, and after the Red Wolves got a defensive stop, Brown-Haywood drove to the hoop for a bucket to push the margin back to 73-62 with 2:48 remaining.

A 3-pointer by Trellanie English-Lurry and a layup by Sierra Butler made it a six-point game with 1:09 left, but Gamble hit 5-of-6 from the free-throw line to seal the win.

Georgia Southern shot a season-high 52 percent for the game, including 63 percent in the second period. The Eagles held the Red Wolves to 41 percent for the contest and 37 percent in the second half, but Arkansas State grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, which it turned into 15 second-chance points.

"I thought we did a great job maintaining our poise, especially our young guards, against their pressure, and because of that we were able to get the ball inside," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "They are so good at getting to the basket and we got caught with our bigs helping to contain the drive but leaving our smaller guards trying to box out their big post players and that obviously hurt us on the defensive end."

The Red Wolves extended a 10-point halftime lead to 63-48 on a Jasmine Hunt putback midway through the stanza. Butler and McGowan combined for 10 points in a 12-6 spurt, capped by a Sierra Kirkland layup in transition, that made the score 69-62 with 5:35 to go.

The Eagles opened a brief lead following a 9-2 run, capped by a Knight jumper, that gave the Eagles a 23-20 cushion with 7:58 left in the first half.  Arkansas State scored five straight points to retake control, and the Red Wolves outscored the Eagles 12-4 over the final five minutes of the period to open a 41-31 lead at halftime. Brown-Haywood scored six of her first-half 11 points during the stretch.

The Eagles travel to first-place UALR Saturday for a 4 p.m. (Eastern) contest.

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