ATLANTA -First-place Arkansas State used free throw shooting to stave-off second-place Georgia State, 80-75, on Saturday in a Sun Belt Conference game in the GSU Sports Arena.

Georgia State had won a 76-74 fight-to-the-finish game in Jonesboro on Jan. 14 and today Arkansas State hung on when GSU closed to 70-67 with 2:44 and again at 78-75 with 42.8 seconds. Today, the Red Wolves survived the comeback.

ASU shot 36 free throws and made 25, while GSU shot 19 and made 15. GSU had starting center Brittany Logan and leading scorer Kendra Long both foul out. Hayley Gerrin, Alisha Andrews and Kayla Nolan all had four fouls as well, limiting their defensive efforts.

The first half was a see-saw, trade-punches type game from the two heavyweights with nine lead changes and four ties. GSU was leading 33-29 with 1:30 in the half, but ASU closed on a 6-0 run to take a 35-33 lead into halftime.

The game actually "changed" at halftime when the lead referee could not return for the second half, leaving two officials to call the game.

In the second half, the game was tied for the fifth time at 45 with 14:46 when Arkansas State pulled back ahead 52-46 at 12:58.  Arkansas State then got a steal and free throw that Georgia State coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener called time out simply to be able to address the referees on what she was convinced the player was out of bounds on that play. That debated play opened a nine-point advantage and eventually got it up to 60-50 at 9:46.

But, Georgia State wasn't done yet, despite the foul trouble. Georgia State had it back down to 68-64 with still 4:39 to play, even though Logan was out at center, back-up Gerrin was in foul trouble and back-up Groover was injured and lost for the game.

A 3-point basket by Ashlee Cole closed the score to 70-67 with 2:44 and it was looking like a who-had-the-ball-last-might-win kind of game. That made the earlier debated play and three points loom even larger now.

ASU's all-conference forward Jane Morrill then took advantage of some mismatches to score a couple close-in baskets, but Kendra Long's three for GSU brought it back to 74-70 at 1:40. Long fouled out 10 seconds later.

Free throws by GSU's Ashley Watson closed the score to 77-73 at 54 seconds. Watson's drive made it 78-75 with 42.8 seconds and it was down to that one-possession game.

A free throw and missed free throw by Jamie Ruffins made it 79-75 with GSU having a chance to close it further with an open 3-pointer that just missed.

Arkansas State (9-2, 15-8) got 22 points on 8-of-12 field goals and 5-of-6 free throws from Jane Morrill. Guard Hanna Qedan finished with 15 points after scoring the first nine of the game for ASU and hitting 4-of-7 3-pointers in the first half.

Georgia State (6-4, 10-12)  relied on its bench to step up with the foul troubles. Ashlee Cole came on to score 14 points in 22 minutes and Ashley Watson added 12 more points in 23 minutes. Alisha Andrews added 12 points and eight assists. Gaby Moss also netted 10 points for the host Panthers.Brittany Logan led GSU with 10 rebounds.

"Arkansas State is the deserved first-place team now in a pretty-balanced league," coach Baldwin-Tener noted. "I'm proud of the team's effort and how they didn't quit despite all the things that were going on. We really just didn't make some shots we needed to make.

"It's tough for both teams with just two officials and that changes some things and some calls, but it happens and you go on since it affects both teams," she said. "We get too many fouls on our post players and it hurts our defense. But, if you look at stat sheets at end of any game and you see almost a 2-to-1 free throw difference, the team with the most free throws probably wins."

The win moves Arkansas State to 9-2, ahead of 7-3 Texas State, with Georgia State alone in third at 6-4.

Georgia State plays second-place Texas State on Wednesday night at the GSU Sports Arena.

NOTEBOOK:

• Today was Georgia State Play 4Kay breast cancer awareness game. Coach Baldwin-Tener echoed the thoughts of many on the purpose of the event:

“I think everyone knows someone who has been affected by breast cancer. If it is not a close relative, it's a friend or neighbor, or someone in your church, or someone at work, and on down the line. So, it is good that we can try to help that cause and bring more awareness and more funding for the needed research. I heard we honored some folks at halftime for what they've done, or have overcome, so that is appreciated and we salute them and encourage them.”

• Point guard Alisha Andrews added 8 more assists to her already Sun Belt-leading total and has 107 on the season (4.9 per game).
• Senior guard Kendra Long upped her career point total to 1,156 points, sliding into 13th all-time at Georgia State. She passed Brownie Caldwell (''89) and Pam Miller ('91)
• Georgia State made 8 3-point baskets today, the sixth time this season to make 8 or more as they up the season total to 118 made (5.4 per game).
• Long got her 200th career steal today (201 now). That puts her over 200 career  steals, assists and 3-point baskets. She made her 400th career FG today and will soon grab rebound No. 400 (386 now). That will make her the only current player in the Sun Belt to have all those 200/400 pleateaus.
• Ashlee Cole's 14 points today tied her second-most (at Santa Clara in Dec.) and were two shy of her personal best at UL-Lafayette on Jan. 23.
• Brittany Logan's 10 rebounds marked the fourth time in the past five games she has had 10 or more rebounds. She has 52 rebounds in those five games.
• GSU's bench came to the rescue with 31 points today. Starter Logan, for example, played only 15 minutes in picking up her five fouls.Gerrin got in 16 minutes with her four fouls in returning after a several-game injury layoff. Kendra Long was limited to 23 minutes before fouling out.
• Ashley Watson had her first double-figure scoring game of the season (13th career) as she rounds back into starter's shape after missing 10 games and parts of others after knee surgery during the season.