TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Appalachian State University women's basketball fell in its road opener to Alabama, 93-59, Monday evening at Foster Auditorium.
Appalachian State Starters: 02
Farrahn Wood ,10
Joi Jones,34
Madi Story, 23
KeKe Cooper,42
Mia Marshall Alabama Starters: Karyla Middlebrook, Meoshonti Knight, Hannah Cook, Nikki Hegstetter, Quanetria Bolton
Story led the team with 11 points, including converting on 7-for -8 from the free throw line. Cooper tied for a team-high eight boards along with five points and Marshall also grabbed eight off the glass.
Combining early foul trouble and struggling from the floor, the Apps couldn't start the contest with any momentum against the Crimson Tide. In the first quarter, both teams combined to commit 23 fouls and shoot 32 foul shots, while Appalachian scored 11 of its points from the charity stripe.
For the game, the two foes committed 62 fouls and shot 70 free throws.
Midway through the first with Alabama leading 8-4, the Black and Gold dwindled the four-point deficit to a point thanks to three straight free throws from
Kaila Craven and Cooper, 8-7.
Alabama put together a 6-0 run over the next 2:35 to go ahead, 14-8, and eventually went into the second frame with a 22-13 lead. The Crimson Tide kept up the momentum in the second stretching the advantage to 15, 30-15. Over the next 1:02, a Wood 3-pointer and four free throws from Story spearheaded an Appalachian 7-2 run that trimmed the deficit to 10, 32-22.
However, Alabama scored 19 of the next 23 points to go into the break with a 51-26 advantage. Story led App State with 7 points while
Katelyn Doub,Cooper and Marshall all grabbed five boards.
The Crimson Tide kept its foot on the gas pedal en route to the victory to go 4-0 against the Apps. Jones scored eight of her points in the third quarter while the Apps did fare better from the floor in the second half, shooting 41.4 percent from the floor (14.3 percent in the first half), but the deficit was too much to overcome.
Freshman
Elizabeth Norregaard and newly added walk-on
Julia Buehler saw their first minutes of action this season. Norregaard also hit her first 3-pointer as a Mountaineer.
Despite the score, the Apps never quit and showed fight until the final buzzer. They'll look to regroup and go after win number one this thursday against ETSU at 7 p.m. in the Holmes Center.
