BOCA RATON, Fla. - A fourth-quarter drought doomed Appalachian State women's basketball Saturday afternoon, falling to Delaware State, 76-69, in the third-place game at FAU Arena in the Florida Atlantic Thanksgiving Tournament.
Delaware State Starters: #11 N'Kayah Kersey, #15 Mikah Aldridge, #21 Aliah Stinnett, #22 NaJai Pollard, #23 Nikkei Blackburn,
Appalachian State Starters:
#2 Farrahn Wood,
#10 Joi Jones, #23 KeKe Cooper, #34 Madi Story,
#42 Mia Marshall Wood led the team with a career-high 15 points on a career-high five 3-pointers. The senior came in the game shooting 3-for-23 from outside the arc, but shot out of her slump going 5-of-8 (62.5) from 3-point land. Story also stepped up with 13 points, just one shy of tying her career high. The guard scored on five buckets and three free throws while dishing out three assists.
Cooper was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field en route to tying a season high with 10 points and grabbed a season-best 11 boards for her ninth double-double of her career.
It was a game of runs as Delaware State finished and ended the contest with runs that played an intricate part in the win. The Hornets came out of the game on a 15-0 barrage while finishing the affair outscoring App State,12-4, over the final 5:16 of the game.
Delaware State's Amber Bogard (29 points) and Mikah Aldridge (17 points) combined for 46 of the team's scoring output and took advantage of their opportunities at the free throw line going a combined 21-of-25. Overall, the Hornets were 29-for-38 from the charity stripe while App State was just 9-for-21.
The Hornets started the contest 5-for-10 from the field that contributed to the hot start, as the Apps came out in a funk missing on their first seven shots and committed six turnovers in the first 5:46 of the first quarter. However, Appalachian came alive to outscore its opponent, 34-18, over the final 14:04 of the first half.
Appalachian started the comeback late in the first quarter with a 11-4 in the final 4:09 of the frame. Story finally got the Black and Gold on the board with a jumper before Wood connected on a trifecta and
Katelyn Doub hit a free throw to trim the deficit to single digits, 15-6. Just before the horn sounded,
Bria Carter threw a slick pass to Cooper down low to put the score at 19-11.
Coming out of the second quarter, the Apps kept clawing their way back until they tied the contest, 30-all, following a Marshall layup. Trailing, 33-31, just before the break,
Kaila Craven scored three of her six points on a step-back 3-pointer that gave Appalachian its first lead of the game, 34-33.
After the early dry spell, App State shot 13-of-22 (59 percent) from the field while holding DSU to 33 percent shooting during the comeback.
App State held the lead for majority of the third quarter despite the contest being tied twice on two occasions in the third frame. While tied, 42-42, with 5:32 left in the third quarter, Appalachian outscored its counterpart, 17-7, over the next 3:27 to take a 59-49 advantage. Wood spearheaded the run with three treys en route to the Apps taking their largest advantage of the game.
Delaware State was able to cut the lead to four after a quick six points before the end of the third quarter that eventually turned into a 12-2 run en route to tying the game, 61-apiece.App State regained the lead by one point on a pair of occasions, the last being a jumper from Story that put the score to 65-64.
From that point on, App State went on a 4:49 scoring drought and converted on two of its final 10 shots, while the Hornets scored the next 10 points to take a commanding 75-65 lead. Cooper's jumper and layup from Jones cut the lead in half to five, 74-69, with 24 seconds left, but it was too late as DSU held on for the victory.
App State will continue the road trip with a 6:30 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday at College of Charleston.
