ARLINGTON, Texas- Appalachian State University women's basketball (8-15, 5-9 SBC) had UTA (12-11, 7-6 SBC) right where it wanted them, but couldn't squeak out the win in a close 65-58 loss to the Mavericks Saturday evening in the College Park Center.
The Mavericks faced a different App State squad this time around after the Apps suffered their worst defeat of the year to UTA earlier this season at the Holmes Center. Appalachian was led by
Joi Jones who collected her first double-double of her career with 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Jones shot 50 percent (8-for-16) from the field in 33 minutes of action.
Madi Story scored 10 points and grabbed six boards while
KeKe Cooper shot 5-for-9 from the floor en route to 10 points to round out the leading scorers.
Mia Marshall continued her solid play off the bench, as she dished out a career-high five assists along with three points.
Appalachian had the perfect plan to disrupt the Mavericks' post game with Rebekah VanDijk, who came into the game averaging a double-double in conference play at 14.5 ppg and 10.2 rpg. VanDijk did scored 13 points and grabbed just six boards. The collective defensive effort from App State as well as the defensive efforts of the posts in
Ashley Bassett-Smith, Cooper,
Bria Carter and Marshall had VanDijk work hard for her output.
LaShanda Green scored a career-best 25 points with five 3-pointers while Morgan Hunt scored 14 off the bench to help take on the scoring load.
It was a tightly contest game where both squads exchanged 15 leads and seven ties while neither team led by more than seven points.
Appalachian had another strong start in the first quarter with a 5-2 advantage in the first 2:55 of the contest. Jones got the Mountaineers rolling with the first points of the game followed by three-straight free throws from Carter and Story that gave the Apps the early momentum.
The Mavericks and Apps went back and forth with both teams exchanging the lead. With the scored tied, 19-19, after Carter drove through the lane to tie the game, Hunt hit a jumper before the horn sounded to give the Mavericks a 21-19 lead going into the second period.
Following a jumper from VanDijk that gave the Mavs a 23-21 lead in the early goings of the second frame, Story came back down for her only trifecta of the contest that gave Appalachian the lead, 24-23. UTA hit a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession to go ahead by one, 25-24.
The Appalachian defense dug deep and held the Mavs scoreless for the next 5:40 and forced UTA to miss five straight buckets while Appalachian endured a 7-0 run. Story sparked the run with three-straight points before Bassett-Smith hit one of her three field goals and Cooper hitting a jumper found by
Jasmine Ogunjimi. However, the Mavericks erased the deficit quickly with a pair of 3-pointers from Green just before Jones hit a circus shot to end the half and put the Apps ahead, 33-31.
Appalachian shot 46.7 percent from the field with Story and Jones combining for 18 of the team's points and holding UTA to 40 percent shooting from the floor.
The Black and Gold stuck with the game plan in the second half taking a five point lead, 41-36, with 5:40 left in the third quarter thanks to a 6-0 spurt while trailing 36-35. Appalachian forced UTA into another scoring drought extending longer than two minutes while Marshall, Jones and Bassett-Smith hit jumpers on three-straight possessions to push the Mountaineers to the five-point lead.
App State hung onto the lead for the rest of the quarter to go into the final period with a 50-46 lead after Jones scored five-straight points as Appalachian hit 6-of-8 shots overall.
It was all UTA in the fourth quarter outscoring App State, 19-8. Following a jumper from Cooper to extend the Mountaineer lead to five, 55-50, the Mavs went on a 6-0 run to take the lead by one, 56-55. Carter's 1-for-2 trip at the free throw line tied the contest, but once the Mavs traded a foul shot at the other end to regain the lead, 57-56, the hosts wouldn't trail for the rest of the game.
Appalachian had its chances to tie the game or take the lead in the last few minutes of the game. Following a layup from Jones that cut the deficit to one, 59-58, the Mountaineer defense came up with a huge stop for a chance to retake the lead. But the Apps couldn't convert on the offensive end missing the jump shot. UTA hit a pair of free throws that put the Mavs back up by three, 61-58.
Jones went for the tying trey with 53 seconds after grabbing the offensive rebound but just missed. UTA hit free throws in the last few seconds to capture the win.
UTA took advantage of its opportunities at the line going 21-for-22 (95.5 percent) to App State's 9-of-15 showing, while the Mavs also outscored Appalachian by 15 points from beyond the arc. Appalachian did have a 24-14 advantage in the paint while owning a 34-31 rebounding edge, including 10 off the offensive glass.
Appalachian will look to bounce back next weekend with a 5 p.m. tip against South Alabama at the Holmes Center.
