Mountaineers Upended at Home to UAB

BOONE, N.C. - App State University women's basketball (1-6) would come back to within single digits in the fourth quarter but fell short to UAB (5-1), 70-59, in the Holmes Center on Education Day in the afternoon.

LaPresha Stanley paced the offense with a career-high 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with five boards and a career-high five steals, while Tierra Wilson also scored 14 points. Bayley Plummer was one point shy of a second straight double-double where she scored nine points and amassed a game-high 12 off the glass while swatting away a personal-high four shots. 

Trailing by as much as 22 (53-31) with 2:23 left in the third quarter, Wilson and Nicola Mathews canned back-to-back 3-pointers that sparked what became a 21-6 run over the next 7:57 into the fourth quarter. The run sliced the lead to 59-52 following a nicely-timed tip-in from Plummer for two of her seven fourth-quarter points. However, with App having the momentum and forcing a turnover, the Blazers responded by picking up consecutive steals for layups that turned a seven-point lead into 11 points. Plummer would score once again in the paint, but the visitors went on a 7-0 spurt to pull away late and claim the win. Appalachian outscored UAB, 20-15, and shot an impressive 8-for-11 (72.7 percent) from the field.

Facing a team coming in that was ranked 12th in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (42.9 percent), the Mountaineers held the Blazers in check as they shot just 33 percent from beyond the arc, which is the second-lowest shooting percentage this season. After the Blazers went 3-of-4 from deep in the first quarter, App held UAB to 3-for-14 shooting from 3-point land. Appalachian also made it tough for the Blazers' three leading scorers in Rachael Childress, Deanna Kuzmanic and Miyah Barnes, as the trio scored in double figures but shot a combined 13-of-30 from the floor for 33 points. UAB"s bench aided in the win as it had two double-figure scorers and outscored App's reserves, 28-8

In the opening frame, UAB's 50 percent shooting from the floor helped it build a 20-12 edge going into the second quarter. App would tie it up at 9-apiece after a Stanley jumper, but the Blazers took control with an 11-3 surge to end the period.  UAB stayed in front by double digits for the second quarter with a 42-26 lead heading into the break.

In the third quarter, the visitors wouldn't relinquish the lead by less than 14 points until the Apps kicked into gear during the comeback. 

Appalachian shot 60 percent in the second half, a vast improvement from the 35.7 percent clip in the opening stanza. 

The Mountaineers will now start a stretch of four consecutive road games beginning with North Carolina on Sunday in Chapel Hill at 5:30 p.m.

Tip-Ins
- After shooting 2-for-4 from the field with eight points, Mathews is shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc on the season
- Since averaging 3.5 turnovers per game in the first four contests of the season, Wilson is turning the ball over just once per game over the last three matchups
- Wilson has scored in double figures in four out of seven games this season
- App's 72.7 percent clip from the floor in the fourth quarter was the highest shooting percentage in any period this season.