App State Falls to Little Rock in Defensive Battle

BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball (5-15, 3-6 SBC) and Little Rock (11-8, 8-0) were involved in a defensive battle, but Little Rock came out on top in a 52-40 decision on Thursday evening inside the Holmes Center. 

Tierra Wilson and LaPresha Stanley each scored a team-high nine points for the Mountaineers, while Wilson shot 4-of-6 but all four of her field goals were in the first half of the game. Lainey Gosnell scored eight points and grabbed five boards, and Nicola Mathews rounded out the leading scorers with seven points. Bayley Plummer amassed a game-high 10 rebounds with five points in the loss. 

Both teams would hold each other to a season low in points during Sun Belt play. LR showed why it's holding conference foes to 44.6 points coming in and just 32.5 percent shooting, as it limited App to 34.6 percent from the field. Appalachian was also impressive on the defensive end, particularly in the final three quarters, holding the visitors to 37 percent from the field. 

Dooming App was 22 turnovers that turned into 21 points for the Trojans and a first quarter where LR blitzed App with a 22-8 output. The Trojans shot 47.6 percent from the field and forced eight App miscues into 14 points. Appalachian performed better in the second quarter holding LR to just 11 points but was outscored by a point en route to a 33-18 advantage for the Trojans at the break. 

After Little Rock scored the first layup of the second half to take a 35-18 with 6:52 left in the frame, the Mountaineers outscored the Trojans, 13-4, the rest of the way to slice the gap to single digits, 39-31. Mathews started the spark with five straight points before Maya Calder hit a layup to bring the Apps to within 10, 35-25. Both teams traded scores until a free throw from Plummer and a banked in 3-pointer from Gosnell capped off the run. App outscored LR, 13-6, in the frame, which was the lowest output in any period during SBC play for the Trojans. 

Once again both defenses were locked in as neither team scored until there was 6:29 remaining when the Trojans hit a trifecta before another Mathews layup brought the deficit back to single digits, 42-33. It was the last time the Mountaineers kept the gap to under 10 points, as the Trojans used a 7-0 run and held App scoreless over the next 3:52 of the game to keep the Apps at bay and capture their eighth straight win in Sun Belt competition. 

Despite the loss, the Mountaineers improved their defense after the first quarter holding the Trojans to just 30 points and 32.4 shooting from the field. Appalachian improved its turnovers with only 13 over the last three frames following an eight-mistake first period. 

App State won the rebounding battled, 37-27, but came up with just eight offensive rebounds. 

Ronjanae DeGray scored a game-high 18 points, and Tori Lasker scored 14 to round out the leading scorers for LR.

Appalachian will have a quick turnaround on Saturday as it faces Arkansas State at 1 p.m. in the Holmes Center.