App State Women's Basketball: Presented by Auto Star Nissan of Boone
ATLANTA - Appalachian State University women's basketball (0-1) gave Georgia Tech (1-1) fits in a 71-53 setback on Sunday afternoon in McCamish Pavilion.
Pre Stanley and
Tierra Wilson each scored a team-high 13 points while Wilson came off the bench to shoot an efficient 4-of-6 from the floor with three trifectas.
Bayley Plummer dominated the glass with a game-best 15 rebounds and six points, while
Ashley Polacek dished out a game-high five assists.
Georgia Tech jumped out to a 21-12 lead after the first quarter as it converted on its final six shots to take a nine-point lead into the second period. All four of the Black and Gold's field goals were from beyond the arc including two by Wilson to stay within striking distance.
After the Yellow Jackets took a 32-21 lead with 3:05 left in the first half, the Mountaineers turned it on hitting five of their next six shots including a stretch of four straight field goals that turned the 11-point deficit into a one-point lead. The 11-0 run over 1:49 was sparked by Wilson with a 3-pointer and Polacek later capped off the run to give App a 33-32 edge with just under a minute left in the stanza thanks to her trey. Elizabeth Balogun hit a 3-pointer of her own to push GT to a 35-33 advantage going into the break.
App stayed on the Yellow Jackets' heels in the third quarter. With GT up 42-37,
Madi Story canned a 3-pointer to bring the score to within one possession before
Lainey Gosnell hit a layup down low that tied up the game at 42-apiece.
Stanley went up for a tightly-contested layup to bring App to a three-point deficit, 48-45. However, GT ended the frame with five quick points that pushed the lead to eight (53-45).
A fourth-quarter dry spell in the early goings of the period doomed App that lasted for six minutes until Plummer hit a layup with 3:56 left to go. GT outscored App 18-8 in the final quarter to help clinch the win.
Appalachian outrebounded GT 38-33 and held Francesca Pan to 6-of-14 (42.8 percent) shooting for 17 points. Pan shot 58.8 percent (10-17) from the field for 22 points in GT's previous game at Houston. After GT's posts in Lorela Cubaj and Liz Dixon went a combined 11-of-20 for 24 points with 18 rebounds against Houston, the tandem was held in check by Appalachian's posts going just 3-of-14 with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
After facing a pair of teams on the road that combined for a 47-21 record last season and went to the WNIT, the Mountaineers will go for their first win of the season on Thursday for their home opener against UNCG at 6:30 p.m.
Tip-Ins
- Plummer registered her ninth career game with at least 15 rebounds
- After shooting 2-of-22 from beyond the arc on Friday, the Mountaineers hit seven triples
