CONWAY, S.C. – Appalachian State University women's basketball (6-18, 4-9 SBC) mounted an impressive come back in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but fell to Coastal Carolina (12-12, 6-7 SBC) on Saturday afternoon, 73-68, in the HTC Center.
All nine players who got into the game scored, while the bench turned in 23 points to CCU's 10 points from its reserves.
LaPresha Stanley paced the team with a career-high 24 points with eight rebounds and was 7-of-15 from the field. The freshman was pivotal in the Apps' comeback scoring 11 of her points in the fourth quarter.
Lainey Gosnell paced the bench with 13 points that included a team-high three 3-pointers.
Bayley Plummer was one point shy of an 11th double-double, corralling a team-best 12 rebounds and scoring nine points.
Tierra Wilson scored seven points with four assists and four rebounds. The freshman point guard, along with
Nicola Mathews, faced foul trouble during the contest.
Trailing 60-50 with 2:53 left and appeared that the Chanticleers were about to cruise to the win, the Mountaineers showed no quit storming back to tie up the game to force overtime, 61-61.
Stanley started the burst with three straight free throws followed by a layup from Plummer to slice the deficit in half, 60-55. That's when Stanley hit both of her 3-pointers on back-to-back possession in a span of 50 seconds including the game-tying trey with 2.8 seconds left in the game.
CCU had a chance to win, but the layup by D.J. Williams fell just short at the buzzer.
It was a back-and-forth affair in the first half of the extra period. Gosnell canned a 3-pointer to put App State ahead 66-64. Following a bucket from the hosts, Stanley hit a jumper to give the Apps the lead back, 68-66.
But the Chanticleers scored the final seven points in the last 1:35 of the game for the win. Turnovers played a vital role, as App had seven miscues in 2:26 since its final lead.
App State was coming back for what it seemed like the entire contest. Coastal jumped out to a 15-5 first quarter lead after the offense shot just 25 percent.
The Mountaineers responded by outscoring the Chanticleers, 21-14, in the second period to close the gap to 29-26 thanks to a 6-0 spurt sparked by
Dominique Jeffery and finished by Plummer before the buzzer.
The Apps' bench played an intricate part in their ability to stay within striking distance, scoring 13 of the 26 points. Jeffery scored all six of her points in the first half shooting 3-of-5.
App State continued to claw in the third period where it took its first lead of the game when Stanley capped off a 6-0 run with a field goal to lift App to a 38-37 advantage. CCU would respond by scoring the last five points of the period to go in front, 42-38.
Whenever the Chanticleers would take a considerable lead, the Mountaineers stayed on their tails and never quit despite the setback.
App shot 43 percent from the floor while holding CCU to a 35 percent shooting clip. But CCU outscored App by seven at the line. Also, the Mountaineers allowed 22 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over 22 times against the hosts.
The Mountaineers will look to turn it around this weekend when they face the Alabama schools, beginning with South Alabama on Thursday at 5 p.m.
Tip-Ins
- The 13 points by Gosnell is a career-high on the road
- App State has made a 3-pointer in 81 straight games
- Stanley is the third freshman (Wilson/Gosnell) to score at least 20 points in a game this season
- Stanley led the team with a PER of 21
- Wilson posted a team-high plus/minus with a plus-8 in 26 minutes
- Plummer now has 20 games with at least 10 rebounds
