BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball (10-8, 4-3 SBC) travels to the Bayou for a pair of road contests, beginning with Louisiana (5-14, 3-5 SBC) on Thursday at 7:30 pm (ET) inside the Cajundome.
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About the Mountaineers
Last Time Out
App State fell to one of the top teams in the league on Saturday in Little Rock, 74-59. A slow start by App coupled with hot shooting by the Trojans doomed the Mountaineers.
Madi Story led the team with 20 points (16 in the second half) on 8-of-15 shooting.
Ashley Polacek scored 12 points, while
Bayley Plummer snagged 11 rebounds. Despite the setback, App is 8-2 at home, which is the best 10-game mark since the Apps started 9-1 at the Holmes Center in 2012-13.
Reppin' Her Country
Out of the Canadian point guards who play collegiately,
Ashley Polacek is first in assists per game. Her 5.2 assists per game lead a top five that includes four players from Power Five programs in Kendra
Van Leeuwen (Wisconsin; 4.6 apg), Bridget Carleton (Iowa State;4.3 apg), Aislinn Konig (NC State; 4.0 apg) and Shay Colley (Michigan State; 3.6 apg).
What to Watch for
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Madi Story is averaging 23.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and shooting 55.8 percent from the field, 54.5 percent from beyond the arc and 70 percent from the charity stripe over the past three contests. See if the redshirt-senior can keep up the stellar production.
- Louisiana is 1-12 this season when three or more players score in double figures. See if the Apps can come out with a balanced attack on Thursday.
- Appalachian was outrebounded for just third time on Saturday against Little Rock. The Mountaineers have yet to be bested on the boards in back-to-back games. Expect the Black and Gold to crash the glass against a Louisiana team that has lost in 12 of 13 games when it loses the rebounding battle.
- Opposing benches are averaging 28.5 points when defeating Louisiana. See if the App State reserves can give a spark off the bench on Thursday.
- Teams are 11-2 when they score at least 30 points in the paint against Louisiana. See if App can get the ball inside for easy opportunities.
Scouting Louisiana
- The Ragin' Cajuns are led by seventh-year head coach Garry Brodhead.
- Louisiana is coming off a Tuesday evening loss to UTA at home, 76-61, for its third consecutive defeat.
- Brandi Williams led the team with 13 points, while Skyler Goodwin grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.
- Ty'Reona Doucet leads the team in scoring (13.4 ppg) and rebounding (9.4 rpg).
- Doucet is third in the Sun Belt in rebounding. She is one of three players along with
Bayley Plummer and Sky'Lynn Holmes (Troy) who has snagged at least 20 rebounds in a game.
- Louisiana is one of the best 3-point defensive teams in the Sun Belt, as it's limiting teams to just 27.7 percent shooting from outside the arc during league play.
- The Ragin' Cajuns are 4-5 at home this season.
Series History
App is 2-4 with both wins coming at the Holmes Center. The Mountaineers and Ragin' Cajuns met only once last season with Louisiana capturing a 61-45 win on its home court.
Nicola Mathews and
Bayley Plummer each scored 10 points in the setback.
What's Next
Appalachian will travel to Monroe, La. for a 3 p.m. (ET) contest against the Warhawks on Saturday.
