BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball sophomore
Lainey Gosnell scored a career-high 26 points to help the Mountaineers defeat ULM (8-18, 2-13 SBC) on Thursday evening, 56-51, in the Holmes Center.
Gosnell scored 16 of her points in the second half, while she shot 10-of-19 overall for the game. The forward also added five rebounds in her career night.
Bayley Plummer didn't have her offense going, but she collected a game-high 17 boards while blocking three shots in a solid defensive effort.
Pre Stanley was the second-leading scorer with nine points and corralled eight boards.
Ashley Polacek didn't score like she did the past two games (22.5 ppg), but did dish out five assists with zero turnovers in 25 minutes.
It was a slow-paced, defensive battle in which both teams shot below 40 percent and notched under 60 points. But App made the plays it needed and also shot 12-of-14 from the free throw line.
Trailing 34-30 with 3:43 left in the third period, App went on a 9-0 thanks to a pair of trifectas over a 1:51 span. Gosnell hit two treys during the run while
Tierra Wilson's trifecta gave App a commanding lead at 36-34.
ULM did cut the lead back down to two, 39-37, but the Mountaineers scored four of the next six points thanks to a
Maya Calder layup and
Brooke Bigott hitting a pair at the free throw line.
Despite App holding the lead for the rest of the contest, ULM sliced the gap to just one, 45-44. That's when Gosnell scored the next six points to go by up seven, 51-44. After Arsula Clark hit a jumper, Wilson
hit two at the line to push the lead back to seven, 53-46.
The pesky ULM squad claimed a six-point lead late in the first half, 27-21, before Gosnell nailed a timely 3-pointer before the half to dwindle the lead down to three.
ULM and App went back-and-forth in the low-scoring first half, as the Warhawks went into the second period with a 15-13 edge. App captured a 21-19 lead before the visitors' 8-0 surge.
App improves to 10-3 at home, which is the most wins at the Holmes Center since the 2014-15 campaign. In addition, The Mountaineers stay undefeated with a 9-0 mark against ULM.
Appalachian looks for its first Sun Belt sweep on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Louisiana for Senior Day. The Mountaineers will honor
Anna Perez Gomez and
Madi Story.
Tip-Ins
- App State is 13-0 when it allows 70 or less points.
- The Mountaineers are 5-1 this season in games decided by five points or less.
- Plummer's streak of 10 more rebounds has reached 15 straight games.
