BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball (12-9, 6-4 SBC) put forth an all-around effort in a 77-56 throttling over Texas State (9-13, 4-6 SBC) on Education Day in the Holmes Center.
Appalachian was dominant on both sides of the ball, limiting to Texas State to just 35.5 percent shooting from the floor, while holding the Sun Belt's second-leading scorer, Toshua Leavitt (16.7 ppg), to just 4-of-21 shooting and 10 points. Leavitt scored all 10 of her points in the first quarter before missing her final 13 shots from the floor.
A balanced effort highlighted the offense, which shot 47.2 percent from the floor with five Mountaineers scoring in double figures. Appalachian tied a season-high with a 50 percent (8-16) shooting clip from 3-point land.
Madi Story posted an efficient performance with a game-high 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 6-of-8 shooting from the line. She added eight boards and three assists.
Lainey Gosnell got in on the action with 15 points and five off the glass. The sophomore shot 50 percent (5-of-10) from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers. Coming off the bench to provide a spark was
Tierra Wilson, who tied a season high with four 3-pointers for 12 points.
Bayley Plummer recorded her second straight double-double and fifth of the season with 12 points and 10 boards.
Playing another solid game was
Pre Stanley. The Rockledge, Fla., native dropped 11 points with three steals. Stanley finished 3-for-6 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe. In addition, she was a key cog in holding Leavitt below her scoring average.
It was a high-scoring affair in the first quarter with both teams exchanging four leads and four ties. With the game tied at 14-14, App scored nine of the next 15 points in the final 2:22 of the quarter to go into the second period with a 23-20 edge.
App State flexed its muscle in the second frame by putting up a 23-9 quarter. Stanley and Story took over scoring 16 of the points, including 14 straight points by the tandem. After the duo went on a 10-2 run by themselves while leading, 27-22, Gosnell scored the last five points before going into the break to help App hold a 46-29 lead.
App shot 50 percent from the field and was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. The defense held TXST to just 4-of-12 shooting after the Bobcats shot 53.3 percent in the first quarter.
The Mountaineers offense struggled from the field in the third quarter, but the defense continued to shut down Texas State, forcing the Bobcats to shoot only 4-for-18 (22.2 percent). App scored 11 points while holding TXST to a second straight nine-point period.
Texas State had one last run in them, going on a 7-0 run to start the quarter and cut the App State lead to just 12, 57-45. However, App got back on track coming out of a timeout hitting eight of its final 10 shots to end the game and pull away for its first sweep over Texas State in the series. Wilson highlighted the stretch with three trifectas and nine points.
After TXST shot 53.3 percent in the third quarter, App held the visitors to just 29.8 percent shooting. The Mountaineers also posted a plus-10 rebounding margin, 42-32.
Appalachian will have another tough test against UTA on Saturday at 2 p.m. inside the Holmes Center. Saturday's game is the "Pack Holmes Pink" Play4Kay contest.
Quotable
"Today was a great team win. We not only locked into our game plan, but we also had a huge amount of energy plays. We appreciate our marketing department for hosting our Education Day game and making it a great atmosphere." - Head Coach
Angel Elderkin.
Tip-Ins
- App State is now 5-5 all-time against Texas State.
- The Mountaineers are 11-0 when holding their opponents to fewer than 70 points.
- Appalachian is 8-2 when it doesn't allow a 20-point scorer.
- Plummer is now sixth all-time in school history with 767 rebounds, passing Jamie Gagliano (757;1997-01) and Natasha Lettsome (758;1997-01)
- Plummer also became one of eight players in school history to record at least 100 career blocks. She is tied for seventh in the record books with Jessica Jank (101;2001-05).
- The Thomasville, N.C. is also one of four players in school history with Valorie Whiteside, Anna Freeman and Shannon Thomas to record at least 500 points, 700 rebounds and 100 blocks in their career.
- App State is 5-2 over its last five games.
