ATLANTA - App State women's basketball completed the weekend sweep of Georgia State with a 66-56 win on Saturday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena.
The Apps move to 8-6 and 5-3 in Sun Belt while picking up their season-best third straight win. It's the first road sweep since the 2015-16 campaign. Georgia State falls to 6-5 and 2-2 in league action.
Pre Stanley continued her stellar weekend with a game and career-high 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field with six rebounds, four steals and three assists. The senior averaged an impressive 27.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 4.0 steals, shot 64 percent from the field and 93 percent from the stripe through the weekend.
Lainey Gosnell was the other Mountaineer in double figures with 11 points (nine in the fourth quarter) and nine off the glass.
Tierra Wilson hit three trifectas for nine points, and
Michaela Porter pulled down a game-best 13 boards on top of a game-high plus-23.
The fourth quarter was the difference as after trailing by three at the end of the third period, the Apps outscored the hosts 21-8 in the period. Trailing 51-49 early in the period, Stanley ignited a 14-0 run with six straight points before
Brooke Bigott hit one of her two 3-pointers to push the lead to seven. A pair of free throws by Stanley and a trifecta from Gosnell gave the Apps their largest at 12, 63-51.
GSU never got closer than nine points as App State pulled away for a fifth straight win over the Panthers. The defense played a pivotal role in the frame holding GSU scoreless over a 5:47 span during the surge. Georgia State shot 44.7 percent from the field in the first three periods but was held to 3-of-14 shooting in the fourth quarter.
App State went a perfect 14-of-14 from the line in the second half and turned the ball over just five times. The Apps also grabbed a season-high 24 offensive rebounds and a plus-15 rebounding margin.
Georgia State took an early 13-4 lead thanks in large part to 13 straight points in the first 4:30 of the game. Appalachian sliced the lead to four with a 7-2 run highlighted by a Stanley 3-pointer and a second-chance layup by A'lea Gilbert. The Panthers took a seven-point lead going into the second quarter off a 3-pointer.
The Panthers tried to pull away late in the second quarter, stretching the lead to nine 29-20. However, App scored five of the next seven points to stay within striking distance.
A 3-of-9 start to the second half coupled with an 8-4 spurt gave the Apps a 36-35 lead with 5:31 left in the third period. Georgia State scored the next four points before Wilson drained a 3-pointer to tie up the contest.
The Mountaineers still built momentum despite trailing 48-45 by outscoring the Panthers 20-14 in the third quarter, which set up the dominant final quarter.
App State returns to action next weekend when it faces Troy at the Holmes Center on Friday and Saturday.
