STATESBORO, Ga. - App State women's basketball bounced back with a 70-58 victory against Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse.
App State moves to 5-5 and 2-2 in league action, while the Apps finished 3-3 on its six-game road trip. Georgia Southern falls to 6-5 and 2-2 in conference play.
Brooke Bigott turned in a solid performance as she tied a career-high with a game-best 17 points and five 3-pointers. The Katy, Texas native also grabbed a personal-best 11 rebounds for her first double-double.
Pre Stanley scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting with a team-high four assists, while Lainey Gosnell scored nine of her 12 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed eight off the glass. Gosnell and Bigott led the charge in the 3-point attack, hitting eight of the Apps' season-high 12 3-pointers.
App State showed resiliency as it held Georgia Southern to under 40 percent shooting and 26.1 percent from beyond the arc after the Eagles hit 14 3-pointers on Friday and shot 56 percent from the field.
The Mountaineers started out of the gate with an 18-7 lead in the first 5:08 of the game thanks to a 6-of-9 start after a Janay Sanders jumper. App State went into the second period with a 25-18 lead thanks in large part to four trifectas and seven free throws.
Georgia Southern tied up the contest, 27-27, with 6:42 left in the first half after a 9-2 run. Tierra Wilson broke the tie on the next possession with a 3-pointer, giving the Apps the lead for good. Appalachian took a 10-point advantage at the 1:14 mark of the period following a Faith Alston layup. The Apps went into the break with a 43-35 lead.
Both offenses went cold in the third quarter, but the Apps held GS to just five points and 2-for-13 from the field during the period. App State outscored GS by four in the quarter to go into the final period up by 12, 52-40.
App State went in front by 16, 59-43 followed by a trifecta from Gosnell before Georgia Southern's 7-0 spurt brought the visitors to within single digits. Back-to-back 3-pointers Gosnell and Bigott pushed the App State lead back to advantage back to double digits the rest of the way.
The Mountaineers forced a season-high 23 turnovers into a season-best 28 points off the miscues, while the 13 steals are the most in a game. The 23 miscues by the Eagles are the most against a D-I opponent this season.
App State returns to action next weekend against South Alabama at home on Friday and Saturday.
Tip-Ins
- Michaela Porter tied a career high with five steals. It's the third game of the season she's recorded at least five swipes.
- Stanley posted a team-high plus-20 in plus/minus.
- App State is 5-0 when it wins the rebounding battle.
- The Mountaineers have produced at least 20 points off turnovers in four games this season.
- App State is 3-0 when it forces at least 20 turnovers.
- The 12 3-pointers are the most on the road since the Apps hit 14 at Georgia State during the 2018-19 campaign.
