BOONE, N.C. – App State closed its nonconference portion of the season with a tough 89-84 setback to the Eastern Kentucky Colonels after two overtime periods.
With App State trailing 68-66 in the closing minute of regulation,
Michaela Porter found a cutting
Faith Alston down low for a tying layup with 56 seconds left. After trading the next couple of scoreless possessions, Alston found Porter for a 3-point attempt at the buzzer that was off the mark and sent the game into overtime.
The Mountaineers (6-7) took a commanding 77-70 lead in the first overtime, but turnovers on their last two possessions turned into EKU points and sent the game to a second overtime.
In double overtime, EKU (6-6) got out to a six-point lead at 87-81 before
Emily Carver drained a well-defended 3-point attempt to give the Mountaineers one more chance with 11 seconds left, but the comeback attempt fell just short.
Porter led all scorers with a career-high 23 points as App State played its third straight game without starters
Alexia Allesch and
Brooke Bigott.
Janay Sanders had 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, and
Zada Porter and Carver added 11 points apiece. It was a career-high total of
Zada Porter, as well, in her first career start.
EKU, which got 21 points from Alice Recanati and 17 from Bria Bass, led for most of the game until Alston found
Michaela Porter down low for an easy layup to give App State its first lead of the game at 52-51 with nine minutes left in regulation. A wide-open
Michaela Porter trey off dribble penetration by
Zada Porter made it 55-51 before more back-and-forth swings ensued.
This was
Michaela Porter's third 20-point game of the season and her second in the last three games.
App State has a nine-day break before starting Sun Belt Conference play on the road with trips to South Alabama on Dec. 30 and defending league tournament champion Troy on Jan. 1.
