BOONE, N.C. - App State women's basketball suffered a 72-62 loss on Friday evening to Georgia State at the Holmes Center.
App State is 8-9 and 5-6 in Sun Belt play, while Georgia State improves to 8-6 and 4-3 in league action.
Lainey Gosnell led four Mountaineers in double figures with a game and season-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor to go along with a game-best eight rebounds.
Brooke Bigott scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half, shooting 6-of-11 from the field and recorded three steals. Janay Sanders scored 11 off the bench, and Pre Stanley rounded out the leading scorers with 10.
The difference in the contest was the fourth quarter in which Georgia State shot 68.4 percent. GSU hit nine of its first 12 shots to start the final period. The scoring surge led GSU to take a 63-58 lead with 4:02 left in the game. Sanders stopped the scoring surge with a layup that brought the Apps to within one possession. However, the Black and Gold were unable to get a rhythm going the rest of the way as a 2:54 scoring drought helped GSU pull away.
After scoring just 25 points in the first half, the Apps came out in the third frame to shoot 57.1 percent from the field. Sanders started a 13-5 run when the Apps were clinging to a 36-35 lead. A Bigott trifecta before a Sanders layup and a free throw by Dane Bertolina later in the surge gave App its largest lead at nine, 49-40.
Just when it looked like the Apps had the momentum, the Panthers tied up the contest 55-55 before taking control of the game.
Appalachian returns to action tomorrow at 4 p.m. against the Panthers in search for a split.
Tip-Ins
- Four of the five 20-point performances in Gosnell's career have come in conference play.
- App State shot 47.2 percent from the field inside the arc.
- Bigott tied a season-high with three steals
- Gosnell, Bigott, and Sanders combined to shoot 17-of-33 from the floor (rest of team; 4-19).
