BOONE, N.C. - The App State women's basketball team (5-7, 1-0 SBC) is ready to ring in the new year with a 2 p.m. clash against new Sun Belt member Marshall (8-4, 1-0 SBC) on Saturday. The game will be available for streaming on ESPN+.
Tickets for Saturday's game are available for a discounted price of $2.23 to celebrate New Year's Eve.
Last Time Out
App State defeated Old Dominion, 81-55, on Thursday in its league opener at Holmes. For a second consecutive game, five Mountaineers scored in double figures. Sophomore
Emily Carver and freshman
Alexis Black split the lead with 17 points apiece. Redshirt senior
Janay Sanders and junior
Faith Alston recorded the second-most points on the evening with 16 each, and graduate student
Brooke Bigott netted 10 points. App State shot 88.2 percent from the free throw line and scored 40 points in the paint and 22 from the bench.
Around the Conference
App State ranks fourth in the conference for points on the season, averaging 71.7 per game as well as 3-pointers per game, averaging seven. Sanders is eighth in the league for scoring, averaging 14.4 points per game.
In league-only play, App State leads the conference in scoring margin and team field goal percentage (.500). The Mountaineers are second in points scored as well as team free throw percentage (.882). App State checks in at fourth for 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage (.381). Individually, Alston and Sanders are first and second, respectively, in the SBC for steals in league-only play. Alston also stands fourth in the conference for assists. Black ranks second in the SBC with a field goal percentage of .778.
Last Time Against Marshall
The Black and Gold last met Marshall on Nov. 25, 2018, defeating the Thundering Herd, 74-52 in Boone. Bayley Plummer led the Mountaineers with a double-double, netting 16 points and pulling down 21 rebounds. Madi Story scored the second-most points (15) and shot six of six from the charity stripe. Ashley Polacek dished out a team-high six assists.
Scouting Marshall
Marshall, 8-4 (1-0 SBC), comes to Boone off of a 63-61 overtime road victory over South Alabama. The Thundering Herd are on a three-game win-streak, closing nonconference play with a pair of wins over St. Bonaventure and Chattanooga in Huntington, W.Va. before opening Sun Belt play with a win in Mobile, Ala.
Roshala Scott is Marshall's top scorer, netting 17.7 points per game. Abby Beeman, who averages 13.7 points per game, is the Thundering Herd's top rebounder (averaging 7.1 per game) and leads the team in assists (averaging 5 per game).
The Thundering Herd went 15-13 (10-8 C-USA) last season. In the C-USA Tournament, No. 5 seed Marshall fell to No. 4 seed Rice in the second round. Marshall went on a five-game win-streak from Dec. 15 to Jan. 8 during the regular season.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will hit the road for a four-game road-stretch in the new year. App State will take on Texas State on Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. ET in San Marcos, Tex. before heading to Jonesboro, Ark. to clash with Arkansas State on Jan. 7 at 3 p.m. ET. The following week, the Mountaineers will head to Harrisonburg, Va. to clash with James Madison for the first time in SBC play on Jan. 12, before traveling to Statesboro, Ga. to take on rival Georgia Southern on Jan. 14. All four games will be available for streaming on ESPN+.
