BOONE, N.C. – Spearheaded by a career-high 25 points from
Janay Sanders, App State won a matchup of third-place Sun Belt teams Saturday with a 73-55 victory over Texas State.
The Mountaineers (13-10, 7-3 SBC) improved upon their best start in league play since joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2014, and they did so against a strong Texas State opponent.
The Bobcats (13-12, 8-5 SBC) had won five straight games entering the weekend, but App State's defense held them to 39 percent shooting (22 of 57), and the Mountaineers won the rebounding battle 43-31.
The win also marked head coach
Angel Elderkin's 105th at App State, which moves her into sole possession of second place among the program's head coaches all-time. Linda Robinson is the program's winningest head coach with a 236-136 record from 1984-97.
"Really excited for our group today in terms of playing a complete game," Elderkin said. "I thought today from top to bottom we played with a lot of passion, a lot of fight, and I thought we did a lot of really good things. Specifically on the defensive side of the ball."
Sanders, a junior from Charlotte, scored 14 points in the first half and added nine more in the second to surpass her previous career high of 22 points at Mercer in November. She made 9 of 13 field goals and 7 of 11 free throws on a day that the Bobcat defense could not slow her constant driving into the lane.
Sanders said her play was specially dedicated to a loved one on the day the team wore pink uniforms and hosted activities to raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer.
"Today was for my godmom," Sanders said. "She's currently fighting breast cancer, so I just went out there and played for her today."
Alexia Allesch and
Michaela Porter added 13 points apiece. Porter also pulled down 11 boards to notch her third straight double-double.
App State led 27-26 with 1:53 left in the second quarter before a Sanders layup and back-to-back 3-pointer from
Dane Bertolina and
Emily Carver pushed the Mountaineers' lead to nine at the half.
Texas State couldn't cut the lead to fewer than six points the rest of the way. App State surged to its largest lead of 22 at 64-42 with 6:20 left in the game.
This was App State's fifth straight win over Texas State dating back to the 2018-19 season.
Elderkin's team has two games left – both at home – to close out the regular season before the March 2-7 Sun Belt Tournament in Pensacola, Fla. League-leading Troy will visit Boone on Thursday, followed by a visit from South Alabama next Saturday.
