TROY, Ala. – The App State women's basketball team fell to Troy on Saturday by a score of 73-66. The Mountaineers led the Trojans, who entered the game tied for the top spot in the Sun Belt with Old Dominion and James Madison, until late in the fourth quarter.
Three Mountaineers scored in double figures, with sophomore
Emily Carver and redshirt senior
Janay Sanders netting 14 points apiece and junior
Faith Alston scoring 10. Carver, graduate student
Brooke Bigott, and senior
Taylor Lewis pulled down five rebounds each.
App State (9-18, 5-11 SBC) scored 21 fast-break points compared to Troy's 13. The Black and Gold also held the Trojans to just four made 3-pointers.
The Mountaineers came out strong in the first quarter, propelled by a pair of Sanders field goals that put App State up 4-0. Bigott, Alston,
Alexis Black, Chaé Harris and Carver built off the lead combining for 14 points for an 18-4 lead. Late in the quarter, Troy cut the Mountaineers' lead to 18-14 by going on a 10-0 scoring run of their own.
Carver started out the second quarter with a trey and layup to give App State a 23-14 lead. Two free throws from Black and a three-point play from Sanders put the Mountaineers up 28-18. The Trojans steadily chipped away at App State's lead with an 8-0 scoring run, but layups from Black and sophomore
Mariah Frazier kept the Mountaineers ahead 32-29. Sanders made a layup and Bigott made it to the hoop with eight seconds left on the clock to put App State up 38-31 at the half.
A layup and pair of free throws from redshirt junior
A'Lea Gilbert put App State up 42-35 to kick off the third period. Sophomore
Zada Porter landed a jumper to extend the Black and Gold's lead to 44-37. Layups from Black and Sanders, as well a trey from Alston, kept the Mountaineers ahead 51-44. Carver sunk her third 3-pointer of the game to extend App State's lead to 54-47. With 42 seconds left in the quarter, Frazier got to the hoop for a layup. Porter made a huge steal, which set up Frazier to assist Carver's fourth 3-point bucket of the game. At the end of the third period, the Mountaineers led the Trojans 59-48.
Troy took its first lead of the game with 4:16 left in regulation, taking a 62-59 lead. Alston brought App State within two of Troy's 68-66 lead after making a layup and a 3-point bucket.
UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will close out the regular season with a pair of games in Boone. App State will host James Madison on Feb. 22 for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Night. The Black and Gold will then honor their graduating class on Feb. 24 as they host ULM on Senior Night. Both games are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. tipoffs and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
