BOONE, N.C. – The App State women's basketball team celebrated its seniors on Wednesday with an 82-64 victory over Gardner-Webb on Wednesday.
"Obviously I was really proud of how we came out of the locker room at halftime. That was a point of emphasis for us coming into the game," said head coach
Alaura Sharp. "We got a little bit of momentum in the second quarter, but we really didn't look quite like ourselves in the first half. I was glad we loosened up and played with a lot better effort in the second half. We have a lot to clean up. We had too many turnovers. We still look a little bit back on our heels against pressure. I thought we left a lot of points out there, but it's good to see us get into the eighty's."
Senior
Emily Carver came within one of her career high with 27 points, recording her fourth consecutive game as App State's top scorer and netting double-figures. Carver drained four of App State's seven treys and grabbed six rebounds. Fellow seniors
J'Mani Ingram and
Zada Porter followed with 14 points and 10 points, respectively. Additionally, Porter dished out a team high eight assists. Junior
Rylan Moffitt grabbed a team high nine rebounds. In her debut for the Mountaineers, senior
Eleyana Tafisi netted seven points, dished out two assists, and made one rebound.
App State shot 50% from the field, 35% from the arc, and 72.2% from the line. The Mountaineers netted 34 points off the bench compared to Gardner-Webb's as well as 20 second-chance points to Gardner-Webb's 15.
Porter put the Mountaineers on the board with a jumper. The Mountaineers faced an early drought as the Runnin' Bulldogs took a 15-6 lead, but App State chipped away at the lead as Ingram, Porter, and Tafisi drained freebies. The Mountaineers knocked down six-of-eight from the line, but closed the quarter trailing the Runnin' Bulldogs, 17-10.
Opening the second quarter, Tafisi made a layup in the paint and junior
Elena Pericic knocked down a trey to bring the Mountaineers within three of the lead (18-15). The Mountaineers gained a 29-27 edge as Porter drained a pair of free throws, Moffitt made a layup, and Carver and Tafisi drilled a pair of treys. Layups from Ingram and senior
Asjah Inniss, as well as a pair of freebies from Inniss, brought App State to a 35-33 lead. A pair of free Gardner-Webb free throws knotted the score, 35 all at the half.
Carver found her stride in the third quarter netting 17 points, draining 6-of-7 from the field, 3-of-3 from the arc, and 2-of-3 from the line. App State opened the third quarter with a 14-0 scoring run over the course of 2:42 to take a 49-35 lead. With a jumper from junior
Emily Hege, a layup from senior
Mara Neira, and a layup from Moffitt, App State extended its lead to 64-46. Carver made a layup with an assist from Neira as the Mountaineers closed the quarter with a 66-52 lead.
The Mountaineers extended their lead to 71-52 early in the fourth quarter after a Neira jumper, free throw from Carver, and Ingram layup. Midway through the quarter, Moffitt made a layup and junior
Seneya Martinez made a fastbreak layup, both assisted by Porter, to put App State up, 79-57. Martinez also drained a 3-point bucket to extend the lead to 82-59. Despite a pair of Gardner-Webb freebies and a trey, App State won, 82-64.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will head out for a four-game road-stretch before returning to Boone to open Sun Belt play on Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. against Arkansas State. App State's December road slate will feature a clash with SEC contender Vanderbilt on Dec. 1, as well as matchups with Wofford (Dec. 7), College of Charleston (Dec. 17), and Mercer (Dec. 21).
