MACON, Ga. – The App State women's basketball team rounded out its December road stretch with a 74-61 victory over Mercer in Macon, Ga. on Saturday. The victory marked the Mountaineers' second consecutive win over Mercer on the date of Dec. 21, as the Mountaineers and Bears met a year ago on the day in Boone during the 2023-24 campaign.
"We are really proud of the response from our team," said head coach
Alaura Sharp. "Our effort and intensity was really good. We know we can value possessions and showed that in the first half. It's important we continue to learn to stretch that out to four quarters."
Senior
Mara Neira led the charge for the Mountaineers, netting 17 points and draining 5-of-6 from the arc. Neira was two treys shy of the program's record of seven 3-pointers in a game, which is held by five Mountaineers, including current senior
Emily Carver. Carver and junior
Elena Pericic also netted double figures in Saturday's contest, with 14 points and 11 points, respectively. The pair also combined for four of App State's 10 treys, each contributing two. Pericic was also the Mountaineers top rebounder after grabbing nine rebounds. Fellow junior
Rylan Moffitt followed, pulling down six rebounds. Seniors
Eleyana Tafisi and
Asjah Inniss combined for nine of App State's 18 assists, with Tafisi dishing out five and Inniss dishing out four. Senior
Zada Porter nabbed a team high four steals for the Mountaineers.
App State improves to 4-6 (0-0 SBC) on the season. The Mountaineers netted 40 points off the bench and shot 87.5% from the charity stripe as well as 45.5% from the arc and field. The Black and Gold's 10 treys were five from the program record of 15, which was last reached on Feb. 3, 2024 against Coastal Carolina.
Carver put the Mountaineers on the board early with a layup in the paint, which Mercer answered with a three-point play for its sole lead of the game. Pericic gave the Mountaineers a 5-3 edge with a second chance layup in the paint and a free throw to complete a three-point play of her own. Another layup from Pericic pushed the Mountaineers ahead 7-3. Moffitt made a layup in the paint to extend App State's lead to 11-6. A Carver trey and jumper from Inniss and junior
Emily Hege extended the lead to 18-8. In the first quarter, Carver and Pericic combined for 12 of the Mountaineers' 18 points. Porter made three of her four steals during the first period. The Black and Gold also held Mercer to two fastbreak points.
The Mountaineers commanded the second quarter with a 17-0 run over 6:06. Neira led the Black and Gold through the period, netting 14 of her 17 points and knocking down 4-of-5 from the arc. Over the course of the Mountaineers' 17-0 run Moffitt and Carver contributed a pair of layups and Neira knocked down a fastbreak jumper. Neira drained three consecutive 3-point buckets to extend the deficit to 35-22. Junior
Seneya Martinez made a pair of freebies before Neira capped the half with her fourth trey in three minutes, assisted by freshman Hekla Nökkvadóttir. The Black and Gold held Mercer to five points in the second quarter and led by 25 at the close of the half, 40-15.
App State led by as much as 31 points midway through the third quarter. As Mercer chipped away at the deficit, the Mountaineers maintained their lead with a 13-0 run over 3:14. Pericic sank back-to-back treys, Porter made a fastbreak layup in the paint, Carver drained a trey, and Inniss netted two from the charity stripe. Keeping the Mountaineers ahead, 58-28, Neira drained her fifth 3-point bucket with an assist from Moffitt. The Bears went on a late 8-1 run to cut App State's lead to 59-36 at the close of the quarter. Pericic and Carver combined for 11 of the Mountaineers' 19 points. The Mountaineers didn't allow a single second-chance point for the Bears in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Hege knocked down the Black and Gold's sole trey of the period early (62-38). The Mountaineers maintained their lead, building off a jumper from Moffitt and layup from Inniss (66-43). Senior
J'Mani Ingram netted four points for the Black and Gold with a pair of layups, extending the lead to 70-47. Despite a late surge from Mercer that cut the Mountaineers' lead to 12 (70-58), App State secured the 74-61 victory with a layup from Nökkvadóttir and a pair of freebies from Martinez.
Up Next
The Mountaineers return to Boone for their Sun Belt opener against Arkansas State on Dec. 29. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. For Sunday's game only, fans can
purchase $2.25 tickets to the game using promo code
NEWYEAR! Fans must purchase their tickets in advance of the game for the offer.
Sunday's game will also feature a Teddy Bear Toss. Fans are encouraged to bring teddy bears or other plush animals to the game to support children in need in the greater Boone & App State communities. During halftime, fans will have the opportunity to throw their teddy bears on the court and whichever fans' hit the target on the court will receive an App State prize.
