SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The App State women's basketball team fell short to Wofford, 71-63, on the road on Saturday.
"I thought our overall team effort and execution has improved," said head coach
Alaura Sharp. "They got a large lead and we showed some fight to get back and cut it to one possession. Our team needs to stick together and continue to find ways to work to get better on both sides of the ball."
Senior
Zada Porter led the Mountaineers with a career high 16 points off the bench. Porter and senior
Mara Neira combined for four of the Mountaineers' five treys, each contributing two. Fellow senior
Emily Carver grabbed a team high six rebounds and netted 10 points. Senior
Eleyana Tafisi dished out a season and team high six assists for the Black and Gold.
App State recorded 30 points in the paint compared to Wofford's 18. The Mountaineers also netted 31 points off the bench. The Black and Gold tallied eight steals and only allowed four steals. The Mountaineers and Terriers swapped the lead thrice and knotted the score on five occasions.
Junior
Elena Pericic put the Mountaineers on the board with a layup in the paint. As Wofford built an 8-2 lead, three-point plays from Tafisi and Carver tied things up at eight all. The Black and Gold edged ahead, 12-8, after a layup from Tafisi and a fastbreak layup from junior
Emily Hege. Wofford managed to take a 16-14 lead, but a tip-in layup from junior
Rylan Moffitt tied things up at 16 all. With a layup from Carver, the Mountaineers and Terriers ended the period tied, 18-18.
Pericic and Neira combined for App State's 10 points in the second quarter. Down 34-20, Neira knocked down back-to-back treys to chip away at the deficit. A layup from Pericic cut the deficit to six (34-28), but Wofford managed to pull ahead 38-28 at the half.
The Mountaineers outscored the Terriers in the third quarter, 21-14. Additionally, App State netted 10 points off turnovers and held Wofford to two points off turnovers and no second chance points over the course of the period. The Black and Gold went on a 9-0 scoring run over 1:29 that narrowed the deficit to four (46-42). The run featured a Tafisi layup, freebies from Hege and Porter, as well as Porter's first trey of the game. Layups from Carver and Moffitt kept the Mountaineers within four (50-46). After free throws from Carver and Pericic, the App State had slashed the deficit to three at the close of the period, 52-49.
Porter netted nine of her 16 points in the fourth quarter and opened the period with a jumper to bring the Mountaineers within one (52-51). Porter drained a trey and sank a pair of freebies to keep App State in step with the Terriers (57-56). Despite a layup in the paint by Porter, a pair of free throws from Pericic, and a trey from Hege, App State fell short, 71-63.
Up Next
The Black and Gold will clash with College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. on Dec. 17 before wrapping its December road stretch in Macon Ga. as it takes on Mercer on Dec. 21. On Dec. 29, App State will open Sun Belt action with a game against Arkansas State at 2 p.m. in Boone.
