BOONE, N.C. - The App State women's basketball team will close out the regular season in Jonesboro, Ark. as they take on Arkansas State at 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET). The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
Last Time Out
The Mountaineers fell to Troy, 102-69, on Wednesday. Sophomore
Alexis Black netted a team-high 16 points and accounted for four of the Mountaineers' eight treys. Junior
Emily Carver netted 15 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Carver also knocked down two treys and dished out three assists. Fellow junior
Zada Porter dished out a team-high four assists.
Ranked Mountaineers
In Sun Belt play, senior
Faith Alston stands second in the assists category and ranks among the top-five scorers in the league. Sophomore
Rylan Moffitt stands fourth in the league for blocked shots. App State checks in at second for made 3-pointers. The Mountaineers also rank fourth for team 3-point percentage, team defensive rebounds, blocked shots, and scoring offense. App State rounds out the top-five for combined team rebounds and assists.
With one game remaining in the regular season, Alston stands second in the assists category and remains among the top-five scorers for the season as a whole. Carver ranks fourth for 3-pointers per game, while Moffitt ranks fourth for blocked shots on the year. App State takes third in the made 3-pointers category and rounds out the top-five in the scoring offense and team 3-point percentage categories.
Last Time Against Arkansas State
App State edged past Arkansas State, 59-58, in its last meeting with the Red Wolves on Jan. 7, 2023 in Jonesboro.
Janay Sanders netted a team-high 13 points, while Carver netted nine points. Carver knocked down three field goals over the course of the fourth period to tie the score at 52 all and landed the final shot of the game to bring the Mountaineers ahead by one. She also pulled down a team-high six rebounds.
Scouting Arkansas State
Arkansas State is 13-15 (6-11 SBC) on the season. The Red Wolves enter Friday's contest looking to break a five-game losing streak, adding a 69-60 loss to ULM on Tuesday. In Sun Belt play, Arkansas State tallied wins against Coastal Carolina (Dec. 30), Texas State (Jan. 11), South Alabama (Jan. 17 and Jan. 31), and Old Dominion (Feb. 3).
Izzy Higginbottom leads the Red Wolves, averaging 22.2 points per game. Lauryn Pendleton and Anna Griffin follow, averaging 12.6 and 11.3 points per contest, respectively. Higginbottom leads the team in the assists category, while Pendleton leads the team in the steals category. Wynter Rogers is Arkansas State's top rebounder, averaging 7.0 per game. Rogers also leads the team in the blocks category.
On the Horizon
The Sun Belt Women's Basketball Championship is slated for March 5-11 at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla. The winner of the tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
With a win on Friday, App State is projected to take either the No. 7 or No. 8 seed in the tournament. In the event of a loss, the Mountaineers would be projected to take the No. 9 seed. App State holds the tiebreaker against the current No. 8 team, Louisiana, having defeated the Ragin' Cajuns in its SBC opener on Dec. 30.
The bracket will be released at the conclusion of regular season play on Friday evening.
