HUNTINGTON, WVa. – The App State women's basketball team clinched a 68-64 victory over Marshall on the road on Saturday. The Mountaineers improve to 9-8 on the season and 5-2 in conference play. Marshall remains winless in Sun Belt action. The Black and Gold also maintains a 26-24 edge in its all-time series with the Thundering Herd.
"I'm really proud of our team for getting the bounce-back win," said head coach
Alaura Sharp. "We overcame a lot to find a way. These close games will grow and mature us for the future."
Senior
Zada Porter led the Mountaineers with 15 points and five assists on the day. The Roanoke, Va. native drilled a perfect 3-of-3 from the arc in addition to grabbing four rebounds and a team-high four steals. Saturday's game marked Porter's sixth game as App State's top scorer during the 2024-25 campaign.
Junior
Elena Pericic netted 14 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Saturday marked Pericic's fifth time as the Black and Gold's top rebounder this season. Senior
Emily Carver scored 10 points and drained a trio of treys for the Mountaineers. She also grabbed four rebounds, dished out a pair of assists, and made a pair of steals.
App State scored 20 points off the bench and 19 points off turnovers. For a second game this season, the Mountaineers drained 11 3-point buckets. The Black and Gold shot 42.3% from the arc and 81.3% from the line. The Mountaineers and Thundering Herd knotted the score on 10 occasions and swapped the lead seven times over the course of play.
In the first quarter, Marshall established an early 4-0 lead. Senior
Mara Neira put the Mountaineers on the board with a trey and junior
Rylan Moffitt made a tipin to keep the Black and Gold within one of Marshall's lead. Freshman Hekla Nökkavadóttir drained her second trey of the season to knot the score at eight all. Neira and Nökkavadóttir combined for six of App State's 10 points in the quarter. Senior
Samantha LaFon got to the hoop for a layup, but the Thundering Herd managed to close the quarter with a 14-10 lead.
Neira drained her second trey of the game to bring the Mountaineers within three of Marshall's 16-13 lead. As Marshall edged ahead, 27-15, the Mountaineers went on a 9-0 scoring run to cut the deficit back to three (27-24). The scoring run included a pair of treys from junior
Emily Hege and Porter as well as a successful three-point play from LaFon. Pericic drained a pair of free throws to keep the Mountaineers within three of the Thundering Herd's 29-26 lead at the end of the half. App State shot 100% from the line during the period.
Fresh out of the halftime break, Carver drained a 3-point bucket to tie things up at 29 all. Carver netted seven of her 10 points during the quarter, and knocked down 2-of-3 from the arc. The Mountaineers and Thundering Herd knotted the score on seven occasions during the quarter. Pericic tied things up at 35 all with a jumper and Carver gave the Mountaineers a 36-35 edge with a free throw. Another jumper from Pericic and a trey from Carver put App State up, 41-36, but the Thundering Herd was quick to answer, knotting the score back at 41 all. With a Nökkvadóttir layup and another Carver trey, the Black and Gold edged ahead, 46-43. Late in the quarter, Marshall went on a 7-0 run to end the period with a 50-46 lead.
The Mountaineers chipped away at Marshall's lead early in the fourth quarter as Pericic completed a three-point play. With a trey from Carver and Porter three-point play, App State tied things up at 55 all. Porter netted nine of her 15 points in the final quarter, which included sinking 4-of-5 from the line. Pericic knocked down a 3-point bucket to give the Mountaineers a 58-57 edge. A free throw and 3-point bucket from Porter put the Mountaineers up 62-60. Marshall knotted the score one last time at 62-62, before Moffitt landed a jumper to give App State a 64-62 edge. Despite a Marshall free throw that cut App State's lead to one (64-63), a pair of freebies from senior
Eleyana Tafisi pushed the Black and Gold up, 66-63. Porter secured the Mountaineers' victory with a pair of free throws with 0:10 left in the period. During the fourth quarter, App State shot 87.5% from the charity stripe.
Up Next
The Mountaineers return to Boone for their next four games. App State will host Old Dominion for Luau Night at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 23. While supplies last, all App State students will receive an App State Luau themed t-shirt. The Mountaineers will host Georgia Southern for Black Saturday at 2 p.m. on Jan. 25. App State will then host Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 30 for Youth Day and Georgia State at 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 1 for Pink Day.
