BOONE, N.C. – The App State women's basketball team (2-1) fell short to Davidson (3-1), 74-55, in the Holmes Convocation Center on Wednesday.
A milestone from senior
Elena Pericic highlighted the night as the Rijeka, Croatia native surpassed 1,000 collegiate career points. Percic was one of three Mountaineers to net double-figures against the Wildcats, combining with fellow senior
Emma Smith and junior
Daisia Mitchell for 39 of App State's 55 points.
Smith, who led the team with 16 points, also pulled down a team high seven rebounds, made three steals, and dished out a pair of assists. Freshman
Addie Biel and graduate student
Jada Burton combined for eight boards, each grabbing four. App State scored 22 points off the bench and 14 points off turnovers. The Mountaineers managed to hold the Wildcats to four offensive rebounds and cause 16 Davidson turnovers.
"First of all I'm thankful for everybody being here tonight. The message I said to the locker room was 'this could be the best thing that happens to us. They are a very good defensive team and it turned us into an ISO basketball team and that's just a lesson we've got to learn.' We're at our best when we're moving and changing sides of the floor," said head coach
Alaura Sharp.
"We have competitors. They really want to win and we just put our head down and we didn't pop the ball around. I do want to give credit to Davidson, they're a good basketball team. I'm sure they'll be some sort of postseason team, so it's a great test for us early on. I like our team. I still think we have a chance to be really good, so many lessons and takeaways is why we schedule tough opponents."
Davidson got on the board early, but Mitchell was quick to respond with a layup in the paint, assisted by sophomore
Feryal Defne Atli, for the game's only tie. The Wildcats jumped to a 13-2 lead, but the Mountaineers steadily chipped away at the deficit as Burton and Smith made trips to the hoop for layups and sophomore
Jayden McBride and Smith knocked down jumpers. With a layup in the paint, Pericic netted her 1,000th career point, narrowing the deficit to five. Mitchell made a jumper to keep the Mountaineers within five at the close of the quarter.
Opening the second quarter with a tip-in layup, McBride cut Davidson's lead to three (19-16). Smith and Pericic shot perfectly from the charity stripe, both draining 4-of-4. Biel also sank a trio of freebies for the Black and Gold. Down 35-28 at the half, App State found a spark early in the third quarter. Smith and Pericic made layups in the paint before Pericic drilled a 3-point bucket to bring App State within two of Davidson's lead (37-35). Mitchell kept the Mountaineers within two with back-to-back jumpers (41-39). Despite the Mountaineers' efforts, Davidson jumped ahead by 10 going into the fourth quarter and maintained the lead for the remainder of play.
Up Next
App State will conclude its season-opening homestand with a 2 p.m. game against Wofford. Fans are encouraged to join the Mountaineers for Sunday Funday, as the Holmes Convocation concourse will open an hour before tipoff for yard games and other activities. There will also be a post game autograph session with the team on the concourse. Sunday's game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
