MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The App State women's basketball team (3-2) fell short to No. 22/23 West Virginia, 80-51, on the road on Thursday.
Senior
Emma Smith led the charge for App State with 17 points. She drilled three of App State's five treys, grabbed four rebounds and combined with freshman
Riley Stoker for four of the Mountaineers' six steals. Smith and freshman
Addie Biel combined to shoot a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Junior
Daisia Mitchell and senior
Elena Pericic were the Black and Gold's top rebounders, each grabbing five boards. Additionally, Pericic dished out a team-high five assists.
Sophomore
Feryal Defne Atli put App State on the board with a tip-in layup, which Smith followed up with a jumper to cut WVU's early lead to one (5-4). Smith drilled the Black and Gold's first trey of the game to knot the score at 7-7. As West Virginia pulled away, late free throws from Biel and Smith kept the Mountaineers within six at the close of the period.
Mitchell opened the second quarter with a trey to cut the deficit to three. Another set of freebies from Biel and a layup in the paint from Atli kept the Mountaineers within four (24-20), but WVU established a double-digit lead with a 15-0 run over 3:43. Michell and Atli made layups in addition to a 3-point bucket from sophomore
Jayden McBride to narrow the deficit to 46-29 at the close of the quarter.
West Virginia's momentum carried into the second half, as it held App State to six points in the third period. The Black and Gold found a spark in the fourth quarter with a layup from Atli and Smith's third 3-point bucket of the day. The Mountaineers went on an 8-0 run over 1:55, which featured a layup in the paint from Biel, a jumper from senior
Emily Hege, a layup in the paint from graduate student Zoë McCrary and a fastbreak driving layup from freshman
Riley Stoker. Despite a late surge from West Virginia, freshman
Isa Roman landed a late jumper with an assist from graduate student
Jada Burton. Stoker capped the game with a free throw.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will remain on the road for a 3:30 p.m. clash against UNC Asheville on Nov. 22. App State will then host Norfolk State at noon on Nov. 25 for Education Day. Admission for Tuesday's Education Day game is free. Both games will be available to stream on ESPN+.
