HUNTINGTON, WVa. – In a back-and-forth game that featured 12 ties and nine lead changes, the App State Women's Basketball team (6-4, 0-1 SBC) fell short on the road against Marshall (10-3, 1-0 SBC) in its Sun Belt opener, 75-62.
"Today was a great environment for women's basketball," said head coach
Alaura Sharp. "Marshall did a great job with their education game. Our team had some flashes of how good we can be. I really believe in the ceiling of our squad. It's important that we trust the process of growing and stay positive as we continue to improve."
Senior
Emma Smith led the Mountaineers with a season-high 19 points, scoring in double figures for the fifth time in 10 games. Smith combined with junior
Daisia Mitchell and sophomore
Jayden McBride for 42 of App State's 62 points as well as six of the Mountaineers' seven treys, with each knocking down a pair from beyond the arc. Smith and Mitchell also combined for nine of the Mountaineers' 14 assists.
Freshman
Addie Biel was the Black and Gold's top rebounder, grabbing eight boards.
App State shot 81% from the charity stripe and 41% from beyond the arc. The Mountaineers held the Herd to five offensive rebounds and seven points off the bench.
Smith put the Mountaineers on the board with a mid-range jumper. Throughout the first quarter, the Mountaineers and Herd knotted the score five times, trading the lead four times. Down 13-11, senior
Elena Pericic knocked down a perfect trio of freebies to push App State ahead, 14-13. To close the period, Mitchell drained her second 3-point bucket of the game to put App State up, 17-13. Mitchell netted eight of her 12 points during the period, which included a perfect pair from beyond the arc.
The Thundering Herd held the Mountaineers to seven points in the second period. Biel accounted for four of App State's points, as she drained down four from the charity stripe. McBride drained her first trey of the game late in the period to push App State ahead, 24-23. Marshall edged ahead, 27-24, to close the first half.
The Mountaineers opened the third quarter with a 5-0 run as Smith drained a 3-point bucket and sophomore
Feryal Defne Atli followed with a layup. Over the first 4:11 of the period, App State and Marshall battled through five ties. Marshall managed to take a 39-36 lead, but freebies from senior
Emily Hege kept the Mountaineers within one (39-38). A layup from Biel and a 3-point bucket from Hege knotted the score for the sixth time in the period and final time in the game. Marshall broke the 43-all tie with a 6-0 run to close the quarter with a 49-43 lead.
The Thundering Herd never relinquished that advantage in the fourth quarter despite Smith and McBride combining for 13 of App State's 19 points in the period.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will close their road stretch on Dec. 20 with a 1 p.m. clash against Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
