STATESBORO, Ga. – App State Women's Basketball fell short to Georgia Southern in a tight game on Wednesday after the Eagles broke a tie with a last-second layup to prevail 57-55.
"It was tough to lose at the buzzer like we did tonight," App State head coach
Alaura Sharp said. "I have to solve how to help our team close out games. We lacked defensive intensity in key moments."
Senior
Zada Porter led the Mountaineers with 22 points and six rebounds, marking her third game as the Black and Gold's top scorer and rebounder. She has been App State's top scorer in three consecutive games from Feb. 19, 10 games this season, and has netted double-figures in 17 games this winter. She was one point from her season-high of 23, which she met twice this season on Jan. 2 and Jan. 15.
Junior
Emily Hege netted double-figures, scoring 11 points and draining two of App State's three treys. Fellow juniors
Elena Pericic and
Rylan Moffitt made the Mountaineers' four blocks, each contributing two. The Mountaineers and Eagles knotted the score six times and swapped the lead on five occasions.
With a pair of free throws, senior
Emily Carver put the Mountaineers on the board. As Georgia Southern pulled ahead, the Black and Gold edged ahead, 7-6, after Hege drained the Mountaineers' first trey and Porter landed a jumper. Senior
Asjah Inniss landed a jumper to knot the score at nine all and closed the quarter with a last-second layup to keep the score knotted at 11-11. Hege and Inniss combined for seven points in the period.
App State held Georgia Southern to nine points in the second quarter. Porter opened the quarter with a jumper. Pericic got to the hoop for a layup and senior
Eleyana Tafisi knocked down a jumper to push the Mountaineers ahead, 18-13. With a Porter jumper and Carver free throw, App State stayed ahead, 21-17. As Georgia Southern chipped away at the deficit, Porter drained a pair of free throws and Moffitt made a layup in the paint to keep the Mountaineers up, 25-20, at the end of the half.
Hege knocked down her second trey of the game and followed it with a layup to push the Mountaineers ahead, 28-22, in the third quarter. The Black and Gold went on a 7-0 run over 1:11 to extend the deficit to 37-24 as Tafisi and Porter made layups and Carver drained a 3-point bucket. Porter, who netted eight points in the period, knocked down a pair of jumpers and made a fastbreak layup in the paint to extend App State's lead to 43-29. As the Mountaineers faced a scoring drought late in the quarter, Georgia Southern narrowed the deficit to 43-38.
As Georgia Southern came within one of App State's lead early in the fourth quarter, Hege drained a jumper in the paint to keep the Black and Gold ahead, 45-42. The Eagles cut the lead back to one, but freebies from Tafisi and Moffitt pushed App State ahead, 48-44. Eight of App State's 12 points in the fourth quarter came from free throws. Porter and Carver also contributed freebies despite the Mountaineers' lead narrowing to 51-49. Georgia Southern managed to edge ahead, 55-51, with a 4-0 run. Porter cut the deficit to two after draining a pair of free throws with 0:54 left in play. With 0:24 left on the clock, Moffitt made a steal and Porter made a fastbreak layup in the paint to knot the score at 55-55 with 0:14 left in the period. Despite Porter's layup, Georgia Southern avoided overtime with a buzzer-beating layup to seal the win, 57-55.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will cap the 2024-25 regular season with a 5 p.m. clash against Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C. on Friday.
