BOONE, N.C. – The App State women's basketball team fell short to Northern Illinois, 75-62, in the second installment of the 2024-25 MAC-SBC Challenge on Saturday.
"Today was kind of an interesting matchup," said head coach
Alaura Sharp. "Coming into the game both Northern Illinois and us came off of really big wins in the middle of the week and it was going to be interesting to see which team was able to handle that big win and decide that's the team that they wanted to be. Northern Illinois played great Wednesday, we played great Wednesday, they showed up and did it again and unfortunately, we just did not. They've got a great basketball team. I think they're starting to figure things out at the right time. For us, we've got to decide which team we want to be. Do we want to be the team that shares the ball and takes really good shots and has a good field goal percentage and stays connected on defense and communicates or do we want to play kind of isolated."
A trio of Mountaineers scored double-figures, led by senior
Zada Porter, who netted 13 points. Saturday's game marked Porter's seventh as the Mountaineers' top scorer. She also dished out six assists and combined with fellow senior
Emily Carver for 10 rebounds. Carver netted 12 points and drained two treys for the Black and Gold. Junior
Elena Pericic scored 11 points, knocking down three of App State's seven treys in addition to the Mountaineers' sole block of the game. Junior
Rylan Moffitt grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, marking her seventh game as the Mountaineers' top rebounder. Senior
Eleyana Tafisi dished out a team-high six assists.
App State netted 14 second-chance points and held NIU to three. The Mountaineers also netted 30 points in the paint compared to the Huskies' 14. App State and Northern Illinois tied the score twice and traded the lead twice.
Northern Illinois was quick to take a 5-0 lead to open the game, but the Mountaineers matched the score after a 3-point bucket from Carver and jumper from junior
Emily Hege. Tafisi landed a jumper to push the Mountaineers ahead, 7-5. The Huskies matched the Mountaineers at 7-7 before pulling ahead, 10-7. The Huskies maintained the lead for the remainder of the game, despite Moffitt landing a jumper to cut the deficit to one (10-9). Pericic and Tafisi contributed a trey and layup, respectively, to close the quarter.
Down 23-14 at the start of the second quarter, senior
J'Mani Ingram went to work, scoring seven points within the first 1:08 of the period with a pair of layups and trio of free throws. Ingram scored all nine of her points in the second period, knocking down 3-of-4 from the field and a perfect 3-of-3 from the line. The Mountaineers went on a 7-0 run as Carver made a layup and drained a 3-point bucket and Moffitt made a tip-in to cut the deficit to two (30-28). Ingram closed the period with a layup. The Mountaineers trailed the Huskies, 39-30, at the half.
Hege opened the third quarter with a jumper and Porter made a layup in the paint. Porter netted six of App State's 15 points in the period, also draining a pair of freebies and making a second layup. The Mountaineers continued to chip away at NIU's lead with layups from Pericic and Carver, as well as a 3-point bucket from Tafisi, but the Mountaineers continued to trail, 57-45.
Pericic knocked down a pair of 3-point buckets and Porter drained a trey of her own early in the fourth quarter. The duo combined for 13 of App State's 15 points in the quarter. A pair of layups from Porter brought the Mountaineers within four of NIU's lead (64-60). Carver made a tip-in basket, but NIU sealed the game, 75-62.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will hit the road to take on James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va. on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. App State will then face Georgia State at 5 p.m. in Atlanta, Ga. on Feb. 15. The Mountaineers will return to Boone for their final regular season homestand to host Marshall on Feb. 19 and James Madison on Feb. 22.
