NORFOLK, Va. – The App State women's basketball team came up short in a tight battle against Old Dominion, 65-54, on the road on Wednesday.
"Tonight was a tough, physical game," said head coach
Alaura Sharp. "There were moments that I thought we took a step with our toughness and defense, however, offensively we seemed disjointed at times due to the pressure and physicality. You can see in our assist numbers that the way they defended us really bogged down our offense. We never gave up and I love that about our group. We will continue to put our heads down and work."
App State (8-8, 1-5 SBC) was led by the scoring of sophomore
Jayden McBride, who netted 15 points on the night. Wednesday's game marked McBride's seventh this season as the Mountaineers' top scorer and 10th game scoring in double figures. Senior
Emma Smith and junior
Daisia Mitchell combined for 22 points, each contributing 11. McBride, Smith, and senior
Elena Pericic combined for 21 of App State's 46 rebounds, each grabbing seven. Additionally, Smith dished out a team-high four assists. The Mountaineers outpaced the Monarchs in rebounds, grabbing 46 boards to ODU's 35, and shot 77.3% from the charity stripe.
Smith put the Mountaineers on the board with a 3-point bucket, giving the Black and Gold a 3-2 edge early in the first quarter. As ODU pushed ahead, 8-3, the Mountaineers answered with a 9-0 run, fueled by senior
Emily Hege, who scored seven of her eight points on the night in the span of 1:51. McBride capped the run with a trip to the hoop for the layup, putting App State up, 12-8. With an assist from freshman
Isa Roman, McBride made another layup to extend the Mountaineers' lead to 14-11 late in the period.
Early in the second period, McBride made a layup, assisted by Smith, to push App State ahead, 16-15. A free throw from Hege knotted the score at 17 all before both teams faced scoring droughts. Down 22-18, a triple from Mitchell cut the deficit to one (22-21), but ODU managed to close the quarter with a 27-21 lead.
Free throws from McBride and Smith, a Pericic layup, and a McBride 3-pointer kept the Mountaineers within six of the Monarchs' lead in the third quarter. Smith, who drilled 6-of-8 from the charity stripe, drained a pair of freebies to narrow the deficit to four (36-32). The Monarchs managed to find momentum to extend their lead to 47-34 at the close of the quarter.
McBride opened the period with a fastbreak layup, which Mitchell followed up with a successful three-point play. Mitchell got around the defense for another layup before Pericic drilled a 3-pointer, assisted by Smith. With a Mitchell jumper and a Pericic layup, App State came back within six of ODU's lead, 59-53, with 0:36 left in regulation. Despite outscoring ODU, 20-18, in the fourth quarter, it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit, as ODU took the win, 65-54.
Up Next
The Mountaineers' road-stretch continues with a stop in Atlanta, Ga. on Saturday, as App State challenges Georgia State at 2 p.m. The game will be available for fans to stream on ESPN+.
