BOONE, N.C. – The App State women's basketball team fell to Coastal Carolina, 69-53, in Boone on Wednesday despite outscoring the Chanticleers in the second half.
"Obviously a really disappointing first half," said head coach
Alaura Sharp. "It's my responsibility to make sure that I have the team ready to play. I thought we were a little bit lethargic, I thought we played really timid offensively. We've just got to evaluate some things. Defensive rebounding, I felt like in the last two days in practice we were really improving, but I really thought it came down to Coastal kind of came out and bloodied our nose in the first few minutes. They were the aggressor, and when your back is against the wall, especially when you're at home, I feel like that's our responsibility to come out and be aggressive."
"We felt like we took care of the ball on Saturday and needed to work, and we worked a lot on offensive and defense kind of slacks a bit," Sharp said. "We've just got to re-evaluate things and get our kids ready to play for Saturday. I want to take advantage of this home swing."
Junior
Daisia Mitchell was the Mountaineers' top scorer, netting 15 points on the night. Senior
Elena Pericic posted a double-double with 13 points and a season and team high 11 rebounds. She also drained two of App State's six 3-pointers and dished out a team high four assists. The Mountaineers netted 22 points off the bench as well as 13 second-chance points.
Direct from the tipoff, sophomore
Jayden McBride broke away for a fastbreak layup to put App State up, 2-0 within the first four seconds of play. The Chanticleers jumped to a 23-5 lead at the close of the first quarter. Mitchell netted nine of her 15 points in the second period as App State chipped away at the deficit. Freshman
Isa Roman knocked down a 3-pointer off a Pericic assist before fellow freshman
Addie Biel found the basket to close the half.
The Mountaineers opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run over 2:25, building off a layup from Mitchell, a pair of Pericic free throws, and a jumper from Biel off an
Emily Hege assist. Junior
Feryal Defne Atli and Pericic made trips to the hoop to cut the deficit to 17 points midway through the period.
In the fourth quarter, Pericic netted nine of her 13 points, completing a three-point play and knocking down both of her 3-point buckets in the period. McBride knocked down a triple of her own and combined with Mitchell for the quarter's remaining nine points. Despite the second-half scoring, it wasn't enough as the Chanticleers took the win, 69-53.
Up Next
The Mountaineers caps its four-game homestand with a 1 p.m. clash against Southern Miss on Saturday. Fans will be able to play Basketball Bingo during the game for a chance to win one of three prizes. Saturday's game is also a JMKC Bring A Friend game. JMKC members are invited to bring one friend, age 12 or under, for free. JMKC members can show their JMKC credential at the Southwest entrance or email proof of membership to the App State ticket office for free admission. Fans are encouraged to stick around after the game for an autograph session with the team. Saturday's game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
