KENT, Ohio – In the second installment of this season's MAC-SBC Challenge, the App State women's basketball team fell short to Kent State, 68-63, despite four ties and four lead changes.
For an eighth game this season, junior
Daisia Mitchell was the Mountaineers' top scorer, netting 18 points and shooting 100% from the charity stripe. She also combined with graduate student
Jada Burton for nine of App State's 13 steals. Joining Mitchell in double figures was freshman
Addie Biel, who netted 14 points, and sophomore
Feryal Defne Atli, who scored 12 points. With six rebounds, senior
Elena Pericic was the Mountaineers' top rebounder, also combining with fellow senior
Emma Smith for seven of App State's 13 assists.
App State (10-13, 3-9 SBC) saw 20 points off the bench compared to Kent State's nine as well as 40 points in the paint compared to Kent State's 26. The Mountaineers are now 3-3 all-time in the MAC-SBC Challenge.
Atli and Biel led the Mountaineers through the first half, netting 21 of App State's 30 points in the first 20 minutes of play. Atli put the Mountaineers on the board with a layup to tie things up at 2-2 before Kent State jumped to a 10-4 lead in the first quarter. Biel made a layup in the paint and a pair of free throws to bring App State within two (10-8). A 3-point bucket from senior
Emily Hege cut the deficit to one (12-11), but Kent State managed to close the quarter with a 21-17 lead. Despite a drought early in the second quarter, the Mountaineers chipped away at the deficit with a 6-0 scoring run. Down 39-26 late in the period, Biel made a fastbreak layup in the paint and Burton made a steal to make a last-second layup, narrowing the Golden Flashes' lead to 39-30 at the half.
App State and Kent State swapped the lead on four occasions in the second half of play, knotting the score thrice. Additionally, Mitchell scored 16 of her 18 points in the last 20 minutes of action.
The Mountaineers went to work in the third quarter, outscoring the Golden Flashes, 20-14, in the period. With an early 7-0 run that featured a jumper from Atli, as well as a layup and three-point play from Mitchell, App State cut the Kent State lead to two. Building off a triple from Smith, freebies from Biel and a layup from Pericic pushed the Mountaineers ahead, 45-44 for the first of two lead changes in the period. As Kent State regained the lead, Mitchell managed to knot the score on two occasions. The Golden Flashes regained the lead, 53-50, at the close of the quarter.
With an 8-0 run, building off layups from freshman
Riley Stoker, Burton, Smith, and Mitchell, App State took its biggest lead of the game, 58-53, to start the fourth quarter. The Golden Flashes answered with a 13-0 run to take a 66-58 lead as the Mountaineers faced a drought. With 0:24 left in regulation, a layup and three-point play from Mitchell cut the deficit to three (66-63), but Kent State sealed the win with a pair of last-second free throws.
Up Next
The Mountaineers return to Boone to host James Madison on Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. and Georgia State on Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. Both games will be available to stream on ESPN+. The Mountaineers will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Wednesday. There will be a pregame clinic on the concourse with App State women's sports teams as well as free t-shirts for the first 200 fans. Following the game, there will be an autograph session with the women's basketball team.
Saturday's game against Georgia State is App State's Pink Day and Alumni Day game. There will be a t-shirt giveaway for the first 100 students and another postgame autograph session with the team.
