NEW ORLEANS - Appalachian State University women's basketball (17-13) got the 2019 Sun Belt Women's Basketball Championship, presented by First Bank and Trust, started off in a big way with a dominating 78-42 victory over eighth-seeded Coastal Carolina on Wednesday morning in Lakefront Arena.
The Mountaineers flexed their muscle on both sides of the court with four players scoring in double figures. On the other end, the Mountaineers handed the Chanticleers their worst loss of the season and a season-low 42 points. The 36-point victory is the largest margin of victory for the Black and Gold since defeating Gardner-Webb, 84-43, on Nov. 20, 2012.
It's also the third straight season the Mountaineers recorded a Sun Belt Tournament and the biggest victory in terms of margin in an SBC Tournament game.
Defensively, the Mountaineers flustered the Sun Belt's leading scorer, DJ Williams, into just eight points on 2-for-11 shooting. It was only the second time in conference play she has been held to single digits. Appalachian prevented any player from Coastal to score in double figures.
Appalachian will face No. 4 seed Georgia State tomorrow at 12: 30 p.m. ET in the quarterfinal round. The winner will face top-seed Little Rock on Friday at 12:30 p.m. ET in the semifinals.
Four players scored in double figures on a clicking offense that shot 49.3 percent from the field, including 52.8 percent from inside the arc. Ashley Polacek shot 8-of-11 from the field en route to 18 points, while Madi Story scored 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field. Pre Stanley notched 15 points thanks to 7-for-10 shooting from the field. The trio of Polacek, Story and Stanley shot a combined 23-of-33 from the floor and dropped 51 points.
Tierra Wilson rounded out the leading scorers with 10 points off the bench. Bayley Plummer had herself a stellar outing with a game-high 19 rebounds, leading a rebounding attack that posted a 49-37 advantage on the glass. CCU came in with a plus-9.7 rebounding margin, which was second in the conference.
All App needed was a 7-for-7 start from the floor and a 17-4 run in the first 4:37 of the game to take a commanding lead. Stanley, Polacek and Story hit all seven shots and scored 17 points during the hot start. Appalachian shot 10-of-15 from the field and hit 4-of-6 3-pointers in the frame, leading to a 24-13 lead after the frame.
Appalachian stayed on top of Coastal Carolina in the second frame, continuing its dominance. This time, the defense shut down the CCU offense, as it held the Chanticleers to just four points on 2-17 shooting and went into the break with a convincing 41-17 lead.
The Mountaineers never led by less than 20 points throughout the second half, growing their lead to as much as 37 late in the fourth quarter after a Haile McDonald jumper.
App State fell to Georgia State in the first and only matchup earlier this season, 85-75, in Atlanta. However, Story was out for the game with an upper-body injury. App State is looking for its first trip to a conference semifinal since the 2013 SoCon Tournament.