Offense Comes Alive in First Victory for App State
CHARLESTON, S.C. - App State University women's basketball (1-5) can breathe a little easier following a team-centric performance that led to a 76-70 triumph at College of Charleston (1-5) on Sunday afternoon at TD Arena.
The Mountaineers snapped a six-game skid dating back to last season while capturing their first win of the campaign. Tierra Wilson registered a personal-high 23 points and facilitated her way to career-high six assists. Wilson had her best stat of the afternoon with zero turnovers in her best performance of the season playing the entire 40 minutes. Bayley Plummer battled through foul trouble to collect her second double-double of the season with a career-high 14 points and 11 rebounds. She also dished out a personal-best of four assists.
Nicola Mathews chipped in with 12 points on four 3-pointers, a Black and Gold-high this season. Armani Hampton rounded out the leading scorers with nine points and a career-best 12 rebounds.
App State moved the ball exceptionally well with 21 assists on 25 field goals while eight of 10 players scored, leading to a season-high 76 points. The Mountaineers would outscore the Cougars 30-6 from 3-point land off a season-best 10 3-pointers.
The Mountaineers got the start they needed jumping out to an 8-2 lead in the first 3:15 of the contest after Wilson found Lainey Gosnell for a 3-pointer on the right wing. College of Charleston would score 12 of the next 20 points to cut the App State lead to two,16-14 going into the second frame.
After the Cougars had tied up the game, 16-16, within the first 16 seconds of the second period, Wilson and Plummer scored all eight points during an 8-1 surge over a 2:12 span to give App a 25-17 lead. App State would never relinquish its lead despite the hosts pulling to within single digits, 31-28, near the end of the first half. Plummer started another run that led to seven straight points including a Mathews trey and a tip-in at the buzzer from Plummer to balloon the App State lead to 10, 38-28. Appalachian did a great job of protecting the ball with just six turnovers.
The Mountaineers never trailed by less than eight points in the third quarter, eventually pushing the advantage to as much as 14, 52-38, after Hampton hit a pair at the free throw line.
After the Black and Gold went into the fourth period with an 11-point lead, 59-48, the Cougars wouldn't make things easy for the Apps, as they closed to within seven points, 61-54. LaPresha Stanley came up with a timely 3-point play that extended the lead back to 10, 64-54. CofC continued to claw its way back in the final 3:49 of the contest, pulling to within as close as five points, 64-59. But Mathews had other plans as she drained trifectas on back-to-back possessions to extend the lead to three, 70-61.
CofC cut the deficit to six with 27 seconds left before Kaila Craven went 4-for-4 from the line in 26 seconds to keep the Cougars at bay en route to the win. App State converted 14 of 19 at the line, which by far was the best of the season at 73.7 percent.
App State forced 18 CofC Turnovers into a season-high 15 points off the miscues. The rebounding effort was stellar with a season-best 21 on the offensive end, leading 17 second-chance points.
The Mountaineers will look to make it two in a row on Friday in the annual Education Day Game against UAB at noon inside the Holmes Center.
Quotable
"Today was a team effort on both ends of the court. We had huge contributions from everyone, and I am most proud of our effort on the boards. Our mantra this season has been THE TEAM, and it really shows when our team has 21 assists on 26 field goals." - Head Coach Angel Elderkin
Tip-Ins
- Wilson is the second freshman this season to score at least 20 points in a game (Lainey Gosnell - 20 points; 11/19 vs. Davidson)
- The 10 3-pointers are the most since App hit 10 from beyond the arc against Norfolk State during the 2012-13 season
- Appalachian scored a season-high 1.041 points per possession in the win
- The Mountaineers' 17 second-chance points are a season high
- The 38 minutes played by Hampton is a career-high, while Mathews played a personal-high 31 minutes in an App State uniform
PANTHERS COME UP SHORT AGAINST LADY TOPPERS
ATLANTA - Georgia State led WKU for much of Sunday's competition at the GSU Sports Arena, but the Panthers were defeated 74-63 as the Lady Toppers took advantage of GSU turnovers in the fourth quarter.
Kierra Henry led Georgia State with 15 points and she added six rebounds. Shay Fluker added 14 points and was GSU's rebounding leader with seven. Fluker was a nice addition to GSU Sunday after she missed the previous two games due to injury.
Madison Newby joined Henry and Fluker in double digits with a 12-point performance. K.K. Williams finished with 8 points on 4-of-7 shooting.
As a team, the Panthers got 22 points off their bench and outrebounded WKU 32-28. The turning point, however, was WKU's ability to force turnovers. The Lady Toppers scored 27 points off 27 turnovers.
Henry finished the GSU Thanksgiving Classic with 28 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists to earn a spot on the All-Classic team.
Next up for the Panthers is a short trip to Kennesaw State next Thursday for a 7 p.m. game.
Cajuns Done In By Cleveland State's Fourth Quarter Run
LAS VEGAS – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team was done in by a late run from the Cleveland State Vikings losing, 54-45, in their second and final game at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout here at the South Point Arena.
Louisiana finishes their weekend in Las Vegas with a 1-1 record, and it puts their record at 2-4 on the season while Cleveland State split their games in Las Vegas as well, and their record now sits at 3-2.
Sophomore Kimberly Burton had a great game for the Cajuns, nearly getting a double-double as she finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. While sophomore Malachi-Seraphin Williams lead the Cajuns in scoring getting 15 points on 5 for 9 shooting. Seraphin-Williams was 2 for 4 from beyond the arc as well to help her get to 15 points.
Defensively the Cajuns were strong again as for the second time this weekend they held their opponent to under 40 percent shooting, today they kept the Vikings at 37 percent on 20 for 54 shooting and they out rebounded the Vikings as well (40-36) but Louisiana shot 31 percent from the field, meaning they couldn't capitalize on their solid defense.
HOW IT HAPPENED (First Quarter): Cleveland State came out and couldn't miss in the first six minutes of the game. The Vikings started the game on a 10-0 run shooting 44 percent, their run was ended by a Seraphin-Williams three-pointer which were the Cajuns first points of the game but halfway through the quarter it was 10-3 Vikings.
Sparked by that Seraphin-Williams three-pointer the Cajuns went on a 12-2 run that was fueled by two big threes from senior Nekia Jones and freshman Skyler Goodwin and a big charge from senior Simone Fields in the middle of the run to help the Cajuns draw back even with the Vikings putting the score at 12-12 when the quarter came to an end.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Second Quarter): The Vikings came out again and out shot the Cajuns, ending their 12-2 run from the first quarter, making the first two baskets to go up 17-14. But a three-point shot from Howard tied it up at 17-17 in the first two minutes of the quarter.
After going up 25-19 at the 3:58 point of the quarter, a great offensive possession from the Cajuns lead to redshirt freshman Danyale Bayonne getting the ball on the baseline to the left of the basket, she was immediately trapped but she faded away over two defenders to answer the Vikings putting the score at 25-23.
Louisiana held the Viking to 38 percent shooting, 12 for 32 from the field, in the half but the Vikings did snag one more rebound then the Cajuns ending the half with a 21-20 advantage on the boards. But the Vikings finished half with a five-point lead with the score sitting at 29-24 as the teams headed to the locker room.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Third Quarter): Louisiana got off to a running start in the second half with a steal and a transition layup from Goodwin that pulled the Cajuns within three points with the score sitting at 29-26.
A three-pointer from Seraphin-Williams followed by Burton getting fouled on her made jump shot gave the Cajuns their first lead of the game and after Burton converted the and one play it was 32-29 Cajuns at the 5:22 point of the quarter.
Cleveland State took a five-point lead later in the quarter but Seraphin-Williams gave the Cajuns a strong finish to the quarter when she followed up her own missed shot with a rebound that lead to her getting fouled. She converted both free throws to put the score at 37-35 in favor of the Vikings as the quarter ended.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Fourth Quarter): The Cajuns tied the game in the first 30 seconds of the quarter with a Seraphin-Williams layup that put the score at 37-37.
Both teams traded the lead as the quarter passed the halfway point, but Cleveland State took the lead, 44-41, on a layup just past the five-minute mark. That's a lead the Vikings wouldn't give back as the closest the Cajuns would get after that was one point at the 2:51 mark. After Goodwin's basket brought the Cajuns within one point, the Vikings went on a 10-2 run, making 6 of 7 free throw attempts, to finish the Cajuns off and come away with the victory, 54-45.
NOTEWORTHY: Seraphin-Williams' 15 points ties a career high, set at Georgia Southern on Feb. 2, 2017; Goodwin, back form injury, had a good weekend as she came off the bench to score 20 points on 6 for 18 shooting and she snagged nine rebounds in the two games.
For the third straight game, and second time in the weekend, the Cajuns out rebounded their opponents; Louisiana's bench again outscored their opponents, this time it was 18-3;
NEXT UP FOR THE RAGIN' CAJUNS: The Cajuns have a quick turnaround as almost immediately they'll head to Jackson, Miss. to take on the national runners-up No. 7 Mississippi Bulldogs on Nov. 29 with tip scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be carried on ESPN 1420 with Steve Peloquin on the call as the Cajuns look to score the big upset in Jackson.