BOONE, N.C. - A sluggish first half doomed Appalachian State University women's basketball (5-9, 2-3 SBC) in a 67-50 setback to Little Rock (5-9, 3-2 SBC) Thursday evening at the Jack-Stephens Center.
Madi Story led the Mountaineers with a 12 points, including an 8-for-10 performance from the free throw line.
Kaila Craven scored 10 off the bench while
Katelyn Doub rounded out the leading scorers with eight points.
Three different players in
Bria Carter,
Mia Marshall and Story led the squad with four rebounds apiece, and Craven dished out a team-high three assists.
It was a game of runs to open the contest. Following a
layup on the first possession to give App State a 2-0 lead, the Trojans scored the next five points to go in front by three, 5-2. Little Rock then scored five of the next seven points to capture a 10-4 lead with 7:04 left in the period.
It was App State's turn as a 6-0 run tied the game thanks to a pair of free throws from Story and layups from Craven and Cooper tied things up, 10-all.
Little Rock responded with a 6-0 spurt to end the opening quarter and take a 16-10 lead. App State stayed on the Trojans' heels during the first few minutes of the second quarter, as a layup from Doub to open the second quarter trimmed the deficit to four, 16-12. But the Trojans continued to prevent the Apps from going on a significant run.
The Mountaineers would once more cut the deficit to four, 20-16, with 7:49 left in the half followed by a pair of free throws from Story. From that point on, the Trojans took over going on an 8-0 run that eventually turned into a 39-18 lead going into the break. App State suffered a 5:54 scoring drought and missed 10-straight shots, which set the tone for the rest of the contest.
The second quarter proved to be the difference maker, as the Trojans outscored the Mountaineers 23-8.
Trailing by as much as 24 with 8:36 left in the third quarter, the Apps slowly started to turn things around and slice into the deficit. Appalachian cut the lead by seven points by the end of the conclusion of the third quarter to a 17-point deficit, 52-35. Craven, Jones, Doub and Carter took charge during the 17-7 run, including three-straight points from Carter and a buzzer-beater to end the period.
Appalachian wouldn't stop there, scoring the first four points of the fourth period to dwindle the lead to 13, 52-39, thanks to a layup from Doub and another pair of free throws from Story. As the confidence was growing and some of the momentum started to shift to App State, the Trojans spearheaded an 8-1 run to stop the Mountaineer comeback.
With the Trojans leading by 17, 63-46, with 3:23 left in the game, Story and Craven scored four quick points to slice the advantage to 63-49 with just over three minutes left in the game. But it was too little, too late as LR wouldn't trail by any less en route to the victory.
The Mountaineers did shoot better in the second half, going 50 percent from the field (10-for-20), including a 5-for-7 performance from the floor in the fourth quarter. App State outscored the Trojans, 32-28, in the second half while aside from the second quarter, the Apps were outscored by just two points.
But Little Rock forced App State into 23 turnovers and converted those miscues into 21 points. The Trojans also held a 43-33 advantage on the glass and picked up 10 second-chance points.
App State will have another tough test on Saturday, heading to Jonesboro, Ark. for a 4:05 p.m. (ET) tip against the Red Red Wolves, who were picked first in the preseason poll.
