BOONE, N.C. -
Bria Carter scored a career-high 17 points Thursday evening but it wasn't enough as Appalachian State University women's basketball (5-11, 2-5 SBC) suffered a tough 80-75 loss to Georgia State (8-9, 3-5 SBC) at the Holmes Center.
Carter efficiently had a solid night shooting 7-for-9 (77.7 percent) and pulled down five rebounds.
Madi Story rounded the Mountaineers in double figures with 16 points and hustled her way to a career-high eight rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end. The sophomore guard also dished out a team-high four assists.
Joi Jones and
Kaila Craven rounded out the leading scorers with eight points apiece.
The Apps came out of the gate on a surge with an 11-2 start in the first 1:34 of the contest. Appalachian forced three turnovers while Story and Carter set the tone scoring all 11 points. The Mountaineers sprinted to a 23-11 advantage later in the period with 2:53 left thanks to
Katelyn Doub scoring two of her three field goals on consecutive layups.
Georgia State returned the favor with a run of its own with a 8-2 spurt that cut the App State lead to four, 25-21, going into the second quarter. Appalachian shot 50 percent (11-for-22) from the quarter and assisted on seven of 11 field goals. At one point, the Mountaineers hit seven of their first 10 shots from the floor.
Appalachian had another solid start in the second period jumping out to an 11-point lead, 34-23, with 7:54 left in the first half after a 9-2 run. Carter started the run with a layup before being capped off by five-straight points from Craven. Much like the first frame, the Mountaineers started off hot hitting four of their first five shots.
But the Panthers clawed their way back with a 12-2 run that sliced the deficit all the way to one, 36-35. App State responded by scoring six of the next eight points to go into the locker room with a 42-37 lead.
Appalachian was led by Carter and Story, who had 18 points and combined to shoot 8-for-14 while Jones and Craven scored all eight of their points in the half.
The Black and Gold couldn't sustain the momentum in the second half, as GSU slowly took control in the third quarter outscoring the Mountaineers, 26-15 en route to taking a 63-57 lead into the fourth quarter. GSU shot 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) compared to App State's 33.3 (5-of-15) performance in the quarter.
GSU eventually tied the contest at 52-all before taking a 55-52 lead with 2:32 left in the third period. Freshman guard
Elizabeth Norregaard came off the bench in her first minutes of action and hit a deep 3-pointer to tie the game, 55-55. However, the Panthers scored seven of the next points nine points to go into the fourth quarter with a 62-57 advantage.
With Georgia State's lead at its largest, 66-60, with 8:21 left in the game,
KeKe Cooper scored seven-straight points after not scoring in the first three quarters to trim the deficit to two, 69-67. Carter showed her aggressiveness on the following position with a layup that tied the game, 69-69.
After both teams traded buckets and Story hitting a jumper to tie the game once again, 71-71, the Mountaineers struggled from the floor at the wrong time. Appalachian finished the game 1-for-13 over the final 3:24 of the contest and seven-straight missed buckets following a string of four-consecutive made field goals earlier in the period.
Georgia State would lead the rest of the way from the 3:52 mark en route to the victory despite App State being within striking distance. The Mountaineers had three opportunities in the final minutes to tie the game, but couldn't convert on the offensive end. Trailing, 77-74, Georgia State hit a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach on the way to the win.
Following a 50 percent performance from the field in the first quarter, Appalachian shot just 35 percent from the floor in the final three quarters. Appalachian held an edge in rebounding (42-40), including 24 offensive rebounds that turned into a season-high 22 second chance points. The Black and Gold also forced 19 Panther turnovers into a season-best 26 points off of turnovers.
GSU did shoot a 50 percent clip for the game and 81 percent (17-of-21) from the charity stripe. Four players led GSU in double figures with Haley Gerrin scoring a game-high 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting and 8-for-9 from the line. The four leading scorers shot 21-for-32 from the field while the rest of the team shot just 8-for-26.
App State will look to bounce back against rival Georgia Southern at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the Holmes Center.
