BOONE, N.C. - If Appalachian State University women's basketball (7-13, 4-7 SBC) wants to start the second half of the Sun Belt schedule off of the right foot, Thursday night was a great start.
Backed by a team-high 23 points from Madi Story and 13 more from KeKe Cooper, the Mountaineers defeated second-place UL Lafayette (16-5, 9-3 SBC), 76-59, in the Holmes Center.
Story scored her 23 points in various ways with six buckets, a pair of 3-pointers and a career-high nine free throws. She also played facilitator with six boards and a game-high five assists. Bouncing back from a scoreless night on Saturday night at South Alabama, Cooper was one point from tying her season high. The senior shot an efficient 5-for-8 from the field while grabbing six off the glass.
Jasmine Ogunjimi also got in the on the action with a career-high nine points on 3-for-5 shooting from the floor. Joi Jones also chipped in with nine as well. The duo of Mia Marshall and Ashley Bassett-Smith came off the bench and put forth valuable minutes, combining for 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting and 10 boards.
Appalachian also did an excellent job sharing the ball assisting on 17 of 25 (68 percent) of its field goals, which is the highest percentage of field goals assisted on this season. The Mountaineers also did a tremendous job at the line, shooting a season-best 22-for-27 (81.5 percent).
The Ragin' Cajuns jumped out to their largest lead in the first quarter, 8-4, with 3:51 left. Appalachian would hit four of its final seven shots while taking a 13-12 advantage at the end of the opening period. Farrahn Wood drained a trifecta that started a 9-4 run before Cooper hit a pair of jumpers before the period ended.
The second quarter was dominated by defense as both squads shot under 40 percent. But it was the Mountaineers that was stingy, holding UL-L to 2-for-9 shooting (22.2 percent) and just seven points.
Following a layup from the visitors that cut the App State lead to two, 18-16, the Mountaineers held the Cajuns to a 3:39 scoring drought on five missed buckets. Appalachian sprinted to a six-point lead, 22-16, thanks to a pair of free throws from Cooper. Answered by two points at the charity stripe from UL-L, the Black and Gold endured a 7-1 spurt that gave the hosts a 29-19 lead going into the half. Ogunjimi spearheaded the run with a layup and a trey with 38 seconds left on the final possession of the first half.
Six different players scored for App State while assisting nine of 12 (75 percent) field goals. The 19 points scored by the Cajuns tied the lowest for any half this season.
With 6:50 left in the third period, Carter's layup gave Appalachian its largest lead at the time at 12, 36-24. However, the Cajuns stormed back while hitting seven consecutive shots that turned into a 13-3 run to cut the App State advantage to two, 39-37, with 4:13 left in the period.
That would be the closest the Cajuns would get the rest of the contest. Started by an old-fashion 3-point play from Kaila Craven, the Apps hit seven straight foul shots to end the quarter with a 45-39 lead.
It was all App State in the final quarter, scoring an impressive 31 points on 10-for-15 (66.7 percent) shooting from the floor, including 11 points from Story.
A 12-4 push from the Apps while leading 45-41 cushioned the lead to 12, 57-45, with 5:09 left in the game. Appalachian continued to convert at the charity strip, hitting another stretch of seven in a row that played a pivotal part in the run.
The Mountaineers were never threatened for the rest of the contest, eventually running out to a 17-point lead after a Bassett-Smith layup in the final few seconds of the contest, capping off a 7-0 run and a 6-of-8 stretch to end the game.
KeKe Veal lead the visitors with a game-high 27 points on 9-for-18 shooting, but the rest of the Cajuns scored just 32 points on 13-for-36 (36.1 percent) shooting. Appalachian also held the edge in bench points, 18-8, and second chance points, 15-4.
Appalachian will look for its first weekend sweep in conference play on Saturday at 1 p.m. against UL Monroe in the Holmes Center.
Quotable
“ Today was a great team win. I'm really proud of how our team competed and found an excuse to win. We executed our offensive game plan and shared the basketball against a very tough Lafayette team. This was another step in the process.” - Head coach Angel Elderkin.
Tip-Ins
- Story scored in double figures for the eighth consecutive game.
- The threesome of Cooper, Bassett-Smith and Marshall combined for 25 points, 16 boards and 10-for-17 shooting from the field. In the setback, the posts scored just eight points on four buckets and 13 rebounds.
- Six of the Mountaineers wins are by double digits.
- Three of the Apps' victories in conference play are against squads seeded higher.
- App State and UL-L are now tied all-time in the series history.
- Appalachian snapped a two-game slide at home in conference play.
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