BOONE, N.C. - A 31-point outburst in the third quarter plagued Appalachian State University women's basketball (10-19, 7-13 SBC) in an 83-74 defeat to first-place Arkansas State (25-4, 19-1 SBC) Thursday afternoon in the Holmes Center on Senior Day.
Appalachian was led by
Madi Story on offense led the offense for her fourth 20-point outing with a game-high 22 points 8-for-15 shooting while corralling five boards.
Joi Jones scored 19 points (16 in the second half) on seven shots and dished out a game-high six assists. The duo combined to score 41 points on 15-of-28 shooting and 11-of-15 from the free throw line.
Kaila Craven notched 14 points for her third-straight double-figure performance off the bench, and senior
Farrahn Wood (Kernersville, N.C.) had a solid outing in her last game at the Holmes Center with 11 points on three trifectas and one bucket. Senior
KeKe Cooper (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) also had a solid outing with six points and a team-best 11 boards.
The Mountaineers started hot with a 7-3 lead in the first 1:19 of the contest hitting their first three shots. Story hit back-to-back shots before Wood canned a deep trifecta that capped off the run.
Appalachian extended the lead to five, 10-5, with 6:47 left in the period once Story went 1-of-2 at the charity stripe. But Arkansas State responded over the next 1:53 with a 10-2 run that gave the visitors a 15-12 advantage. The Red Wolves led the rest of the period but App State was on their tails cutting the deficit to two, 23-21. Craven was fouled on a 3-pointer just before the frame ended, hitting 2-for-3 before the end of the quarter.
Like the first quarter, the Apps started strong out of the gate with a 9-0 run in the first 2:54 of the period. Wood nailed a trifecta to give Appalachian the one-point lead before Jones found Story for a layup and Jones hitting a jumper herself. Wood came up big again with a steal for a breakaway layup to give the Mountaineers their largest lead of the game at seven, 30-23.
Once again the Sun Belt Regular Season Champions clawed back to tie the game at 34-all while Craven hit the back end of a pair at the line to push App State to a 35-34 advantage. With 50 seconds left in the half, Aundrea Gamble's layup gave A-State a one-point lead going into the break, 36-35.
Story and Wood combined for 23 points on 10-for-16 shooting from the floor while Jones had four helpers. App State the visitors to 4-for-11 from long distance while the Apps shot 3-for-5 from the arc.
The Mountaineers and Red Wolves went back and forth in the early goings of the second half while Appalachian captured a 50-46 lead after the Apps scored six of the next eight points with the game tied, 44-44. Appalachian had the momentum after Jones hit two free throws to put the Black and Gold up by four, but the Red Wolves showed why they're the top team in the conference.
A-State pieced together a 17-2 run while hitting four-straight 3-pointers and seven shots in a row overall to take a 63-52 advantage and eventually took a 67-56 lead into the final period. The visitors held App State to just six points over the final 4:44 of the frame while shooting 55.6% from the floor and hit four from beyond the arc. App State shot 60 percent, but just got off 10 shots while the Red Wolves scored 12 points off five App State mistakes.
App State sliced the lead to single digits on multiple occasions in the final period and slimmed the deficit to as low as six, 80-74, with 18 seconds left thanks to a trey from Craven, but it was too little, too late with A-State capturing the win.
Arkansas State was led by the dangerous tandem of Khadija Brown-Haywood and Aundrea Gamble, who combined for 51 points and 21 boards. Brown-Haywood finished with game highs in points (31) and rebounds (14) while Gamble added 20 points and nine off the glass. A-State came up with 16 offensive boards to Appalachian's seven on the offensive end, and the Red Wolves would hold a 12-4 triumph in second chance points.
After the solid start from beyond the arc (3-for-5), the Mountaineers finished just 1-for-9 from 3-point land.
Before the game, Wood and Cooper were honored for their four seasons at App State on Senior Day.
The Mountaineers won't have to wait long for another shot at Arkansas State, as they will face the top-seeded Red Wolves next week in the Sun Belt tournament. Aside from the surge in the third quarter, the Apps played solid basketball against A-State, vastly improving from the 60-point performance in Jonesboro earlier this season.
