By Zach Smith. BOONE, N.C. — Senior Day in Boone saw a thrilling women’s basketball matchup Feb. 24 between App State and visiting James Madison. The Mountaineers took down the third-place Dukes in a tight contest, 83-79.
App State was led by a 25-point, nine-assists performance from Faith Alston in what could be her last appearance in the Holmes Center. Alston was joined by fellow senior Taylor Lewis, who netted a career-high 23 points in her final sendoff. Lewis also grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.
Jamia Hazell posted a team-best 19 points for JMU, while fellow junior Ashanti Barnes notched a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.
The first quarter set the tone for what proved to be a nail-biter. James Madison jumped out to an early, five-point lead at the media break, but App State responded with a 9-0 run to push into the lead. A critical defensive stop by senior Mariah Frazier sparked that run, but the lead didn’t hold for long. The Dukes fought their way back, tying the game at 23 to end the first quarter.
JMU was plagued by poor shooting in the second period. The Dukes grabbed eight offensive rebounds in the quarter, compared to App State’s three, but shot just 29 percent from the field. The Mountaineers were able to hold JMU scoreless over the last two minutes of the half, taking a four-point lead into the locker room.
App State was able to pull away in the third quarter despite the Dukes tying the game late in the period. Faith Alston took over early out of the intermission, scoring 10 of the Mountaineers’ first 15 points. Taylor Lewis then took the reins, hitting three shots from beyond the arc over the last four minutes of the frame. The last of those treys punctuated an App State 7-0 run to secure an eight-point advantage at the third quarter buzzer.
The Mountaineers extended their lead early in the final stanza, but JMU proved they were still in the fight. Trailing by 12, the Dukes scored each of the next 10 points to make the game a two-point affair. Despite the rally, App State held the visitors to just one made shot from the floor over the final four minutes of play, securing a hard-fought, Senior Day win.
App State head coach shared her perspective of the Mountaineers’ adjustments following their Feb. 22 loss to Old Dominion.
“Yesterday was a mental day, and yesterday was a day of ‘let’s not let Old Dominion beat us twice,’” Elderkin said. “I felt like, the first time we played the series between Old Dominion and JMU, we went into the JMU game with a little bit of an Old Dominion hangover, per se. So we said we gotta turn the page.”
“When Taylor is on, Taylor is on”
Seniors Faith Alston and Taylor Lewis accounted for more than half of App State’s offensive production, scoring 48 of the Mountaineers’ 83 total points. Alston praised Lewis’ scoring output.
“When Taylor is on, Taylor is on, you can’t really stop Taylor,” Alston said. “It took a while to get her confidence back, get back in her groove after breaking her hand early in the season. But for the past four or five games, she’s just been lighting it up. She’s the Taylor that we saw in the summer and in the first two games before she got hurt.”
Alston also spoke on what she saw on the court in her 25-point performance.
“I look for my shots, I take them but if I need to pass it, I need to pass it,” Alston said. “Today my shot felt good, so I stepped in with confidence. I know that whether it’s a make or a miss my teammates always have my back.”
Fellow App State senior Mariah Frazier was a key defensive piece for the Mountaineers. She credited her team for App State’s crucial stops in the closing minutes of the game.
“I just see a whole group, a whole unit just working together,” Frazier said. “I know that Coach Angel told me about setting the tone on defense, just making sure I’m the energy on defense. I think the whole team really matched my energy, and even surpassed my energy sometimes, and was able to make some key stops down the stretch. It wasn’t a one-man thing.”
“[She] stars — I’ll say it again — stars in her role”
Elderkin had high remarks for Frazier’s character and ability to play her role well.
“She’s a kid that’s graduating from graduate school in three years,” Elderkin said. “Very driven, very hard worker. And stars — I’ll say it again — stars in her role. A lot of her role doesn’t show up in [the box score], but it shows up on the court.”
As a team, App State shot 39 percent from the floor, short of the Duke’s 44 percent mark. The Mountaineers made stops when they needed to, forcing 12 JMU turnovers to just eight of their own. The Dukes outrebounded App State, 48-42.
James Madison’s loss drops them to 11-5 in conference play, good for a third-place tie with Old Dominion. The Dukes’ next test is a road trip to Conway, SC to face Coastal Carolina Feb. 28. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m., and the game can be streamed on ESPN+.
App State improves to 8-8 in Sun Belt competition, placing them ninth in the conference standings. The Mountaineers go on the road for their last two contests of the regular season, beginning with a trip to Troy Feb. 28. The mid-week Sun Belt matchup is slated to tipoff at 8 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
