By Katherine Jamtgaard. MOBILE, Ala. — The App State women’s basketball team defeated South Alabama, 82-67, on Thursday in a road matinee matchup. The victory marked the fourth consecutive win for the Mountaineers in the series against South Alabama and third consecutive win for App State since Dec. 21. The Mountaineers are 2-0 in Sun Belt action and improve to 6-6 on the season.

“I’m really proud of our team for fighting back in the first half,” said head coach Alaura Sharp. “We dug a big hole and showed great stick-with-it attitude to come back to take the lead before halftime. Learning to handle that kind of adversity is really important for a team. We played really hard and are showing signs of growth.”

Four Mountaineers netted double figures, led by senior Zada Porter, who scored a career high 23 points. Her previous career high was 16 points, set against Wofford on Dec. 7. Porter knocked down 10-of-11 from the charity stripe as well as 6-of-9 from the field. She also grabbed a team high seven rebounds, dished out three assists, and matched her career high four steals for a second time this season. Junior Elena Pericic netted 16 points, knocking down 4-of-6 from the arc. Additionally, Pericic made two of App State’s four blocks. Fellow junior Seneya Martinez and senior Mara Neira netted 11 points and 10 points, respectively, and combined for four of App State’s 11 treys. Senior Eleyana Tafisi dished out a team high five assists.

Porter shot 100% from the charity stripe, knocking down all six of her freebies.

App State shot 52.4% from the arc, 78.9% from the line, and 46.7% from the field. The Mountaineers netted 37 points off turnovers compared to South Alabama’s 12. The Black and Gold also netted 29 points off the bench compared to the Jaguars’ nine. App State caused 26 South Alabama turnovers and held the Jaguars to five treys over the course of play.

Despite a slow start for the Mountaineers in the first quarter, Porter and Neira combined for 11 of App State’s 13 points. Porter shot 100% from the charity stripe, knocking down all six of her freebies. Neira knocked down the Mountaineers’ first trey of the game as well as a second-chance jumper.

App State shot better than 50% from beyond the arc and almost 80% from the charity stripe.

The Mountaineers found their stride in the second quarter, despite trailing, 21-13. Pericic opened the quarter with a 3-point bucket, which Porter followed with a layup to cut the deficit to 21-18. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Porter and Martinez brought App State to within one of South Alabama’s lead (24-23). Junior Rylan Moffitt knocked down a trey of her own to push the Mountaineers ahead, 26-24. South Alabama knotted the score at 26-26 for the only tie of the game, but then broke the tie with a Tafisi layup and maintained control and the lead for the remainder of play.

Neira and Martinez knocked down another pair of treys to extend App State’s lead of 34-29. Martinez made another layup, netting all 11 of her points in the second quarter. With another Tafisi layup and a second Pericic trey, App State took a 45-31 lead. Over the course of the period, App State shot 87.5% from the arc, 80% from the field, and outscored South Alabama, 32-17.

Early in the third quarter, Porter sank another pair of freebies before Pericic knocked down back-to-back 3-point buckets for a 53-38 lead. Building off layups from Pericic, Porter, senior Emily Carver, and Moffitt, in addition to a freebie from freshman Hekla Nökkvadóttir, App State maintained a 66-50 lead at the close of the quarter.

Tafisi opened the fourth quarter with a layup, which Pericic followed up with a pair of free throws to keep the Mountaineers ahead, 70-55. Despite an early scoring drought, Porter sank another set of freebies. Carver also contributed a point from the charity stripe before Porter made a second-chance layup on a fastbreak. Carver knocked down her sole trey of the game to put App State up, 78-64. Neira and Porter made a last pair of layups before sealing the win, 82-67.

Up Next

The Mountaineers will head to Hattiesburg, Miss. to take on Southern Miss on Jan. 4. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT) and the game will be available to stream on ESPN+.