By Katherine Jamtgaard. MONROE, La. – The App State women’s basketball team maintained its unblemished series record against ULM (Louisiana-Monroe) with a 73-71 victory over the Warhawks on Wednesday, as Zada Porter made a driving, tiebreaking layup with 2.6 seconds remaining.
The Mountaineers have won 15 games without a loss against the Warhawks, dating back to their first meeting in 1996.
App State rises to 13-9 on the season and 9-3 in Sun Belt play. The Mountaineers remain tied with Troy (15-9, 9-3 SBC) in the conference standings.
“Our staff is really proud of our team,” said head coach Alaura Sharp. “This was a great game for both teams. The game honored toughness and our team really fought hard from down nine in the second half to close it out. We were locked in and focused on finishing the right way.”
Four Mountaineers netted double-figures, led by junior Elena Pericic, who netted 22 points. Pericic also notched her sixth game as App State’s top rebounder, grabbing six rebounds. Both Pericic and senior Emily Carver drained 3-of-3 from the arc and combined with senior Eleyana Tafisi for nine of App State’s 14 treys. Tafisi netted 14 points and dished out a team-high seven assists. Junior Emily Hege netted 12 points, dished out six assists, and pulled down five rebounds.
The Mountaineers shot 58.3% from the arc, knocking down 14 treys for a single-game season high. Six of the 10 Mountaineers who touched the court contributed treys. Additionally, Wednesday’s contest marked App State’s eighth game this season with 10 or more 3-point buckets. The Mountaineers also shot 53.1% from the field. App State and ULM tied things up on seven occasions and traded the lead 15 times.
App State drained 6-of-8 from the arc in the first quarter, with five Mountaineers contributing treys. ULM took an early 6-0 lead with a pair of treys from Meloney Thames. Hege answered with a pair of treys of her own to knot the score at 6-6. Tafisi knocked down a 3-point bucket and landed a jumper to put App State up, 11-8. With a jumper from junior Rylan Moffitt and a layup from Pericic, the Mountaineers pulled ahead, 15-12. As ULM edged ahead, 3-pointers from Carver, Pericic, and senior Mara Neira gave the Mountaineers a 24-22 advantage to close the period.
Hege opened the second quarter with a layup in the paint, which Pericic followed up with a 3-point bucket to extend App State’s lead to 29-22. Pericic and Neira combined for six of App State’s nine points in the second quarter, as Neira also knocked down a trey. ULM found momentum as the Mountaineers faced a scoring drought. Despite a freebie from Carver, ULM took a 34-33 lead into halftime.
The Mountaineers and Warhawks traded the lead on 12 occasions over the second and third quarters. Building off layups from Pericic and a pair of free throws from Hege, App State took a 41-40 edge. ULM went on a 10-0 run to take a 50-41 lead. The Mountaineers cut the deficit to 56-51 at the close of the third quarter with a jumper from senior J’Mani Ingram and a pair of 3-point buckets from Tafisi.
With a layup from Pericic and a pair of freebies from Hege early in the fourth quarter, App State cut the Warhawks’ lead to 56-55. Pericic and Carver, who combined for 12 of the Mountaineers’ points in the period, knocked down treys to keep the Mountaineers within one of ULM’s lead (62-61). A freebie from Tafisi knotted the score at 62 all. With a jumper from Tafisi and a 3-point bucket from senior Zada Porter, App State edged ahead, 67-66. As ULM regained the lead with a pair of free throws, Carver knocked down her third trey of the game to tie things up at 71-71. With 2.6 seconds showing on the clock, Porter came in clutch with a layup in the paint to give App State the victory.
Up Next
App State will host Northern Illinois at 2 p.m. for its second MAC-SBC Challenge game of the 2024-25 campaign. Saturday’s game will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day. There will be a pregame youth clinic on the Holmes Convocation Center concourse at 1:15 p.m. with App State’s women’s sports teams for the first 50 kids ages pre-K to eighth grade who sign up.
