By Katherine Jamtgaard for App State Sports. BOONE, N.C. – The App State women’s basketball team defeated Davidson, 84-82, in Sunday’s matinee game at the Holmes Convocation Center.
“It was a fun game. Generally, when we compete against Davidson it always is a high-paced, high-scoring game,” said head coach Angel Elderkin. “There’s similar styles in terms of how we like to play. However, they obviously have a dominant post and she had a heck of a game.”
“This week we were finally able to get back and practice with our team and we focused a lot on ball movement. The stat that really stands out to me is the 17 assists to our 30 field goals with only seven turnovers, so I feel like our team really made a huge step there with moving the ball.”
Redshirt senior Janay Sanders led the Mountaineers, netting 24 points, which was one point off from her career and season single-game high 25 points. Sanders shot 3-of-5 from the 3-point line and 5-of-8 from the charity stripe. Sanders also tallied three steals and three rebounds on the day. Junior Faith Alston posted the second-most points against the Wildcats (18) for a new season single-game high. Alston also recorded the team-high six assists. Sophomore Emily Carver pulled down a team-high five rebounds.
The Mountaineers tallied 17 points off turnovers, 10 off the bench, and nine off fast breaks. The team totaled 24 rebounds and 17 assists, only turning over the ball seven times compared to Davidson’s 15 turnovers.
After trailing Davidson, 25-19, in the first quarter, the Mountaineers got hot as Carver and sophomore Mariah Frazier combined for eight points early in the second to push App State to a 27-25 lead. The Black and Gold continued to build off its slight edge with a Frazier 3-pointer and layup from redshirt-junior A’Lea Gilbert. The Mountaineers went on a 6-0 run to take a 41-31 lead as graduate student Brooke Bigott and Sanders drained a pair of treys.
Davidson steadily chipped away at the Mountaineers’ lead in the third quarter, coming within two late in the quarter at 66-64. A layup in the paint from Bigott distanced App State slightly, putting the Mountaineers ahead 68-64 to end the quarter.
The Wildcats cut the Black and Gold’s lead to one (82-81) late in the fourth, but a free throw from Sanders kept App State ahead. A free throw from Carver put App State up 84-81, and the Mountaineers were able to hold on for the 84-82 victory.
UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will head to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on Wofford on Dec. 3. App State will then host Johnson C. Smith on Dec. 10 at the Holmes Convocation Center. Both games are set for 2 p.m. tipoffs and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
