ULM Warhawks

BOONE, N.C. - The ULM Warhawks play their final road game of the 2019-20 season on Saturday afternoon as they visit Appalachian State. ULM is 3-23 overall and 1-14 in the Sun Belt after Thursday's 88-69 loss at Coastal Carolina. Appalachian State sits at 9-18 overall and 6-10 in the Sun Belt after a 57-51 loss to the Ragin' Cajuns on Thursday. App State has won all nine previous meetings with ULM.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP (based on previous game)

#2 Gara Beth Self, 5-8, Fr., G: 9.4 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 2.0 apg
#1 Amber Thompson, 5-9, Sr., G: 10.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.3 apg
#11 Whitney Goins, 6-0, Jr., G/F: 6.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.2 apg
#4 Kierra Crockett, 6-0, Jr., F: 5.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.0 spg
#24 Diamond Brooks, 6-2, Jr., C: 8.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg

STARTING FIVE

1. Freshman guard Gara Beth Self had a career-game on Thursday night at Coastal Carolina. Self poured in a career-high 28 points, with 15 of those coming in ULM's third quarter rally. Self was aggressive on the offensive end, setting career-highs in field goals made (10), field goals attempted (26), 3-point field goals made (5) and 3-point field goals attempted (11). Defensively, she added a career-best five steals. Self's scoring average jumped eight-tenths of a point from 8.6 points to 9.4 points per game.

2. Junior guard/forward Whitney Goins was aggressive with her shot on Thursday night at Coastal Carolina. Goins added 14 points, matching her second-best effort of the season. She attempted a career-high 19 shots on the game, and also fired off nine 3-point attempts in the game, making a pair. Goins played over 37 minutes in the loss, coming up with four rebounds and two assists. Goins has six double-figure games this year, all coming inside of Sun Belt Conference play.

3. Senior guard Amber Thompson tallied her third consecutive double-figure game with 10 points on Thursday night at Coastal Carolina. Thompson did most of her damage at the free throw line, hitting all six of her free throw attempts. Thompson now sits sixth in the Sun Belt in free throw percentage at 79.1%.

4. ULM displayed its penchant for challenging opponents on Thursday night at Coastal Carolina. The co-conference leading Chanticleers led by as many as 21 points in the first half, but the Warhawks went on a 16-2 third quarter run, spearheaded by Self and Goins, to bring the Warhawks back within six points at 59-53 with 1:22 left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Self. However, Coastal Carolina pulled back away in the fourth quarter to pick up the 88-69 win.

5. The Warhawks wrap up the 2019-20 road slate in Saturday's game at Appalachian State. ULM has won just one road game this season, knocking off Texas State 58-55 on Jan. 16. 

PREVIEWING APPALACHIAN STATE

Saturday's game is the 10th all-time meeting between ULM and Appalachian State in women's basketball. App State has won all nine matchups with ULM. The two teams first met on Dec. 22, 1996, at the South Florida Classic in Tampa, Fla., with the Mountaineers winning 52-47. Last season, App State won both meetings, rolling past ULM 80-58 in Monroe before holding off a Warhawk challenge in Boone for the 56-51 victory.

App State won last season's Women's Basketball Invitational, going 22-14. The Mountaineers knocked off UNC Asheville, Marshall, Campbell and North Texas to take the crown. This season, the Mountaineers started slowly, but picked up their play mid-way through Sun Belt Conference play. The Mountaineers opened 1-6 in Sun Belt play before winning four out of five games, getting victories over Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Texas State and South Alabama. Since then, App State has lost three of the last four games, including Thursday's loss to the Ragin' Cajuns, 57-51.

Junior guard Pre Stanley leads the way for App State, averaging 13.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. She ranks seventh in the Sun Belt in scoring. She also leads the Mountaineers with 1.6 steals per game, which is good for 11th in the Sun Belt. Stanley has 19 double-figure scoring games this season, and has scored 20 points or more six times, including last Saturday at Georgia Southern, where she had 23 points. Stanley scored a season-high 25 points vs. Texas State on Jan. 11.

Senior guard Ashley Polacek is second on the team in scoring at 11.6 points per game and also averages 3.1 rebounds per game. Polacek leads the Mountaineers at 3.3 assists per game, which is good for seventh in the Sun Belt. Polacek also ranks 12th in 3-pointers made per game (1.4) and 17th in scoring. Polacek has scored in double figures 17 times, and has topped 20 points four times. She scored a season-high 22 points at Troy on Jan. 4.

Junior guard/forward Lainey Gosnell ranks third on the Mountaineers at 9.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Gosnell has 14 double-figure games, and had a stretch of four-straight double-figure games snapped last Saturday at Georgia Southern. Gosnell has knocked down at least three 3-pointers six times this season. She is tied for 15th in the Sun Belt in 3-pointers made per game at 1.3. Last year in Boone, Gosnell torched the Warhawks for a career-high 26 points.

Senior center Bayley Plummer is one of the premier rebounders in the Sun Belt. Plummer averages 12.9 rebounds per game, and also adds in 8.1 points per game to sit fourth on the team. Plummer missed most of the month of January before returning for the final two games of the month and has played in every game since. However, that missed time does not qualify her for the Sun Belt statistical leader boards, where she would lead all other players by 2.8 rebounds per game. Plummer has six double-figure scoring games, all going for double-doubles. She has 13 double-figure rebounding games, including 24 rebounds at Georgia State on Feb. 20.