BOONE, N.C. – The Appalachian State women's basketball team closed the first half on a 20-4 run and forced 16 ULM turnovers in the first half, as the Mountaineers withstood a Warhawk challenge in the second half for a 68-49 win Saturday afternoon at the Holmes Convocation Center.
The Warhawks committed 23 turnovers in the game, with 16 coming before halftime.
"It's a disappointing loss," ULM head coach Brooks Donald Williams said. "We turned it over too much. We can't allow 41 points from their bench, and there was too much point production off of our turnovers."
App State opened the game with a barrage of 3-pointers, with Nicola Mathews knocking down a pair and Michaela Porter adding another to put the Mountaineers up 9-3. After ULM closed within two points at 9-7 on buckets by Kierra Crockett and Amber Thompson, App answered with four straight free throws, with two from Porter and two from Bayley Plummer, to lead 13-7 after a quarter.
App pushed the lead to 10 early in the second quarter on a jumper by Pre Stanley and a fast break layup by Ashley Polacek to lead 17-7. App turned it into a 12-point lead at 21-9 on another fast break layup, this time from Stanley. ULM responded with back-to-back 3-pointers, one from Gara Beth Self and another from Linda van Schaik, to close within six points at 21-15. However, App closed the half on a 20-4 run, including the final seven points of the half, to lead 41-19 at halftime.
For the second straight game, ULM made a move in the third quarter. Trailing by 18, van Schaik canned her second trey of the night and Diamond Brooks hit a pair of free throws to get within 13 at 45-32. After a jumper from Polacek, ULM answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from the top of the key by Amber Thompson, cutting the deficit to nine, 47-38, at the end of the third quarter. ULM held App to just six third quarter points.
"I thought Amber brought some poise to the point guard position and settled things down for us," Williams said. "She did a really good job attacking the pressure."
In the final frame, cut the gap to seven on a put back layup by Jamie Means and trailed 47-40 with 9:43 left.
"I thought it showed a great amount of resilience and fight from our group," Williams said of the comeback. "To come back from 22 and cut it to seven is incredible. We have to figure out a way to continue to keep the foot on the pedal and gain some more momentum there."
ULM had a chance to cut closer, but a costly turnover allowed App to respond as Polacek knocked down a 3-pointer. Moments later, Stanley added a jumper to push the lead back to 52-40. Whitney Goins hit a trey to bring the deficit back to nine at 52-43 with 7:44 left. However, App answered again with a free throw by Maya Calder and a transition 3-pointer by Lainey Gosnell to push the lead to 13 at 56-43. The lead never dipped below 10 points again, as App pulled away for the 68-49 win.
Thompson led ULM with 13 points while adding five rebounds and three assists. Goins also finished in double-figures, hitting four 3-pointers in the second half for 12 points.
Porter led App with a career-high 17 points, while Stanley added 14 and Polacek 12.
The Warhawks knocked down 10 3-pointers on the day, marking the first time they knocked down double-digit treys since hitting 15 against LSU-Alexandria on Nov. 15, 2018.
The Warhawks return to Fant-Ewing Coliseum for the final two games of the season, starting at 6 p.m. Thursday against Texas State. For tickets, call 318-342-HAWK. Links to live video, audio and stats are available online at ULMWarhawks.com.
