App State Women’s Basketball Falls to Coastal Carolina 69-53 Despite Second-Half Rally

Image Courtesy Of App State Facebook

The App State women’s basketball team (7-7, 0-4 SBC) fell 69-53 to Coastal Carolina on Wednesday in Boone despite outscoring the Chanticleers in the second half.

Coach’s Assessment

“Obviously a really disappointing first half,” said head coach Alaura Sharp. “It’s my responsibility to make sure that I have the team ready to play. I thought we were a little bit lethargic, I thought we played really timid offensively.”

Sharp identified the turning point: “I really thought it came down to Coastal kind of came out and bloodied our nose in the first few minutes. They were the aggressor, and when your back is against the wall, especially when you’re at home, I feel like that’s our responsibility to come out and be aggressive.”

Addressing the team’s focus areas, Sharp noted: “We felt like we took care of the ball on Saturday and needed to work, and we worked a lot on offensive and defensive kind of slacks. We’ve just got to re-evaluate things and get our kids ready to play for Saturday.”

Top Performers

Junior Daisia Mitchell led App State with 15 points, nine coming in the second quarter. Senior Elena Pericic posted a double-double with 13 points and a season and team-high 11 rebounds while hitting two 3-pointers and dishing out a team-high four assists. App State scored 22 bench points and 13 second-chance points.

How It Happened

Sophomore Jayden McBride scored four seconds into the game for a 2-0 lead, but Coastal Carolina responded with a 23-5 run to close the first quarter.

App State fought back in the second half, opening the third quarter with a 6-0 run featuring Mitchell, Pericic, and freshman Addie Biel. Pericic dominated the fourth quarter with nine points, including a three-point play and two 3-pointers. McBride added a triple and combined with Mitchell for nine more points, but the rally fell short.

Up Next

App State closes its four-game homestand Saturday at 1 p.m. against Southern Miss. The game features Basketball Bingo, is a JMKC Bring A Friend game, and includes a postgame autograph session. The game streams on ESPN+.