A-State Drops 59-58 Heartbreaker to App State

Next Game: at Southern Miss 1/12/2023 | 6:00 PM ESPN+ 95.3 The Ticket Radio Network Jan. 12 (Thu) / 6:00 PM at Southern

Miss JONESBORO, Ark. (1/7/23) – A 3-pointer with under three seconds remaining rimmed out for the Arkansas State women's basketball team Saturday afternoon, resulting

in a 59-58 loss to Appalachian State inside First National Bank Arena. A-State (5-10, 0-4 SBC) held possession with 10 seconds to go, but could not get the game-winning score

against the Mountaineers (6-9, 2-2), who owned a 40-14 advantage in the paint. Izzy Higginbottom led all players with 16 points, as every player who saw the floor for both sides

factored into the scoring column. The Batesville, Ark., native made four field goals and went 7-for-8 at the free-throw line. Lauryn Pendleton added 13 points off the bench on

5-of-9 from the field for her fourth consecutive game with 10-plus points. A-State shot 35.1 percent (20-57) as a team, going 6-for-15 (40.0%) from 3-point range and 12-of-14 at

the foul stripe, shooting 85.7 percent. Melodie Kapinga led all rebounders with eight, while Anna Griffin added seven to go along with six points. Janay Sanders was the lone

Mountaineer in double figures, scoring 13 points, but was one of four players with eight or more in the contest. App State won the rebounding battle 40-34 and shot 40.4 percent

(23-57) from the field, but was limited to just 17.6 percent (3-17) from deep. A-State held the Mountaineers to just 1-for-9 from the field to start, but went cold in the while the

visitors took advantage of trips to the free-throw line. App State held the Red Wolves without a field goal for over four minutes, but three free throws by Higginbottom with less

than a second on the clock gave the Scarlet and Black a 14-13 edge after one. The Mountaineers took a three-point lead early in the second quarter on a layup by Alexis Black before

A-State retook a one-point advantage on a Kapinga basket. However, App State went on a 7-0 run in which it held the Red Wolves scoreless for over four minutes. The Mountaineers led

by eight on an Emily Carver trey, but Mailyn Wilkerson answered on the other end with a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to cut the halftime deficit to 32-27. That margin grew to 10

early in the second half, but A-State went on a 9-0 run to pull within one on a trey by Higginbottom followed by a hook shot from Kiayra Ellis to force an early App State timeout.

The Red Wolves took a 43-39 lead when a 15-2 run was capped by a Pendleton trey, but the Mountaineers answered with six straight to reclaim a 45-43 advantage. A-State, which shot