Mountaineers Fall to Southern Miss in First Sun Belt Meeting

BOONE, N.C. – The App State women's basketball team clashed with Southern Miss on Thursday for the first time in conference play, falling to the Lady Eagles, 75-68.   "All week

long we talked about protecting the house and went into battle in the paint and I thought Southern Miss was a very good team, a very well coached team. They exploited us with

number 45, she was able to have 26 points and 15 rebounds, and 42 points in the paint to our 26 was just a difference maker," said head coach Angel Elderkin.   "I was disappointed

in our defense. We tried multiple options and it just seemed like they had an answer for everything. I think they did a really nice job executing. But I was proud of my team for

not giving up and I thought in the fourth quarter we definitely made a run and could have had a chance to come out on the other side of this one. But hopefully there's a lesson to

be learned from it."   Sophomore Emily Carver netted a career and team-high 23 points, marking her third consecutive game scoring 20+ points. She also drained 6-of-8 treys on the

night. Junior Faith Alston and redshirt senior Janay Sanders also scored double figures, with Alston netting 17 points and Sanders scoring 14. In addition to her 17 points, Alston

pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and five assists. Sanders shot 4-of-5 from the charity stripe while recording three rebounds and two steals.   App State scored 20 points

off turnovers, 26 in the paint, and 11 from fast breaks.   Carver was responsible for 13 of App State's 19 points in the first quarter, drilling 3-of-4 treys and 5-of-6 field

goals. In addition to a trey and free throw from Alston and a layup from Sanders, the Mountaineers stayed within one of the Lady Eagles, trailing 20-19 at the end of the quarter.

  Carver opened the second quarter with another trey to tie things at 22 all, and a 3-point bucket from redshirt junior A'Lea Gilbert gave App State a 25-22 edge. Gilbert,

Sanders, and Carver each made layups, keeping within two of Southern Miss' 33-31 lead at the half.   Sanders opened the third quarter with a pair of free throws and Carver sunk

another trey to bring App State within three (39-36). A trey from Alston and layup from Sanders cut into the Lady Eagles' lead, but a scoring drought from the Black and Gold and an

8-0 run from Southern Miss left App State trailing 53-41 at the end of the quarter.   In the fourth and final quarter, a layup and pair of free throws from Sanders and a

three-point play from Gilbert cut Southern Miss' lead to 60-50. Alston cut the deficit to 63-56 with a back-to-back layup and jumper. A crucial trey from Carver put App State back