App State women’s basketball wrapped up a four-game homestand Saturday against Georgia State, falling short to the Panthers 62-55 surrounded by a sea of pink.
The game was designated as Pink Day in honor of cancer awareness and research. Fans flocked to the Holmes Convocation Center decked out in pink apparel, while coaches and players took part in the festivities by wearing pink shoes, hair accessories and jackets.
Senior guard Eleyana Tafisi scored the first points of the game, hitting a three from the top of the arc less than 40 seconds into the contest.
The Mountaineers and Panthers went back and forth in the first quarter, trading baskets in the opening minutes. Senior guard J’Mani Ingram made a layup halfway through the quarter to give App State an 11-10 lead.
Ingram made 2 free throws later in the quarter and senior guard Mara Neira drained a three, extending the Black and Gold’s lead to 6.
Despite a late push by Georgia State and miscommunication leading to a couple Mountaineers turnovers, App State closed the first quarter with a 1 point lead, 16-15.
After a Panthers three to start the second quarter, senior guard Zada Porter responded for App State, hitting a corner three to regain the lead.
Porter and Neira combined to hit 4 three-pointers in the quarter and scored all 12 points for the Mountaineers in the frame.
After Neira connected on a three to give App State a 28-22 lead with just over four minutes left in the half, the Mountaineers went ice cold from the field. App State missed 7 consecutive shots while the Panthers clamped down on defense and capitalized on the Mountaineers repeatedly fouling, scoring 9 unanswered points to take a 31-28 lead into halftime.
The shooting woes for the Black and Gold continued out of the break. Georgia State began using a full-court press defense which gave the Mountaineers fits on offense.
A free throw from Ingram and midrange jumper from Porter were the only scores App State had for the first six and a half minutes of the third quarter, as the Mountaineers repeatedly took bad shots and lost control of the ball.
While App State struggled, Georgia State jumped out to a 38-31 lead. The Mountaineers finally got a spark in the form of a much-needed three from Porter with 3:22 left in the quarter.
The Black and Gold got within 1 of the Panthers as they started to falter, but could not take the lead. Despite the way the quarter started, App State entered the fourth quarter only down 3, with a score of 42-39.
Georgia State quickly rebuilt their lead to 6 with under eight minutes left in the game, but huge threes by Neira and senior guard Emily Carver kept the Mountaineers within touching distance of the Panthers. At the under-4 media timeout, the Mountaineers trailed 52-50.
Neira hit another clutch three to give App State the lead with less than three minutes to go, but Georgia State immediately answered with a three of their own to regain their advantage.
Junior forward Rylan Moffitt evened the game up at 55 with a hook shot jumper only for the Panthers to respond again with a layup to put them back in front. Georgia State extended their lead to 4 with under 30 seconds left courtesy of another layup.
Neira attempted one last three to keep App State’s hopes alive, but it clanged off the rim and into the hands of Georgia State who iced the game on a fast break layup, ending the Mountaineers’ four-game conference win streak.
Porter spoke after the game about there being a lack of intensity along with the absence of “the edge” the players needed to get the win.
Head coach Alaura Sharp echoed the same sentiment, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
“I can’t tell you how many threes that they hit just from us walking out to a close-out,” Sharp said. “The way that we want to defend is we do a four-step sprint, you close out, you have a high hand.”
Sharp also highlighted how the Mountaineers didn’t fill up gaps in space as well as she would have liked.
App State will have a few days to get those issues sorted out before playing at Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will stream live on ESPN+.
