The App State women’s basketball team lost 76-58 Wednesday at the hands of the Marshall Thundering Herd. 

After jumping ahead 16-9 in the first quarter, App State found themselves on the wrong end of a 10-0 run, allowing Marshall to claim their first lead of the game. Junior forward Elena Pericic capitalized on a fast break layup with four seconds remaining in the quarter, sending the Mountaineers into the second trailing 19-18.

The second quarter was dominated by the Thundering Herd as the team outscored App State 23-7. Marshall’s 42-25 lead heading into the second half was in large part due to their 8-20 three-point shooting performance as well as App State’s inability to make shots in the second quarter. 

The App State defense continued to struggle in the third quarter as they allowed Marshall to take their largest lead of the game at 61-35 with just under three minutes remaining in the quarter.

App State showed signs of life late in the quarter when senior guard Zada Porter muscled through contact for a hoop plus the harm to trim the lead to 61-41. 

The Mountaineers employed a full court press to ignite a fourth quarter charge and chip away at the large deficit. 

A steal and fastbreak layup from senior guard Mara Neira trimmed the lead to 15. Porter followed this up with a lay-in of her own, cutting the lead to 66-53 with three minutes on the clock. 

This was as close as the Mountaineers would get to completing the comeback as Marshall held on to grab the win 76-58.

The loss serves as App State’s fourth in a row and lands the team at 13-13 and fifth in the Sun Belt Conference. 

The Mountaineers next game will be played on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against James Madison. This will be Alumni Day as well as App State’s final home game of the season. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.