App State women’s basketball won their match-up against the University of Louisiana-Monroe 73-71. The Mountaineers improve to 13-9 on the season and 9-3 in conference play. 

Four Mountaineers scored over 10 points. Junior forward Elena Pericic scored a team-high 22 and went a near-perfect 9 for 10 from the field. Following her was senior guard Eleyana Tafisi who recorded 14 points well above her 6-point average. 

Junior guard Emily Hege opened the scoring for the Black and Gold with a three-point basket. Hege made another three to knot the game at 6. A Tafisi three and jump shot gave the Mountaineers an 11-8 lead. 

App State finished the first quarter with a 24-22 lead. The Mountaineers made 6 three-pointers in the quarter. 

Hege scored first in the second quarter. A Pericic three extended the lead to 29-22. The Black and Gold were outscored in the quarter 9-12 and lost their lead. ULM went into the halftime break with a 34-33 lead. 

The teams went back and forth during the early minutes of the third quarter. The score was tied at 40 until the Warhawks went on a 10-1 run to take a 41-50 lead. A series of scores from the Mountaineers and a three from Tafisi shrunk the deficit to 51-56 heading into the fourth quarter.

Pericic started the quarter with a layup and a three making the score 58-60. 

Senior guard Zada Porter made a three for her first basket, with 2:33 left in the game to give the Black and Gold a 67-66 lead. The Warhawks took a 68-71 lead until senior guard Emily Carver made a three to tie the game with a minute left. 

Porter made a clutch layup with just two seconds remaining in the game to secure the win. 

App State shot 53% from the field and 58% from behind the arc. The Mountaineers won the rebounding battle 29-25 but struggled with 14 turnovers to the Warhawks’ 8.

The Black and Gold will host the Northern Illinois Huskies on Saturday for the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.