Mountaineers fall 71-65 to Monarchs

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Courtesy of Katherine Jamtgaard, App State Athletics

Freshman guard Chaé Harris surveys the Monarch defense in App State’s six-point loss Feb. 16, 2023.

Ethan Smith, Sports Editor

With only a few games remaining in the regular season, App State faced Old Dominion on the road Thursday evening, dropping a close contest 71-65.

Sophomore guard Emily Carver led the team with 14 points and six rebounds. Freshman guard Chaé Harris finished with 14 points, and senior guard Janay Sanders had 13.

In the first quarter, the Monarchs jumped out to an early 11-3 lead. The Mountaineers responded with a 13-6 run to end the quarter. 

App State held ODU to 38% shooting from the field and 25% from three. The Black and Gold trailed 17-16 at the end of the first quarter after shooting 44% from three. 

App State struggled to score in the second quarter, only scoring nine points in the frame. The Mountaineers shot 26% from the field and did not register a single three-point make. The Monarchs capitalized off the Mountaineers cold shooting and built a six-point lead heading into halftime. 

After the break, App State was able to find the basket. It scored 20 points in the quarter and took a one-point lead at the end of the third quarter. Despite not shooting well from the field or three-point line, the Mountaineers shot 83% from the free-throw line. 

The fourth quarter saw a back and forth battle between the teams as there were seven lead changes and five ties in the final 10 minutes. App State scored 20 points in the quarter, with 11 of those points coming from the free throw line. 

The Monarchs took a five-point lead with 54 seconds remaining. After a pair of free throws made from Sanders, App State turned the ball over off a bad pass, which led to a foul. Old Dominion hit free throws down the stretch to close out its Senior Day with a 71-65 victory over the Black and Gold.

App State’s bench scored 34 of the 65 team points. The Mountaineers were outrebounded 50-39 and had 13 turnovers.

With the loss, App State drops to 9-17 on the season and 5-10 in Sun Belt play. The Mountaineers have three games left before the conference tournament starts Feb. 28.

The Black and Gold return to action Saturday as they travel to take on Troy at 5 p.m. The game can be watched on ESPN3.