App State women’s basketball were blown out by the James Madison Dukes Saturday 83-57 in their final home game of the season while honoring former head coach Linda Robinson before the game.
Despite strong performances from senior guard Zada Porter and junior guard Emily Hege, who led the team with 14 and 13 points, respectively, the Mountaineers were dominated in every facet of the game and dropped to 13-14 on the season.
After a close first five minutes with threes from senior guard Emily Carver and Hege, the Dukes started to pull away and ended the quarter with an 18-12 lead.
The floodgates flew open in the second quarter and JMU outscored the Black and Gold 30-16 in the quarter. When the halftime buzzer sounded, App State was down 48-28.
The difference in the field goal percentage backed up this story, as the Dukes shot 52.9% from the field and 46.1% from beyond the arc while the Mountaineers shot 32% from the field and 22.2% from three-point land.
The third quarter wasn’t nearly as lopsided as the second. The Mountaineers kept the Dukes in check but were still outscored in the period 16-13.
The fourth quarter was similar as, despite a good team effort from App State to keep JMU in check, they were still outscored 19-16 before the buzzer sounded.
The Mountaineers were unable to compete with the Dukes’ physicality and guard play, being outrebounded 43-28 while three JMU guards reached double-digit points on the day.
The stark difference in field goal percentages also speaks for itself. The Mountaineers shot 34.5% from the field and 22.2% from deep while the Dukes shot 47.6% from inside the arc and 40% from outside.
With this loss, the Mountaineers fell to 9-7 in conference play but still maintained fifth in the standings, two games behind Coastal Carolina and a game ahead of Old Dominion. With two games left before the conference tournament, including one against the Chanticleers, the Mountaineers have a chance to move up in the standings and earn a better seed with a bit of help.
This will start Wednesday when they travel to Statesboro, Georgia, to take on the Georgia Southern Eagles. The game tips off at 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
