App State traveled to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Saturday to face the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. The Mountaineers routed the Golden Eagles 76-56 to move about .500 on the season.
The first quarter went Southern Miss’ way, with the Golden Eagles outscoring the Mountaineers 17-13 after several lead changes in the period.
The Black and Gold were led by senior guard Eleyana Tafisi and junior forward Elena Pericic, who scored 11 of the Mountaineers’ 13 points in the quarter.
The second quarter was also tightly contested as App State outscored Southern Miss in the period 20-15, which allowed the Moutnaineers to take a 33-32 lead into halftime.
App State shot well in the first half, knocking down 46.4% from the field, 33.3% from beyond the arc and 75% from the foul line.
The Mountaineers came out of halftime and busted the game wide open. They outscored Southern Miss 29-14 in the quarter, extending their lead to 16 going into the fourth.
App State capitalized on their offensive opportunities in the period, shooting 62.5% from the field, 42.9% from three and 75% from the foul line, but the biggest reason for this outburst was their defense.
They held the Golden Eagles to 21.4% from the field and didn’t allow them a single three in the entire 10-minute period.
The Mountaineers cooled down in the fourth, shooting 35.3% from the field, but they still held their opponents to a dismal 27.3% from the field. This resulted in the lowest scoring quarter of the game, with the Black and Gold holding the edge in the quarter 14-10.
In total, the Mountaineers held the Golden Eagles to 24% from the field across the second half.
“We told our team we had one key to the game and it was win the defensive battle,” said App State head coach Alaura Sharp. “We didn’t really love our defense in the first half, we came out in the second half and we gave up 24 points.”
When the final buzzer sounded, the Mountaineers extended their win streak to four and remained undefeated in conference play.
App State had a quartet of players in the double digits on the day, Pericic and senior guard J’Mani Ingram scoring 17, junior forward Rylan Moffitt with 12 and senior guard Emily Carver netting 10.
Tafisi played the role of chief facilitator on the day, dishing out 9 assists in the game.
The Mountaineers will travel back to Boone to take on the Troy Trojans Thursday. The game tips off at noon and will be streamed on ESPN+.
