Two days removed from what head coach Angel Elderkin called a “bizarre” shooting game where the App State women’s basketball team shot 19.6 percent from the field, the Mountaineers started off hot against the UT Arlington Mavericks, shooting 70 percent in the first quarter.
After that, the Mountaineers (8-12, 3-6 Sun Belt) fell to victim to cold shooting once again, making only 10 percent and 16.7 percent of their shots from the field in the second and third quarter respectively to ultimately fall 73-62 to first place Sun Belt team UT Arlington (15-4, 8-1 Sun Belt).
“I was really proud of our teams bounce back and how they started the game and the fight they had,” Elderkin said. “The second quarter is something we need to address and need to fix. That is a very good team with a suffocating type defense.”
A five point second quarter was due to UT Arlington switching up their defense from a man-to-man defense to a 2-2-1 and a 2-3 zone defense. The switch caused a struggle for the Mountaineers leading to 24 turnovers on the day.
“They just don’t stop and they are relentless with their defense,” Elderkin said. “They average 26 points off turnovers and the team that can prevent that will be the team to beat them.”
On Dec. 29 the Mountaineers quickly took a 16-2 lead against the top seeded Mavericks before UTA went on a 14-2 end of game run to defeat App 74-63.
The Mountaineers played tough again pulling ahead 8-2 early in the first quarter and holding a 21-15 lead at the end of the first, but UTA took advantage of the Mountaineers lack of size scoring 44 points in the paint and holding App to nine second half field goals.
App State only hit one 3-pointer last game, an area they have struggled with all season, but junior guard Madi Story, who only scored four points earlier this season against UTA, swiftly heated up behind from deep hitting three 3-pointers and finishing the game with 20 points.
“I have been looking for my three more often and the game plan is always the same,” Story said. “I was off that game [Against UTA in December] and on this game.”
With the Mountaineers trying to stay hot from long-range, the Mavericks continued to attack the paint behind center Rebekah VanDijk outscoring App 44-22 inside despite losing the rebounding battle to App.
Not having backup point guard Cydni Cole due to injury, Elderkin said she believes the team did a good job defending VanDijk, but struggled in transition.
“I don’t think it was the lack of size, but the lack of depth we have with the point guard position,” Elderkin said. “They got a lot of easy ones in transition.”
Keeping pressure on the Mavericks for two straight games, the Mountaineers main goal was to not be broken down by their opponent that they felt happened on Thursday against Texas State.
“We are halfway through our conference schedule and we have another nine left,” Elderkin said. “The overall commitment from our team is that we are better in the next nine games. It wasn’t about beating Arlington, it was about not letting anything break us down.
The Apps finished the game on a 15-2 run stating that they will not give up no matter what the score.
“I think it means a lot,” senior guard Joi Jones said about the end game run. “It shows we still have fight in us when we are losing because we weren’t worried about the score, just about ourselves.”
The Mountaineers will head back to the road traveling to Little Rock on Thursday to face the Trojans.
Story By: Jason Huber, Sports Editor
Three Pointer Reaction:
By: Michael Pigg, Sports Reporter
Reaction: App State looked strong out of the gate but was not able to continue the momentum. The press from UT-Arlington eventually took its toll on App State, contributing to the Mountaineers 24 turnovers. UT-Arlington knew coming into this game that App State struggles against the zone and they took advantage. The big question coming into the game was who was going to stop UT-Arlington’s center Rebekah Vandijk and App State did their best to limit her to seven field goals. App State ended the game on a 15-2 run giving them confidence and hopefully to translate over to their next game.
The Good
Appalachian State jumped out to an 8-2 run early
App State shot 70 percent in the first quarter
Last time the teams played App also took an early lead.
Madi Story had 20 points topping her four points the last App faced the Mavericks
The Mountaineers finished the game on a 15-2 and 12-0 run to only lose by 11
The Bad
Appalachian struggled with the press offense contributing to 24 turnovers
UTA had 26 points off of turnovers, one of the team’s strong points.
App State was dominated inside allowing 44 points in the paint.
Appalachian State struggled shooting the ball in the second and third quarter combining for only three-for-22 shooting from the field
Strong Starts
Both times the Mountaineers played UT-Arlington the jumped out to a quick lead. Both time the quick leads were due to the composure of the App State guards dealing with the press.
Bria Carter in both games led the charge putting App State in control early. Carter finished with five points.
Know how to take advantage of the zone
UT-Arlington started the game out in zone defense like most teams have this season and App State took advantage. After the first time out UT-Arlington switched to man-zone defense and that’s when App State’s shooting woes began.
App State was not able to get UT-Arlington out of the zone only shooting 4-for-11 from long range
Whats Next?
Appalachian State (8-12, 3-6 Sun Belt) looks to bounce back Feb. 2 as they will be on the road to take on Little Rock.
Photos by: Halle Keighton, Photo Editor