Turnovers sink women against Trojans
App State women’s basketball (10-12, 5-8 Sun Belt) suffered another loss in conference play by a score of 63-49 against first place UALR (20-3, 13-1 Sun Belt) Thursday night in Boone.
The Mountaineers, who trailed all night, closed within two points with 15:22 left in the game after opening the second half on a strong 8-2 run, however, 26 turnovers doomed App State as UALR scored 28 points off of them.
Junior forward Bria Huffman, who led the team in scoring with 10 points, said the turnovers resulted in the home team beating themselves.
The Mountaineers rebounded well in the loss, out-rebounding UALR 46-33 with Bria Carter ripping down a game-high 13 boards including four on the offensive end.
After being down by as much as 17 points in the first half, head coach Angel Elderkin credited her team for “not mailing it in” and continuing to fight until the end.
Elderkin and the rest of the team hope that the impending return of injured senior forward Maryah Sydnor will give a boost to the team during the final stretch to secure a berth in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Sydnor averages both team highs in points and rebound with 18.1 and 9.2, respectively.
The Mountaineers return to action Saturday when they travel to take on conference foe ULM (10-13, 6-8 Sun Belt). Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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Burgess notches career-high, Mountaineers fall to Trojans
In a game that saw 12 ties and 14 lead changes, App State men’s basketball (9-13, 6-7 Sun Belt) was unable to overcome hot-shooting UALR (10-14, 5-9 Sun Belt) Thursday night in Boone.
The Trojans shot 58 percent from the field in the 79-74 win.
Head coach Jim Fox said his team came out flat.
“We were unable to get in a rhythm, and whenever we got into a rhythm, we got out just as quickly,” Fox said.
App State entered halftime tied with UALR at 37, but struggled to keep up in a second half that saw UALR shoot 64 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc.
The Mountaineers went on a quick 8-0 run during the second half that culminated in back-to-back 3-pointers from freshman guard Jake Babic and junior guard Chris Burgess that gave App State its last lead of the night at 57-54 with 7:48 to go.
App State was unable to make stops defensively down the stretch leading to the loss.
Burgess had a career-night, notching a career-high 24 points on 6-11 shooting, which included going 7-8 from the charity stripe and a 5-8 mark from beyond the arc.
Burgess also tallied four assists and three rebounds.
Babic also played well, scoring 13 points on 5-10 shooting. Of his points, 12 came in the second half.
Defense ended up being the difference for the Mountaineers, Babic said.
“We weren’t prepared on defense and we weren’t into it mentally,” Babic said.
While Babic and Burgess had nice nights as starters, App State’s bench was outscored by the Trojans 48-16.
App State looks to rebound as they travel to face ULM Saturday. The game is set to begin at 3 p.m.
STORY: Lee Sanderlin, Intern Sports Reporter