App State lost to Northern Illinois by a score of 75-62 on Saturday. It was the second game of the MAC-Sun Belt challenge for the Mountaineers, having already played Miami (OH) in November.
Senior guards Emily Carver, Zada Porter and Eleyana Tafisi, junior guard Emily Hege and junior forward Elena Pericic started the game for the Mountaineers.
NIU scored the first 5 points of the game, but Carver got the Mountaineers on the board with her first three of the game.
Tafisi gave the Mountaineers their first lead with her first basket of the afternoon.
Northern Illinois grabbed the lead and was able to hold onto it through the remainder of the first quarter while extending it to 9.
App State found themselves down 10 early into the second quarter, but senior guard J’Mani Ingram cut the lead to 5 by herself.
The Black and Gold couldn’t get a breakthrough offensively and trailed by 9 going into halftime.
Hege got the offense started for the Mountaineers in the second half on the first possession of the half.
NIU was able to get their largest lead of the game after going on a 5-0 run. The Huskies’ lead ballooned to 12.
App State was not done fighting and responded with a 5-0 run of themselves, but still needed a lot more to get the game within reach.
The Huskies responded immediately and got the lead back to 12 before the third quarter ended.
A 12-2 run was able to get the NIU lead to just 4 with 5 minutes to play, but it was not enough and the lead grew before the final buzzer sounded.
App State will be back in action on Wednesday as they travel to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to take on James Madison. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
