CLEMSON – The Clemson Tigers were in moral and physical need of a victory after suffering a blowout loss to Alabama last week, and as if on cue, veterans Mia Moore and Taylor Johnson-Matthews both notched season-high scoring afternoons at Littlejohn Coliseum Sunday to secure a 78-59 win over the Appalachian State Mountaineers.

Like several games this season, including a loss to South Carolina and a win over Furman, the Tigers (6-4) started slow against the Mountaineers, going down 7-2 and fouling twice in just over the first two minutes of play.

Pregame energy seemed to slink from the stands, but not from the Tiger veterans, especially Raven Thompson.

It did not take long for Thompson, a second-year Tiger and senior, to make herself known to the Mountaineers (6-3). The Chattanooga, Tenn., native opened all Clemson scoring with a layup and knocked down a jumper and two first-quarter free throws to stifle an App State team that shot 53% from the field compared to Clemson’s 35% in the first period.

Thompson finished with six points on perfect shooting, while her longtime teammate Hannah Kohn, who worked her way into the starting rotation after being used predominantly off the bench this season, knocked down a three-pointer to take a 16-15 lead late in the quarter.

Although the Tigers forced three opponent turnovers in the first quarter, they did not translate any of their hard-earned steals into points, and lost the first period rebounding battle 10-to-8 on the defensive boards.

In the second quarter, the Tigers and Mountaineers traded eight and ten-point runs, after Clemson started the period down 20-15. Led by Moore and forward Hadley Periman, a Tulsa transfer, Clemson climbed out of a deficit to take a 25-20 lead. 

A Clemson turnover and two App State baskets on second-chance points tied the game at 30 at the half. 

Moore notched four points and two assists in the second quarter, keeping the Mountaineers at bay, but her explosion in the third quarter powered the Tigers to their final lead. On perfect 4-of-4 shooting, Moore drained eight third-quarter points, along with two rebounds, an assist, and a steal, to outscore the Mountaineers 19-11 and take a 49-41 lead with ten minutes left to play. 

Thanks in part to Moore’s sharpshooting, as well as forward Taylor Johnson-Matthews’ six points on 2-of-3 shooting, the Tigers made seven of their 11 attempts from the field in the third quarter, including six makes on eight attempts inside the arc, after getting outscored in the paint earlier.

In the fourth quarter, Clemson’s shooting ability, spearheaded by an early three from Thompson, proved to be too much for the Mountaineers. The Tigers knocked down two triples in the fourth quarter on 66.7% shooting.

In the end, the Tigers’ athleticism, especially in Periman and Johnson-Matthews’ five combined steals, crippled App State’s attempts at late runs.

Moore finished as Clemson’s leading scorer with 21 points and four rebounds with five assists. Johnson-Matthews followed closely behind with 20 points in her fourth double-figure game this season. Point guard Rachael Rose also finished with a season-high five assists. 

After a slow start, Clemson finished with 25 bench points to the Mountaineers’ ten, and nabbed ten steals to App State’s three. App State did win the offensive rebounding battle 8-to-2.

The Tigers will have a week off to improve on their offensive rebounding and fine tune some defensive issues this week before playing a conference game against the Pitt Panthers (6-5) next Sunday.

The matchup will mark the Tigers’ second ACC game this year and will be held in Littlejohn Coliseum at 2 p.m. Coverage will be shown on ACC Xtra.