Appalachian State Downs Women's Basketball

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STATESBORO, Ga. – Anna Freeman scored 18 points, and Appalachian State recorded 16 steals and forced 24 Georgia Southern turnovers to post a 67-54 Southern Conference women's basketball victory over the Eagles Monday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Meredyth Frye tallied 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead Georgia Southern (4-17, 3-9 SoCon), and Danielle Spencer collected 11 points and seven rebounds. Alexis Sams scored a career high 14 points, and Anna Claire Knight finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

Freeman was 8-of-15 from the floor and grabbed six rebounds for Appalachian State (14-5, 8-3 SoCon), while Courtney Freeman had 15 points and six rebounds, and Maryah Sydnor finished with 13 points and eight boards. Kelsey Sharkey collected seven points, 11 rebounds and seven steals off the bench.

GSU's turnover total was three off its season high, and 14 came in the first half to help the Mountaineers build a 12-point halftime lead. ASU turned the ball over in the second frame, committing 19 miscues, but held the Eagles to 33 percent shooting from the floor in the period.

After a 3-pointer by Sams from the left wing tied the game at 18-18, the Mountaineers pulled away with a 14-0 run late in the first half. Sydnor scored six points during the stretch, and a jumper that beat the shot clock by Raven Gary made the margin 31-18 with 2:23 left in the period. Meanwhile, the Eagles committed five turnovers during the run as the Mountaineers went into the locker room with a 35-23 cushion.

"We started off playing fairly aggressive, taking good shots and playing solid defense," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "I think we broke the press well for the most part, but I think when we got the ball over half-court, we started to relax a little and survey the scene instead of attacking. They continued to pressure us, and we got rattled and stopped being strong with the ball."

The Eagles cut the margin to eight points early in the second stanza as Knight got a steal and a fast-break layup, but that was as close as they would get. Five different Mountaineers scored in a decisive 16-4 run that pushed the lead to 20 points with 9:09 to play. The Eagles cut the margin to 13 points on a pair of Frye free throws with 5:09 to go but could not trim the advantage further.

The Eagles cap a three-game homestand against College of Charleston Saturday, Feb. 9, in the eighth annual Pack the House in Pink, an event focused on raising awareness and funds for the fight against breast cancer. It's a doubleheader with the GSU men's team, and the women's team will tip off against the Cougars at 5 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.

Category: Women's Basketball

Published on Sunday, 31 December 1899 19:00