Lady Eagles Top SoCon Leader Appalachian State
2/22/2011 2:47:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BOONE, N.C. - The Georgia Southern Women's Basketball team dropped Southern Conference leader Appalachian State 67-57 Monday night at the Holmes Center. In getting the win over the Mountaineers (21-5, 16-3 SoCon), the Lady Eagles (12-16, 9-10 SoCon) also picked up their first Southern Conference road victory. Georgia Southern snapped the Mountaineers' 18-game home winning streak and 12-game overall win streak. ASU's last loss was to the Lady Eagles on January 10th in Statesboro.
Four Lady Eagles scored in double figures with Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) tying her career-best with 18 points off 7-16 shooting and three treys. Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.) scored 15 points with Meredyth Frye (Fredericksburg, Va.) and Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) each adding 11.
"We are going to enjoy this one tonight," said Lady Eagles Coach Rusty Cram. "Just to get the win on the road, to get that monkey off our back, against the number-one team, makes it even sweeter. Krista (Tate) had as much, if not more to do with that than anybody. Samantha Williams played one of her best games tonight, offensively, and defensively. These kids played a smart, smart game. They understood the game plan and didn't make many mistakes. I am as proud of this team as I have ever been."
Georgia Southern's tenacious defense held Appalachian State to a paltry 20 percent shooting from the floor in the second half and a 30.4 percent for the game. The Mountaineers were 0-11 from behind the arc.
The win gives the Lady Eagles the season sweep over the Mountaineers for the second-straight year. Georgia Southern now owns a 33-13 all-time series lead over Appalachian State, winning the last eight of nine contests and 9 of 11 at the Holmes Center.
The Eagles quickly erased the Mountaineers' three-point, 33-30 halftime lead in the second period, tying the game at 37 a piece at the 17-minute mark. ASU would jump back out to a two-point lead off a pair of free-throws from Anna Freeman, but a layup by Williams and go-ahead trey by Tate would put GSU out front two minutes later, 42-39. The Mountaineers would not go down quietly, staying within four points of the Lady Eagles until a trey by Navarro extended the lead to five-point, 50-45, game, Georgia Southern's biggest lead to that point.
The Mountaineers brought the Lady Eagles' lead down to one with six-and-a-half minutes left, but a three-pointer by Frye, combined with two made free-throws by Scott ended the run in vain. Appalachian State did not come more than four points within the GSU lead after that. The Eagles stalled the Mountaineer run twice with Frye making two free throws at the 4:38 mark and a layup at 2:46 to maintain a six-point lead.
ASU still was in the ball game until the end. Ashlen Dewart sinked a pair from the charity stripe to keep the Mountaineers within two possessions of a tie under two-and-a-half minutes, 63-57. On the next GSU possession, Navarro passed the ball to Tate, who then drove the hole for the basket and a foul. Tate made the free-throw for a nine-point advantage. ASU spent the last 1:30 sending the Eagles to the line where Williams made the last free throw to send the Lady Eagles home with a 67-57 win.
The Lady Eagles return home to Hanner Fieldhouse for their final regular season home game against Furman Saturday, February 26th.
Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. with the Senior Night ceremony before the lineups.
