Freeman's Big Night Leads Appalachian State over Women's Basketball
12/4/2012 1:35:03 AM | Women's Basketball
BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State senior Courtney Freeman scored a game-high 24 points to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career and lead the Mountaineers to a 79-47 Southern Conference women's basketball victory over Georgia Southern in the Holmes Center Monday night.
It was the SoCon opener for ASU (6-1, 1-0 SoCon), which was the preseason favorite to win the league in the conference's preseason media poll.
Danielle Spencer led the Eagles (1-4, 0-2 SoCon) with nine points to go along with four rebounds, while Anna Claire Knight and MiMi DuBose each scored eight.
Freeman added nine rebounds and made 10-of-10 from the free-throw line, scoring 18 points in the second half. Maryah Sydnor posted 19 points and six rebounds, while Anna Freeman tallied 14 points, six boards and four assists. ASU made a living at the charity stripe, knocking down 22-of-23 in the game.
The Eagles were 1-of-21 from 3-point range in the game and committed 24 turnovers. Georgia Southern shot 42 percent in the second half but fell behind 29-14 at halftime after shooting 20.7 percent in the first frame.
"For the second game in a row, we came out with a tentative approach offensively, and it's never going to be good enough to spot a good team a 15-point lead and try to play catch-up," said GSU coach Chris Vozab. "Our overall effort was good, but we need to compete with pride on the offensive end for a full 40 minutes."
The Mountaineers used a 16-4 run midway through the first half to turn a one-point lead into a 13-point cushion with 7:19 left in the frame. Sydnor and Courtney Freeman each scored six points during the stretch. ASU pushed the margin to 17 points on a Sydnor jumper before Brittney Benzio scored a layup to make the score 29-14 at the break.
Georgia Southern held Appalachian State to 36.7 percent shooting in the half but could only cash in on 6-of-29 on the offensive end.
The Eagles return home to face Mercer at 7 p.m. Friday in Hanner Fieldhouse. Tickets are $5 or $7 combined for that game and Saturday's men's game against Brewton-Parker. Fans can get $2 off either package by bringing a toy to donate to Toys for Tots.
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.
