Late Run Sends Mountaineers Past Lady Eagles
2/5/2012 12:44:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Behind an 11-2 run over the final 6:03, the Appalachian State Mountaineers pulled away from the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles to earn their 11th Southern Conference victory. Courtney Freeman led the Mountaineers, who shot 43.9% from the floor, to a 57-46 win with 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting.
"For 35 or 36 minutes I thought we played hard, but we seemed to tire out and they took over. We knew we were going to have to keep them off the offensive glass. We did a great job of it in the first half but totally dominated the offensive glass in the last four or five minutes," said Head Coach Rusty Cram.
Georgia Southern (7-15, 3-10) shot 32.1% from the floor and made just five of their 11 free throw attempts. MiMi DuBose (Jefferson, Ga.) connected on four of the Lady Eagles' five treys and finished with a team-high 14 points. Anna Claire Knight (Dublin, Ga.) notched the other three pointer and finished with 10 points. Meredyth Frye (Fredricksburg, Va.) was held to just two field goal attempts but went a perfect four-for-four from the charity stripe.
"We did not make our free throws, and we put them on the free throw line in the second half. You have got to make those shots if you are going to win," stated Cram.
Appalachian State (17-3, 11-1) made up for their 23 turnovers by outrebounding GSU 50-25. Anna Freeman helped the Mountaineers pull away in the final eight minutes of the second half by scoring eight of her 12 points during the 13-4 run. Maryah Sydnor joined the two Freemans in double figures with 10 points.
Georgia Southern got off to a hot start in the contest with a 12-6 run over the first four minutes thanks to treys by DuBose and Knight. However, Appalachian State responded with 10 unanswered points to take a three-point lead with less than nine minutes remaining in the first half. The two teams traded the lead back-and-forth before the Mountaineers took a five-point advantage. Appalachian State led 30-27 at halftime and held the Lady Eagles to one basket in the final three minutes.
The Mountaineers opened the second half with a quick six-point lead, but Georgia Southern tied the contest at 34 all less than two minutes later on three-straight jumpers. Back-to-back layups put Appalachian State back on top by five points with 13:09 to play before DuBose drained one from behind the arc. The Lady Eagles trailed by two points with 8:08 remaining but notched only one other basket in the contest.
The Lady Eagles complete a two-game homestand against the Davidson Wildcats Monday at 5 p.m. The contest with the third-best team in the SoCon standings is the first game of a Military Appreciation doubleheader at Hanner Fieldhouse. The men's team will take on Furman at 7:30 p.m.
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