STATESBORO, Ga. – Bria Carter tallied 16 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots to lead Appalachian State to a 77-74 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball victory over Georgia Southern Thursday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Joi Jones tied the score for the Mountaineers at 66-66 with 3:17 to play, and after the Eagles missed a jumper on their possession, the junior hit a pair of free throws to give App the lead. Georgia Southern had two turnovers on its next two possessions, and Bria Huffman scored a layup to give the Apps a four-point cushion with 1:51 remaining. 

The Eagles got to the free throw line on their trip down the floor but missed two from the charity stripe, and Carter corralled an offensive rebound and got the putback on App's trip down the floor for a six-point lead. The Mountaineers hit 5of-6 from the free-throw line in the final 43 seconds to seal the win.

"It was a game of runs and momentum shifts, and I thought there were a lot of times when we could have pushed a lead out but we would have a missed shot or a turnover on offense or they would get an offensive rebound and a putback," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "That's what basketball is at this level. It's momentum shifts and runs in close games, and it's who's going to be able to withstand the run and make the big play to punch back the last time. We're getting closer and we're getting better, and we need to derive confidence from that and carry that confidence with us into the last four minutes of close games."

Angel McGowan scored 19 points to lead Georgia Southern (4-14, 1-8), and Patrice Butler recorded 15 points and 11 rebounds. Briana Jones notched 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Huffman collected 16 points and nine rebounds for Appalachian State (10-9, 5-5), while Katie Mallow and Jones each scored 13.

The Eagles led 55-48 following a Sierra Kirkland layup in transition with 9:56 left in the game. The Apps answered with six straight points and went on to tie the score on a Mallow 3-pointer with 6:08 to go. The next three minutes saw two ties and two lead changes before Jones' free throws put Appalachian State ahead for good.

Leading 21-18 late in the first half, the Eagles used a 9-3 run, capped by an Alexis Sams 3-pointer from the wing, to open a 30-21 cushion. Farrahn Wood answered with a 3-pointer in transition with 1:38 left in the half, and the Eagles led 30-24 at the break. 

The Eagles shot 44 percent from the field for the game while holding Appalachian State to 39 percent, but the Mountaineers outscored the Eagles 22-17 in second-chance points.
    
The Eagles continue their five-game homestand against Sun Belt leader UALR Saturday, in a 4:30 p.m. tipoff in Hanner Fieldhouse.

All-session ticket books for this year's Sun Belt Conference Basketball Championships March 11-15, in New Orleans are available at the Georgia Southern ticket office. Call 1-800-GSU-WINS!

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, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, call 1-800-GSU-WINS or visit GSEagles.com.