BOONE, N.C. – Maryah Sydnor stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three steals to lead Appalachian State to a 66-39 Sun Belt Conference victory over Georgia Southern Thursday night in the Holmes Center.

Patrice Butler was the lone scorer in double figures for Georgia Southern (4-22, 1-16) with 10 points to go along with six rebounds. Angel McGowan finished with seven points and four assists, and Briana Jones tallied six points and six boards. Sierra Kirkland finished with six points and seven rebounds.

Bria Carter posted 13 points and three assists for Appalachian State (12-14, 7-10), and Joi Jones tallied 11 points and four assists.

Georgia Southern struggled shooting the basketball all game, logging a 28 percent clip from the floor, including 1-for-19 from 3-point range, and making 6-of-14 from the free-throw line. 

The Eagles led 11-10 early when Jones and Sydnor scored 10 straight points to open a 20-11 Mountaineer lead. The margin grew to as many as 16 points after a Carter layup with 2:29 to go, and App led 33-18 at the break.

"I thought our halfcourt defense in the first half was very good, but we struggled offensively and started pressing a little bit because we weren't making shots," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "We allowed them to get going in transition because we took some rushed shots and allowed them to dictate the pace. We cut it to 10 a few times in the second half with a chance to get it under double digits, but we struggled with turnovers."

The Eagles scored the first six points of the second half and cut the margin to nine points on a pair of Kirkland free throws. The margin was 43-33 following a pair of Butler free throws midway through the frame, and Georgia Southern got a stop and had a chance to trim the deficit further but came up empty on the offensive end. 

Appalachian State responded with a 16-4 run over the next five minutes to open a 61-37 cushion, its largest of the game. The Mountaineers forced 14 Eagle turnovers in the second stanza.

The Eagles travel to UL Lafayette Saturday for a Sun Belt Conference contest at 6 p.m. Eastern.

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