BOONE, NC – The Georgia Southern women's basketball team (10-13, 6-6 SBC) fell to the Appalachian State Mountaineers (10-13, 5-7 SBC) in a rivalry matchup on Thursday evening. Second-chance shots and strong rebounding from the Apps led them to their fifth Sun Belt conference win of the year.

Angel McGowan collected 13 points and five rebounds for Georgia Southern and Patrice Butler scored 11 with six rebounds herself. 12 Eagles saw the floor in Thursday's matchup inside of the Holmes Center. 
 
Madi Story scored 17 points and tallied six assists to lead Appalachian State. Joi Jones contributed 14 points and seven rebounds, Q. Murray scored 11 points, and Ashley Bassett-Smith scored 12. Bria Carter led the Apps from down low with 10 rebounds on the night.

THE STORY
Appalachian State jumped out to a 13-0 lead from the start of the game. Patrice Butler broke the Eagles scoreless streak with 3:15 left to play, and the Eagles were able to cut the lead to only ten points at the end of the first quarter, trailing 17-7 with a 23.1% (3-13) shooting percentage through the first.

The Eagles and Mountaineers each tallied 13 points in the second quarter of play and the Eagles shot the ball much better coming out of the first ten minutes, posting a 50% (6-12) percentage in the second quarter. The Eagles downfall in the first half came within turnovers (11) and being out-rebounded 23-15 in the first 20 minutes. 14 of the Mountaineers first 30 points came from second-chance shots.

The Apps continued their hot streak out of the half, scoring 8 unanswered points and extending their lead to 18. Freshman Amira Atwater stepped up in the fourth quarter, scoring six of the Eagles 17 points in the final ten minutes of the game. The Eagles finished the night shooting 42% (29-69) from field goal range. Appalachian State finished the game having scored 24 points off of GS turnovers and 23 points off of second chances. 

NEXT UP
The Eagles travel to Conway, SC for another Sun Belt matchup against the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina. The two teams will tip off at 1 p.m. inside the HTC Center on Saturday afternoon, with the mens game to follow shortly after. 


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