Sunday, December 29
Dominant Second Half Lifts App State Past Furman
BOONE, N.C. - A second-half surge with a team-centric performance led the Appalachian State University women’s basketball team (3-6) to another impressive win defeating Furman 92-78 in the Holmes Center on Sunday afternoon.
App State Starters: #3 Bria Carter, #10 Joi Jones , #23 KeKe Cooper , #34 Madi Story, #42 Mia Marshall
Furman Starters: #12 Kelsey Ellis, #20 Whitney Bunn, #21 Holli Watkins, #24 Cierra Carter, #44 Tiara Wood
For the second-straight game, five players scored in double figures with Jones (21) and Story (20) both tallying career highs, while Cooper, Ashley Bassett-Smith and Marshall all chipped in with 12 points. The 92 points is the highest since a 99-71 win over UNC Asheville on Dec. 2, 2010.
Six of the nine players that scored shot at least 50 percent or higher from the field, while the duo of Jones and Story shot 15-for-25 (60 percent) from the floor and dished out nine assists. Jones was also one rebound shy of her first double-double with a career-high nine boards, and Bassett-Smith notched her first career double-double with 12 points and 11 boards.
Appalachian assisted on 17 of its 35 field goals and turned the ball over just 15 times. The pace was perfect for Appalachian’s high-paced offense with 84 possessions, scoring on 52.4 percent of its possessions and averaged 1.095 points per possession.
Both teams came out scorching to start the contest shooting at least over 50 percent, including Furman going 4-for-7 from deep in an up-and-down contest in the first quarter. The Paladins came out to a 10-3 run over the first 1:56 of the game. Trailing 14-7 with 6:18 left in the first period, Appalachian used a 13-0 run over the following 2:43 to take its first lead of the game, 20-14, that was capped off by a Bassett-Smith layup.
However, Furman scored 10 of the next 14 points to tie the game thanks to a 3-pointer before the horn sounded. Story played a hand in 16 (9 points 3 assists) of the team’s 24 points.
The second quarter belong to a hot-shooting Furman squad that hit another four trifectas and shot 53.8 percent to App State’s 40 percent. With the game tied at 32-apiece, Furman outscored the hosts, 13-5 over the final 6:44 of the first half to go ahead by eight, 45-37. App State held a 19-12 edge in rebounding at the break.
It was all App State in the second half, coming out in the third quarter playing dominant ball on both sides of the court. Appalachian used a 14-0 over the first five minutes to go in front 51-45 while forcing Furman to miss nine-consecutive shots during a 5:20 scoring drought. The Mountaineers never trailed again the rest of the way, taking a six-point advantage, 64-58, into the fourth quarter thanks to six straight points from Story.
With 6:34 left in the game Furman sliced the deficit to one possession, 71-68. But the Apps responded with a 6-0 spurt that gave Appalachian a commanding 77-68 lead.
Furman never threatened the Apps during the rest of the game while the Apps’ largest lead of 14 would come at the final buzzer, giving App State its third victory over a team from the 2014-15 postseason and confidence going into conference play.
To put the Apps’ dominant second half into more perspective, Appalachian outscored the Paladins 55-33, held Furman to 28.1 percent shooting from the field and 23.1 percent shooting from outside the arc. Offensively, the Apps shot 54.5 percent in the second half, including a 11-for-18 shooting output in the third quarter.
App State also shot 19-for-23 (82.6 percent) from the charity stripe while shooting just five free throws (2-for-5) in the first stanza.
The Mountaineers will have the week off for the holidays before starting Sun Belt play at UL Monroe on Wednesday, Dec. 31.
Georgia State Ralies for 68-61 Win in Hatter Classic
DeLAND, FLA. - Georgia State came from 10 points down in the 4th quarter to defeat Bethune-Cookman 68-61 Sunday in the openig day of the Stetson Hatter Classic.
GSU squandered a seven-point first half lead themselves to trail 33-30 at half after a 10-0 B-C run. In the third quarter, Bethune-Cookman built the lead to 11 points at 45-34 with 4:32 in that period. Early in the 4th, B-C (in nearby Daytona Beach) led 51-41 with 8:35 to play. From that point on, GSU outscored B-C 27-10 to post the win. GSU had a 29-point scoring 4th quarter and held B-C to 13 points.
Georgia State (4-4) was led by junior forward Alaysia Mitchell with 17 points and 9 rebounds. PG Erica Norwood, eligible after sitting her transfer year, made her first game solid with 14 points and 4-of-6 3-point baskets. Sophomore Makeba Ponder added 14 more points. Freshman Astaja Tyghter, from nearby Orlando, had eight points and eight rebounds in front of her family and friends.
Georgia State's rally was sparked by its defense. On the day, GSU forced 21 turnovers and made 13 steals. Makeba Ponder had six of those steals to lead that effort.
B-C got 20 points and 11 rebounds from Taylor Houston, while Kendra Cooper added 20 points.
The game was tied three times in the 4th quarter and 53, 55 and 57, the last one coming at 2:56. Ponder made a steal, a lay-up and coverted a free throw to put GSU ahead to stay in the first key moment. GSU led 60-59 when it ran a set for Norwood, who calmly knocked down her fourth 3-pointer of the game to make it 63-59 with 1:27. Newby and Ponder each swished a pair of free throws inthe final 15 seconds to seal the win.
GSU played all 13 players who dressed today (Tatianna Jackson sat with an injury), thus the bench provided 41 of GSU's 68 points today.
The Panthers took 15 more shots than B-C (68-53) and shot 38 percent for the game. The big key to the shooting was GSU making 10 of 19 shots in the fourth quarter.
GSU will play Stetson at 1 p.m. on Monday on Day 2 of the Hatter Classic.
Eagles Fall to Stetson in Hatter Classic
DELAND, Fla. – The Georgia Southern women's basketball team got off to a slow start in the first quarter of the 28th Hatter Classic and were never able to fully dig out of the hole, ultimately falling 79-57 to the host of the tournament, Stetson University in the tournament's first game.
The Eagles (3-5) had little answer for Stetson's Brianti Saunders who accounted for 40 of the Hatters' 79 points, setting a school record for most points scored in a single game in the process. Saunders, who also matched the Hatter Classic individual points scored record set in 1988, went 12-for-16 from the field including 4-for-6 from three-point range and added eight rebounds in 35 minutes of work.
For Georgia Southern, Angel McGowan led the way with 15 points off 6-for-10 shooting, including knocking down two treys and had a game-high four steals. Sophomore guard Trellanie English-Lurry came off the bench to contribute 10 points in 21 minutes of work. Sierra Butler led the Eagles with five rebounds while sister Patrice Butler, English-Lurry and Alexis Foulks all added four boards.
For Stetson (8-3), Breana Bey finished with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Hatters shot 49.1% (28-53) from the field as a team.
THE STORY
The Hatters rushed out to a 9-0 lead as Georgia Southern failed to convert on their first seven shot attempts from the field. The Eagles finally made their first bucket of the game nearly 3:30 into the game when Sierra Butler hit a layup.
The Eagles were then able to out-score the Hatters in the second quarter 20-15, pulling to within 10, 41-31 at halftime and held server for much of the third quarter as they matched Stetson point-for-point with 18, even pulling to within seven points a couple of times in the period.
Going into the fourth quarter, GSU seemed poised to make a run at Stetson after gaining momentum late in the third when Patrice Butler and McGowan pulled the Eagles to within seven when they hit back-to-back-to-back layups, including two off of turnovers swiped by Beamon and McGowan. However, the Hatters came out strong in the fourth stanza, extending the lead back out to double digits and putting the game out of reach as GSU struggled to keep pace.
Bears Come From Behind to Defeat Little Rock
LITTLE ROCK – Missouri State used a 14-8 run over the final four minutes of the game to claim a 64-58 victory over Little Rock women's basketball at the Jack Stephens Center on Sunday evening.
Little Rock (2-6) led by 7 points entering the fourth quarter and by 4 points with under five minutes to go before the Missouri State (7-5) rallied for the comeback win.
Leading 54-50 with 4:32 to play, the Trojans stopped scoring. Missouri State went on a 6-0 run to take a 56-54 lead and never trailed again. Two Aubrey Buckley layups and a Tyonna Snow layup gave the Bears that lead, and they extended it to 5 points at 60-55 with 40 seconds to go on two free throws by Kenzie Williams.
An Alexius Dawn 3-pointer went down with 30 seconds to play, briefly giving Little Rock hope. But Snow and Liza Fruendt hit all four of their free throws in the final 25 seconds to preserve the victory for the visitors.
Dawn led all Little Rock players with 19 points – a season high – on 8 of 14 shooting from the field. She was also 3 of 6 from beyond the arc. No other Trojan scored in double figures, though Kaitlyn Pratt and Sharde' Collins had 9 points apiece.
Pratt led the Trojans in rebounds with six, and freshman Kira Shepard had five assists to top the team.
Despite the loss, the team had a decent shooting night, going 22 of 49 from the field for a 44.9 percent effort. The Trojans held Missouri State to just 36.2 percent shooting, but the Bears had 17 made free throws to Little Rock's eight.
The first half began in Little Rock's favor, as Collins nailed a jumper on the first possession, Keys sank a layup and Dawn followed with a jumper and 3-pointer to put the team ahead 9-4 early.
The Trojans maintained their lead throughout most of the second half mostly thanks to a stingy defense that kept the Bears off the board. With five minutes left in the half, Little Rock was ahead by 7 points at 21-14, forcing Missouri State into a field goal percentage of just 18.2 percent. The Trojans also spread the ball around on offense, as four different players had at least 4 points at the quarter's media stoppage.
But by the halftime break, Missouri State had taken its first lead of the evening. The Bears used a 10-2 run over the last five minutes of the half, getting 4 points at the free-throw line and holding Little Rock to just 2 in that span. Dawn led all Trojans with 7 points at halftime.
The Trojans regained that lead early in the third quarter, evening the game at 28-28 on an and-1 play by Ronjanae DeGray and then taking the lead at 29-28 on a DeGray free throw. The lead increased to 5 points at 40-35 on a Shepard fast-break layup with two minutes left in the half and then 7 when Pratt hit two free throws right afterward.
That's where Little Rock's lead would stay entering the final quarter, as the team was up 44-37 on the Bears with 10 minutes to play. Dawn had 6 points in the quarter to bring her total to 13 at that point.
The Trojans' lead nearly vanished early in the fourth quarter. Missouri State and Little Rock traded 3-pointers to begin the period before 5 straight Bears points made it a 47-45 edge for the Trojans. The teams then went back and forth in the next minute, and the Trojans' lead was 52-50 before a Ronjanae DeGray layup made it 54-50 with 4:30 to play.
DeGray got her first points since the season opener at Tulane, putting in 6 on the night. Freshman Deja McKinney scored her first career points with a basket in the first half, and classmate Amber Landing had her fourth block of the year in just 21 total minutes.
For the first time in three weeks, Little Rock will be heading on the road for its next game. The Trojans are set to take on a No. 18 Texas A&M squad in College Station, Texas, on Tuesday at 12 p.m.