Appalachian State 66, Winston-Salem State 52
December 5, 2006 - WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. ? Appalachian State University women’s basketball forced 28 Winston-Salem State turnovers on its way to a 66-52 victory, Tuesday night at the C.E. Gaines Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Mountaineers improve to 5-4 with the win, while the Lady Rams drop to 2-7 on the season. Appalachian shot 52.2 percent from the field, while Winston-Salem State shot 41.5 percent from the floor. ASU took advantage of the Lady Rams’ 28 turnovers, converting 22 points off of turnovers.
Freshman GiGi Thomas (Tallahassee, Fla.) led the ASU offense with 16 points. Senior Jaime Bennett (Woodstock, Ga.) and junior Whitney Tossie (Oviedo, Fla.) added 15 and 14 points, respectively. Tossie added four points and four steals, while Bennett led the team with six rebounds.
Shalonda Carter paced the WSSU offense with 22 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Eight of her 22 points came from the charity stripe. Kadina Baldwin and Lavontay Johnson added seven points apiece.
With a 42-28 halftime advantage, Appalachian used an 8-5 opening half run to reach its largest lead of the game of 17 points, 50-33, at the 11:14 mark. WSSU outscored ASU, 16-6 in the next seven minutes to cut the lead to seven at 56-49 with just over three minutes remaining in the game. Bennett quickly snapped the momentum with a layup 20 seconds later.
The Mountaineers hit seven free throws down the stretch to hold of the Lady Rams’ comeback and clinch a 66-52 win.
Both teams got off to slow starts in the opening half, with the first field goal coming at Winston-Salem State’s end courtesy of Lavontay Johnson at the 18:07 mark. Appalachian took a one-point lead off a Grimes’ three-pointer at the 17:26 mark.
With the Lady Rams holding a one-point, 15-14 lead, the Mountaineers ended the first half by outscoring the home team, 16-9 to go into the locker rooms with a 31-24 lead.
The Mountaineers take 10 days off before opening Southern Conference play as they host Elon, Saturday, December 16 at 1 p.m. in the first game of a women’s-men’s double header at the Holmes Center.
American 78, Furman 57
Washington, D.C. -- Liz Hayes scored 20 points, and American connected on a season-high 10 three-pointers as American defeated Furman 78-57 at Bender Arena on Tuesday night. American, which entered the game shooting 39 percent from behind the arc on the season, made 10-of-20 treys, including six in the first half.
Furman placed three players in double-figures in scoring, led by Jessica Lange with 14 points. Lee Stephens and Maggie McKemie both reached double-digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Eagles raced out to an early lead in the first half as Nicole Ryan buried three treys in the first half, as American led 40-24 at the intermission.
American built upon its lead in the second half, reaching a 26 point cushion at 54-28 with over 15 minutes remaining. Following a media timeout, Furman responded with a quick 9-0 run, led by back-to-back three point plays by McKemie, to trim the lead to 54-37with 13 minutes left in the second half.
Furman got as close as 15 in the second half at 59-44, but an 11-2 run by the Eagles built their lead back to 24 points with five minutes remaining in the game.
American dominated Furman on the boards, outrebounding the Lady Paladins 40-26. The Eagles also converted 18 offensive rebounds into 17 second chance points.
McKemie’s 10 points marked her career-high, topping her previous best of five points against Clemson last season. Lange led the way for Furman with four rebounds and two blocked shots. Melissa Liebschwager recorded three assists, and Stephens made two steals for the Lady Paladins.
With the win, American improves to 3-6 on the season. Furman falls to 4-4 overall with the loss. The Lady Paladins take a break for fall term finals, and return to action in their first conference contest of the season at Davidson on December 15.