Georgia Southern 72, Appalachian State 58

STATESBORO, Ga. ? Shawnda Atwood and Ashley Melson combined for 30 points as the Georgia Southern women’s basketball held on to defeat Appalachian State, 72-58, Sunday at Hanner Fieldhouse.

With the win, Georgia Southern improves to 4-6 overall and 1-1 in league play, while Appalachian State falls to 1-7 overall and 0-2 in conference action.

Up by six points, 61-55, with 5:14 remaining, Appalachian State found itself in foul trouble, and Georgia Southern scored its final 11 points from the free-throw line to secure its first Southern Conference victory and remain undefeated at home.

Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) tallied a team-high 16 points on 6-of-14 field goal shooting and pulled down eight rebounds.  Melson (Newnan, Ga.) scored eight of her 14 points in the remaining two minutes from the charity stripe.  She pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, just one shy of a double-double.  Tiffany Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) followed with 13 points of her own, hitting all four of her free-throw attempts.

Mountaineer Whitney Randolph led all scorers and rebounders with a career-best 20 points and 10 boards, shooting 9-of-16 from the field. She was followed by Sam Ramirez with 12 points, each bucket coming from behind the three-point line.

Only after climbing back from a seven-point, first-half deficit did the Lady Eagles take a one point lead going into the break, 36-35.  It was a lead they would not give up for the remainder of the contest.  Before the 14-point final advantage, the Lady Eagles’ largest lead was 11 points with 9:51 remaining in the second half.

The Mountaineers managed to produce an 8-2 run over the next three minutes to cut the deficit down to six points, 59-53.  But the Lady Eagles were steady from the free-throw line in the remaining minutes to stop the ASU rally.

Georgia Southern’s depth made a difference in the contest as the Lady Eagles produced a decided 33-21 advantage in bench points.  Georgia Southern won the rebounding margin 48-37, but Appalachian State edged GSU 24-18 in points in the paint.  Turnovers plagued both squads as Appalachian State scored 19 points off of GSU’s 23 turnovers, compared to Georgia Southern’s 14 points off of ASU’s 21 miscues.

Georgia Southern will continue its two-game homestand, Thursday (Dec. 20) as it plays host to Presbyterian.  The non-conference clash is slated for 5 p.m. at Hanner Fieldhouse, and is the first of a two-game doubleheader with the men’s team as they follow with Asbury.

Appalachian State returns to the court on Wednesday December 19 at Central Florida at 7 p.m. The second game of the UCF Holiday Classic is against La Salle on December 20.