February 14, 2007 - BOONE, N.C. - Despite 19 points and a game-high six steals from junior Whitney Tossie (Oviedo, Fla.), Appalachian State University women’s basketball suffered its fifth-straight loss, a 68-61 setback at the hands of Georgia Southern on Wednesday evening at the Holmes Center.

Appalachian (11-16, 5-11 SoCon) led by as many as nine points in the first half and held a 33-31 halftime advantage but was out-scored 37-28 in the second period.

Tiffany Brown led all scorers with 20 points for Georgia Southern (11-16, 6-10 SoCon). Ashley Melson chipped in with 18 points off the bench, helping GSU to a 29-8 advantage in bench points.

Freshman GiGi Thomas (Tallahassee, Fla.) added 14 points for the Mountaineers, while senior Jaime Bennett (Woodstock, Ga.) led the team on the boards with eight rebounds and chipped in seven points, four assists and three blocked shots, tying her career high.

ASU scored first in the second half and extended its two-point halftime lead to four at 35-31 with just over 18 minutes to go in the game. GSU followed with a quick bucket and continued to chip away at the Appalachian lead before grabbing their first lead since a 1-0 advantage in at the 18:50 mark in the first half at 44-43 with just under 12 minutes to play.

Georgia Southern’s lead came in the midst of a 12-0 run that gave the visitors a 50-43 advantage with nine and a half to go. Tossie broke Appalachian’s five-minute scoring drought with a jumper at the nine minute mark to pull ASU within five points at 50-45.

With just under a minute to play and the Mountaineers trailing by eight, Thomas converted an old-fashioned three-point play to pull her team within four points at 65-61 with 51.5 to go. GSU hit three free throws down the stretch and held ASU scoreless from that point to go on to a 68-61 victory.

Georgia Southern struck first with a free throw, before Appalachian used an 8-0 run to take an 8-1 lead with 17:23 to go in the first half. The Mountaineers went on to take their largest lead of the half of nine points at 14-5 with 13:29 remaining in the period.

The Mountaineers saw a 21-15 lead with 8:30 to go in the half vanish as the Lady Eagles tied the game up at 31 apiece with two minutes to play. A jumper by Carleena Costner (Gastonia, N.C.) gave ASU a two-point, 33-31 lead heading into halftime.

The Mountaineers look for their first win in the month of February as they close out their home season hosting Davidson on Tuesday, February 20 at 7 p.m. at the Holmes Center.