CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball finished out the regular season with a win on Saturday, as they took the game against Western Carolina 63-56.
The game was close all forty minutes, until the Mountaineers (13-15, 10-8 SoCon) were able to pull away toward the end, splitting the series against the Catamounts (13-16, 7-11).
Bria Huffman started the game out with a steal and fast break layup to put the Mountaineers up 2-0 in the first 20 seconds of the game, but the Catamounts quickly responded with two points of their own. Appalachian would continue to find points, but Western Carolina would hit a three-pointer to stay with them, making the score 8-5 with an App State lead at the first media timeout.
From there the Mountaineers would struggle to find baskets, scoring only two points in the next four minutes as Western Carolina tied the game 10. The Apps would recover, leading 16-12 with nine minutes left in the first half. The Catamounts would stay with the Apps, but would not take a lead until 36 seconds left in the first half from a free throw. Western Carolina led at halftime 25-24.
KeKe Cooper led Appalachian in the first half with eight points and seven rebounds. The Mountaineers shot 44.4 percent (12-27) from the floor.
Justin Taylor was the scoring leader for Western in the first half with seven points as the Catamounts shot a 26.7 (8-30) field goal percentage.
The game continued to be a close one in the second half as Western Carolina led by just three points until the 15:32 minute mark. Cooper would convert on a three-point play to tie the game at 31. The Mountaineers found a steal from Maryah Sydnor on the in-bounds pass, where she would connect for two points and help the Apps take a 33-31 lead.
The Catamounts would not go away yet, going on an 8-2 run. A three-pointer from Lindsay Simpson would help the Catamounts take a 44-42 lead with 7:24 to play.
From there Huffman would find two steals and six points to help launch Appalachian to a 10-2 run and take a 52-46 lead, but that would not be the end for Western Carolina as they hit two quick shots for five points to help them trail by only one with three minutes to play.
Appalachian hit their next two shots and it would look as though they would take the game easily as Michelle Taylor hit a free throw to make the score 57-51 with 46 seconds to play, but once again Western would come up big from behind the arc, hitting a shot to trail by only three points with 32.8 seconds remaining.
The Mountaineers hit all six of their free throws in the remaining seconds and finished with a 61-56 victory over the Catamounts.
Sydnor led the team with 20 points, scoring 18 of them in the second half alone. Cooper and Huffman each notched 15 points in the win, while Cooper recorded nine rebounds and five blocks and Huffman found four steals.
The Mountainers shot 47.2 percent from the floor on the day, while grabbing 36 rebounds and turning the ball over 18 times.
Kristen Lyon led Western Carolina with 13 points as the team pulled down 31 rebounds and recorded 16 turnovers.