BOONE, N.C. - Freshman Sad? Means announced her presence with authority in her collegiate debut, leading the Mountaineers with 17 points in a 67-65 setback against Marshall in the season opener on Friday night.

Appalachian shot a decent 44 percent from the field and 53 percent from downtown but was unable to overcome 20 offensive boards by Marshall.

Catherine Williams scored the first points for the season to give the Mountaineers (0-1) a 2-0 lead 90 seconds into the game. Sophomore Brittney Spencer handled a majority of the ASU scoring over the next seven minutes with nine points. The guard helped spark a 9-0 run as ASU overcame a 14-9 deficit to take an 18-14 lead 12 minutes into the half.

Spencer finished the night with a career-high nine points and added two rebounds and an assist. Williams battled foul trouble early on in her debut and finished the game with four points on 2-of-2 shooting and a rebound in nine minutes on the court.

The teams went back and forth for the remainder of the half as ASU led by as many as eight points in the half after Means knocked down her second trey of the game to make it 31-23. The Mountaineers took a 31-25 advantage into the locker room.

In addition to her 17 points, Means pulled down six rebounds and added a block and an assist to go along with 7-for-10 shooting on the night. She sank all three attempts from beyond the arc.

Frances Hernandez came on strong out of the intermission with a three-pointer with an assist from Sam Ramirez. Marshall (1-0) pulled within two points at 38-36 but Means responded with seven of Appalachian's next 13 poins to help establish a six-point advantage at 47-41 seven points into the second half.

Hernandez sank four of her seven attempts from downtown and dished out a pair of assists and closed out the night with 13 points. Ramirez handed out a career high 10 assists to go along with four points and four boards. Her 10 assists were the most by a Mountaineer since Whitney Tossie had 10 against Georgetown in November 2006.

The Thundering Herd methodically crept back within one point at 60-59 as three minutes remained in regulation and tied the game with 1:05 to play, 64-64. The visitors then stole the ball back and took a lead on a free throw with 30 seconds to play.

Means had a shot blocked with 10 seconds to go and Canesha Edwards leapt the highest out of the pile to grab the offensive rebound but was called for traveling as she came down with the ball.

Edwards led the team with 10 rebounds in the game. The freshman completed the double-double with 11 points, five of which came from the free throw line. She also led the team with five of ASU's nine steals in the game.

After the Herd cushioned the lead with a pair of free throws as the clock struck :05, Ramirez got the ball up to Hernandez in the corner for a last chance trey to tie. Hernandez was fouled on her attempt and was awarded three shots from the foul line with just four-tenths of a second remaining.

The first shot rimmed out before the sophomore sank the second to pull within 67-65. Hernandez intentionally missed the third shot but the deflection fell towards the baseline as time expired.

The win pulled Marshall within one game of .500 in the all-time series as ASU's lead shrinks to 20-19 in the first meeting between the former SoCon foes since the 1996-97 season.

The Apps face another Conference USA foe on Tuesday as coach Darcie Vincent's squad travels to Greenville to face East Carolina at 7 p.m.