BOONE, N.C.- Appalachian State University women's basketball opened the 2010-11 season in style as the Mountaineers hammered Lees-McRae 110-43 in the squad's lone exhibition game of the season, Saturday morning at the Holmes Center. The game served as a preseason tune-up before the regular season gets underway in a little less than two weeks.

It was stout offensive production as six Mountaineers finished the game in double-figures scoring, along with a stifling Black and Gold defense, that held Lees-McRae to just 43 points that enabled ASU to capture the highly-impressive 67-point victory.

Appalachian started off strong and never looked back, jumping out to a commanding 16-2 advantage to start the contest.

Six early points by junior Frances Puello propelled the Apps offense, and buckets by sophomore standout Anna Freeman pushed Appalachian's lead to double-digits, up by 14 points.

Puello had 11 points against LMC, while Freeman totaled 21 points in addition to six rebounds and three blocks.

The Mountaineer offense was relentless, as a layup by Anna Freeman extended Appalachian's advantage to 25 points and a trey by Puello gave ASU its largest lead of the contest thus far, up by 27.

The Apps scored the final two buckets of the first half to take a 31-point lead heading into intermission, making the score 51-20 in ASU's favor.

Picking up where they left off, the Apps opened second half play on fire, as sophomore Courtney Freeman nailed a layup and the ensuing free throw to keep Appalachian's offense clicking.

Courtney Freeman ended the contest, with a game-best 21 points in addition to game-high eight rebounds.

Tough on both ends of the floor, the Mountaineer defense held Lees-McRae without a bucket in the second half until a little over five minutes into play, when Kasey Haynes hit a layup.
Haynes closed out the game with three-points for Lees-McRae, while teammate Megan Tate recorded 17 on 4-9 shooting.

Not only did ASU limit Lees-McRae to a dismal 20.8 shooting percentage from the field, the squad also out-rebounded the Lady Bobcats 54-26.

Senior Sam Ramirez found her hot shooting hand in the second half as well, as she contributed to ASU's offense, drilling a three-pointer to give Appalachian the 94-34 lead with a little over five minutes remaining.

For the second straight year against Lees-McRae, Appalachian was able to go over the century mark, as a Haley Hackett jumper put ASU at 100 points.

Not stopping, freshman Hillary Southworth was able to get on the board as well for ASU as she scored four straight points, including draining two final free throws at the end to push ASU to the lopsided victory.

The 2010-11 edition of the Mountaineers now turn their attention to their regular-season opener, which is set for Friday, November 12 against former-conference rival Marshall. The Mountaineers and Thundering Herd will square off at 5 p.m. in Farmville, Va. as a part of the Longwood Tournament.