ELON, N.C.- Appalachian State University women's basketball used a late run to pull away from a tough Elon squad Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gym and run past the Phoenix 73-54. With the win, ASU completes the season sweep of the Phoenix and earns its sixth-straight victory, while remaining spotless on the road against Southern Conference opponents. The Apps also improve to 13-9 on the season and 9-4 in conference action, while Elon drops to 9-15 overall and 4-11 in league play.

After battling the entire first half, trying to stave off a chippy Elon squad, ASU found itself down for the final time at 33-31 as Urysla Cotten nailed a jumper to give the Phoenix the narrow advantage. However, that would be the last time that the Black and Gold faced a deficit, as the Mountaineers' posted a 9-2 streak, grabbing a 40-33 lead with 15:13 remaining.

From there on it was all Appalachian, as the Apps continued to come up big when it counted, and ended the game on yet another silencing run, outscoring Elon 16-2 in the waning minutes of play. Nine during the streak came from the charity stripe to lead to the exciting win.

It appeared as though the Mountaineers would pull away early in the first half, as eight Ashlen Dewart points, coupled with offensive production from Chakeitha Weldon and Kelsey Sharkey put the Apps up 17-12.

Sharkey had yet another stellar outing, earning her first career double-double, scoring 12 points and hauling in 13 rebounds. Weldon was impressive as well, tallying 16 points, finishing as the game's leading scorer.

Despite the five-point cushion, Elon would not go away quietly, posting a 10-0 run of their own to grab a three-point advantage at 24-21 with Lisa Archie hitting two free throws to cap off Elon's streak.

Ending first half action on a high note, junior Sam Ramirez drilled a trey as the shot clock expired to knot the game at 24 all. That three-pointer combined with a Sharkey layup and two final free throws put ASU up 28-26 heading into the break.

After falling behind just one time at the beginning of the second period, the Black and Gold went on to dominate the Phoenix and capture a 19-point victory.

Five Mountaineers ended the game in double-figure scoring, with Courtney Freeman making a name for herself on the offensive front as well, also recording her first career double-double, notching 13 boards and scoring 11 points.

Appalachian now returns home for the first time since January 23, welcoming Western Carolina to the Holmes Center, Monday February 8. The tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the High Country.

Notes: The 13 wins are the most in a season for the Black and Gold since the 2006-07 campaign, finishing that season 13-18 overall ... the nine SoCon wins are the most since the 2005-06 campaign, when ASU went 11-7 and finished fourth in the conference ... the win gives Appalachian its sixth-straight win on the season, its longest winning streak of the season and longest since the 1997-98 season when the Apps won six in a row spanning from January to February ... ASU is still spotless on the road against SoCon foes, and improve to 7-0 ... Darcie Vincent coached teams are now 3-1 against Elon ... the seven road wins against SoCon foes are the most since the 1995-96 season ... the win gives ASU its best start to the month (2-0) since the 2001-02 season.