Box Score CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Appalachian State University women's basketball team (1-6) gave the North Carolina Tar Heels all they could handle, but the upset bid fell short Saturday afternoon, 69-58, in Carmichael Arena.

App State Starters:  #2 Farrahn Wood, #10 Joi Jones, #23 KeKe Cooper, #34 Madi Story, #42 Mia Marshall

North Carolina Starters:  #5 Stephanie Watts, #10 Jamie Cherry, #24 Destinee Walker, #30 Hillary Summers, #34 Xylina McDaniel

A season-high three players scored in double figures with Kaila Craven tallying a team-high 15 points, just one shy of her career best. Cooper poured in a season-high 12 points on an efficient 5-for-7 shooting from the field to go along with nine boards, just one rebound short of her second double-double of the season. Story put in an all-around performance with 11 points, four boards and three assists.

Ashley Bassett-Smith and Marshall dominated the boards combining for 22 off the glass. Bassett-Smith set a new career-high racking up 12 rebounds while Marshall snagged 10 boards. Along with Cooper, the trio recorded 52.5 percent of the team's rebounds, as App State held a 59-44 edge over UNC (6-4).

Shooting and free throws once again doomed the Apps, firing up a season-high 80 field goal attempts but converted just 27.5 percent to the Tar Heels'  41 percent from the floor. North Carolina also doubled Appalachian's 16 free throw attempts with 32 foul shots.

App State's defense forced North Carolina into a season-high 23 turnovers while converting the miscues into 21 points. Appalachian also brought down 21 offensive boards to UNC's eight, and the reserves outscored UNC's bench 26-4. App State also assisted 13 of its 22-made field goals, which is the second consecutive game Appalachian has assisted on over 50 percent of its field goals.

The Apps and the Tar Heels both struggled from the field in the first half with both squads shooting under 32 percent from the floor. It wasn't until the 7:54 mark that either team would score with Story hitting the back end of a trip to the free throw line.

All UNC needed was a 10-0 run over the next 1:21 to go ahead, 10-1, before eventually going into the second quarter with a 17-6 advantage. The Apps wouldn't go away quietly outscoring the home team 12-9 in the second period. 

Like the first quarter, both teams didn't score for the first 2:59 of the frame. Trailing 19-9 with 3:40 left in the first half, a 6-2 spurt from App State sliced the deficit to six, 21-15, thanks to three-straight points from Bria Carter followed by a Wood trifecta. Appalachian outscored UNC 9-7 over the run to keep the gap to single digits, 26-18 before halftime.

The Apps came out on a roll to start the third quarter with an 11-6 run over the first 3:49 to bring the score to three, 32-29. Five different players, including a pair of treys from Craven and Wood spearheaded the spurt while Wood, Marshall and Story all chipped in with buckets. 

North Carolina would respond with a run of its own outscoring the Mountaineers 12-2 to take its largest lead at 13, 44-31. However, Appalachian dug deep during the rest of the contest to put the Tar Heels on the edge.

UNC went into the fourth with a 49-38 lead and at one point  held a 53-41 advantage with 8:04 left in the game. App State finally started getting shots to fall with five-straight made buckets that were highlighted with two apiece from Story and Cooper. The 10-2 run trimmed the deficit to four, 55-51, with 5:21 left in the contest.

Both teams traded baskets the rest of the way, preventing the Apps to go over the hump. Marshall's layup with 1:04 left gave the Apps a chance to get a stop-and-score to put App State within one possession, but UNC's Jamie Cherry hit her only 3-pointer to put the Tar Heels up by eight en route to the win.

Cherry led all scorers with 20 points while Stephanie Watts led UNC with 12 rebounds.

App State will return to the Holmes Center on Thursday against Richmond at 7 p.m.