BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University women's basketball used a late run to fend off a pesky Lenoir-Rhyne squad, 56-40, Monday evening in the Holmes Center.
While trailing the Bears, 30-29, with 8:49 in the third quarter, the Mountaineers took control outscoring LR 27-10 over the final 18:49 of the game. Appalachian played some stingy defense limiting the visitors to 4-of-20 shooting during the stretch and 13 turnovers.
Four Mountaineers recorded double-digit scoring efforts on the night, with senior Bria Carter leading all with 11 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Ashley Bassett-Smith and Joi Jones also chipped in 10 points apiece, with Bassett-Smith nabbing seven boards.
Freshman Bayley Plummer also crashed the boards hard, bringing down seven rebounds to go along with her 11 points. Madi Story stuffed the stat sheet with a team-high four assists along with five points and seven boards.
App State was unable to sink a three-pointer during the game but made up for the lost points by going 16-21 (76.2 percent) from the charity stripe.
Appalachian game out of the gate in the first 3:50 with a hot 10-3 start. Four student-athletes scored during the run, including four points from Jones to lead the charge. But the Bears responded with a run of their out scoring 11 of the next 15 points over a 5:07 span that tied the game at 14-apiece. Both squads traded buckets until Lenoir-Rhyne hit a free throw with one second left in the first frame to take a 19-18 advantage.
Following a layup by Jones with 9:29 left in the first half to put the Apps up by one, 20-19, LR went on a 7-0 spurt to capture its largest lead of the game at six, 26-20. The Black and Gold struggled from the floor during the run going on a 6:13 scoring drought before Plummer converted on a layup, which sparked a 9-2 run to end the half with a 29-28 lead.
Appalachian shot 50 percent from inside the arc going 12-for-24 on two-point attempts.
Coupled with the Mountaineers' impressive defensive effort, a 9-0 run when facing a 32-31 deficit gave the Mountaineers the lead for good. Five combined free throws from Jones and Q Murray and a pair of jumpers from Story and Carter pushed the Apps to a 40-32 before LR cut it to six at the end of the period, 40-34.
Appalachian never let the Bears reach closer than six points the rest of the way while pushing the lead to double-digits thanks to a free throw from Bassett-Smith to make it a 10-point game with 3:55 left in the contest, 46-36. Appalachian closed out the game with a 10-4 run en route to a 16-point victory for the home team.
After shooting 39.3 percent from the field in the first half, the Mountaineers limited LR to 23.1 percent (5-for-21) shooting from the floor in the second half. LR committed 24 turnovers for the game while the Black and Gold did an excellent job of protecting the rock with just eight miscues, a vast improvement from the 21 turnovers committed against Coker last Wednesday. The 24 mistakes from the Bears led to 22 points for the Apps.
The Mountaineers starts their year off with a bang, heading to their season opener against No. 21 DePaul on Friday, Nov. 11 at 9 p.m. ET as part of Maggie Dixon Classic.
