CONWAY, S.C. - Turnovers, missed free throws and a fourth-quarter dry spell on offense plagued Appalachian State University women's basketball (7-9, 2-3 SBC) in a 60-55 setback to Coastal Carolina (7-8, 2-3 SBC) on Saturday at the HTC Center.
With Appalachian leading by five in the fourth quarter, 53-48, CCU finished the game on a 12-2 run for the five-point win. Appalachian, trailing three (58-55) with 23 seconds left in the contest, had a chance to tie whenÂ
Katelyn Doub attempted the potential game-tying 3-pointer, but would fall short.
Appalachian was outscored,18-8 in the final frame and shot just 25 percent.Â
The Mountaineers struggled protecting the ball, committing 27 turnovers to CCU's 16 miscues. CCU held a 19-9 edge in free throws while getting to the line 31 times to App State's 17 free throw attempts.Â
Joi Jones became the 24th player in Appalachian history to reach 1,000 points en route to tying a team high with 12 points.Â
Q. Murray also scored 12 points.Â
Madi Story grabbed a team-high seven rebounds along with eight points.Â
Appalachian captured a 15-10 lead going into the second quarter thanks to a 10-2 start in the first 4:21 of the game led by four different Mountaineers. The Mountaineers' defense held CCU to 25 percent shooting from the floor in the opening frame while shooting 40 percent.Â
Coastal Carolina scored seven of the first nine points to tie the game, 17-all, with 8:32 left in the contest. Appalachian responded by outscoring the Chanticleers, 17-8, during the rest of the half to go into the break with a 34-25 advantage. Appalachian held CCU scoreless at one point for 4:23 in the quarter while limiting the hosts to a 2-for-10 shooting performance from the floor over the stretch of the frame. Appalachian shot an efficient 7-for-11 from the floor during the second period while turning in a 50 percent shooting clip in the first half.
App received contributions from everyone in the first stanza, as eight of nine players who got in would score.Â
Appalachian continued to stay on top of Coastal stretching the lead to as much as 12 thanks to a trifecta from Amber Driver, capping off a 9-3 spurt in the opening minutes of the third frame. Murray sparked the surge with a pair of back-to-back buckets followed by a layup from Jones before Story found a wide-open Driver on the wing.Â
CCU sliced the gap to seven to end the third quarter and have the Apps with a 47-42 lead going into the final period. The Chanticleers would continue the comeback bringing the deficit to one, 49-48, but Story and Driver's layups gave the Apps a 53-48 lead before the drought that would doom the Black and Gold.
App will look to rebound next week in Georgia, starting with a 7 p.m. contest at Georgia State on Thursday in Atlanta.Â
