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Monday, 20 February 2012 22:52 |
The Appalachian State women’s basketball team (21-4, 15-2) could not overcome its first-half shooting woes against Davidson (19-7, 15-2) Saturday.
The Wildcats were able to hang on and defeat the Mountaineers 61-54.
“We just weren’t able to put the ball in the basket,” Coach Darcie Vincent said. “It was the same thing when they came to our place earlier this season.”
Davidson jumped on Appalachian early in the first half, making the usually front-running Mountaineers play catch-up for the majority of the game.
The Wildcats took their biggest lead in the opening 20 minutes, when Sophia Aleksandravicius converted a layup with 47 seconds remaining in the half. That conversion gave Davidson the 26-17 advantage heading into the locker room for halftime.
“We came out timid on both ends of the floor,” junior Courtney Freeman said. “It seemed like we were hesitant to shoot the ball in the first half.”
After a halftime speech from Coach Vincent, the Apps went on a 15-7 run to open the second half and pulled within 33-32, with 13:30 remaining in the game.
“We didn’t really play our game,” freshman Maryah Sydnor said. “But we were able to battle back in the second half and give ourselves a chance at winning the game.”
The next 10 minutes of the contest saw two teams battling with high stakes: who would be in the driver’s seat for winning the SoCon regular season title.
Sydnor hit two free throws for the Apps with 3:39 left on the clock, tying the score at 48-48. The tie score would be as close as App would get for the remainder of the game, as Davidson closed out the contest on a 13-6 run.
“[Davidson] just sat back in 2-3 zone,” Vincent said. “We had open looks, we just didn’t hit them.”
Syndor paced the Apps with 17 points and 11 rebounds on her way to recording her first collegiate double-double. Freeman had a big second half, scoring 11 of her 13 points in the game’s final 20 minutes.
“Mo had a good game for us offensively,” Vincent said. “Court gave us a really good half, but we could have used more from her.”
Reserve point guard Raven Gray came off the bench to score 10 points. Appalachian’s usual strong bench production was not there and Coach Vincent was not shy in hiding her displeasure.
“We got nothing from our bench tonight - there’s nothing else to say,” Vincent said. “It’s sad, because a lot of our bench players are juniors and seniors.”
The Mountaineers now face an uphill battle to achieve a goal they set at the beginning of the season: winning the SoCon regular season title.
“We need to win out to get a share of the regular season title,” Vincent said. “We know what we need to do.”
Appalachian will take on Furman Monday at 6 p.m. in the Holmes Convocation Center. The match-up with the Paladins is the last home game for seniors T.C. Weldon, Canesha Edwards, Ashleigh Kelly and Catherine Williams.
Story: TYLER WOOD, Sports Reporter |
