Category Archives: Basketball (W)

Appalachian Men & Women Sweep Furman

Posted on by
Reply

Women’s:

Appalachian needs to get respond quickly to its first home loss of the season. The best way to do that might be by playing the Furman Paladins. Surprisingly, Furman has won two games in a row over Western Carolina and Samford, and has been playing a bunch of close games of late. Furman only lost by three to conference leading Chattanooga, which represents their only loss in their past five games. Appalachian made rather easy work of the Paladins earlier this season in a fourteen point win. Furman (10-12, 6-7) is playing for seeding down the stretch. They are only 2.5 games behind Appalachian and 1.5 games behind fifth place Samford. If they could finish around 10-10 in conference play, that could sneak them into the sixth seed, and perhaps into the fifth seed, depending on Samford and other tiebreakers.

Appalachian is a much more skilled team than Furman, and I fully expect the Mountaineers to respond to their poor performance on Saturday. Furman is always a game team, and they beat Appalachian two years ago in Boone in one of the final homes games of the season. The game had no impact on conference standings, but it was a gloomy loss.

Postgame:

It was a big night for the stars of the women’s team. Appalachian had to fight to keep Furman at bay for the entire game, but their efforts were good enough for a ten point win. Anna Freeman got behind the defense for several easy layups that led to her shooting 9/15 from the field for 24 points. Anna also was big on the glass, pulling down 12 rebounds. Maryah Sydnor was also effective scoring 19 points and Kelsey Sharkey continued her strong play with 10 points and seven rebounds.

As a team, Appalachian only attempted three shots from behind the arc, but went to the free throw line often. The Mountaineers were 19/25 from the line, outscoring Furman by twelve points at the charity stripe. Appalachian also outrebounded Furman by nine and actually hit the offensive boards for one of the first times all season. The Mountaineers had been getting killed on the offensive glass, but grabbed eleven on Monday evening. Next up for the Mountaineers is Wofford on Saturday for the annual Play4Kay charity game.

C-Note: Anna Freeman scored her 1700th point in the first half, and her 24 points for the game took her to 1,710 points for her career. Anna grabbed her 900th rebound three games ago against Georgia Southern and currently has 918 career rebounds.

Men:

Appalachian and Furman will face off for the first and only time this season in the regular season. Furman has had a rough year, but has been playing better of late as well. The Paladins(6-16, 3-8) are in the midst of a three game losing streak. Their three conference wins are over UNCG, Georgia Southern and Wofford, all since January 14th. The Paladins are 1-9 on the road this year overall, that only win coming at UNCG.

Colin Reddick is the only Paladin averaging in double figures at 12.9 points per game. Charlie Reddick adds 9.8 points per game and Stephen Croone adds 9.3 points per game. Both Reddick’s lead Furman in rebounding, combining for almost twelve rebounds per game. Furman is fresh off of a four game homestand and will be playing their first road game since January 24th.

Appalachian remains in contention for the fourth seed in the conference tournament. Appalachian is in a tie for fifth with Western Carolina at 6-6, sitting only a half game behind Samford, who sits at 6-5, having played one fewer game. Appalachian has already split with Western this season, and will play Samford in a couple of weeks at home. This game is one that the Mountaineers need in order to stay in contention. It is a game that should be considered a must-win, especially with a big game at Elon on Thursday looming. The remainder of the schedule for Appalachian stay in the state of North Carolina. Three home games follow the road games at Elon, and Greensboro on Sunday.

The spread has opened up at 7.5 points. Furman has covered some games recently, and that is a shaky number. If it goes higher, I will be highly tempted to take Furman.

2:13 UPDATE: Line has dropped to 6.5, which I fully expected. I believe that is a great 50/50 number. Furman is bad, but can Appalachian respond after the whooping at Davidson? We will ride the Apps.

Postgame:

Another game, another long stretch without scoring points, allowing the visiting team to get back in the game. Appalachian led by 18 points in the first half, at 34-16 with 4:13 remaining in the first half. It appeared Appalachian was going to cruise to an easy victory, until the Mountaineers decided to go to the locker room with time still remaining. Not only did Appalachian not hit a field goal in the final four minutes of the first half, they could not even get to the free throw line. They went scorless in the final minutes of the first half.

Furman pulled to within six points at halftime and slowly chipped away at the Mountaineer lead. With 1:31 to play, Furman cut the deficit to one point after hitting a three. Appalachian would outscore Furman 8-3 in the final ninety seconds to hold onto second place in the SoCon North. Chattanooga knocked off Samford to give the Bulldogs their sixth conference loss, one half game behind Appalachian and Western who are tied for second, 2,5 games behind first place Elon. Appalachian vists Elon on Thursday night, which will basically eliminate the Mountaineers from SoCon North contention if they lose.

Nathan Healy had a double-double for the Mountaineers with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Michael Obacha scored a season high 14 points, by going 6/6 from the free throw line. Obacha has been shooting 50% from the free throw line prior to the Furman game.

Appalachian fell one point shy of covering the spread in heartbreaking fashion. That is the second time this season Appalachian lost a huge lead at home with a manageable spread and lost the cover. The other was Georgia Southern. We expect Appalachian to be underdogs to Elon on Thursday night.

Women’s Basketball 49 Davidson 56

Posted on by
Reply

Just a little over a month ago, Appalachian and Davidson played a game exactly how most fans would see it, for one half. And suddenly, Davidson figured out the Mountaineers. The Wildcats went to a zone defense, and the Mountaineers were finished. Appalachian could not get in the paint, could not hit an outside shot, and allowed Davidson to run away from them. Not only did Davidson beat Appalachian, but they created a blueprint for the rest of the conference to follow. It was not rocket science by any stretch of the imagination. Davidson took away the strengths of the Mountaineer game. Appalachian’s strengths are getting open looks close to the basket, and hitting free throws when the defense gets overly aggressive. Appalachian is not a three-point shooting team. Statistics may show they shoot a high percentage from behind the arc, but the three is not a huge part of their offensive game plan.

Davidson took advantage of their size down low. Davidson is tall, but not extremely athletic. They can frusturate you as equally as their men’s team can. The Wildcats have been rolling through the SoCon, outside of a home loss to first place Chattanooga. Part of that is due to scheduling. Davidson has played the better teams in conference pla,y all at home thus far. Of their final nine games, five of them on the road are all against conference contending teams. Davidson not only visits Appalachian on Saturday, but also faces a three games in eight days road stretch against Chattanooga, Samford and Elon.

On the other hand, Appalachian’s three conference losses are all on the road. The Mountaineers spent January in a fog after losing to Davidson. They were beating teams they were supposed to, but it was not looking very pretty. The Mountaineers are buried in fourth place in the conference, three games behind Chattanooga, and two behind second place Davidson. Since losing back to back games at Samford and Chattanooga, Appalachian has won their last two games convincingly. They set the tone with tough defense which led to easy buckets. Look for more of that against Davidson. Anna Freeman has played much better the last two games than the previous ten or so and that is what this team needs to succeed.

Postgame:

Davidson can do something to Appalachian that no other team can in the conference. Their size can completely take Appalachian out of its game. The result all but eliminates Appalachian from regular season title contention. Davidson usually does not blow people out, and scores just enough points it seems to get away with a win. To say this game was poorly officiated does not describe the level of incompetence the officials showed. Outside of having zero control of the game from the start, two of the three looked overwhelmed from the start. Davidson was called for two fouls in the first half, and ten in the second half. The issue was that Davidson was called for five of those ten second half fouls in the final eight minutes of the game. Davidson was allowed to play with an aggressiveness that the Mountaineers were not afforded.

Complaining about 0fficiating usually is not very kosher in the blogosphere, but it was valid. Outside of inconsistent foul calls, there were timeouts granted to Davidson when they did not possess the ball, plenty of travelling violations that were called jumpballs and other inconsistencies. Davidson won the game getting to foul line eleven more times than the Mountaineers in a game that played sloppily on both sides.

Maryah Sydnor scored 18 points to lead the Mountaineers while Anna Freeman added 15 points. Anna Freeman was held to a season low three rebounds and was only 5/17 from the floor, including 3/12 from behind the arc. The twelve three point attempts were the most for Freeman on the season. Up next is Furman on Monday evening, a part of a double header with the men playing the Paladins following the women’s game at 5:30. Appalachian will now play for tournament seeding for the remainder of the season. Hopefully the Mountaineers can avoid Davidson until the final, if they can get there.

Women’s Basketball 67 Georgia Southern 54

Posted on by
Reply

The final does not look all that impressive, but a road conference win is just what Appalachian needed. The Mountaineers had lost three conference road games, and won another in overtime. Appalachian extended a twelve point halftime lead to twenty points late in the game. Southern finished the game on a seven point run in the final minute to make the score look more respectable, but this game was never really in doubt for Appalachian.

Appalachian was dominated on the boards in the first half, getting outrebounded 22-13 by the Eagles. The Apps responded in the second half with an eleven rebound edge to win the battle on the boards. One disturbing statistic was the turnovers. Appalachian forced Georgia Southern into 14 first half turnovers while only committing three themselves. In the second half, Appalachian committed 19 turnovers, which is enough for an entire game. That is very uncharacteristic for the Mountaineers. Finally, after hitting 6/12 threes against Elon, Appalachian went back to their old form, and went without a three point basket for the entire game. Eventually, this has to improve. With Davidson and their zone defense coming to Boone on Saturday, Appalachian is going to have to hit some. Davidson is too big for Appalachian to rely on their post play.

Anna Freeman had her second big game in a row with 18 points and 6 rebounds, leading all scorers. Maryah Sydnor added 13 points and 8 rebounds. Courtney Freeman scored 15 points and snagged six rebounds. Kelsey Sharkey played another great defensive game with 11 rebounds and 7 steals, while also chipping in 7 points. From Kelsey, you will take that every game, although her weakness is her free throw shooting. She accounted for Appalachian’s six missed free throws by herself.

Women’s Basketball 80 Elon 62

Posted on by
Reply

Appalachian is in a very precarious spot. A win is highly needed and a very surprising Elon team is coming to town looking to steal a win from the reeling Mountaineers. Elon has jumped out to an 8-2 conference record, including a win over Chattanooga at home. The Phoenix hold a game and a half lead over Appalachian in the conference standings and currently sit in third place, only one game out of first place Chattanooga and Davidson. Elon is 3-6 on the road this season, one of the worst records on the road of SoCon teams. Their wins include at Western Carolina, Charleston and Wofford. Appalachian will easily be their biggest road test thus far in conference play outside of Davidson, who beat the Phoenix by fifteen last weekend.

Elon is led by Ali Ford, their senior guard who leads the conference in scoring at 17.1 points per game. Ford is quietly campaigning for player of the year honors by also leading the conference in free throw percentage and ranks second in three pointers made per game. Ford has had up and down games in her career against Appalachian, having never beaten the Mountaineers in seven career games. Ford will usually have a good half, but has rarely put together a complete game for Elon. If Ford is not on her game, Elon will have a hard time beating Appalachian. Kelsey Evans has also had a very nice season for Elon, averaging 14.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per contest.

Appalachian has been on somewhat of a slide for a couple weeks. They are still playing good basketball, but nowhere near their potential. That should point to how well Appalachian can play. Even though they have been playing below their expectations, Samford still needed a buzzer beater to win, and Chattanooga lost a thirteen point advantage before holding on. Appalachian’s toughest games this season have been on the road, so hosting Elon will be different for them. Elon will be Appalachian’s toughest home opponent this season.

Anna Freeman needs to become slightly more selfish with the ball. She is the best player in the conference, and has underachieved slighty this season. Playing against Ali Ford should give her all the motivation she needs to have a good game against the Phoenix. Appalachian will also need more production from the wing, including getting the perimeter game going with Katie Mallow and Farrahn Wood. The three pointers need to start falling so Appalachian can open up the defense and start hitting the paint with more consistency.

Postgame:

Darcie Vincent employed a bold strategy against Elon and it worked to perfection. Vincent went with Jessica Barrios to start at point guard in an obvious defense strategy that worked to perfection. We are pretty sure Barrios started her first career game, and spent most of the game smothering Elon star Ali Ford. Vincent then through off Ford by rotating Raven Gary and Michelle Taylor against Ford for the remainder of the game. That strategy could not have worked better. Ford picked up a technical foul during the game, that led to her fouling out with four minutes to play. By that time, the game was well decided, as Appalachian led the entire game. The Mountaineers shot the ball from all spots on the court 47% from the field, 50% from three, and 71% from the free throw line.

Ali Ford still managed to score her 18 points, but it was a very quiet night from her. Appalachian kept her getting hot from behind the arc, which is one of her biggest strengths. Eight of her eighteen points came on the free throw line, and she turned the ball over seven times. Outside of Ford, Elon could not find a second threat to score in Ford’s stead. No other Elon players scored in double figures, and the Phoenix could only manage shooting 30% for the game.

We were looking for Appalachian to involve Anna Freeman more in the offense, and they did. Freeman scored 26 points, her second highest total of the season, while also adding ten rebounds. It was the sixth double digit rebounding game of the season, and Anna’s fourth double-double of the season. The Apps are 4-0 this season when Freeman secures a double-double. Maryah Sydnor added 19 points and six rebounds while Kelsey Sharkey added 10 point and nine rebounds in 26 minutes.

Women’s Basketball 64 Samford 66

Posted on by
Reply

When Appalachian and Samford play on Monday Night, plenty will be on the line. The loser will have their third or fourth loss in conference play, and will have an extremely uphill battle if they plan on winning the conference battle. Samford has ended Appalachian’s conference tournament the last three years. The Bulldogs use a Princeton-style offense by shooting a lot of three pointers and spreading the ball out. They strive on hitting those three pointers and getting long rebounds. It does help Appalachian that their last opponent Chattanooga loves the three point shot as well, so despite the loss, it was good practice for Appalachian.

Samford is 9-9 on the season and has been known for their defensive prowess. They have  only allowed 52.6 points per game. Samford had a season long streak of four games allowing under 50 points snapped after playing Davidson and Chattanooga, who 63 and 66 points respectively. In two games this season, they gave up less than thirty points. Samford is 6-2 at home this season, while all of Appalachian’s four losses this season have come on the road. Samford is led by Jazmine Martin and her 10.6 points per game. Hannah Dawson averages 7.1 rebounds per game, and 6.8 points per contest. Shelby Campbell scores 9.3 points per game. Six Samford starters have hit 14 or more three pointers on the season.

Anna Freeman continues to lead the Mountaineers in scoring (17.1) and rebounding (8.6). Anna also leads the team in blocks, steals and assists. Maryah Sydnor’s strong play of late has edged her ahead as the team’s second leading scorer at 14.8 points per game while she also adds 6.8 rebounds per game. Courtney Freeman rounds out the double digit scorers with 14.1 per game.

Postgame:

Appalachian dropped its second straight game in a row on the road as Samford hit a driving layup as time expired to propel the Bulldogs to a 66-64 win. Maryah Sydnor hit a long two point jumper with seven seconds remaining to tie the game at 64. Samford quickly inbounded and drove the length of the floor, beating the buzzer and giving the Bulldogs the win.

The first half was a mess as Appalachian trailed Samford by thirteen points, and only scoring twenty points in the first half. Samford was hitting their threes and knocking down their free throws, while Appalachian went without a three pointer for their third consecutive half. Samford recorded more assists in the first half than Appalachian did made field goals.

The second half was a different story, as the Mountaineers slowly began to trim away at the Samford lead. The Bulldogs went to a very conservative offensive approach, almost playing not to lose, and Appalachian dialed up the defensive pressure. The final stats will not tell the story of the game, as Appalachian made up ground in many categories. Appalachian eventually forced Samford into 27 turnovers and turned that into 31 points. The Mountaineers were also dominate in the paint, doubling up Samford 36-18. Appalachian made 23 field goals to the Samford’s seventeen. The difference however was on the free throw line. Twenty-five of Samford’s 66 points came on the free throw line, while Appalachian only managed making 16/25 from the free throw line. Samford also hit seven three pointers to only two for the Mountaineers.

Appalachian has now fallen in a huge hole, as they do not control their own destiny to contend for a conference title. They are going to need some help down the stretch, and luckily seven of their final eleven games will be played at home, where they have yet to lose. The Mountaineers must find a rhythm, because they are not firing on all cylinders this season and have not been for awhile. I believe they could play with a little more agression on the offensive end and attack the basket. They should use their great team free throw shooting to their advantage and get to the line thirty times a game. Force the opponent to react to you instead of playing so passively. Elon comes to to Boone on Saturday, and this a great time for Appalachian to reassert themselves in all aspects of the game. Elon is not a pushover, and is actually ahead of the Mountaineers in the conference standings. This team needs to get its swagger back, yeah I said that, and just get back to having fun and playing the game.

Women’s Basketball 55 Chattanooga 59

Posted on by
Reply

This game is just about as big as it gets for the Appalachian Women. This game has enough story lines that we might just leave something out. First place Chattanooga (15-3, 8-1) and third place Appalachian (12-3, 6-1) will battle for supremacy in the SoCon this evening. All of the other SoCon games will have tipped off before App and Chattanooga play, so this game may very well be for first place when the night is over with. Both teams have suffered only one SoCon loss, Chattanooga to a quicker Elon team, and Appalachian to a bigger Davidson team. Both teams have defeated teams from higher rated conferences on the road, and tonight will mark the first time Appalachian will play on the same court as ex-Mountaineer Ashlen Dewart since the 2011 SoCon Championship game, where Dewart conveniently missed two free throws that would have given Appalachian the championship.

Chattanooga began thir season with a surprising win over Tennessee. The Volunteers are to Chattanooga as UNC-Chapel Hill is the to the Mountaineers. Their nemesis from the ‘big city” who wears a color that dominates the state. Since, Chattanooga, has lost only on the road, to St. Mary’s, Auburn, and Elon in overtime. The Mocs are perfect at home.

Star center Faith Dupree was injured early in the season, which gave way for Ashlen Dewart to shine while Dupree was sidelined for nearly three months. Dewart transferred from Appalachian after her sophomore season, and is in the same recruiting class as Anna Freeman, Kelsey Sharkey and Courtney Freeman. Story says she was asked by Darcie Vincent to drop some weight. She refused, and transferred to Chattanooga to play with her sister on a whim. Dewart is the team’s leading scorer at 15.9 points per game, but is not nearly as dominant as her numbers would suggest. She is a tempo player, and simply cannot run with Appalachian’s pressing style of play. Dewart averages 24.2 minutes played per game and can be clumsy at times, as she leads the team in fouls and turnovers. To put it simply she can be beaten easily. I am sure Appalachian has circled this game on their calendar for awhile, not just because of the impact it will have on the conference standings, but because of how Dewart left. You just don’t leave Appalachian and get away with it. I can guarantee, no matter the result, Anna Freeman will have the last word in this rivalry before the season is over.

The Mocs play a frusturating style of offense. Their three pointers need to be falling for them to be successful. Coach Wes Moore may think he can pound the ball inside the post with Dewart and Dupree, who are both similarly sized women, and open up the long ball, but Appalachian plays some of the best defense in the conference. As soon as Dupree or Dewart put the ball on the floor, Appalachian will double down and force mayhem for the Mocs on offense. This will be a great game to watch, and it should be available for free at gomocs.com.

Postgame:

This game stunk for so many reasons. First off, listening to Chattanooga’s play by play broadcaster was atrocious. He called out officials by their name, Told to stick their whistles where the sun does not shine, and made sexist comments that suggested male officials do not know how to officiate the women’s game. How he still has a job is beyond me. Secondly, Chattanooga won this game how they always do, by hitting their three pointers. Get them out of their gym, and the story is different and always has been. Chattanooga did not shoot a great percentage from three, but did hit seven of them. The difference, Appalachian was 0/9 from behind the arc.

Ashlen Dewart had a huge double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, but did not score in the second half. Taylor Hall also had a big double-double for the Mocs with 15 points and 11 rebounds. The rebounds were also another big story of the game. Chattanooga secured sixteen offensive rebounds in the game. Appalachian managed three double digit scorers, but neither was Anna Freeman, who only scored eight points.

These two teams are very close to each other in talent, and it all comes down to who hits the clutch shots. Chattanooga won this time around, but the Mocs will have to visit Appalachian in a month on senior day. Appalachian has now lost both conference games on the road that we considered big games. Davidson at the beginning of the month, and Chattanooga with Samford looming on Monday night. Appalachian really needs to steal one on Monday before returning home next weekend. The top five schools in conference play have separated themselves in the conference race. Appalachian has Samford on Monday and Elon at home next Saturday.

SoCon Women’s Basketball SoCon Overall
Team Record Pct Home Away Neutral Streak Record Pct Home Away Neutral Streak
Chattanooga 9-1 .900 5-0 4-1 0-0 W6 16-3 .842 8-0 7-3 1-0 W6
Davidson 8-1 .889 5-1 3-0 0-0 W3 11-8 .579 6-1 4-6 1-1 W3
Elon 7-2 .778 4-1 3-1 0-0 L1 10-8 .556 7-2 3-6 0-0 L1
Appalachian State 6-2 .750 3-0 3-2 0-0 L1 12-4 .750 5-0 5-4 2-0 L1
Samford 6-3 .667 4-1 2-2 0-0 L2 9-9 .500 6-2 3-7 0-0 L2

Women’s Basketball 81 UNC-Greensboro 58

Posted on by
Reply

Appalachian will host the UNCG Spartans on Sunday afternoon in a battle of two teams heading opposite directions. Appalachian is 5-1 in conference play while Greensboro is winless in conference action and have only won three games on the season overall. All of the games Greensboro has won this season have been at home, over Gardner-Webb, North Carolina Central and Norfolk State. The Spartans have lost six games in a row, none by less than 11 points. The Spartans have yet to score 70 points in a game this season.

Greensboro is being outscored by 17.4 points per game in conference play, but have played a couple of the conference heavyweights in Chattanooga, Samford and Elon. Greensboro’s leading scorer is freshman Lucy Mason, who is one of two Spartans to start every game. Mason is putting up 15.1 points per game. Janae’ Stevenson adds 10.8 points per game. In the past, Greensboro has always been a very athletic team, but sometimes, they get in their own way. Appalachian usually can force their game on the Spartans and capitalize on turnovers and fast break points.

Appalachian leads the conference in scoring offense at 72.2 points per game, while trailing only Chattanooga in scoring margin at +14 points per game. The Mountaineers also lead the conference in free throw percentage and field goal percentage while ranking third in field goal percentage defense. One thing the Mountaineers must focus on against Greensboro is the offensive boards. Charleston dominated the offensive glass on Friday Night, but Appalachian defended well enough to keep the Cougars at bay. Greensboro is second only to Charleston in offensive rebounds in conference play. We are sure the Mountaineers will focus at home, crash the boards, and run the break when they can.



 

Postgame:

Greensboro put up a good fight early on, but ran out of gas against Appalachian on Sunday afternoon. The Spartans ran out to a quick 18-9 lead at the 11:21 mark of the first half before Darcie Vincent finally called a timeout to regroup. Defensive adjustments were made, and the Mountaineers outscored Greensboro 28-13 for the remainder of the half, led by Farrahn Wood who knocked down a trio of three pointers over a span of four and a half minutes. The Mountaineers led by six points at halftime with Wood leading all scorers with nine points.

The second half saw Appalachian double their lead from six to twelve in just 2:21 and the lead slowly grew throughout the second half. Darcie Vincent was able to empty the bench in the closing minutes as the lead swelled over twenty points. Freshman Bria Huffman easily had her best game as a Mountaineer with eleven points in thirteen minutes of action. For the game, Anna Freeman led the Mountaineers in scoring with 18 points while adding seven rebounds and five steals. Raven Gary had a great overall game with nine points, ten assists and five rebounds. Maryah Sydnor had a another double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

We are a little concerned with the number of three pointers Appalachian attempted on Sunday. They were 5/23, the most attempts since the loss to Davidson. Anna Freeman missed all five of her attempts, while Katie Mallow connected on just one of her six attempts. Appalachian (12-3, 6-1), now has thirteen games remaining before the conference tournament, and their toughest stretch of games are directly in front of them. This week provides their longest stretch since December between games. The next five games will set things up before the final weeks of the season. Appalachian will face Chattanooga and Samford on the road, before hosting Elon, hitting the road against Georgia Southern, and then returning home for the rematch with Davidson. That stretch includes four of the top teams in the conference and a visit to Statesboro, where the Mountaineers never seem to play well.

Team Record Pct Home Away Neutral Streak Record Pct Home Away Neutral Streak
Chattanooga 7-1 .875 4-0 3-1 0-0 W4 14-3 .824 7-0 6-3 1-0 W4
Elon 7-1 .875 4-1 3-0 0-0 W7 10-7 .588 7-2 3-5 0-0 W6
Appalachian State 6-1 .857 3-0 3-1 0-0 W5 12-3 .800 5-0 5-3 2-0 W5
Davidson 6-1 .857 3-1 3-0 0-0 W1 9-8 .529 4-1 4-6 1-1 W1
Samford 6-2 .750 4-0 2-2 0-0 L1 9-8 .529 6-1 3-7 0-0 L1

Women’s Basketball 63 College of Charleston 55

Posted on by
Reply

The Appalachian women hit the road for a one game road trip to Charleston on Friday evening. The Friday game is an oddity in SoCon play for both schools. Generally, the women’s teams play on Saturday and Monday, but this weekend, Appalachian will play a Friday evening  and Sunday afternoon game. Charleston enters the game at 3-3 in SoCon play, with all of their losses coming to conference contenders Davidson, Chattanooga and Samford, all in their last three games. The Cougars will have played the top four teams in the conference in a matter of twelve days by Friday evening. Although Charleston did not win any of those three games, their results have improved dramatically  since last season.

The past two seasons, Charleston has been the team that has been considered somewhat of an easy win in conference play. The Cougars have won thirteen conference games the past two seasons after a thirteen win campaign in 2009-10. This team seems to a little different than the past. Their conference wins include a two point win over a decent Elon team at home, a two point win over Georgia Southern on the road, and stomping of an athletic Greensboro team on the road. Call it a hunch, but this Charleston team does not seem to be the pushover they once were.

The Cougars are led by Latisha Harris, who is scoring a very respectable 14.2 points per game and also grabbing 8.8 rebounds per contest. She is complimented by Alyssa Frye who averages 10.9 points per game and has already hit an amazing 42 three pointers this season. Cathryn Hardy also chips in a very solid 8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Seems the Cougars have two players they can go to in the post, and a third player who can stretch the defense on the perimeter. Appalachian will have to keep Frye in check on the outside, by limiting her shots, which in turn will allow them to focus on rebounding the ball on missed shots. Charleston only shoots 34% as a team from the field, but does average 16 offensive rebounds per game.

As we all know, The Mountaineer trio of Freeman, Freeman & Sydnor lead the team in scoring and rebounding. We have talked about Maryah Sydnor stepping up her game the last couple weeks which has had a direct toll on the production of Anna Freeman. It seems that SoCon teams are content with Sydnor scoring as long as Anna does not get hers. All three players average  over 14 points and five rebounds per game. In conference play, Sydnor leads the team with 18.8 points per game, followed by Courtney’s 13.6 points per game. Katie Mallow has also stepped up in conference play averaging 10.6 points per contest. The Mountaineers three losses have all come on the road, while two of their four road wins have come in overtime.

Postgame:

Appalachian State gutted out an eight point win over Charleston on the road on Friday night. Appalachian jumped out to a quick 15-10 lead in the first half before allowing Charleston to go on a 16-0 run in a matter of 5:52. In the final 5:52, Appalachian countered and ended the half on a 17-4 run of their own, taking a two point lead into the second half. The score was tied four times in the first hald and the lead changed hands twice.

The second half was a much closer battle. The largest lead any team held in the final frame was in the final minute when Appalachian was sealing the game with free throws. Charleston lead at only one time in the second half at 51-50, but it was a short lived lead that lasted all of twenty-seven seconds. The Mountaineers did not play their best game offensively, with 21 turnovers and shooting only 39.3% from the floor. The Mountaineers gave up 23 offensive rebounds to the Cougars, who attempted thirty three pointers, only making four of them.

Charleston took the game to Appalachian. They heaved up as many open shots as possible and attacked the glass. The Cougars accumulated thirteen steals and resembled Appalachian in many ways. Charleston has made obvious improvements since last season, and are not an easy win. Where Charleston was deficient was shooting free throws. They hit only 11/25 attempts and most of them were very bad misses.

Friday was an important day in SoCon Women’s hoops. Chattanooga did their job of taking down Davidson on the road. Elon and Samford both won, keeping the race for the conference title very tight at the top. Five teams have one loss while Appalachian and Davidson are in a tie for fourth, having played one less game than Chattanooga, Samford and Elon. Appalachian hosts UNCG on Sunday afternoon before facing the western road trip of Chattanooga and Samford next weekend.

Team Record Pct Home Away Neutral Streak Record Pct Home Away Neutral Streak
Chattanooga 6-1 .857 4-0 2-1 0-0 W3 13-3 .813 7-0 5-3 1-0 W3
Elon 6-1 .857 4-1 2-0 0-0 W6 9-7 .563 7-2 2-5 0-0 W5
Samford 6-1 .857 4-0 2-1 0-0 W4 9-7 .563 6-1 3-6 0-0 W4
Appalachian State 5-1 .833 2-0 3-1 0-0 W4 11-3 .786 4-0 5-3 2-0 W4
Davidson 5-1 .833 2-1 3-0 0-0 L1 8-8 .500 3-1 4-6 1-1 L1
College of Charleston 3-4 .429 1-2 2-2 0-0 L4 7-9 .438 3-3 4-6 0-0 L4
Western Carolina 2-4 .333 2-2 0-2 0-0 L3 4-11 .267 3-5 1-6 0-0 L3
Furman 2-5 .286 1-2 1-3 0-0 L2 6-10 .375 4-3 2-7 0-0 L2
Georgia Southern 1-6 .143 1-1 0-5 0-0 L3 2-14 .125 1-3 0-10 1-1 L3
Wofford 0-6 .000 0-3 0-3 0-0 L6 5-9 .357 1-4 3-5 1-0 L6
UNCG 0-6 .000 0-3 0-3 0-0 L6 3-12 .200 3-7 0-5 0-0 L6

Women’s Basketball 68 Wofford 65

Posted on by
Reply

Appalachian travels to Wofford on Monday night for another SoCon road game. The Terriers are struggling mightily this season, having lost five straight games, and are currently winless in the SoCon. Wofford notched a impressive win at Alabama in December, but have not won since that game. To think that the same Western Carolina team that Appalachian just throttled on Saturday beat Wofford by fourteen is tough to imagine. Western is terrible, and it is hard to believe that there is a team in the league that they can beat. Wofford has lost its last three games by double digits and has averaged a mere 47.3 points per games in those three games.

Daniella Motley leads Wofford bu averaging a double-double at 10.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per games. Motley has grabbed double digit rebounds in eight games this season. Motley leads the team in minutes played, but is only a 33% free throw shooter. Rachel Brittenham is one of the better point guards in the league at 7.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Brittenham had a career high eleven assists against the Mountaineers last year.

Appalachian is in a four way tie for second place in the SoCon, as Chattanooga, Elon and Samford also only have one loss in conference play. All four second place teams are in action on Monday night, with Chattanooga hosting 3-2 Charleston being the highlight of the four SoCon games. Appalachian, Samford and Elon should  win easily. Davidson plays Furman on Tuesday.

Postgame:

We are not going to pretend we know a lot about this game, since our attention was focused on the men’s game at home tipped off an hour after the women tipped in Spartanburg. For whatever reason, Appalachian has a tough time winning easily in Spartanburg. Several games in the Vincent era have been won in the Sparkle City, but not very easily. Appalachian held and eleven point lead at halftime, but allowed Wofford to come back on tie the game at halftime.

It appears both team traded baskets for much of the second half, as the two teams combined for thirteen tie scores and twelve lead changes for the game. Wofford (5-9, 0-6) hit big buckets at the end of regulation and the first overtime to tie the game and force extra periods.

Appalachian (10-3, 4-1) held huge advantages on the free throw line and on the defensive glass. Appalachian only attempted two more free throws than Wofford, but turned that into ten extra points. The Mountaineers also dominated Wofford on the glass, holding a fourteen rebound advantage, mostly on the defensive end. However, it was 35 Mountaineer turnovers that kept Wofford in the game and forced the Mountaineers to work ten extra minutes to get the win.

Maryah Sydnor led all scorers with 23 points while also adding fourteen rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Sydnor was named SoCon Player of the Week on Tuesday afternoon after leading the conference in scoring the previous week. Katie Mallow added 14 points while Courtney Freeman chipped in twelve points. Anna Freeman was held to single digit scoring for the second time in four games.  Despite a lack of scoring production, Anna added fourteen rebounds, six assists, five blocks and four steals.

SoCon Women’s Basketball SoCon Overall
Team Record Pct Home Away Neutral Streak Record Pct Home Away Neutral Streak
Davidson 4-0 1.000 2-0 2-0 0-0 W4 7-7 .500 3-0 3-6 1-1 W3
Chattanooga 5-1 .833 4-0 1-1 0-0 W2 12-3 .800 7-0 4-3 1-0 W2
Elon 5-1 .833 3-1 2-0 0-0 W5 8-7 .533 6-2 2-5 0-0 W4
Samford 5-1 .833 4-0 1-1 0-0 W3 8-7 .533 6-1 2-6 0-0 W3
Appalachian State 4-1 .800 2-0 2-1 0-0 W3 10-3 .769 4-0 4-3 2-0 W3

 

Women’s Basketball 77 Western Carolina 46

Posted on by
Reply

Appalachian will host in-state rival Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon as the first part of a doubleheader starting at 2pm at the Holmes Center. The Mountaineers (8-3, 1-1) have defeated Western Carolina (4-9, 2-1) seven straight times including in last year’s SoCon Tournament. The Catamounts are surprisingly over .500 in conference play, although their win are over some conference cellar dwellers. Neither UNCG nor Wofford are considered contenders in conference play. The fourteen point win over Wofford win looks pretty good when you consider their scrappy style of play. However, their loss to Georgia Southern is confusing. No matter how you slice, Western is 2-1 against teams who are 1-12 in conference play. The Catamounts have beaten up on the bottom of the conference.

Western Carolina is led by senior Diamond Hunicutt who leads the team in scoring at 8.1 points per game. Hunnicutt is one of two players on the Western roster to start every game. The other is Ali Lane, who was named to the all-freshman team last year while starting 29 of her 31 games. Lane led the team in steals last year and is second on the team with 14 steals this season. Lane averages 7.5 points per game. Western’s roster features three players with who have hit at least ten three pointers on the season.

Appalachian continues to be lead by its talented threesome of Anna & Courtney Freeman and Maryah Sydnor. Anna scored her fewest points of the season in her last two games. Anna scored nine against Davidson and ten against Furman. Despite only scoring 19 points in her last two games, Anna is still averaging 18.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game to go along with 4.1 assists and 3.1 steals per contest. Courtney Freeman is on a similar slump, perhaps because she started the season so hot. Courtney has cooled off to scoring 14.8 points per contest while grabbing 6.3 rebounds. Sydnor continues to play strong, as she has bumped her average up to 13.8 points and 5.5 rebounds a game. Raven Gary continues to get back into game shape, as she is the team’s best ball handler. Gary chips in 5.9 points and 3.7 assists a game in the eight games she has played in this year.

Postgame:

There was not much to say from this game. Western Carolina is vastly inferior to Appalachian. The Catamounts had more fouls than points for a large majority of the first half. By the time Western Carolina broke double digts, as in scoring their tenth point, the Mountaineers had already built a twenty-nine point lead, and the margin stayed around that number most of the game. The Mountaineers cruised to a 77-46 win.

Lindsay Simpson was the only Catamount to score in double figures with 15 points. Simpson was responsible for the only two three pointers the Catamounts were able to make. Western shot 27% for the game, and their starting five managed only four baskets on twenty-six attempts. Only three of Western’s sixteen field goals were assisted on.

Appalachian’s terrific trio paced them once again in scoring. Courtney Freeman led all scorers with 19 points. Anna Freeman added 17 points, 9 rebounds and five assists. Maryah Sydnor contributed with 16 points, 8 rebounds and four assists. Appalachian only made two three pointers, something it needs to improve on. Vincent emptied the bench in the rout, with every players seeing action. Khadejah Wilkerson was not dressed out Davidson and was not on the bench that we noticed on Saturday. Via instagram, we took note to a foot injury she may have sustained so it is possible that she will redshirt.

Next up for Appalachian is Wofford on Monday evening.

Davidson 4-0 1.000 2-0 2-0 0-0 W4 7-7 .500 3-0 3-6 1-1 W3
Chattanooga 4-1 .800 3-0 1-1 0-0 W1 11-3 .786 6-0 4-3 1-0 W1
Elon 4-1 .800 2-1 2-0 0-0 W4 7-7 .500 5-2 2-5 0-0 W3
Samford 4-1 .800 3-0 1-1 0-0 W2 7-7 .500 5-1 2-6 0-0 W2
Appalachian State 3-1 .750 2-0 1-1 0-0 W2 9-3 .750 4-0 3-3 2-0 W2
College of Charleston 3-2 .600 1-1 2-1 0-0 L2 7-7 .500 3-2 4-5 0-0 L2
Furman 2-3 .400 1-1 1-2 0-0 W2 6-8 .429 4-2 2-6 0-0 W2
Western Carolina 2-3 .400 2-1 0-2 0-0 L2 4-10 .286 3-4 1-6 0-0 L2
Georgia Southern 1-5 .167 1-1 0-4 0-0 L2 2-13 .133 1-3 0-9 1-1 L2
Wofford 0-5 .000 0-2 0-3 0-0 L5 5-8 .385 1-3 3-5 1-0 L5
UNCG 0-5 .000 0-3 0-2 0-0 L5 3-11 .214 3-7 0-4 0-0 L5