Tag Archives: 2012-13

Women’s Basketball 49 Davidson 65

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For the Appalachian women, this game is hard to consider a must win, since it is only the second conference game of the season, but this game means plenty for the team and coaches. Davidson was a favorite to win the conference this season after having a big season last year and sweeping the series with the Mountaineers last year. However Davidson has played a tough schedule outside of the conference and has struggled while playing many of their games on the road. Appalachian has won every game it has supposed to while falling only twice this season, on the road against teams from power conferences.

Both teams have defeated Georiga Southern at home to start conference play. Davidson knocked off the Eagles by twelve while Appalachian cruised to a thirty-two point win. Davidson (4-7, 1-0) was won both of its home games, but none by a convincing fashion. Davidson has scored 63 points once this season. That is the game they prefer to play, a possession oriented style. In fact, the Wildcats have managed sixty or more points in only three games this season. The way to beat Davidson is with Appalachian’s pressure, something they were unable to establish last year. Sophia Alexandravicious leads the team in points and rebounding and was a favorite for conference player of the year. Laura Murray is a capable guard, but Appalachian should be too much for Davidson tomorrow. Appalachian has been scoring points in bunches, and are a better team than last year at this point. Davidson is missing some pieces so I expect a Mountaineer win, which will be huge in the race for the conference title and conference championship seeding implications.

Postgame:

Appalachian allowed Davidson to creep back into the game one too many times in first half on Saturday, and it eventually led to their demise as the Wildcats rallied from a tied game at halftime, to win going away, 65-49. It was the fewest points Appalachian scored all season, with their previous low coming last weekend on the road at West Virginia.

Generally, when an officiating crew allows the teams to play, especially for Appalachian, it has been a good thing. On Saturday, against a Davidson team with slightly more size, a game with fewer fouls calls actually hurt the Mountaineers. It allowed Davidson to be more physical, and kept Appalachian off the free throw line. Appalachian leads the country in free throw percentage, which is a huge advantage, except when the Mountaineers only get to the line eight times like on Saturday. If you keep Appalachian off the line, you have neutralized a strength.

Davidson also switched to zone defense, which aided the fewer foul calls. Appalachian could not shoot out of the zone. The Mountaineers were 4/25 from behind the arc, and 2/16 in the second half, where Davidson switched to the zone defense exclusively. Not many teams can play zone against Appalachian, as most of the other teams in the conference do not have the size on the perimeter, to keep Appalachian out of its high post offense. Even in the zone, Davidson was able outrebound Appalachian by ten, which is another huge advantage. Davidson executed a great game plan and it worked. I do not think Davidson is more talented, but was able weaken the strengths of Appalachian. For the record, the Mountaineers shot 32% for the game, and commited 20 turnovers.

For the rest of the season, the Mountaineers will be chasing. They are the first contender in the conference with a loss in the SoCon play. Luckily Appalachian has some very winnable games until the run into the back to back games against Chattanooga and Samford. It has been a long time since Appalachian has lost two games in a row, and with class starting back in a week, I think the Mountaineers will get back into a groove. The holiday break in Boone can be tough on student athletes without many friends in town, the weather turning, and nothing but practice and once a week games on their schedules. This team thrives on repitition and games. It’s a dark spot for the season, but this team will it around.

Men’s Basketball 71 Milligan 51

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Pregame:

This afternoon’s game will be the final tune up of the season for the Mountaineers when they take on Milligan. From here on out, seventeen conference games will prepare Appalachian for the conference tournament. In the meantime, Millgan brings in a team that is over halfway through their season, with eight wins and seven losses. Milligan’s schedule consists of bunch of schools you have never heard of. Their Division I slate includes Liberty, and East Tennessee State, both which were lopsided losses. Montreat is the only common opponent as Milligan was able to win by by eleven points at home, while the Mountaineers claimed a thirty point win in their season opening exhibition game.

Appalachian should win this game easily, but don’t be surprised if Milligan keeps it close. Milligan held off Appalachian for a good portion of the game last year before falling by 23 points on Thanksgiving weekend. Milligan is a team that loves the three pointer and will take the shot when its there. Four players on their roster have hit twelve three pointers or more, with sixth man Scott Blake hitting 28 threes despite only averaging 16 minutes a game.

There is no spread for this game.

Postgame:

Appalachian opened up an eleven point halftime lead and eventually cruised pasts Milligan by twenty points. It was an uneasy win as Appalachian shot poorly in all aspects of the game. Chalk it up to the midseason blues if you want, but this was a game that was ugly to watch. Appalachian managed only 38% shooting for the game. Even worse, the Mountaineers were under 50% from the free throw line.

Somehow, Nathan Healy pulled in a massive double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Jay Canty had a thumb taped up and that forced him to struggle shooting the ball, missing all six free throw attempts. In an odd twist, Mike Neal managed to get disciplined to only play seven minutes. Because of this, it’s time for some soapbox. It was later learned that Neal was late for a morning practice on gameday. So Neal, who missed nine games due to academic issues in the classroom, during his incredibly challenging freshman year of classes, has now been late to a team meeting. When is he going to understand the team means more than himself. At what point does he understand what his basketball scholarship means? It is obviously the only thing keeping him in school, considering his situation. (Hopping off the soapbox.) 

 

 

Women’s Basketball 67 West Virginia 72

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Pregame:

It has been a long ten day break for the holidays for Appalachian State women’s basketball. Their last time out, they used a big second half run to close out East Tennessee State to claim their sixth straight win. Their opponent on Friday evening is the only other Division I school that bears the same mascot as Appalachian, the Mountaineers of West Virginia. This game appears the be a battle of rebounds as both teams average close to six more rebounds than their opponents on the year.

West Virginia (7-3) has won 24 games or more in three straight seasons and has been a power in the Big East in the past. This season marks the inaugural season for the WVU in the Big XII. West Virginia features three double digit scorers and has used the same starting lineup in every game except one this season. Ayana Dunning leads the team with 11.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. West Virginia’s lone perimeter threat is Taylor Palmer who has hit 19 three pointers on the season. Crystal Leary has yet to start a game, but plays the role of a truly selfish player off the bench. Leary averages 6.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

West Virginia appears to be a team that resembles Appalachian very well so the matchup should be quite interesting. Both teams foul more than their opponents, but also force turnovers and move the basketball well on offense. Six of West Virginia’s ten games are against teams with winning records, with a seventh opponent sitting at 6-6, which provides WVU with a lofty RPI of 46, with their strength of schedule ranked 34th in the country. Appalachian will be WVU’s seventh top 100 RPI opponent, while Appalachian will be facing its highest rated RPI opponent of the season.

According to social media sources, it seems that a few Appalachian players had some issues getting to Morgantown, WV due to the severe weather conditions of the past few days. It will be something to keep an eye on as this game wears on, to see how focused the black and gold are about this game. RealtimeRPI.com scouts this game as a 12 point loss for Appalachian.

Postgame:

Appalachian mounted a furious comeback in the second half for before falling on the road at West Virginia on Friday night. The Apps trailed by as much as twenty one points in the second half before tying the game at 65 with two and half minutes to play. West Virginia won the battle on the free throw line as time expired to give them a 72-67 win. West Virginia went to the line 26 times for the game while Appalachian was only granted 15 free throw attempts. Appalachian falls to 7-2 on the season, both losses coming to members of major conferences by single digits on the road.

As has been Darcie Vincent’s strategy in the “bigger” games on the schedule, she used a rotation of just a very few players. Seven players saw action for Appalachian, including Raven Gary, who saw just six minutes in her first action since foot injury that has kept her sidelined for several weeks. The remaining 194 minutes were divided amongst six players, which means each players plays about 32 minutes, if all things were equal. The problem with a predominantly six man lineup to play an entire game, is that you gamble with your gameplan and your scheme to beat your opponent. Every player must show up on that given night. Unfortunately for Appalachian, every player didnt have their signature game against WestVirginia.

What we saw was a typical game from Anna Freeman, who finished with 25 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 7 steals. However, Anna uncharacteristically turned the ball over six times, doubling her previous high turnover mark of the season. Courtney Freeman did not have her typical game at all. Courtney only managed four points and six rebounds. Maryah Sydnor is shaking off her slow start to the season, as she scored 19 points and grabbed six rebounds. Katie Mallow added 13 points, sparked by nailing a trio of three pointers. Michelle Taylor and Raven Gary did not score, combining to miss all five of their field goals attempts.

Overall, it was a good effort by Appalachian after a ten day layoff. They have been in every game they lost this season in the final minutes which is a huge plus. Appalachian will now hit the conference slate for nineteen straight games before the conference tournament. First up is Davidson on the road next Saturday at 3pm, and at Furman on January 7th.

Men’s Basketball 78, Presbyterian 70

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Appalachian took care of Presbyterian on Saturday as they should have, but the game was closer in the closing minutes. After the Mountaineers opened up a fifteen point halftime lead, the Blue Hose used every opportunity they had in the first eight minutes of the second half to stymie any type of Appalachian run. Presbyterian called three time outs before the second media timeout to keep Appalachian from establishing a rhythm.

Appalachian held a fourteen point lead just under three minutes to play in the second half before the Blue Hose went on a 13-3 run over the next 2:31 to pull within four points. However, Tevin Baskin iced the game with four made free throws in the final half minute to secure the final margin. Appalachian outrebounded Presbyterian by ten for the game, buoyed mostly by an 11-2 edge on the offensive glass. Leading scorer Jay Canty was held in check, as he has been recently by teams since being named conference player of the week. However, Appalachian received plenty of help from the bench. Baskin (16), Chris Burgess (9) and Jamaal Trice (12) combined for 37 points, compared to the Presbyterian bench which only produced 16 points. Baskin added eight rebounds and hit 9/10 from the free throw line. Nathan Healy also added 16 points and 8 rebounds, four which were offensive rebounds.

 

Chris Burgess appeared to play with more confidence as he gambled on defense on several occasions and it paid off, despite not getting credit for a single steal, he did force several turnovers. I still wonder why Michael Obacha continues to start, as he can barely play twenty minutes due to foul trouble, and has little offensive skill. Tab Hamilton has struggled with his shot for some time. Hamilton’s typical game of late looks something like the one he played Saturday afternoon. Hamilton was 2/6 from the field and 1/5 from behind the arc, and only hit two of his four free throws.

C-Notes: There was no line for the game, which is what we expected. It will be interesting to see how the lines start shaping once conference play beings…Appalachian has improved its free shooting dramatically in the past few games, as they are 71.5% on the season, up over 5% in the just the last four games…The Mountaineers gave up 10 three pointers to Presbyterian, a season high.

Men’s Basketball 69 South Carolina 74

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Appalachian looks to build on its win over UMKC when it faces off against South Carolina (RPI #196) on Wednesday evening. The Gamecocks (6-3) are an interesting team thus far in the season. They really do not own a quality win, but have had some questionable losses. The obvious one is their twelve point home loss to Elon. Another questionable loss is the nine point home loss to Clemson and thirdly, a twenty-four point loss to St. John’s in Queens, NY. This South Carolina team has the look of a very inconsistent team.

First year head coach Frank Martin, formerly of Kansas State is working through a lineup that has yet to find a true leading scorer. Four ‘Cocks are averaging in double figures, but the leading scorer, Brenton Williams who leads the team with 13.2 points per contest has only started in four games. Only three players on Martin’s roster have started all nine games, and they average a combined 19.4 points per game. As a team, the ‘Cocks average a riduculous 19 turnovers a game, but are outrebounding their opponents by over ten rebounds per game. This will be South Carolina’s first game since December 7th.

Appalachian benefited greatly from Mike Neal being eligible for the first time this season in their win over UMKC. Even though Neal’s numbers didn’t show it, you could almost hear it on the radio how this team has come together. I am trying not to get ahead of myself, as I believe this team could contend in the North Division . Only Davidson has separated itself from rest of the conference and the Mountaineers could be getting things together at the right time. Jay Canty continues to lead the team in scoring at 17.9 points per game and 6.4 rebounds. The Mountaineers feature three regular players shooting over 40% from behind the arc in Tab Hamilton, Nathan Healy and Jamaal Trice.

The spread has been set at nine points by one Vegas book, but we will wait until tomorrow for a more official line. South Carolina has been up and down against the line, while the Mountaineers are on fire, covering every lined game this season. If the number stays around nine points we will likely stick with the Mountaineers, and especially so if it creeps into the double digits. Currenty we are 5-1 on the season.

UPDATE: As of 1:15, spread has jumped up to 10.5 points in favor of South Carolina. This movement even garnered interest from twitter in this tweet.

@statmyles: Appalachian St 2-7, but a perfect 6-0 ATS, they are +10 road dogs (move from +9.5) vs S.Carolina, 5PM tip

Postgame:

Appalachian rallied from a double digit deficit twice in the first half before eventually falling at South Carolina. The Mountaineers trailed most of the game, but battled back from several occasions where South Carolina could have pulled away. Appalachian trailed by 7 points with 1:47, 1:34 and 0:37 remaining in the second half but still managed an opportunity to tie the game with a three pointer on their final possession. South Carolina missed several key free throws down the stretch, which gave Appalachian a chance at tying the game at the end of regulation. Unfortunately, some misplaced passes on their final possession hurried a three point attempt from Nathan Healy that fell well short. South Carolina iced the game with two made free throws after the missed shot from Appalachian and subsequent foul.

Appalachian mostly used a seven man rotation even though Chris Burgess logged four minutes. Every other player that saw action played at least twenty minutes. Three Mountaineers led all scorers with sixteen points. Jay Canty added eight rebounds to his sixteen points. Mike Neal, starting in his first game of the season, finished with sixteen points and grabbed seven rebounds while assisting on seven made baskets. Tevin Baskin added four rebounds and four blocks to his team leading point total. 

Appalachian’s streak of covering spreads will eventually end, but  here is hoping the Vegas sharks are making some money on the Mountaineers. For the seventh straight game this season, the Mountaineers covered the spread. Despite a 2-8 record, the Mountaineers are 7-0 in lined games. We made the right call, and moved our record to 6-1 on the season. There is a high likelihood that Presbyterian will not draw interest on a Saturday to deserve a spread, but we will keep our eyes peeled. More likely, is that Milligan will not garner a spread either in the next game. Once the conference season starts, the lines will have had time to reset themselves, and we will probably see more challenging picks during the conference season.

Women’s Basketball 85 ETSU 57

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Appalachian continues its non-conference schedule for their first game of the season while school is on break as they travel to long time rival East Tennessee State. The Mountaineers (6-1) are looking for the sixth straight win since dropping their road opener at Virginia Tech by three points. Appalachian has won three straight games in the series, most recently a twenty-four point win last season in Boone.

East Tennessee State (2-3) owns wins over Morehead State and Memphis, while they have lost by double digits in all of their three losses. Most recently, the Bucs lost to Louisiana State by thirty four points, and to Chattanooga by thirty three points. The Bucs have only made fifteen three pointers in their five games, while giving up 5.8 three pointers to their opponents. The Bucs do a really good job on the offensive glass, averaging seventeen offensive caroms a game. The Bucs are sloppy though, giving up 22 turnovers a game, which holds them to 61.2 points per game.

Appalachian has been on an extended break, not playing since a December 3rd win over conference opponent Georgia Southern. Appalachian held the Eagles to 43 points, in what could be considered their best defensive performance of the season. Appalachian forced 24 turnovers while only allowing sixteen made field goals. Georgia Southern was 1/21 from behind the arc.

Anna Freeman is eight points away from scoring her 1,500th point. Freeman leads the team with 21 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Playing a strong second fiddle is senior guard Courtney Freeman who graduated over the weekend. Courtney is averaging 18.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, good enough for second on the team in both categories. Maryah Sydnor is scoring 10.6 points per game after a slow start to the season. Sydnor is also grabbing 5.9 rebounds a game, good enough for third on the team in both major categories. As a team, Appalachian is outscoring their opponents by almost twenty points per game.

Update: Raven Gary will not play tonight.

Postgame:

Appalachian shook off a sluggish first half on defense to run away with a 85-57 win on the road at East Tennesee State. Appalachian led by four points at the break after leading by as many as 13 points in the first hald before allowing the Bucs to climb back into the game before halftime.

The second half was tight for the first seven minutes, and saw ETSU take their first lead of the game with 12:59 to play in the second half. That is where the game changed drastically. The lead ETSU took was their last of the game, and the field goal that put them on top was also their last made basket of the game. Yes, ETSU basically went the last thirteen minutes of the game without a bucket. From that point, Appalachian went on a 36-7 run to end the game. Appalachian scored nine points in the first seven minutes of the second half, but averaged 2.7 points per minute in the final third of the game.

The top free throw shooting team in the country, Appalachian improved that number hitting 18 of their 19 attempts, with the only miss, ironically, coming from the team’s best free throw shooter in Anna Freeman. Maryah Sydnor led all scorers with 23 points. Courtney Freeman finished with a monster double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Katie Mallow chipped in with 16 points. Anna Freeman was plagued with foul trouble and only played twenty-five minutes, but still managed 13 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals. The Mountaineers move to 7-1 on the season and will play at West Virginia on Friday evening.

C-Note: Anna Freeman scored her 1,500th point of her career and moved into fourth place on the all time scoring list. She is on pace to eclipse 2,000 points sometime in the SoCon tournament.

 

Men’s Basketball 81 UMKC 71

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Appalachian arguable played its best team game of the season in its first win of the season over a Division I opponent. The Mountaineers used an eight man rotation with half of them scoring in double figures. Tevin Basking poured in a game high 18 points off the bench. The game featured the sophomore debut of Mike Neal from academic suspension. Neal played 31 minutes and only scored four points, dished out a team high four assists. Appalachian assisted on fifteen of their twenty-six made field goals.

Appalachian held a one point halftime lead in a back and forth first half. In the second half, both teams shot over 60% from the field, but the difference was at the free throw line. Appalachian was 18/20 in the second half at the free throw line, gaining an eight point advantage over UMKC. The Mountaineers finished the game with outstanding shooting percentages, hitting 55% of their field goals, 55% of their three points attempts and 77% of their free throws. Tab Hamilton finished with 17 points, Jamaal Trice had 16 points and Jay Canty chipped in with twelve points.

The spread opened up with Appalachian being three point underdogs and eventually moved to four points. When the line moves like that, it generally means that money was heading toward the homestanding Kangaroos. The Mountaineers have been the underdog in every game this season and have covered the spread every time. Eventually they will be favored in a game, most likely against Presbyterian in six days. In the meantime, Appalachian will visit South Carolina during the week. We kept hot on the Mountaineers side and took them to cover and that improved our record to 5-1 on the season. We are on fire right now, and the Mountaineers season has made it somewhat easy. We will ride this streak as long as we can. I imagine South Carolina will be at least a ten point favorite on Wednesday Night. Our pick is already made barring a very odd line.

In case you missed it

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This is terribly sad. So far this season, we have had the unfortunate misspelled basketball uniform. And now we have the six foot free throw, which is being called worldwide, the “Worst Free Throw Ever”. When I was listening to the Appalachian State broadcast, and heard Voice of the Mountaineers David Jackson explain the situation, I thought nothing of it. Jackson can sometimes stretch the truth, and I just assumed the it was bad air ball. Then I saw it early Sunday morning, and couldn’t believe what I saw. Brian Okam has been picked on plenty in this corner of the internet. From his lack of coordination to his inability to play more than 15 minutes in a game without fouling out. On this night, Okam hit one of his four free throw attempts, but none missed worse than this one.

I wish I could tell you what happened. There is no way the ball slipped out of his hand. A slip would have looked even more awkward. Take away the fact that there was a rim and backboard to aim at, it was a well arched toss of the ball. The only thing that I can imagine is that the ball was shot with way to much fingertip and not enough fingers and palm. Regardless of what happened, this is a microcosm of what this program has become, which is an absolute joke. Don’t get us wrong, there are pieces of this team that are doing things the right way, and unfortunately, they have been caught up in this. However, it is not even January yet, and this season cannot end soon enough. Luckily, we have the Women’s team to get behind, and baseball season is just a little over two months away.

Men’s Basketball 64 Western Carolina 70

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Pregame:

Ready or not, Appalachian will begin its conference schedule on Saturday afternoon in Cullowhee against hated rival Western Carolina. The Mountaineers are still looking for their first Division I win of the season and would love nothing more than to get it against Western. The Catamounts (3-6, 1-0) have had an interesting season thus far, knocking off Furman in their conference opener, but dropping games to the likes of UNC-Asheville and Austin Peay. Western also has wins over Mars Hill, which doesn’t count, and Howard. The teams Western has defeated has a combined 3-16 record. Western’s opponents have beaten St. Andrews, Montreat, and American. So, if you think Appalachian has had a tough season, consider, Western Carolina because their season does not look too much better.

This will be Western’s first home game since beating Mars Hill on November 11th, and are coming off a week of significant travel. The trip from Cullowhee to Eastern Kentucky is not an easy drive, and the Catamounts visited Illinois earlier this week. Western gave The Illini a heck of a battle, very similar to the one Appalachian gave to Virginia Tech a couple weeks ago. Both games were tied late before the schools from power conferences went on late runs to pull away. Both teams covered near twenty point spreads.

Western is led by three double digit scorers in Trey Sumler, Tawaski King & Tom Tankelewicz. Sumler leads all scorers at 17.6 points per game and is eight points away from his 1,000th career point. Sumler has a quick dribble and is second on the team with seventeen three pointers. King is an undersized post player who takes up a lot of space. Although he is listed at 6’8″ and 245 lbs, I am willing to bet he is more like 6’7″ 255. King is scoring 14.1 points per game and pulling down 5.5 rebounds per game, but is a great player to target late in games at the free throw line. Tankelwicz is a transfer from Charleston Southern who leads the team in three pointers with twenty-five. This will be Tankelwicz’s first game against the Mountaineers.

As a team, Western remarkably shoots the same percentage from the field as they allow at 45%. Where the Catamounts get in trouble is that they have allowed more made free throws made (153) by their opponents than they have attempted themselves (143). Even worse, Western’s opponents are shooting 8% better at the free throw line, but that could be attributed to the Catamounts eight road games this season.

Appalachian is on a six game slide although the appearance is that this team is coming together a little bit. Last weekend at Missouri was only a sixteen point loss, but the Mountaineers were never in it and I believe it was anomaly compared to how they have played recently. Appalachian should be amped for their rivals, but have lost two straight in Cullowhee. Jay Canty leads the Mountaineers with 18.1 points per game and is fresh off of SoCon Player of the week honor for his efforts against Missouri and Duquesne. Canty adds 6.3 rebounds and 3,2 assists per game. The key for the Mountaineers will be to defend the perimeter while also getting back in transition. Appalachian has allowed right at 50% shooting from their opponents for the season. Western is not a great rebounding team, so Appalachian will need to take advantage on the offensive glass.

As we mentioned several times, we were expecting a spread of somewhere between 7 and 9 points in favor of Western Carolina. This morning, Western was a 8.5 point favorite, and in less than four hours, the line jumped to 10 points for the Catamounts. If we follow our trends from the past, Appalachian has been a really good team on the road as double digit underdogs. I imagine this line will drop back down to 9.5 points before all is said and done. Our picks are 3-1 on the season, and Appalachian has covered four straight road games. Appalachian was 2-1 was last year as a double digit dog, and was never a double digit dog in conference play. Western Carolina has covered three striaght, but never as a double digit favorite. I think this is an easy pick for the Mountaineers.

Postgame:

After jumping out to a ten point lead at haftime, Appalachian crumbled down the stretch with a lack of offense and allowed Western Carolina to escape with a six point conference win. It was the first time in the thirty year history of the Ramsey Center that Western beat Appalachian three consecutive times. The Mountaineers have now lost seven straight games. The Mountaineers shot 33% in the second half, and 38% for the game.

The game was well played from a possession standpoint. The two teams combined for only 17 turnovers, with neither having a real advantage. In college basketball, that is almost unheard of. The teams hit the exact same number of free throws, but Appalachian had four more opportunities. The Mountaineers finished 17-28, good enough for 60%.

Jay Canty was the Mountaineers leading scorer for the fifth time this season and fourth time in his last five games. Canty finished with 22 points and 8 rebounds while playing all forty minutes. Nathan Healy 15 points and 9 rebounds, four on the offensive end. Jamaal Trice continues to struggle, as he scored five points in twenty five minutes on 2/11 shooting, 1/6 behind the arc.

Despite the Mountaineers losing for the seventh straight games, Appalachian continues to boggle the minds of the bookkeepers in Vegas. Appalachian has now covered for its fifth straight game as a team, and our correct pick moves us to 4-1 on the season. We must enjoy the success while we have it, because the makeup of this team will change significantly when Mike Neal returns, and the Mountaineers play some home games. Next up is Missouri-Kansas City, which has an awesome mascot. The Roos will be considered favorties, but without a common opponent, picking this game will be tough. I am expecting an 11-13 point spread, obviously in favor of UMKC.

Women’s Basketball 79, Georgia Southern 47

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Pregame:

Appalachian will begin conference play on Monday night with a game against Georgia Southern, a team that has played Appalachian tough in the Darcie Vincent era. Appalachian won both games last year by double digits, but only averaged 60.5 points points per game in the series. Before last year’s wins, Appalachian dropped five of its previous six to the Eagles.

Georgia Southern is struggling this season with a 1-3 record, their lone win coming over RPI #333 Kent State. The Golden Flashes are 0-6 on the season. Georgia Southern opened their SoCon slate with a twelve point loss to Davidson, who was the media’s preseason favorite to win the conference. The Eagles turned the ball over 27 times in the loss. Unfortunately, the Georgia Southern link for statistics is not working, so we cannot provide a more in depth preview.

The Mountaineers win over Xavier helped them leap frog from 88th to 60th in the latest RPI rankings. Appalachian is the final team in the SoCon to start their conference slate. With that, Appalachian is stuck in the middle of the conference standings. As you can see, Chattanooga, Samford and Davidson are near the top as everyone expected. There have not been any major upsets this season.

SoCon Women’s Basketball SoCon Overall
Team Record   Home Away     Record Pct Home Away    
Chattanooga 2-0   2-0 0-0     6-1 .857 4-0 1-1    
Samford 1-0   1-0 0-0     4-2 .667 3-1 1-1    
Western Carolina 1-0   1-0 0-0     3-3 .500 2-2 1-1    
College of Charleston 1-0   0-0 1-0     3-4 .429 1-1 2-3    
Davidson 1-0   1-0 0-0     2-4 .333 1-0 0-3    
Appalachian State 1-0   1-0 0-0     6-1 .857 3-0 1-1    
Furman 0-1   0-0 0-1     3-3 .500 3-0 0-3    
Elon 0-1   0-1 0-0     2-3 .400 2-2 0-1    
UNCG 0-1   0-0 0-1     1-3 .250 0-1 0-2    
Georgia Southern 0-2   0-0 0-2     1-5 .167 1-2 0-3    
Wofford 0-2   0-0 0-2     4-3 .571 1-0 2-3    

Postgame:

Appalachian was challenged throughout the game with stingy defense and a Georgia Southern team who substituted relentlessly in the second half, doing whatever it could to slow down the Mountaineer attack. Appalachian scored fifty second half points to earn a blowout win over the Eagles, 79-47. Appalachian played some great defense of its own on Monday evening. Georgia Southern only made one of their twenty-one three points attempts and managed shooting only 31.6% for the game. No Eagle was able to manage double digit scoring. The Mountaineers forced 24 turnovers and allowed only four assists.

Appalachian was able to celebrate a career milestone for Courtney Freeman, who netted her 1,000th point on the free throw line in the second half. Freeman had only scored six points at halftime, but the Mountaineers made a point to get her the ball late in the game. Courtney hit six free throws in the second half and hit six of her ten attempts in the second frame to finish with exactly 1,000 points for her career. Freeman became the 22nd Mountaineer with 1,000 points, following classmate Anna Freeman who scored her 1,000th last season against Longwood. Courtney finished with 24 points and nine rebounds for the game. Maryah Sydnor chipped in 19 points on 8/12 shooting and added six rebounds. Anna Freeman was saddled with foul trouble and only played 28 minutes in the game but managed to score 14 points, grab six boards, assisted on four baskets and swatted three shots. Kelsey Sharkey added six points, eight rebounds, and four steals.

C-Notes: Anna Freeman wound up eight points short of her 1,500th point….Anna needs to average 24.2 points per game for the remainder of the regular season to hit 2,000 career points. Courtney Freeman was named Women’s Basketball Playeer of The Week by the SoCon….The same honor was bestowed on Jay Canty on the men’s side for his efforts against Missouri and Duquesne…Men’s Basketball opens SoCon play on Saturday at Western Carolina….The Women will enjoy a 15 day layoff for exams before travelling to ETSU on Dec 18th.