Tag Archives: Women’s Basketball

Women’s Basketball 77, Xavier 73

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Pregame:

Appalachian will face it second tough out of conference game of the season when it visits Xavier of the Atlantic 10 on Friday evening. Xavier is led by second year head coach Amy Waugh, who is a 2003 Xavier graduate. Waugh served as assistant for two years prior to be named head coach in 2011. She is Xavier’s sixth head coach in program history and the first alumnus named to the position.

Xavier only lists eleven players on their roster, over half which are made up of freshman and sophomores. Despite the short bench, Xavier plays everyone. Nine players have played in every game, while ten players have averaged at least 14 minutes a game. Not one player on their roster averages more than 32 minutes. Compare that to Appalachian, with thirteen players on their roster, with very similar underclassmen numbers, utilizes more of a seven player rotation, mostly of upperclassmen.

Xavier (3-2) has two players averaging double figures in Shatyra Hawkes (14.2) and Ashley Wanninger (10.0). Both Hawkes and Wanninger also lead the team in three pointers made with seven and eleven respectively. The two account for 75% of the team’s made three pointers. Lakeisha Crouch averages a respectable 7.8 points and 7.2 rebounds a game while Jessica Pachko scores nine points a game while grabbing seven rebounds per contest. Those four players combine for 19 of Xavier’s 25 starts this season.

The Musketeers have played every game at home this season, with wins over RPI #119 Bucknell, RPI #287 Morehead State and RPI #282 High Point. Their losses are to top women’s teams in Michigan and Duke. Their opponents record who Xavier has beaten is 6-11, while their losses are to teams with a combined 10-2 record. According to realtimerpi.com, this game has been “scouted” as an Appalachian win.

The Mountaineers (4-1) come into the game with a three game winning streak, picking up wins over Campbell and Norfolk State at the ECU Invitational. As the season has progressed, Appalachian’s RPI has slowly crept into the top 100, as they are currently ranked #88. Appalachian is getting nearly 50% of their scoring from seniors Anna Freeman (21.0) and Courtney Freeman (16.4). The Freeman’s also account for over a third of the Mountaineers rebounds. As a team, Appalachian is forcing 25 turnovers a game, compared to Xavier who commits nearly 19 turnovers per game.

Postgame:

In a game where the Mountaineers dominated, Xavier continued to fight and force overtime in a thrilling game. The Musketeers were able to convert two four point plays in the second half. One occasion was on a traditional foul on a three point shooter who hit the basket, while the occured on a play where a Mountaineer tried to fight through a screen, at the same time Xavier hit a three.

Perhaps the most amazing statistic of the night occurred in overtime. Appalachian scored 17 points in the five minute extra period, and did so by only missing one a shot, a free throw. Appalachian hit all five field goal attempts, including two three pointers while knocking down five of six free throws.

Twenty-two fouls were called on Appalachian, and when that happens with a seven player rotation, foul trouble is going to become an issue. Maryah Sydnor fouled out with eight points and nine rebounds. Kelsey Sharkey finished with four fouls, four points and seven rebounds. Michelle Taylor and Farrahn Wood also finished with four fouls. Raven Gary did not play due to a foot injury, and her status for Monday’s game against Georgia Southern are unknown.

Anna Freeman led all scorers with 28 points and eight rebounds. Anna is now 22 points away from her 1500th career points. Courtney Freeman added 24 points and eight rebounds. We had hoped Courtney would score her 1,000th point at home against Gerogia Southern, and it is still possible. She is twenty four points short of the milestone.

Women’s Basketball vs. Campbell & Norfolk State (@ECU Invitational)

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Campbell Pregame:

Campbell brings in a perfect 4-0 record into their game with Lady  Mountaineers at the East Carolina Thanksgiving Invitational. Campbell’s victims include a fifteen point victory over Western Carolina, Barber-Scotia, NC Central & Mt. St. Mary’s. Appalachian is 2-1 on the season with wins over Lees-McRae, Gardner-Webb and their lone loss is to Virginia Tech by three points. Campbell is led by Tonisha Baker, who is a stat sheet stuffer, similar to Anna Freeman. Baker averages 13.2 point, 3,5 steals, 3.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds per contest. The Camel’s top rebounders are Ashley James and Kiera Gaines, who are grabbing 7.5 and 7 rebounds per game respectively. The Camels are outrebounding their opponents by over 16 boards on the season, but also turn the ball over 19 times per game. Look for the Mountaineers to force at least 25 turnovers this afternoon.

The Mountaineers have some pretty impressive statistics coming into the Invitational. Besides the jaw dropping personal numbers, the Mountaineers are putting up some great team efforts each time out. The team is forcing 28.6 turnovers per game, and shooting free throws at an astounding 85% clip. The Mountaineers are also shooting 49% from the field, while 64% of the made field goals have been assisted on. Anna Freeman is averaging 25.7 points per game while Courtney Freeman is putting in 19.7 points per game. The tandem also leads the team in rebounding with Anna grabbing seven rebounds per game and Courtney is pulling down 5.3 boards per game.

Campbell Postgame:

The Camels put up a good fight before finally falling to Appalachian 69-54 on Saturday afternoon. The Mountaineers had an issue of the past rear its ugly head with a slow start. The Mountaineers led by six at halftime, shooting a dismal 39% in the first half. The Mountaineers led by as many as eight points in the first half. Campbell was able to stay close by hitting three of the their eight three point attempts.

Appalachian tightened the perimeter defense in the second half, only allowing the Camels to hit one three pointer, and forcing fourteen turnovers. After Tonisha Baker hit two free throws to give the Camels their last lead of the game at 49-48 with 10:21 to play, Anna Freeman and Raven Gary responded with back-to-back three pointers to give the Mountaineers a five point lead. Campbell would respond with a 5-0 run of their own to tie the game at 54 with 7:50 to play. However, that would be the final points of the game for the Camels, as the Mountaineers would end the game with a 15-0 run.

The Mountaineers (3-1) were led by a career high from Raven Gary, who finished with 17 points, six assists and four steals. Anna Freeman recorded a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Freeman missed her first free throw of the year, finishing 2/3 from the line. Maryah Sydnor chipped in with 13 points and six rebounds. Appalachian will face Norfolk State on Sunday afternoon.

 

Norfolk State:

Two unheralded underclassmen led the Mountaineers in a come from behind win over Norfolk State on Sunday afternoon. Sophomore Katie Mallow and freshman Farrahn Wood combined to knock down eight three pointers to help Appalachian overcome a thirteen point first half deficit. The hot shooting from the behind the arc came without warning. Coming into the game, the two had only combined for four three pointers in the previous four games. Mallow was second on the team last year with 36 made trifectas in 33 games, with ten of those coming in the WNIT. Wood set a school record by hitting  nine three pointers in a game in high school.

Outside of Mallow and Wood, the Mountaineers (4-1)  suffered early on from another poor shooting performance from the field. The Mountaineers only managed 36% from the floor. For the tournament, the Mountaineers shot 39.5% from the field, much lower than their season mark of 49% coming into the tournament. Four Mountaineers finished the game in double figures, led by Mallow and Courtney Freeman with 15. Wood added 12 points and Anna Freeman scored eleven.

C-Notes: Appalachian State ( RPI 279) will travel next to Xavier (RPI 141)  on Friday Night for a homecoming for senior Kelsey Sharkey. Xavier will host#4 Duke tonight…Chattanooga lost their first game of the season against St Mary’s College on Saturday…Davidson is 1-3, but has played all of their games on the road…Conference play begins this weekend as each team will play at least one conference game within the next eight days.

 

Women’s Basketball 84, Gardner-Webb 43

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Pregame:

The Mountaineer women (1-1) continue their season with their second home game this evening against Big South opponent Gardner-Webb. The Mountaineers fell in a heartbreaker to Virginia Tech six days ago in Blacksburg. Appalachian is led by senior Anna Freeman who is averaging 27 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Anna is also a perfect 12/12 from the free throw line this season. Courtney Freeman is second on the team in scoring with 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest. The Mountaineers have owned Gardner-Webb in the past, and this game also looks to get ugly after the disappointing loss last week.

Gardner-Webb will be playing its second road game of the season after falling to UNC-Greensboro this past weekend. The Runnin’ Bulldogs w0n their first three games of the season, all at home, over Lipscomb, Tennessee Temple and Montreat, by at least twenty points or more in each game. Against UNCG, both teams shot under 33% from the field, under 15% from three point range, and under 55% from the foul line. The two teams also combined for 56 turnovers. Catrina Green led Gardner-Webb with 20 points and 17 rebounds in the loss. On the season, Green is averaging a double-double, with 13 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Jessica Heilig adds 10.8 points and 4 rebounds per game while Jasmine Dale pours in 11.5 points per game.



Postgame:

As we imagined, Appalachian dominated Gardner-Webb from the start. Gardner-Webb scored the first point of the game, and it was their only lead as Appalachian cruised to a 84-43 win. The Mountaineers had Gardner-Webb doubled up for most of the second half before the final margin was decided. Gardner-Webb shot poorly throughout the night and could not keep up the with the pace the Mountaineers forced. Gardner-Webb had 34 turnovers of the night, with Appalachian scoring 41 points off of those mistakes. Appalachian also dominated in the paint, with a 54-26 edge.

The Mountaineers were led by the Freeman duo, Anna and Courtney who combined to score 49 points on the night. Courtney led all scored with 26 points, leaving her only 71 points away from 1,000 point mark for her career. At her current pace, Courtney could score her 1000th point in the Mountaineers next home game on December 3rd against Georgia Southern. Anna Freeman added 23 points and continued her ways of filling up the stat sheet, adding ten rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Anna hit all four of her free throw attempts to remain a perfect 16/16 on the year. Anna is also on pace this year to score her 2,000th point late in the season. At her current pace, she would need to average 22.3 points per game to score her 2,000th point in the first game of the conference tournament. Anna is currently averaging 25.7 points per contest.

 

Women’s Basketball 68, Virginia Tech 71

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Pregame:

Appalachian State will look for an upset in their first road game of the season tonight versus Virginia Tech. The Mountaineers and the Hokies are both playing their second game of the season, as Appalachian dominated Lees-McRae while the Hokies fell at home to Old Dominion on Friday. The Hokies return four starters from a team that went 7-23 last season and finished tenth in the ACC. The Hokies were picked to finish eleventh this season while the Mountaineers were tabbed the preseason favorite in the Southern Conference.

The Hokie roster includes four seniors, highlighted by Alyssa Fenyn who has started 79 of her 91 career games. Fenyn led the team in assists last year with 88 while averaging 8.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Aerial Wilson led the Hokies in minutes played last year, averaging 35 minutes a contest while averaging 12.1 points per game. Wilson scored two points in the season opener.

The Hokies and Mountaineers have had a few common opponents over the last couple years. Last year, the Hokies fell to NC State last year at home, while the Mountaineers defeated the Wolfpack in the WNIT in Raleigh. Both Appalachian and Virginia Tech lost to Virginia twice last year. Two seaons ago, Virginia Tech notched a seven point win over Elon, while the Mountaineers defeated Elon by an average of 23 points per game in three games. The Hokies also lost twice to Wake Forest two seasons ago, while the Mountaineers defeated the Deacons in Winston Salem.

Postgame:

A very physical game finished in heartbreaking fashion for the Mountaineers. Appalachian had the ball with a chance to tie on the game’s final possession and Raven Gary’s layup attempt rolled off the rim with just under five seconds remaining. Virginia Tech hit a free throw and intentionally missed the second free throw to provide the final margin.

Virginia Tech led the game early before the Mountaineers went on a 12-0 run midway through the first half to push their lead out to six points. The Hokies battled back slowly with three point shooting to draw within three points at halftime. The Mountaineers shot 52% in the first half along with hitting six of seven free throws. The Hokies did not get to the foul line in the first half.

The second half saw Virginia Tech run out to their biggest lead of the game at seven points just five minutes into the final frame. The Mountaineers forced Tech into several fouls as they slowly clawed back throughout the entire second half. Five Hokies finished with three fouls and another finished with four. Appalachian was brilliant from the free throw line in the second half, nailing fourteen of their sixteen attempts.

Appalachian could not find answer for Tech’s set plays. The Hokies did a great job of cutting to the baseline after dribbling out of the corner and finding an open shooter time and time again. Four Hokies finished in double figures with Alysssa Fenyn leading with 13 points. Monet Tellier netted 12 points, including a trio of three pointers. Conversely, the Hokies simply could not stop Anna Freeman, who finished with a career high 36 points, adding 8 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals. Freeman hit six of her eleven three points attempts, falling just one three pointer shy of tying a school record. Courtney Freeman added 11 points and nine rebounds.

The game was a homecoming of sorts for Maryah Sydnor, who grew up in nearby Radford, Va. Sydnor was perhaps nervous playing in front of a swarm of friends and family which included members of her high school basketball team. Sydnor played twenty three minutes recording a steal and two points. On any other night, this Appalachian team would have handled Tech easily with better defense, and another scoring threat outside of the Freeman duo.

Basketball: Fearless Predictions

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College basketball kicks off its season this weekend, and the Mountaineers will begin its season against Montreat. In a game that should be an easy win for the Mountaineers, it will be interesting to finally see what kind of rotation and starting lineups we shall see from the Mountaineers. Most of the starting lineup is set, but the first players off the bench are what we are most looking forward to seeing. The starting lineup should include, in no order, Nathan Healy, Jamal Trice, Jay Canty, Tab Hamilton, and Chris Burgess. If Trice is not ready to play, Brian Okam would be the most likely candidate to fill his spot, as the Mountaineers would go with a bigger lineup. Burgess will man the point until Mike Neal regains his eligibility.

On the day of each Mountaineer game, Vegas odds will be posted in games that warrant interest for the men’s games. The Montreats of the world do not garner such interest. We will choose a line, sometimes in favor of the Mountaineers, and sometimes not, depending on how we feel about the game, and keep track of our record throughout the season. There is no actual money being wagered, this is just a fun thing to do during the season.

Looking at Men’s schedule, we have decided to place a total on the number of wins we expect for this season. We feel there are about 6 games on this schedule that we can consider coin flips, and any record that results in a record over .500 would be considered a success for a team that is so young. So, we fearlessly predict 14.5 wins for Jason Capel’s squad. We realistically believe, in a worst-case scenario, this team will win 11-12 games, while in a best case scenario, this team is looking at 17-18 wins, including conference tournament play. However, the number we are going to with is 14.5 for an over/under number for this team.

On the Women’s side, the team has 28 regular season games scheduled, and it will probably be much easier to gauge how well this team will do compared to the men. There are three games that most would point at, would be guaranteed losses early in the season, against Virginia Tech, Xavier & West Virginia. I believe this team could possibly upset one of these schools, and it would not surprise me. In conference play, this team is staring at a record somewhere in the 16-4 to 18-2 range. Samford, Chattanooga and Davidson are the competition in this conference and most likely these teams will decide the conference race. We are going to with a pretty high number, as out of conference teams could test the Mountaineers, but we have confidence in this team. We would expect a record falling somewhere in the 21-7 to 23-5 range in the regular season, but would not be surprised if their record ended up better than that. Tonight’s game against Lees-McRae should be an ugly win.

@GoASU Memorable Games #4

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Catching up with the GoASU memorable games countdown starting on July 4th

Game 4: Women’s Basketball defeats NC State in WNIT

We worry starting to worry about this game making the countdown. We detailed the victory here over four months ago. For this Mountaineer program to defeat a storied program at NC State in a post season tournament in the historic Reynolds Coliseum was a huge feat. This program has gained valuable experience in winning tough games in the last three years that will only help them in their quest for an NCAA berth next season. We might as well make our prediction public, because there is not one team in the Southern Conference that will want to win the tournament more than the Mountaineers. This correct guess moves us to 16/27 in the challenge.

@GoASU Memorable Games 9-5

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Catching up with the GoASU memorable games countdown starting on July 4th

Games 9: Women’s Indoor Track wins SoCon Title

We had this moment ranked 8th on our countdown. Our track and field program has been so dominant, it should be news when we they don’t take home the title. The women ran away with the title by over 40 points. Our record moves to 12/22 for the challenge

Game 8: Women’s Basketball Claims share of SoCon Regular Season Title

We totally disagree with this selection, mainly because of what it might take away from this team as the countdown progresses. It was nice to win the conference title, but we get a feeling this team is already tired of that being their accomplishment in conference play. This team wants to go earn the berth the NCAA tournament, not clinch a top seed at the conference tournament. This game was nowhere near our countdown and its a huge miss. We fall to 12/23.

Game 7: Men’s Track and Field wins SoCon Title

We had this meet ranked 14th overall. As we mentioned above, the track and field teams are so good at Appalachian, and our only real threat on the men’s side has been Western Carolina. This was the third win in a row and 18th overall for the men. We get our game back and move to 13/24.

Game 6: Women’s Outdoor Track wins Conference Championship

Seems like the countdown is stuck on repeat, but that’s not a bad thing in this case. This gives us our 14th correct guess on the countdown out of 25 games picked.

Game 5: Baseball 5, Western Carolina 4

This was a game that could have taken home top honors as well. The Mountaineers scored five runs in the top of the ninth to clinch their first SoCon title in 25 years. This game was extra special as a rain delay gave the Mountaineers the information they needed. Charleston had lost to UNCG and all the Mountaineers needed to do was win and they did it in the most dramatic fashion. That moves us to 15/26 on the countdown.

With four games remaining, it will be interesting to see what games were selected to top the previous moments. Football will certainly make another appearance, and it is likely Baseball could make two more appearances. Does Women’s Basketball sneak in and grab another game?

@GoASU Memorable Games 16-17

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Catching up with the GoASU memorable games countdown starting on July 4th.

Game 17: Women’s Basketball 77, Chattanooga 52

Darcie’s Army finally made their first appearance in the countdown. Overall, we had this game ranked 12th on the countdown with this SoCon Tourney Semifinal win. The Mountaineers were dominant throughout the game. Freshman Maryah Sydnor dropped 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. This truly was a memorable game as good as Chattanooga’s program has been in the past. Bouncing the Mocs from the tourney in this fashion was just about as good as it gets. We have two more Women’s Basketball games ranked in our countdown. This game improves our record to 6/14 in the challenge.

Game 16: Men’s Golf wins Hummingbird Ivitational

In, golf winning a tournament is a big deal and this was the only win on the season for the Mountaineers. However, it came on the heels of the best rounds in program history, shooting an overall team score of 273 in the final round. Casey Komline dropped in ten birdies and an eagle en route to tying a school record low 65 on the second day. Appalachian defeated five SoCon foes in the tournament including Western Carolina, Samford, Elon Wofford and Furman. This was a correct guess on our challenge, and for the third time we were within one spot uf ranking the game correctly. We had this game ranked 17th on our countdown. We are closing in on .500 as we are now batting 7/15 for the challenge.

Appalachian State Women’s Basketball: 2/22/12 Updated SoCon Standings

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Samford snagged a huge home win over third place Chattanooga that keeps them alive for bye contention going into the conference tournament. From everything that I can see, this officially locks Appalachian and Davidson into the top two seeds in the tournament. Chattanooga can create a two way tie with either Davidson or Appalachian, or a three way tie with both teams, but would lose the tiebreaker in every scenario. Besides the loss the Mocs suffered on the court, the also lost ground in a potential tiebreaker scenario as well. Furman scored a nineteen point win on the road over Wofford which now gives them a 9-9 record in conference play, which is one game behind fifth place Elon, who is 10-8. Furman plays two winnable games as do the Phoenix, but Western Carolina is coming on strong late in the season and could give the Phoenix some trouble. Samford is hoping to tie Chattanooga in the standings and have Furman vault to fifth place in conference to grab the third seed.

Davidson        16-2        @ Chattanooga, @ Samford

App State        16-2        @Samford, @Chattanooga

Chattanooga     14-4      Davidson, Appalachian

Samford         12-6           Appalachian, Davidson

Elon                10-8          Wofford, Western Carolina

Furman          9-9            Charleston, Ga. Southern

Appalachian State Women’s Basketball: Appalachian vs. Furman 2/20/2012 Postgame and SoCon Seeding Scenarios

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The Lady Mountaineers jumped out to a quick 21 point lead early in the first half and never really looked back on a night where Appalachian honored four seniors. Both teams shot above 47% but the difference was Appalachian making ten more field goals than the Paladins in an 85-70 victory. Appalachian forced 28 turnovers with 20 of them being steals. Appalachian also recorded ten blocked shots on the evening. “TC” Weldon scored twenty points, grabbed five rebounds and dished six assists in her career finale in the Holmes Center. Maryah Sydnor added 18 points and four rebounds while Anna Freeman scored 10 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked six Paladin shots. Raven Gary added a career high 12 points.

A scary moment occured late in the first half when Courtney Freeman had her legs taken out from under her and landed hard on the court. Freeman was holding the back of her head, right where she had her back in a ponytail. Freeman walked off the court under her own power, but did not return to the game.

SoCon Standings

Davidson        16-2        @ Chattanooga, @ Samford

App State        16-2        @Samford, @Chattanooga

Chattanooga     14-3     @Samford, Davidson, Appalachian

Samford         11-6          Chattanooga, Appalachian, Davidson

I dont know if I have ever seen anything like this. In the fight for the third seed, if Samford ran the table, and Chattanooga lost the rest of their games, the teams would be tied with a conference recored of 14-6. In that situation, Samford and Chattanooga would have 1-1 records against Davidson and Appalachian. The tie would be broken by going to current fifth place team Elon, and Chattanooga would win the tie breaker by sweeping the Phoenix, while Samford split with the Paladins. If Furman were to grab the fifth seed, which is possible, Samford would win the tiebreaker with a sweep, while Chattanooga only beat the Paladins once. Althought the loss Samford suffered tonight to Western Carolina seems detrimental, they are still not technically out of the running for the third seed. All of the tiebreakers would become irrelevant if Chattanooga were to beat Samford on Wednesday. In that case, Samford is locked into the 4 seed, and Chattanooga would stay alive for the 1 seed, but face Appalachian and Davidson in the final two games of the regular season. In the event of a three way tie at the top, with Chattanooga winning out and Davidson and Appalachin both beating Samford, Davidson would win the tiebreaker with the better record against the tied schools. In that case Appalachian would earn the 2 seed with a sweep over Furman, whether they finished fifth or sixth, while Chattanooga lost to Furman. As was mentioned earlier, this race will become much clearer, or muddier, depending on Wednesday’s game between Samford and Chattanooga.