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Paul
Sherar - Chief Photographer
Appalachian
State guard Aisha Bryant led the Mountaineers with 13 points in Monday
night’s loss at Georgia Southern. The Mountaineers host the Paladins
Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Eagles
soar past Mountaineers, 82-61
ASU
Sport Information
Sarah Davis scored
a season-high 20 points and dished out a career-high seven assists to
lead Georgia Southern University (GSU) to a 82-61 Southern Conference
victory over Appalachian State University Monday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Danna Simpson added 14 points for the Lady Eagles, becoming just the 15th
player in school history to score 1,000 points in her career.
Appalachian State was led by Aisha Bryant, who scored 13 points on five
of 10 shooting from the field.
Michelle Conklin added 10 points for the Mountaineers while Jessica Jank
pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Appalachian State jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the beginning of the game
only to have Georgia Southern respond by scoring the next 21 points of
the game.
The Mountaineers fought back, eventually cutting their deficit to 32-23
before the Lady Eagles once again went on a run, opening up a 38-23 lead.
ASU finished the half on an 11-4 run of its own to close to 42-34 at the
half.
The two teams traded baskets for much of the second half as the GSU lead
hovered around nine through the first nine minutes of the second half.
However, the Lady Eagles used a 17-4 run over the next eight minutes of
action to build a 76-54 lead at the 3:57 mark.
The sequence was keyed by Shawnica Hill, who scored all six of her game
points to finish off the run. Appalachian State claimed the war on the
boards, out-rebounding Georgia Southern 40-36, but committed 23 turnovers
in the loss.
Appalachian dropped to 6-14 overall and 2-9 in SoCon play. Georgia Southern
improved to 9-10 and 6-5 in conference action.
The Mountaineers return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. as they host the
Furman University Paladins at the George M. Holmes Convocation Center.
Mountaineers
fall to Va. Tech; Fee named SoCon’s Wrestler of the Week
ASU Sports Information
Appalachian State
University won only two matches as Virginia Tech defeated Appalachian
in wrestling action on Sunday afternoon in Varsity Gym.
Junior Mark Fee scored the first Mountaineer victory of the afternoon
at 165 by defeating Virginia Tech’s Shaun Guttridge by pinfall in
3:30.
Fee improves his record to 17-8 overall, with a team-leading five pins.
Appalachian also received a pinfall win from Lee Roper, which narrowed
the Virginia Tech lead to 15-12 with his win over Tomas Ovalle. Roper
improves to 9-10 on the year. Appalachian could get no closer as Virginia
Tech won the remaining matches of the afternoon to secure the 37-12 victory.
With the win, Virginia Tech improves to 4-6 on the year while Appalachian
falls to 1-5. The Mountaineers return to the mat as they travel to the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro tonight for a 7 p.m. SoCon
match.
The Mountaineers return to Varsity Gym on Friday, Feb. 8 as they take
on SoCon foe Virginia Military Institute at 6:30 p.m., followed by a non-conference
match with Anderson (S.C.) College at 8 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Southern Conference named Mark Fee its Wrestler of the
Week for matches through Tuesday.
The defending SoCon champion at 165 pounds, Fee registered two wins in
two matches for Appalachian State during the week.
In addition to his win over Guttridge, Fee defeated Mark O’Hair from
Davidson College by a count of 15-1 in a league match. He gave up the
shutout in the final 30 seconds of the match, attempting to win by a technical
fall.
Mountaineer
alumni still leaders on the track
ASUTrackandField.com
For a number of Appalachian
alumni success on the track did not end when they were passed diplomas
instead of batons on graduation day.
Over this past weekend four former Mountaineers turned in notable
performances.
Inside the Holmes Center, at the Second Appalachian Indoor Track Meet,
class of 2001 graduate Omari Francis made the hike to North Carolina’s
High Country to take the 55-meter hurdles in an impressive 7.37 seconds.
Francis, who won numerous conference titles as a Mountaineer, is now competing
with Atlanta’s Speed Dynamics Track Club.
Terrice McLain, a 1999 graduate of Appalachian, came back to Boone to
compete in the 400-meter race. Currently calling the Raleigh area home,
McLain finished second in the event with a 50.23 performance.
Perhaps the most well known Appalachian track alums, Mary Jayne Harrelson
and Melissa Morrison, took up their business in the Pepsi Invitational
hosted by Virginia Tech.
Currently running for Nike, Inc. and serving as an assistant coach at
Virginia Tech, Harrelson competed in the 600 event and 3,000- meter races
at the Pepsi meet.
A two-time NCAA champion and six-time All-American, the 2001 graduate
registered performances of 1:30.49 and 9:27.04 to give her a pair of wins
at the two-day event.
An Olympic Bronze Medallist at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia,
1993 graduate Melissa Morrison competed in the 60-meter hurdles at the
Pepsi Meet.
Her clocking of 8.26 seconds gave her the fastest time in the preliminary
heats, although she chose not to compete in the finals.
Morrison is now competing for Adidas, Inc., while she trains in Columbia,
S.C.
Paul
Sherar - Chief Photogapher
Junior
forward Nate Carson charges the lane in ASU's last contest with the
Catamounts. Carson led the Mountaineers in scoring with 12 points in
last Monday's game at Western Carolina.
Mountaineers continue winning streak,
hold off Catamounts 66-62
James
Nix - Sports Beat
It
came down to free throw shots Monday night in Cullowhee as the Appalachian
State University men’s basketball team pulled in its second win
on the road of the season.
The Mountaineers hit nine out of 10 free throw shots in the last two
minutes of the game to defeat Western Carolina University 66-62.
The win is Appalachian’s third in a row, which marks the team’s
longest winning streak of the season.
The Mountaineers played their usual tight first half, leading by as
many as six before falling to a four-point deficit in the final seconds
of the first half.
Then freshman guard Chris McFarland was fouled on a successful layup
attempt. He made the accompanying free throw shot to send Appalachian
into the half trailing by only one point.
This, however, has been the norm for the Mountaineers this season.
As the second half got underway, Appalachian seemed more like a team
bent on revenge after losing the first game to its conference rival
at home.
The Mountaineers quickly regained the lead with a 10-2 run highlighted
by a dunk from McFarland.
The Catamounts did not surrender, however. Led by senior forward Willie
Freeman, Western bounced back and tied the Mountaineers with 2:46 left
in the ball game.
Freeman owned the game’s only double-double with 23 points and
15 rebounds.
Fortunately Appalachian had success at the free throw line, since the
last nine free throw points were the only points the Mountaineers earned
after the Catamounts tied it up.
Over all, the Mountaineers shot 75.8 percent from the free throw line,
hitting 25 out of 33.
The win improves Appalachian to an 8-12 overall record and a 3-6 Southern
Conference record.
The Catamounts drop to an 11-9 overall record and a 5-4 SoCon record.
Catamount freshman Kevin Martin, who has led Western in scoring this
season, appeared dormant against Appalachian. He only scored seven points
in his 22 minutes of court time.
Before the game, Martin was ranked second in the Southern Conference
in scoring and 13th in the nation.
Junior forward Nate Carson led the Mountaineers in scoring with 12 points.
McFarland and senior guard Donald Payne followed Carson, each with 11
points.
Payne also led Appalachian in rebounding with eight.
This was the second meeting between the two SoCon rivals this season.
The Catamounts handed Appalachian a 71-79 loss in Boone earlier this
month.
“Western has a very up-tempo team,” said ASU head coach Houston
Fancher. “More up-tempo than they have been in a long time.
“They start four seniors and are very talented.”
There was a lack of confidence in Appalachian’s performance during
its first encounter with Western, said Catamount head coach Steve Shurlina
in a post-game interview with the Western Sports Network.
Appalachian, after winning the two previous games, had a more confident
look this time.
Now, with three straight wins, the Mountaineers look to keep the streak
alive against Davidson College Saturday at 3 p.m. in the George M. Holmes
Convocation Center.
Mountaineers
compete in Blue Heaven Rumble
ASUTrackandField.com
The
Appalachian State University Indoor Track and Field team came away from
the Blue Heaven Rumble Saturday at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill with 21 top 20 finishes against 62 other collegiate squads.
The men led the way with 11 of those top 20 finishes with the women’s
squad taking home10.
Sophomore Ernest Wiggins’ 6.81 second clocking in the 60-meter
dash earned him fourth place, the highest among Mountaineer tracksters.
Appalachian also received a 10th place performance from senior Ryan
Linebarger, as he recorded an 8.17 second time in the men’s 60-meter
hurdle finals.
Placing seventh in the weight throw for the Mountaineers was spring
transfer Bob Smith with a 55' 2.25" throw.
Sophomore sister combo Ronda and Tondra White topped the lady’s
squad with their seventh and eighth place performances in the triple
jump with marks of 40’3.5" and 39’8.75" respectively.
Sophomore Suzanne Makinson and freshmen Leigh-Ann Ronk added two more
top 10 finishes for the Mountaineers.
Makinson’s clearance of 10’11.75" in the pole vault earned
10th place. Ronk also came away with a 10th place finish with a 5’6"
performance in the high jump.
On the track sophomore Katie Sujkowski was the highest placing Lady
Mountaineer at 14th with her 2:17.46 clocking in the 800-meter run.
Sophomore Missy Dock was 19th in the mile run at 5:19.30 over the distance.
The Mountaineers will be back in action Feb. 1-2 when they travel to
Kentucky University for the Rob McCravy Invitational.
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