Box Score - Appalachian State 67, South Alabama 63 (.pdf)
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MOBILE, Ala. – Breanna Hall recorded a career-high 28 points but late free throws by Appalachian State helped preserve a 67-63 win over the South Alabama women's basketball team Thursday night at the Mitchell Center.

Hall was 7-of-14 from the field and 11-for-14 at the free-throw line and pulled down five rebounds in 34 minutes of action to lead all scorers in the loss.

The Jaguars (3-10, 0-4 SBC) will next host Georgia Southern on Saturday with tip off set for 2:05 p.m.

"I'm disappointed to come out on the short end of the stick," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said.  "But the team that showed up tonight fought hard, so I was proud of the effort.  We played short-handed tonight — Taylor Jenkins and Grace Farnsworth were out with injuries — so we had to go with a different lineup that we hadn't played all year, we moved people to different positions; I give our kids credit for fighting the way they did on such short notice.

"We had a lull in the first half where we couldn't score, but we were able to fight back and tie the score at halftime.  I was feeling pretty good when we went up seven, and was hoping we could stretch the lead to 10 or 12 points.  But they cut it to three and we missed an assignment on a transition three by [Katie] Mallow; that got them right back in the game, and from there it was nip and tuck."

The loss was the eighth-straight for South Alabama and the 0-4 start to conference play marks just the third time (2006-07, 1999-00) that the program has been winless after its first four league games.

Joining Hall in double digits was Rachel Cumbo who registered a season-high 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting.  Chyna Ellis led USA with 10 rebounds.

As a team, South Alabama ended the night 19-of-48 from the field for 39.6 percent and 19-of-27 at the foul line, but was just 4-for-10 at the stripe in the second half, including missing two front ends of one-and-one opportunities.  

Appalachian State (7-5, 2-1 SBC) also held a 40-32 advantage on the glass in the Jaguar loss.  The Mountaineers pulled down 18 offensive rebounds and converted those into 14 second-chance points.

Joi Jones led App State with 15 points – 11 of which coming in the second half – on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 shooting at the foul line.  Maryah Syndor also added 12 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Katie Mallow had 10 points..  

Led by the play of Hall early on, the Jaguars took a 10-7 lead four minutes into the contest.  Hall – who was held to a season-low two points in her last outing – got off to a quick start as she carded eight of South Alabama's first 10 points.

As has been the case though for the Jaguars in each of their previous six games, USA would suffer a long scoreless drought as it went nine-plus minutes without a point and had 11-straight empty possessions.  During that time, South Alabama was 0-for-7 from the field and committed eight of its 10 first-half turnovers.

App State was able to retake the lead with seven unanswered points over that stretch.  Bria Carter put the Mountaineers up 16-10 when she hit one of her two free-throw attempts at the 7:54 mark, but while the Jags were struggling, App State helped USA keep the deficit at a two-possession game as the visitors were unable to pull away and committed four turnovers themselves.

Cumbo finally broke the scoreless streak for South Alabama with a jumper at the foul line with six minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the half.  With the ice broke following Cumbo's bucket, the Jaguars began to find their rhythm and quickly tied the contest back up at 20-20 with less than five minutes remaining on the clock.  Hall – who had 20 first-half points – knotted things up when the senior drilled her third trey of the game, this one coming as a result of outstanding ball movement by the Jags.

On USA's next trip down the floor, Colby Davis knocked down a pair of free throws to put USA back on top (22-20).

The two clubs would exchange points for the final three minutes of the half and with under a minute to play and South Alabama trailing by two with the shot clock winding down, Hall drove towards the middle of the floor and was fouled.  The Mesquite, Texas, native hit both her attempts at the charity stripe.  She was 11-for-11 at the line during the first 20 minutes of play.  USA was 15-of-17 as a team, while App State hit just four of its seven opportunities.

In the second half, South Alabama held the lead for the first six minutes of the period, but the Mountaineers kept battling and tied the contest back up at 43-43 on a bucket by Syndor with just under 14 minutes to play.

On its ensuing possession though, the Jaguars regained control and rattled off seven straight points to extend their lead back out to 50-43.  After buckets by Davis and Hall, Brittany Webb capped off the run with a three-pointer from the right wing with 12 minutes, 28 seconds to go in the contest.

With USA still leading by seven (52-45) two minutes later, App State began to fight back again and tied the game back up at 55-55 on an and-one play by  Madi Story at the 7:20 mark.

South Alabama looked as if it had retaken control with just over two minutes showing on the clock following a pair of free throws by Marquita Daniels, which stretched the Jag lead out to 60-57, but the USA defense left Mallow open on the right wing and she buried a trey to tie the contest back up.

After four free throws from Syndor put the Mountaineers up by four (64-60) with under a minute to play, Ellis knocked down a hock shot and was fouled on the play.  The freshman post player then knocked down the bonus shot to cut the deficit to one (64-63) with 25.4 seconds left.

App State hit one of two at the line and came down with the loose ball, but turned the ball over with 17 seconds on the clock coming out of a time out.  After advancing the ball and calling a time out with 8.1 seconds remaining, Hall was fouled while USA was trying to inbound the ball.  Hall missed the first free throw and trailing by three, was forced to miss the second.  South Alabama was unable to come down with the rebound though and Jones was fouled.  She hit both of her attempts with 4.1 seconds to go in the game to preserve the win for ASU.

NOTES: The meeting between South Alabama and Appalachian State was just the third in the all-time series between the two programs and the first meeting between the two clubs since the 2002-03 season.  The 28 points by Breanna Hall versus App State was a new career-best for the senior.  The loss was the eighth-straight for South Alabama and the 0-4 start to conference play marks just the third time (2006-07, 1999-00) that the program has been winless after its first four league games.  USA played without junior forward Taylor Jenkins and sophomore guard/forward Grace Farnsworth who both missed the game after suffering concussions at Arkansas-Little Rock.  Amber Yelding – who had missed the previous three games due to injury – was dressed out and cleared to play versus Appalachian State.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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