BOONE, N.C. – Michaela Porter and Lainey Gosnell both came up one rebound shy of a double-double on Saturday to help lead Appalachian State to a 71-52 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball win over the University of South Alabama at the Holmes Convocation Center.
Porter paced the Mountaineers (6-6, 3-3 Sun Belt) with 16 points and Gosnell added 15, while Brooke Bigott finished with 12 points and Pre Stanley recorded 11.
Devyn Lowe paced all scorers with 24 points for the Jaguars (7-5, 4-2 SBC), who also got eight points and 10 rebounds from Antoinette Lewis.
Appalachian State 71, South Alabama 52 (box score)
GAME FACTS
-The Mountaineers recorded 10 points off 11 Jaguar turnovers in the first 10 minutes, scoring the final 10 points to go ahead 13-10 at the end of the opening period.
-South was limited to 5-of-15 shooting in the second quarter as App State extended the lead to 33-23 at the break.
-Lowe connected on four three-pointers to score 12 of USA's 17 points in the third period as the Jaguars cut the deficit to 48-40 at the end of the quarter.
-It was still a 10-point contest with six minutes remaining when the Mountaineers went on an 11-0 run to pull away.
-In addition to making 9-of-24 shots from three-point range, App State outscored the Jags 30-18 in the paint.
-Fifteen of the Jaguars' 19 turnovers — nearly twice as many as the 10 committed by the Mountaineers — came in the first half.
NOTES
-The loss snapped the Jaguars' season-best three-game win streak.
-App State held South to its lowest point total of the year.
-The Jags, however, did convert a season-best 46.7 percent — making 7-of-15 tries — from beyond the three-point arc.
-Lowe surpassed her previous career best, recorded against both Tulane and in South's first meeting with Georgia Southern earlier this year, by two points with the highest scoring total posted by a Jaguar this winter.
-It was the seventh time in the last eight contests that she has scored 10 or more points.
-Lewis has been credited with a double-digit rebounding total in three of the last four outings, while it marked the 40th time in her career that she has led all players in the category.
-Savannah Jones added eight rebounds, the fourth time in the last six contests dating back to last season she has finished with eight or more.
-Jaylen Mallard — who added seven points — has now made at least one three-point field goal in two of the last four games after going without one in each of the four previous outings.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Terry Fowler
On what Appalachian State did to take control late in the first period: "We got off to a great start, then App State changed and went to a switching defense that sped us up a little bit. The 11 turnovers in the first quarter were huge not having the opportunity to score, and they continued to pressure us the entire night."
On the play of Devyn Lowe: "It was great to see Devyn have a good game tonight and be able to score like that. With Savannah coming back, one of the things that will help us is having multiple players on the floor who can score the basketball."
On preparing for a rematch with Georgia Southern next weekend: "Getting ready for Georgia Southern we know we have to prepare for their pressure and the multiple defenses they will use. We struggled with Lydia Freeman the first time we played so we'll need to work on how to keep the ball out of the paint against them as well."
Up next: The Jaguars will visit Georgia Southern at 5 p.m. (CST) on Friday.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give
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