Box Score Box Score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Visiting Appalachian State overcame a 10-point second half deficit to earn a 74-69 Southern Conference victory over Wofford Monday evening inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C. The game was marred by 47 combined fouls and 50 total turnovers.
The Mountaineers built a four-point, 30-26, halftime cushion before the Terriers scored the first six points of the second half for a 32-30 lead at 18:32. A pair of Robin Colbert free throws at 17:57 gave ASU a slim, 33-32 advantage.
Wofford (9-18, 2-14 SoCon) then rattled off the next 11 points, including six from freshman Mahagony Williams for a 43-33 lead at the 14:59 mark. Williams' final four points in the surge came from second-chance points as she grabbed missed opportunities and hit the put-backs in the lane.
The lead remained as high as six when Williams added another put-back with 11:37 to play to put the Terriers on top, 48-42. Appalachian State (8-19, 5-11 SoCon) then scored eight of the next nine points for its first lead in over nine minutes as Gigi Thomas put the Apps ahead, 50-49, at 9:32.
Both teams kept the score close and Williams hit another jumper at 6:24 to give Wofford its final lead of the game, 57-56. The Mountaineers built their advantage to as high as seven on two instances over the next four minutes, the last coming on a pair of Brittany Mixon free throws with 2:21 to play for a 70-63 lead.
Senior Kelsi Koenig, playing in her final Benjamin Johnson Arena contest, and Williams helped trim the gap to three, 70-67, with 1:25 remaining. After the Terriers forced the ball to go out of bounds with two seconds on the shot clock, Mixon hit a turnaround 3-pointer as the shot clock expired near her bench to lift Appalachian to a six-point lead with :52 seconds left in the game.
The first half featured a turnover fest with Wofford committing 21 to ASU's 12. The Terriers were able to limit the total to seven in the second half as they shot 42.1 percent from the field (16-of-38) in the final 20 minutes. The Mountaineers also had a strong shooting run in the second stanza, knocking down 16-of-33 (48.5 percent) following a 9-of-39 (23.1 percent) opening frame.
Both teams remained competitive throughout the first half with neither gaining more than a three-point edge through the fourth tie, 13-13, on a set of Natalie Gramblin free throws at 11:47. Her makes were the second and third straight points from the line for Wofford as the Terriers used a 11-0 run in over five minutes to take a 21-13 advantage with 7:30 showing on the clock following Koenig's layup.
Appalachian, however, did not quit and would register a 13-0 surge of its own for a 26-21 lead on a Sam Ramirez jumper with 3:23 to play in the half. A 3-pointer from freshman Maddie Helms stopped the run and helped force one more tie at 26-26 before the Mountaineers tallied the final four points of the half.
Williams finished with a career and game-high 20 points on 9-of-9 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws. She also grabbed nine rebounds, including five offensively, to finish just shy of a double-double. She only played one minute in the first half due to foul trouble but still put up the numbers after playing 18 minutes following intermission.
Koenig rounded out her home career with 13 points and surpassed the 900-point barrier in the process. She now has 908 career points, ranking 13th in the program history.
Sophomore Kelly Dwyer also hauled in nine boards, tying a career best. Miller swiped a game-high seven steals, tying her own single-game school record.
Ramirez paced Appalachian with 16 points on 7-of-14 field goals. Thomas and Whitney Tossie each added 14 points, while Frances Hernandez contributed 10 despite not playing in the second half. Thomas was the visitors' top rebounder with nine caroms.
Wofford will close the regular season with a pair of road games, beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday when it travels to Greensboro, N.C., to battle UNC Greensboro.
