GREENSBORO, NC – The UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team had four players in doubles-figures as the Spartans defeated Appalachian State, 81-62 in women’s basketball action at Fleming Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
The win gave UNCG (17-8, 10-4) its 10th win in Southern Conference action and extended its winning streak to three games.
Junior Kristen Boone led UNCG with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. She also dished out six assists and was 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Irene Otamiri was UNCG’s next leading scorer, tallying a season-high 16 points. Otamiri also had a career-high six steals on the afternoon. Brittany Frazier, who had her first double-double of the season, pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.
The Spartans also had three players perfect from the free throw line. Frazier was 6-of-6 from the line, while KaLeah Latham and Kemena Brooks were 4-of-4 from the stripe.
“We were a little sluggish in the beginning of the game,” head coach Lynne Agee said. “We did a good job of settling down and picking up the pressure in the second half. I was very pleased with the way Brittany Frazier played this afternoon. She played a physical game and really turned in a great performance for us.”
Appalachian State (11-14, 5-9) was led by Whitney Tossie, who had 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, and Jamie Bennett who pulled down 12 rebounds.
Appalachian State got out to the early lead out of the gate, starting the game on a 6-2 run in the game's first two minutes.
The Mountaineers got back-to-back three-pointers from Maria Grimes and were able to extend their lead with a bucket by GiGi Thomas.
Boone got the Spartan offense going and was able to cut the Appalachian State lead to 8-6 with a bucket in the paint at the 16:03 mark. The Mountaineers got a bucket from Thomas on the next possession and pushed the lead back to four points before UNCG tied the game up at 10-10 with two buckets from Boone and Otamiri.
The Spartans took their first lead of the game on the next possession and went on a quick 6-0 run to push the lead to 16-10 at the 13:22 mark. Appalachian State went on a small run of their own, however, and was able to tie the game at 16-16 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the half.
The teams traded buckets over the next several minutes before the Spartans put together a pair of runs, one 9-0 and the other 15-7, to jump out to a 42-29 lead with just under three minutes remaining in the half. Appalachian State, however, put together an 11-2 run to close the half sending the Spartans into the lockeroom with a 44-39 lead.
UNCG scored the first five points of the second half to make it 49-39 with 18:23 remaining and then used its defense to create offense the rest of the afternoon. The Spartans were able to go on several runs to put the game out of reach.
UNCG’s largest lead of the game was 20 points, which came in the game's final minute. Appalachian State tried to dig themselves out of the hole but couldn’t find enough offense, as the Spartans cruised to their third consecutive victory.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 43.5 percent on 27-of-62 shooting from the floor and pulled down 43 rebounds. UNCG had a decided advantage in the paint, scoring 30 points in the paint to Appalachian State’s 18. The Spartans also got help from their bench who contributed 24 points.
The Spartans return to the hardwood on Monday when they take on College of Charleston. Tip is set for 5 pm and is the first game of a doubleheader with the UNCG men.
SIDELINES: Prior to the game the UNCG athletics department and the women’s basketball team retired the jersey of former Spartan Melinda Goodson. Goodson became just the fourth UNCG basketball player – male or female – to have her number retired and her jersey joins women’s star Angie Polk and men’s standouts Scott Hartzell and Courtney Eldridge in the rafters. Goodson played at UNCG from 1996-00 and was a two-time all-conference performer. She graduated from UNCG as the school’s leading scorer in the Division I era and second all-time. Despite missing 20 games her senior season, the Timberlake, NC, native still scored 1,464 points in her career. She was a Street and Smith’s All-American Honorable Mention selection as a junior. The 5-8 forward scored 497 points in 1998-99 – the most in a season during UNCG’s Division I era and second all-time. She also amassed 694 rebounds in her collegiate career, fifth all-time at UNCG and third in the Division I era, to go along with a school-record 24 career double-doubles. She is also fourth on the UNCG career list in field goals and seventh in steals. Goodson was also a key member of UNCG’s 1997-98 NCAA tournament squad that won both the Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles, as she the Spartans in rebounding and was third in scoring at 13.3 ppg.
AGATE
UNCG 81, APPALACHIAN STATE 62
APPALACHIAN STATE (11-14, 5-9)
TOSSIE, Whitney 6-11 2-2 14; BENNETT, Jaime 5-10 2-2 13; GRIMES,
Maria 4-8 0-0 12; THOMAS, GiGi 3-15 3-5 9; KETNER, Whitney 2-6 4-4
8; COSTNER, Carleena 2-5 0-0 5; WILLIAMS, Shante 0-0 1-2 1; SMITH,
April 0-0 0-0 0; MIXON, Brittany 0-2 0-0 0; CUNNINGHAM, Courtney
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 12-15 62.
UNCG (17-8, 10-4)
Boone, Kristen 6-10 4-5 18; Otamiri, Irene 7-10 0-0 16; Byrd,
Jasmine 5-13 0-0 12; Frazier, Brittany 2-5 6-6 10; Dixon, Jasmine
2-4 2-5 6; Latham, Kaleah 1-8 4-4 6; Chamberlain, Meghan 2-5 1-2 5;
Brooks, Kemena 0-1 4-4 4; Ling, Ashley 1-2 0-0 2; Grimsley, Gini
1-4 0-0 2; Hyson, Lakiah 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 21-26 81.
Halftime: UNCG 44-39.3-point goals--APPST 6-14 (GRIMES, Maria 4-8; COSTNER, Carleena 1-3; BENNETT, Jaime 1-1; THOMAS, GiGi 0-2), UNCG 6-17 (Otamiri, Irene 2-3; Byrd, Jasmine 2-8; Boone, Kristen 2-2; Latham, Kaleah 0-2; Grimsley, Gini 0-2). Fouled out--APPST-KETNER, Whitney, UNCG-None. Rebounds--APPST 33 (BENNETT, Jaime 12), UNCG 43 (Frazier, Brittany 11). Assists--APPST 11 (BENNETT, Jaime 4), UNCG 16 (Boone, Kristen 6). Total fouls--APPST 22, UNCG 17. Technical fouls--APPST-None, UNCG-None.
- UNCG -