Feb. 1, 2010
Box Score
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Sam Ramirez scored 16 points and keyed a late surge by Appalachian State that clipped Furman, 58-53, in Southern Conference women's basketball action Monday evening on Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena.
The win was the fifth straight for Appalachian State (12-9, 8-4 SoCon) and gave the Mountaineers the season series split with Furman (6-17, 4-10 SoCon), which dropped its fourth in a row.
With the Mountaineers trailing 53-49, Ramirez drained a 3-pointer from the left wing with a minute left in the game to help Appalachian State finish the contest on a 9-0 run to secure the victory.
After Ramirez's bucket, ASU's Kelsey Sharkey stole the ball on Furman's ensuing possession and converted a layup to give the Mountaineers a 54-53 lead with 53 seconds remaining.
After another Paladin turnover, Ramirez drew a foul and drained a pair of free throws with 29 seconds to go to stretch the advantage to 56-53.
Anna Freeman added two more free throws with nine seconds remaining to complete the decisive run.
Furman scored its final points with 2:43 to go on a jump shot by Kendra Berry for a 53-49 lead, but the Paladins went scoreless the rest of the way, missing five shots and turning the ball over twice in their final seven possessions.
Lee Stephens paced Furman with 16 points. Kali Holtfreter and Kendra Berry followed with 11 points each for the Paladins.
Freeman had 14 points for Appalachian State, and Ashlen Dewart tallied 10 points in only 11 minutes of action.
Berry claimed a game high 10 rebounds for Furman, which forged a 38-31 advantage on the boards, but the Paladins shot just 31.7 percent for the game (19x60).
Appalachian State led 26-24 at intermission and stretched its lead to 38-30 following a Freeman layup with 15:01 remaining, but Furman fashioned a 10-0 run behind a 3-pointer and two free throws by Holtfreter to take a 40-38 lead following a Stephens trey with 12:58 to go.
The game remained tight until Berry's jump shot with under three minutes to go gave the Paladins their biggest lead of the second half, 53-49.
Furman entertains Western Carolina this Saturday in a 5:30 p.m. game that will be televised by WMYA (My40).
