College of Charleston
Appalachian State
Cougars Survive Mountaineers, 57-55; Claim 20th Win
2/21/2009 5:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) scored the game-winning three-pointer with 14 seconds remaining to hold off a furious Appalachian State rally and lead the College of Charleston women's basketball team to the 57-55 victory this afternoon in front of 626 fans at the Carolina First Arena.
Charleston improves to 20-7 overall and 13-6 in the Southern Conference. It is the first 20-win season for the Cougars in their NCAA history and first since going 28-4 in the 1988-89, their last year in the NAIA. The 13 league wins is also the most for the team ever in conference play. Appalachian State falls to 7-20 and 6-12.
The Cougars seemed in control and led 53-43 with 4:13 remaining before the Mountaineers rattled off 12 unanswered points to take the 55-53 lead with 28 seconds to go. Leading the Mountaineer charge was Sam Ramirez, who scored eight of her 19 points during that stretch. On the next possession Hughes nailed the go-ahead three and Charleston was able to hold on for the 57-55 win.
The first half was a close affair for the first two minutes as the Cougars held a 15-13 lead with 10:16 to go before intermission. Charleston then outscored the Mountaineers 17-3 over the next nine minutes and held it largest lead of the game with 46 seconds to go, 32-16. ASU ended the half with two straight baskets to cut the margin to 12 heading into the locker room, 32-20.
Appalachian State improved its first half shooting percentage of 32.1 to hit 55.2 percent in the second half for 43.9 for the game. Charleston shot 42.9 percent from the field for the game. The Cougars were nine-for-11 from the charity stripe, compared to just two-for-nine for ASU. Charleston out-rebounded Appalachian State, 38-29 and had five more turnovers, 23-18. CofC was six-for-15 from the beyond the three-point arc, including a three-for-six effort by Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C.). ASU was three-for-eight.
Leading ASU was Ramirez with her 19 points. Brittany Mixon followed with 16 on the afternoon and a team-leading seven rebounds. Sarah Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C.) led in points and rebounds with 11 points and seven rebounds each. Hughes and Kotcella had 10 points each.
Charleston hosts its last regular-season game with a 7:00 p.m. on Monday against Davidson.
