The Lady Bucs’ basketball team lost their second straight heartbreaker, this time falling to Appalachian State, 77-74, on Monday night from the Holmes Convocation Center in Boone, N.C.
Appalachian led out of the gate with a three-pointer by Tiffani Johnson with just 15 seconds elapsed off the clock.
ETSU came back, hitting a succession of free throws to take a two-point lead. The Lady Bucs did not relinquish the lead for most of the half, but never held more than a four-point advantage.
ASU tied it up for the fifth time at the 6:55 mark, and then a jumper by Ashleigh Fuller spurred the Mountaineers on a 10-2 run. At the break ASU led 37-30 with ASU’s Aisha Bryant leading all scorers with 17 points.
The Lady Bucs hacked away at the Mountaineer lead out of the locker room, and managed to tie the game at the 15:52 mark thanks to a Megan Jackson free throw.
The contest was tied seven times, with the Bucs leading at times by as much as five points. Appalachian took the final lead of the game at 3:03, when Bryant’s layup gave ASU a one-point advantage. Four free throws from Bryant and Jaymi Wilson in the waning seconds of the game cemented the 77-74 win for ASU.
The Lady Bucs were led by Misty Copas with 14 points. It is the fourth time in the last five games that Copas has led the Lady Bucs in scoring. Lauren Trantham recorded her seventh double-double of the season, picking up 12 points and 11 rebounds. Jackson contributed 13 points and Jessica Lonon added 11.
Bryant set a new school record for ASU, becoming the first women’s basketball player in Appalachian history to score over 30 points in back-to-back outings.
Bryant scored 33 points against ETSU and 30 last Saturday against Furman.
Bryant, who has averaged 17.4 points over the last 10 games, also contributed eight rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Mountaineers.
The Lady Bucs will return to action on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. as they face Southern Conference rival College of Charleston.

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