East Tennessee State’s women’s basketball team was ready to make its late-season surge in the SoCon standings, but gave up a 76-65 loss to Appalachian State Saturday at Memorial Center.
ETSU (7-14, 4-8 SoCon) started it off with a 17-4 run early in the first half. The Lady Bucs took a seven-point advantage into the locker room at halftime (41-34). ETSU forced 13 Appalachian State turnovers in the first stanza, but the Mountaineers (7-14, 6-6 SoCon) took better care of the ball in the second half and forced some turnovers of their own.
“They came out with a lot more emotion than we did in the second half,” ETSU head coach Karen Kemp said. “We try to take it just one game at a time and this is one game we really wanted. Appalachian State played with a lot of confidence in the second half and they wanted to win more than us.”
Jessica Jank’s layup with 11:35 to play tied the game at 51-51, and Kiki Conyers’ free throw gave the Mountaineers their first lead since the opening minutes of the contest. ETSU never regained the lead.
The Lady Bucs committed 16 personal fouls in the second half sending Appy to the free throw line 20 times. ASU converted on 17 of those attempts, including some clutch baskets down the stretch to secure the victory.
Kiya Verdell was just one steal shy of her first career triple-double. Verdell scored 12 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and recorded nine steals, however, she had to sit down due to foul trouble late in the second half. Verdell eventually fouled out in the waning seconds of the game.
Lauren Trantham tallied her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Trantham and Verdell have both garnered double-doubles in their last two outings.
ETSU returns home to on Monday, Feb. 17 to host UNC Greensboro at 7 p.m.

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