Box Score

GREENSBORO, NC -- UNC Greensboro used an 18-2 run to open up the second half and never looked back as the Spartans won their eighth game in the last 10 outings, 55-41, over Appalachian State in a Southern Conference women's basketball game tonight at Fleming Gym. The Spartans allowed a season-low in points and are now alone in third-place in the league standings.

Senior guard Amanda Eaton led UNCG (10-8, 7-4 SoCon) with 12 points, while freshman guard Kristen Boone added 11 points off the bench. Junior forward Ashley Current hauled in a career-high 12 rebounds to pace the Spartans to a commanding 42-32 advantage on the boards. Senior guard Stephanie Britt came up with a career-best six steals to lead a defensive effort that had 17 takeaways.

Jaime Bennett, Lindsay Smith and Eboni Kirby led Appalachian State (9-9, 6-5 SoCon) with nine points apiece. In fact, only five players were in the scoring column for the Mountaineers. Kiki Conyers, the SoCon's sixth-leading scorer, was held scoreless for the first-time in 74 career games.

UNCG led 29-25 at the half, but came out on fire, outscoring ASU 18-2 over the first 10:42 of the second stanza to lead, 47-27, with 9:18 left. Sophomore guard Jasmine Byrd led the spurt with all six of her points on the evening. The Spartans defense also turned in their best performance of the year, allowing just one field goal, a layup by Bennett at 16:51, over the first 16:06 of the half. ASU was limited to 18.2 (4-for-22) percent shooting in the half.

UNCG led by as many as 21, 49-28, on a layup by Shanika Jackson with 6:23 remaining. The Mountaineers never got any closer than 14 the rest of the way.

The first half was the complete opposite as UNCG began the game 1-for-13 from the field, but only found itself down 6-2 with 12:18 left until halftime. From that point on, the Spartans canned 12-of-20 shots (60.0%) to take their first lead, 12-10, at the 10:10 mark. They would go up by as many as five points on three occasions, before ending the half on a nifty scoop shot from Eaton just before the buzzer to go into the locker room up 29-25.

The Spartans are back in action on Saturday when they host Furman for a battle of second-place in the SoCon standings. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 pm. Meanwhile, Appalachian State hosts College of Charleston on Thursday at 7 pm.

AGATE

UNC GREENSBORO 55, APPALACHIAN STATE 41

APPALACHIAN STATE (9-9, 6-5 SoCon)

SMITH, Lindsay 4-17 1-1 9; BENNETT, Jaime 2-5 5-6 9; KIRBY, Eboni 4-5 0-0 9; EDWARDS, Danielle 2-8 4-6 8; TOSSIE, Whitney 3-5 0-2 6; THOMAS, Natalie 0-0 0-0 0; WYATT, Jocelyn 0-0 0-0 0; CONKLIN, Michelle 0-2 0-0 0; COSTNER, Carleena 0-1 0-0 0;  CONYERS, Kiki 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 15-48 10-15 41.

UNC GREENSBORO (10-8, 7-4 SoCon)

EATON, Amanda 5-8 1-2 12; BOONE, Kristen 5-9 0-0 11; BYRD, Jasmine 1-9 3-4 6; CURRENT, Ashley 3-6 0-0 6; CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 2-2 1-4 5; LATHAM, KaLeah 1-7 2-2 4; BRITT, Stephanie 2-5 0-0 4; JACKSON, Shanika 1-3 1-2 3; BROOKS, Kemena 1-2 0-0 2; BLAIR, Caroline 1-2 0-0 2; OTAMIRI, Irene 0-2 0-0 0; DIXON, Jasmine 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 8-14 55.

Appalachian State.............   25   16  -   41

UNC Greensboro...............   29   26  -   55

Halftime: UNC Greensboro 29, Appalachian State 25. 3-point goals-Appalachian State 1-9 (KIRBY, Eboni 1-1; CONKLIN, Michelle 0-1; SMITH, Lindsay 0-7), UNC Greensboro 3-14 (BOONE, Kristen 1-2; BYRD, Jasmine 1-5; EATON, Amanda 1-4; BRITT, Stephanie 0-2; JACKSON, Shanika 0-1). Fouled out--Appalachian State-None, UNC Greensboro-None. Rebounds-Appalachian State 32 (EDWARDS, Danielle 11), UNC Greensboro 42 (CURRENT, Ashley 12). Assists-Appalachian State 2 (EDWARDS, Danielle 2), UNC Greensboro 11 (BOONE, Kristen 5). Total fouls-Appalachian State 17, UNC Greensboro 13. A-287.

- UNCG -