In a matchup that featured the highest scoring offense in the Southern Conference, Appalachian State University outlasted the Georgia Southern University women’s basketball team on Monday evening, 67-54.

“They are really good if you make just one error on the defensive end,” Head Coach Chris Vozab said in regards to ASU’s offense.

But as potent as the Mountaineers are with the ball, it was the GSU defense that made waves during the early phases of the game. A man-on-man defensive approach kept the Eagles in this game; at least for a while, that is.

Just as things were looking like they may fall in line for GSU after an intense five point swing that tied the game; that high-powered ASU offense came to life.

With less than eight minutes remaining in the first half, the scoreboard showed an 18-18 tie. But that is where this back-and-forth affair ended due to a 17-5 run from ASU to close out the half.

“If you watch that stretch in the first half when they made their run, you probably wouldn’t know we talked a lot about ball pressure,” Vozab had to say about her team’s defense during the Mountaineer scoring run.

The Eagles went into the locker room down on the wrong end of a huge momentum shift by a score of 35-23.

“From a defensive standpoint, our ball pressure was non-existent and that is something that we had to fix,” Vozab said.

The Eagles came out in the second half and went point for point with the Mountaineers, but it was just not enough to dig the team out of the hole.

A bright spot in the loss came in the form of freshman guard Alexis Sams, who ended the night with a team-leading 16 points. The freshman was 4-7 from beyond the arc.

“I am so proud of Alexis because she has had some injuries early in the year and was a little bit behind…and she really worked her way back in to earn the opportunities that has,” Vozab said.

Fans will have a chance to see Sams and the rest of the Eagles in action on Saturday night at Hanner Fieldhouse against the College of Charleston at 5 p.m.