Davidson Battles to the End, Falls Short vs. ASU in 2nd Rd. of SoCon Tournament, 73-63

Friday, March 4

Chattanooga, Tenn.

11:00 am

Davidson College

14-17

Appalachian State (1st seed)

24-5

Davidson

Appalachian State

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Davidson Battles to the End, Falls Short vs. ASU in 2nd Rd. of SoCon Tournament, 73-63

3/4/2011 3:21:09 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Gavin McFarlin -- Assistant SID

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Kristen Johnsen (Wayne, Pa.) led four Wildcats in double figures by tying her career-high with 20 points and Davidson nearly erased a 15-point deficit, but fell just short in its bid to upset No. 1-seeded Appalachian State as it dropped a 73-63 decision on Friday morning in the second round of the Southern Conference Tournament at the McKenzie Arena.

Davidson concludes its 2010-11 campaign at 14-17, while ASU (24-5) moves on to play the winner of Elon-Furman on Sunday, Mar. 6 in the semifinals.

Senior Ashley Lax (Little Rock, Ark.) joined Johnsen in double digits with 10 points and became the 14th Wildcat in program history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark when she swished home a pair of free throws at the 4:10 mark in the second half. It's the fourth year in a row a Wildcat has reached the 1,000-point career mark.

Johnsen netted 10 points each in both halves as she drained a career-best nine field goals on her way to her second career 20-point outing, both coming this year.

SoCon Freshman of the Year Laura Murray (Harrisburg, Pa.) netted 12 points and pocketed a season-best seven steals, while sophomore Sophia Aleksandravicius (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) had 11 points and a team-best seven rebounds.

The Mountaineers were led by Anna Freeman's 21 points, 19 of them coming in the second half. The sophomore halted the Wildcats run in the second half that cut ASU's halftime lead down to one with eight points during a 14-4 spurt midway through the period.

Ashlen Dewart added 13 points and Sam Ramirez, the coaches pick for league player of the year, had 11 points for ASU.

Trailing by as many as 15 in the first half, the 'Cats opened the new stanza on a 16-7 run that erased a 35-25 halftime deficit and got them within one, 42-41, after a Lax triple from the top of the key with 13:42. Lax got the rally started with a three-pointer as well.

Davidson would hang to within one over the next three minutes after buckets from Johnsen and Aleksandravicius, but the Mountaineers rattled off six straight points for a 52-45 lead, forcing the 'Cats to use a timeout.

The streak would continue as ASU pushed its lead out to 11 (60-49) on a Freeman jumper and 5:29 remaining. During the 14-4 run, the Wildcats saw Appalachian State convert on six offensive possessions in a row.

Lax got the 'Cats to back within six, 60-54, with her two free throws, but that would be all as ASU scored 13 of the final 22 points for the 10-point win.

The first half saw Davidson fall behind by as many as 15 points as ASU shot 51.7 percent and had four players with at least six points. The Mountaineers finished at 54.4 percent for the game.

The Wildcats were also hurt by their 12 turnovers and a pair of early fouls picked up by Aleksandravicius, who was never able to get in the flow of the offense in the first half.

Johnsen and Murray did their best to keep the 'Cats close, combining for 17 points. Johnsen had 10 of the points and a pair of free throws by Murray late in the half gave her seven and brought the Wildcats to within 31-23.

Game Notes: Davidson fell to 11-18 all-time in the SoCon Tournament ... the meeting between ASU and Davidson was the fifth in the tournament (1-4) and first since the 2001-02 campaign ... the 'Cats took advantage of 15 Mountaineer turnovers, scoring 24 points on them ... Barbara Sitton dished out six assists, the fifth game in a row with at least five; she closed out the year with 31 in those final five games ... the sophomore's 129 assists were fifth-most in a single-season ... Aleksandravicius set four single-season records this year in points (511), made field goals (192) and free throws (123) and blocks (95).