Appalachian State University women's basketball seniors Raven Gary and Anna Freeman combined for 22 points on Senior Day but Chattanooga shot a blistering 63.3 percent in the first half en route to a 69-45 victory over the Mountaineers on

Saturday afternoon at the Holmes Center. After Chattanooga (26-3, 19-1 SoCon) scored the game's first nine points, Appalachian State (19-8, 13-6 SoCon) cut the deficit to 17-14 on a Courtney Freeman layup with 11:05 to go in the first period. However, UTC closed the half with a 27-14 run and led 44-27 at the break.
Appalachian opened the second half with three jumpers to pull within 11, but the Mountaineers never got any closer as the Lady Mocs put up a pair of 6-0 runs over a 7:41 stretch to pull ahead by 19 points (56-37). Chattanooga picked up 13 points over the remaining 9:25, seven coming from the free-throw line. Appalachian recorded eight more points, including a Bria Huffman jumper with :37 remaining, for a 69-45 final.
Gary led the Mountaineers with 12 points and A. Freeman added 10 in the loss. Ashlen Dewart scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to pace Chattanooga, which won its 16th-straight game.
Despite the loss to the Southern Conference regular-season champion, Appalachian State still have a first-round bye secured for next week's SoCon Tournament. The Mountaineers close the regular season on Monday when they host Samford at 6 p.m. at the Holmes Center.
Game Notes: KeKe Cooper put up a career-high three blocks for the Mountaineers, who matched UTC with five on the night. Appalachian grabbed 20 points in the paint to UTC's 42. The Appalachian bench tallied six points on the night, while Chattanooga's secondary was responsible for 30 of its points. The Lady Mocs' largest lead reached 26 points with 2:50 left in the game.

UTC 69, ASU 45

Score by periods  1st  2nd  Total
Chattanooga        44   25 - 69
Appalachian State  27   18 - 45

UTC: HALL 12, DEWART 13 (11 REBOUNDS), CHRISTOPHER 3, BLACK 5, LAMBERT 6, PAYNE 4, TOWNS 7, DOWNES 2, BRAMBLETT 2, FREEMAN 2, JACKSON 7, DUPREE 6. FG: 27-57, 3FG: 4-15, FT: 11-20. 46 REBOUNDS, 15 ASSISTS, 13 TURNOVERS.
THREE-POINTERS: LAMBERT 2, CHRISTOPHER, TOWNS.

ASU: SHARKEY 5 (6 REBOUNDS), SYDNOR 6, A.FREEMAN 10 (6 REBOUNDS), GARY 12 (3 ASSISTS), C.FREEMAN 6, WILKERSON 2, HUFFMAN 4. FG: 17-61, 3FG: 2-8, FT: 9-16. 37 REBOUNDS, 6 ASSISTS, 16 TURNOVERS.
THREE-POINTERS: A.FREEMAN, GARY.

Photo Courtesy: Raven Gary, ASU Athletics