CINCINNATI– The Xavier women’s basketball team fell in an overtime thriller 77-73 at Cintas Center Friday night to the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Senior Amber Gray had her first double-double of the season with a career-high 25 points and a season-high 10 rebounds while shooting a season-high 75 percent from the field.
This was the first-ever meeting between Xavier and Appalachian State. The Musketeers move to 3-3 while the Mountaineers improve to 5-1.
The Musketeers’ bench kept them in the game by contributing 38 points to the Mountaineers’ 11. It was a close battle throughout with the biggest lead of the game remaining in single digits. ASU led by eight points in the first half. The score was tied eight times to go along with 12 lead changes.
After a 6-0 run by the Mountaineers spanning for 1:22 of the overtime period, Ashley Wanninger hit a three-pointer and Gray added a free throw to tie the game up at 69 with 1:19 left. Appalachian State reeled off five straight points to pull away for good.
Lakeisha Crouch made a game saving dive to recover a loose ball at half court with 16.6 left in the game. The Musketeers came out of a timeout and Aliyah Zantt hit a floater with 3.3 left on the clock to knot the game up at 60 and forcing overtime.
Crouch finished with five points, six rebounds and tied her career-high with four steals while Zantt finished with a career-high twelve points two dishes.
The Musketeers regained the lead 45-44 with 10:18 left in the game for the first time since 11:02 in the first half. Gray was a big part of keeping the Musketeers close contributing 18 of her 25 points in the second half.
Xavier started the second half on a roll hitting three of its first five shots, including a four point play by freshmanJenna Crittendon. Gray took control and scored nine of the next 10 points to bring Xavier within a point, trailing 42-41 with 13:58 remaining in the game.
Although ASU out rebounded XU 38-36 XU held a 12-8 advantage on the offensive boards. Xavier’s pesky defense forced Appalachian State into a season-high 19 turnovers.
The 27 points allowed by Xavier in the first half was the lowest first half point total by an opponent since High Point on November 19th when they allowed only 21.
Zantt brought the Musketeers within five points when she hit a three-pointer with five seconds remaining in the half and Appalachian State took a 27-22 lead into the half.
The first ten minutes of the game went back and forth between Xavier and Appalachian State. During that time there were three ties and two lead changes. Xavier took its biggest lead when Wanninger hit a long three from the corner putting the Musketeers ahead 13-10 with 11:02 remaining in the first half.
Anna Freeman for Appalachian State had a game-high 28 points from 11-of-17 shooting from the field.
The Musketeers resume play Sunday when they face the University of Cincinnati at Fifth Third Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 pm. Stay tuned to GoXavier.com for more details.
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