Appalachian State's women’s basketball team cruised past Mars Hill College 77-43 in its lone exhibition game of the season Saturday at the Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers scored 49 first-half points en route to the victory while limiting the Lions to just 15 points through the game’s first 20 minutes.
Appalachian State scored the first four points of the contest and snagged its first double-digit lead on Courtney Freeman’s layup with 15:20 left in the first half. The Mountaineers would extend their to lead to 25-5 with just 10 minutes left in the half, and up to 40-10 with just under six minutes left.
A layup from Khadejah Wilkerson would put the Mountaineers up by 34 points heading into the break. The Mountaineers dominated the first half, shooting a blistering 55.0 percent (22-of-40) from the floor and pounding the ball inside to score 32 points in the paint.
The second half saw the Mountaineers pull their foot off the gas as both teams scored 28 points. Despite a less aggressive approach in the final 20 minutes, Appalachian never led by less than 31 points as the Lions were unable to overcome the early deficit.
Anna Freeman led all players with 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting while also notching seven steals. Maryah Sydnor just missed a double-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists while Katie Mallow scored nine points off the bench.
Mars Hill was paced by 11 points each from Kristen Metcalf and Armeka Booker but did not see another player score more than six points.
The Mountaineers held the Lions to just 30.4 percent (14-for-46) from the floor and forced 44 turnovers while committing 30 turnovers of their own.
Appalachian State opens the regular season when it plays host to Lees-McRae at 5 p.m. on Nov. 9 at the Holmes Center.