By David Rogers. CHARLOTTE, N.C. – At the end of the third quarter against Charlotte, last year’s Conference USA champions, Appalachian State led the 49ers by 19 points. But Charlotte shot a sizzling 69 percent from the field in the fourth quarter and clamped down on the Mountaineers, defensively, to tie the score at 74-74 when regulation ended. Then, last year’s C-USA entry in March Madness went on to defeat the Mountaineers, 98-94, in double overtime at Halton Arena on Nov. 8.
It was App State’s season opener and, despite the loss, the Mountaineers saw strong debut performances from graduate transfer Lauren Carter and freshman Chaé Harris.
Carter set a single-game career high of 25 points, sinking 6-of-8 shots from behind the 3-point line, which is also a single-game high for the High Point, N.C., native. Carter previously played at Campbell and Morehead State.
In her collegiate debut, Harris dropped in 22 points and went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. She also made a team-high seven rebounds on the night.
“Obviously, I’m really proud of our team and the way that we battled with adversity, even before the game, just having some players out, coming ready to play and really playing three quarters of really good basketball,” said head coach Angel Elderkin. “The fourth quarter we were not ourselves. Obviously, Charlotte had a lot to do with that but we still continued to battle. We still continued to fight.”
App State jumped out to a 20-15 lead in the first quarter and expanded it to a 39-28 advantage over the 49ers at halftime.
At the end of the third quarter, App State had a 67-48 lead, but Charlotte got hot both offensively and defensively, sending the contest to overtime in front of an announced attendance of 1,112. Mikayla Boykin and Dazia Lawrence led the 49ers with 30 and 29 points, respectively.
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App State heads to Richmond, Ky., to take on EasternKentucky on Friday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
