Back On Track 
Lettsome's tap-in seals win over 2nd place Paladins 
Chris Boyce Varsity Sports 
 

The Appalachian State University women’s basketball team issued a decisive warning Saturday to the nine other Southern Conference teams that may have to do battle with the Mountaineers in the upcoming conference tournament in March. 
The message was simple: they are for real. 

Natasha Lettsome’s tip-in with 10.4 seconds remaining in the game put away Furman, the conference’s second best team 65-63. 

“This was a huge win for us,” said coach Barbie Breedlove.  “I love the composure our players had down the stretch.” 

Breedlove was especially impressed with the cutdown on turnovers the team accomplished, turning the ball over only 14 times compared to over 20 times against UNCG last week. 

“We had only 14 turnovers today against a lot of good pressure and they brought pressure from different fronts,” said Breedlove.  

The game was thrilling to the end, with an incredible finish in the last two minutes. 

With only two minutes and 10 seconds reamining, Furman’s Torrie Scott tied the game at 61 with a free throw. 

Both teams exchanged missed shots until ASU’s Tiffany Chappell hit a huge jump shot with barely a minute remaining, giving the Mountaineers a 63-61 advantage. 

The Paladins were not finished though. 

Jackie Smith’s jumper with 39 seconds left knotted the score at 63, setting up Lettsome’s miracle move. 

“I was in the zone,” said Lettsome after the game about her performance.  “I’m on a roll, and our team is playing so well.  I’m impressed.” 

Lettsome led all scorers with a career high 25 points, along with 10 rebounds. 

It was Lettsome’s seventh double-double of the season. 

The win was critical for the Mountaineers’ confidence to be ready for the postseason in March and it proved that the Apps can beat anybody. 

“When this team is on, nobody in this conference can stop us. Nobody.” said Lettsome.  “But we just need to get it together as a team to be on, and once we get that it’s gonna be positive.” 

Part of the Mountaineers’ success came from their containment of two time Southern Conference player of the year Jackie Smith, who, averaging 18 points per game, was held to only 13. 

“The primary people who guarded Jackie Smith were Noel Dolan and Tiff Chappell, and that’s who you want on a player like Jackie Smith.” said Breedlove.  “They drew the bulk of the assignment of containing Smith and it’s not often that you can hold her below her average.” 

The first half was played completely opposite of how the Apps often play, resulting in a 31-25 lead at the half. 

The Mountaineers simply outhustled the visiting Paladins, forcing 13 Furman turnovers and shooting 50 percent from the three-point line. 

The key statistic, however, was the 13 points scored off of turnovers for the Mountaineers, compared to five points off of turnovers for the Paladins. 

The Mountaineers have consistently been a better second half team than a first half team, and prior to the Furman game had scored 105 fewer points than their opponents at the end of the first period. 

It was the Apps’ first halftime lead in four games. 

Appalachian stayed aggressive in the second half, outrebounding the Paladins and getting off seven more shots. 

The win puts the Mountaineers in a tie for fifth place in the conference, with a match against East Tennessee State on Monday in Varsity Gym. 

The game will be the last home game for seniors Noel Dolan and Tiffany Chappell,  who will both be honored with “Senior Night.” 
 

Wofford Terrorized By Pressure Defense 
Brian Meadows Club Sports 

Wofford brought their winning streak into Varsity Gym on Saturday afternoon, but it was Appalachian who left the game extending theirs. 

The Mountaineers (18-6, 11-1) won their 17th straight home game 84-61, extending the longest home winning streak in the 32-year history of Varsity Gym. The Mountaineers led only 38-30 at halftime, but opened up the game in the second half. 

“I was not real happy at halftime, I just thought that we played well up until the last three or four minutes and let it get away from us there,” said ASU coach Buzz Peterson regarding the 32-16 lead his team had with 4:44 remaining before the break that Appalachian let the Terriers cut in half. 

During halftime, Peterson said that he urged his team on defensive intensity and playing every possession for 35 seconds. 

The Mountaineer players responded to that call. 

Appalachian maintained their eight point lead over the first 3:30 of the second half, during which Rufus Leach and Matt McMahon each connected on three-pointers. 

Wofford (11-12, 7-5), winners of their last three conference games heading into Saturday’s game, countered the ASU outside shooting with two three-pointers of their own, one by Starzee Walker and another by Ian Chadwick.  

But at 48-40 with 16:40 remaining in the game, eight points was as close as the Terriers would get to ASU, as they started to fall victim to the Mountaineer full-court pressure. During the next 14 minutes of the game, the Mountaineers went on a 36-15 run and reached their largest lead of 84-55, after two Shawn Alexander free throws with 2:51 remaining in the game. 

Jonathan Butler, reserve point guard for ASU, came off the bench for Tyson Patterson, who was somewhat hampered by the fracture to the fourth metacarpal in his hand which he suffered in the victory over UNC Greensboro last week.  Butler ignited the second half ASU run with two steals out of their full court pressure. 

Wofford, who turned the ball over 21 times, scored the final six points of the game, which included two consecutive dunks by Terrier guard Lee Nixon, but it was too little and too late for Wofford. Patterson, despite having his hand padded thickly to protect the broken bone, also turned in a nice performance. He scored eight points, dished out 10 assists and stole the ball from the Terriers six times. 

“His effort out there with the bad hand, I think was pretty remarkable,” said Peterson. 

Patterson said his hand felt pretty good during the game, and that he was surprised that it did not hurt anymore than it did. 

A large part of Appalachian’s success was the great play from their bench. Appalachian’s bench outscored Wofford’s bench 46-26.  

Leach, a starter in the second half, came off the bench and scored 21 points, shooting 8-13 from the field, including four three pointers in 26 minutes of action. 

Leach, who indicated that he felt his touch was back, said that he wanted to establish his rhythm early.  

His performance did not stop there.  

Leach also helped contain Chadwick, the Southern Conference’s second leading scorer, to 14 points on 6-15 shooting. 

“We wanted to make sure we got in between him and his screens... that we were physical with him, (and) try to bump him off the cuts, because he is an offensive weapon,” said  Peterson about Chadwick. 

Freshman Josh Shehan was another player who came off the Mountaineer bench and made a good contribution toward the win.  

In 15 minutes of play, Shehan scored 15 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked two shots for ASU. 

“I thought he did a good job,” said Peterson. “I’m very encouraged to see the play of Josh inside.”  

“I’m not on the floor to be a scorer, they don’t need me to be a scorer, we have plenty of scorers on the team,” said Shehan. “If I can (score) that helps, but the hustle is something you can’t teach, and that really gives coach (Peterson) confidence in me.” 

Appalachian, first in the league in field goal percentage with an average of just under 50 percent per game, shot 56 percent from the field, while holding Wofford to just 34 percent. The Mountaineers also held Wofford, who averages seven three point field goals a game, to just four from beyond the three-point arc. 

Appalachian has shown no signs of a hangover from the loss to College of Charleston as they reeled off two consecutive wins against Southern Conference teams that boast winning records in conference play. 

The Mountaineers will look to continue their success when they host North Division rival, Davidson College this Saturday at 12 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPN2. 
 

Defense Seals the win for Lady Mountaineers 
Mike Boteilho Managing Editor 

Could it get any better for the Lady Apps? After suffering three tough losses to division foes, the ladies pieced together an important win against the second place team in the Southern Conference. 

After Natasha Lettsome’s tip in with 14 seconds remaining on the clock gave the ladies a 65-63 lead, the Lady Paladins geared up for a final play to tie the Lady Mountianeers. 

“I told our girls to pressure passers and pressure the shooter” said coach Barbie Breedlove “and I think we did a good job at doing that today.” 

As the Lady Paladins attempted to throw in the ball, Karma Edwards disrupted the play as she kicked the ball toward the scorers table, and made the Lady Paladins set up again. 

“It’s do or die on a play like that,” said Edwards. “We practice a play like that everyday in practice, and sometimes we don’t bring it to the floor, but today we did.” 

As they play went on, pressure defense by Edwards and Tiffany Chappell assured the women a victory, as they would not allow the Lady Paladins a shot in the final 10.4 seconds. 

With this win, the Lady Mountaineers are now tied for fifth in the Southern Conference, with four games remaining. 

The one thing that is persistant with the 1999-2000 ladies is thier streakiness. 

The ladies lost four, won three, lost two, won four and most recently lost three, and now can a new streak be on the horizon? 

“I know I want those three at the beginning of March in Greenville, S.C. to be wins, I know that” said Breedlove. 

With a win over one of the top teams in the Southern Conference, three wins can be very likely to happen. 

The Lady Mountaineers travel to Davidson Saturday to take on the Lady Cats at 2 p.m. 

The game will be televised live on FOX Sports South (cable channel 23 in Boone). 
 

Slump? Don't Think So 
Anthony Holderied Varsity Sports 

If there were any questions as to how Appalachian State would bounce back from its loss to College of Charleston, they have now been cleared up. 

With wins over UNC Greensboro last Wednesday and Wofford on Saturday, the Mountaineers have rebounded from a disappointing 69-64 letdown to the Cougars on Feb. 5. 

The two victories extended the Varsity Gym win streak to 17 games, the longest in school history, and all but guaranteed the Apps their third straight conference title. 

Against the Spartans, five Mountaineers scored in double digits with Rufus Leach leading the way with 16 points.  Leach regained his vital three-point shooting stroke after a short slump, connecting on three of eight from downtown. Appalachian strangled Greensboro’s offense, allowing just 10 field goals in the first half for 38 percent shooting.  

Eight different Mountaineers had steals. 

Tyson Patterson led Appalachian with a gutty performance against Wofford, scoring eight points and collecting 10 assists and six steals.  

 Patterson sustained a broken bone in his right hand against Greensboro just three nights before.  “His effort to be out there with the bad hand, is encouraging and remarkable,” said coach Buzz Peterson.  

Patterson sported a wrap and bandage for the hand during the game.  

“It’s kind of sore right now, but once I get into the flow of the game, I don’t think about it as much,” said Patterson. 

Leach continued his hot shooting against the Terriers, leading all scorers with 21 points, but even more important for ASU was the play of the bench.  

“I got in a slump there for a couple of games, but I went back to my routine which was shooting two to three hundred jump shots after practice, and it’s worked out,” said Leach.  “This is the right time for our bench to step up, they’re doing a great job of coming in and giving our starters a breather.” 

  Josh Shehan played a pivotal role in the win, scoring a career high 15 points on 6-6 shooting from the field.  

“That’s what I want to see out of Josh, he caught that ball and just attacked the rim,” said Peterson.  

Jonathan Butler made an important contribution as well with four points and four assists in just 11 minutes of play. 

The defense played to the level it has all year long, allowing the Terriers just 61 points on 34 percent shooting and outrebounding Wofford as well.  
 
 
 

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